I'm back to blogging. Sometimes the world is very strange. I'm going to give this invite only thing here a shot for awhile and maybe in a few months make this public again. We will see.
So we will put all this behind us and move on with our lives.
First up Asher is going to be having and echocardiogram next Tuesday February 5th at the Covenant Clinic here in Waterloo. Asher's doctor (Dr. Neuman) believes that Dr. Chandra can do the echo and read it successfully unlike when Asher was a little guy. That's great news for us for two reasons, we don't have to travel to Iowa City or Rochester Minnesota to get the test done and secondly we can get the test done a whole five months earlier than expected. What they will be looking for is any kind of thicking or damage to Asher's heart caused by the high blood pressure. Dr. Porter in Iowa City didn't seem particularly worried about this so hopefully all will be good. After we see Dr. Chandra then with his advice we will decide if we are going to continue going to either Iowa City or Mayo. If Dr. Chandra believes he can handle Asher's care we will stay here, if he thinks it's too much for him, we will probably switch to Mayo since Dr. Porter left Iowa City. I'll keep you all posted.
Well I bought my first pair of jeans since I started my weight loss back at the last week of July 2007 and low and behold I've gone from a size 40 (sometimes 38 sometimes 42) down to a size 32 in pants! HOLY CRAP! They are a little tight in the waist right now, but Carrie says the fit wonderfully, and there not too tight that I can't feel comfortable in them, just a little tighter than I'm used to. I'm still loosing weight, but not at the pace I was before. Next Monday February 4th is my next goal date and I'm afraid I won't reach this goal by a long shot. I was hoping for another 20 lbs but it looks like it's only going to be in the neighboorhood of ten pounds total. It's ok, I've increased my workouts to 40 minutes and the last two weeks I've dropped most of the weight that I couldn't loose through most of December and January. But after these last two weeks the weight seems to be melting off again. Only about ten more pounds tell my final goal weight. I feel great!
After my last show at The Reverb Cody asked me if I would put some mix CDs together of industrial music so they could play it at the club for their Industrial Dance nights. I was totally down with this and I've put my first one together. I figured what better place to post the track listing then here and share it with my buddies who dig the same stuff as me. So here it is:
The Reverb Industrial Mix 1-27-08 - Disc 1
1. "I'm Afraid of Americans (V3) - David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans Single
2. "No Name No Slogan" - Acid Horse - Wax Trax! Black Box
3. "Suicide Beauty Queen" - Blue Eyed Christ - American Whore
4. "Tomorrow Never Knows" - Danielle Dax - Blast the Human Flower
5. "Everyday is Like Sunday (Guitar Mix) - Armageddon Dildos - Lost
6. "Waste Not, Want...More" - Attrition - The Jeopardy Maze
7. "Random" - C-Tec - Darker
8. "Exile on Mainline" - Chemlab - East Side Militia
9. "Stowaway" - Chris Connelly - Whiplash Boychild
10. "What it is to Burn" - Drown - Hold On To The Hollow
11. "Death Saves the Derelict (Of Mice & Men Microwaved Mix) - Circus of Dead Squirrels - Outdoor Recess (This is a remix I did for them)
12. "Love's Secret Domain" - Coil - Love's Secret Domain
13. "10 $ Bill" - Cop Shoot Cop - 10 $ Bill Single
14. "It" - Cubanate - Cyberia
15. "Nothing Stays" - Cyberaktif - Tenebrae Vision
16. "Bloodsuckers (Die Krupps & Biohazard Remix) - Die Krupps - Rings of Steel
So there you have it. There's even links to check out the bands to learn more if your interested. It's funny, I was trying to avoid too many Wax Trax! bands since it's a huge influence on me and I wanted to make this pretty diverse, but I couldn't escape it I ended up with 6 of them being at one time on the label or connected to it. Jeez!
Well until next time I'm out of here.
Klaatu Verata Nictu
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Happy Birthday Asher!
Well Asher turns ONE YEAR OLD today! Last year at this time Carrie was just about to get into her room and into the tub. What a crazy day it was for all of us. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life through the years, and I will make more mistakes as in the future, we all do, but the one thing that I've done right is Asher. While it's been the hardest job I've ever done, it's also been the most rewarding. So here's Asher's 1 year update.
Nicknames: Ash, Bubby, The Boy, Buddy and lately we've been calling him Butters (I'm not sure why but it kind of just rolls off the tongue).
Weight & Height: We will find out his official height and weight on Friday at his 1 year check up, the other day though I jumped on the scale with him and he weighed in at around 25 lbs!
Hair: Well Ash is getting more hair, especially on the back of his head and it's what Carrie calls a toe head blond. There really doesn't appear to be the red in it that was so strong when he was younger.
Favorite Foods: I don't think this kid dislikes any food. Although his first experience with cake wasn't so hot. Other than that the kid will eat almost anything we put in front of him (with passion), that includes all the vegetables you can imagine that are safe for him at this age!
Asher's first experience with cake!
Favorite Drink: And the drink stays the same. Milk and Water.
Favorite Toys: Now that we are month after Christmas we can see what he is picking out that he likes the best, which really isn't one thing in particular, but in all honesty his favorite toy is his bear. He sleeps with it at every nap and bedtime and if I had to pick one thing that he likes more than anything else it would be bear. Apart from that he likes all of his toys, and of course spoons, straws, remotes and phones.
Favorite Stuffed Animal: As I said before it's really his bear that is his favorite, and apart from that it's his life stuffed animals Raja and Taffy that he really enjoys. He is always trying to give Taffy kisses which just grosses Carrie and I out!
Favorite Person: I still think Mommy is his favorite person in the world, but I see a look in his eyes when he watches me do stuff. I wonder if babies like Ash identify with their same gendered parent? I was working on some safety stuff in his room this weekend and he was really watching me and what I thought was actually learning from me. So I really think mommy is his favorite, I do think he's watching me and figuring out what a daddy does.
Bedtime: His bedtime remains the same as last month, we really try and get him down between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Most of the time we are successful, except of course for the weekends. Carrie doesn't get home until 8:00 pm or after and Ash goes to bed shortly after she gets home.
Wake-Up Time: I would say that apart from his weekends he gets up later and later, sometimes pushing the 9:00 am mark.
Naps: His naps are pretty consistent with last month. While he tends to take a shorter morning nap for me I can almost always count on a solid 2 1/2 or 3 hour nap in the afternoon and then another quick short hour nap in the late afternoon (around 4:30 pm) to keep him fresh for when Mommy gets home from work.
What He's Saying: He continues to work on the words Cat, Dog, Mom or Momma and Dad, and he has also added Num Num to the equation. I think he actually knows what it means too. When he picks something up off the floor that he thinks may be food he says Num Num, and then proceeds to try and put it into his mouth. Notice I said try, he's very rarely successful at it because of our vigilance. But he tries.
The pets getting in on the birthday action
Latest Accomplishment: It seems like he has an accomplishment spurt over the last month. He stands all on his own now for longer periods of time. He also is taking some steps toward objects that he wants. We've been working with him on this trying to get him to take more and more steps, it's slow going but he will get it. He now also gives kisses freely when asked for one as well. On top of that he is also trying to whistle, which is pretty darn cute if you ask me!
Likes: Asher LOVES music. I don't know if that's an every kid thing or not but he loves music and dances to it when ever he hears a good beat. That's the other thing, he doesn't just dance when he hears music he waits to see if it has a good beat and then boogies down. Not to mention that he can now drop it like it's hot while using the TV stand for his balance. It's way too cute!
Dislikes: As of Saturday he dislikes Birthday Cake (we're going to try it again tonight for his birthday to see how it goes) and apart from that he doesn't appear to dislike a whole lot of things. He is a very good baby and doesn't really get upset or angry about anything. He does get frustrated about certain things but rarely does he dislike anything really.
What gets said most often about Asher: He continues to charm all walks of life with is smile and personality so it's probably no surprise that everyone continues to tell us how handsome he is and how happy he seems to be.
Best Known For: His contagious smile, contagious laugh, sharing, excellent disposition and all round awesome baby.
Health: We see his doctor on Friday for his year check up and we will see where we are at with his health. So far he's only had one ear infection (knock on wood). As far as his high blood pressure goes, well it seems to be going up again and Carrie and I really need to make a decision next week if we are going to continue going to Iowa City or switch to the Mayo Clinic. Our doctor in Iowa City took another job in Michigan or Wisconsin and we would have to basically start all over with another doctor and we don't know how we feel about Iowa City after our last disappointing appointment there. We will make a decision next week on what we want to do next. Other than those little problems Asher appears to be very healthy and happy.
How He's Like His Daddy: While Asher doesn't necessarily have a temper really, he can get pretty frustrated and holler at what ever it is he is mad at, that is like me. It's one of my flaws, having a hot head and I think Asher may have bit of that.
How He's Like His Mommy: So far Asher is just like his mother in his understanding, compassion and ability to share with other people. He is also like his mom in the way that they both light up the room when they enter it. You know if they come into a room together it's kind of like an eclipse. It's so bright it could damage your eyes, but you have to look because you're drawn to them. I'm drawn to these two, and I love them both dearly. This is still so true that I don't want to change a word of it.
So there you go, a year later and it's amazing to see how Asher, I and the rest of the world has changed. It's amazing what a year can bring for you.
Klaatu Verada Nictu
Nicknames: Ash, Bubby, The Boy, Buddy and lately we've been calling him Butters (I'm not sure why but it kind of just rolls off the tongue).
Weight & Height: We will find out his official height and weight on Friday at his 1 year check up, the other day though I jumped on the scale with him and he weighed in at around 25 lbs!
Hair: Well Ash is getting more hair, especially on the back of his head and it's what Carrie calls a toe head blond. There really doesn't appear to be the red in it that was so strong when he was younger.
Favorite Foods: I don't think this kid dislikes any food. Although his first experience with cake wasn't so hot. Other than that the kid will eat almost anything we put in front of him (with passion), that includes all the vegetables you can imagine that are safe for him at this age!
Favorite Drink: And the drink stays the same. Milk and Water.
Favorite Toys: Now that we are month after Christmas we can see what he is picking out that he likes the best, which really isn't one thing in particular, but in all honesty his favorite toy is his bear. He sleeps with it at every nap and bedtime and if I had to pick one thing that he likes more than anything else it would be bear. Apart from that he likes all of his toys, and of course spoons, straws, remotes and phones.
Favorite Stuffed Animal: As I said before it's really his bear that is his favorite, and apart from that it's his life stuffed animals Raja and Taffy that he really enjoys. He is always trying to give Taffy kisses which just grosses Carrie and I out!
Favorite Person: I still think Mommy is his favorite person in the world, but I see a look in his eyes when he watches me do stuff. I wonder if babies like Ash identify with their same gendered parent? I was working on some safety stuff in his room this weekend and he was really watching me and what I thought was actually learning from me. So I really think mommy is his favorite, I do think he's watching me and figuring out what a daddy does.
Bedtime: His bedtime remains the same as last month, we really try and get him down between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Most of the time we are successful, except of course for the weekends. Carrie doesn't get home until 8:00 pm or after and Ash goes to bed shortly after she gets home.
Wake-Up Time: I would say that apart from his weekends he gets up later and later, sometimes pushing the 9:00 am mark.
Naps: His naps are pretty consistent with last month. While he tends to take a shorter morning nap for me I can almost always count on a solid 2 1/2 or 3 hour nap in the afternoon and then another quick short hour nap in the late afternoon (around 4:30 pm) to keep him fresh for when Mommy gets home from work.
What He's Saying: He continues to work on the words Cat, Dog, Mom or Momma and Dad, and he has also added Num Num to the equation. I think he actually knows what it means too. When he picks something up off the floor that he thinks may be food he says Num Num, and then proceeds to try and put it into his mouth. Notice I said try, he's very rarely successful at it because of our vigilance. But he tries.
Latest Accomplishment: It seems like he has an accomplishment spurt over the last month. He stands all on his own now for longer periods of time. He also is taking some steps toward objects that he wants. We've been working with him on this trying to get him to take more and more steps, it's slow going but he will get it. He now also gives kisses freely when asked for one as well. On top of that he is also trying to whistle, which is pretty darn cute if you ask me!
Likes: Asher LOVES music. I don't know if that's an every kid thing or not but he loves music and dances to it when ever he hears a good beat. That's the other thing, he doesn't just dance when he hears music he waits to see if it has a good beat and then boogies down. Not to mention that he can now drop it like it's hot while using the TV stand for his balance. It's way too cute!
Dislikes: As of Saturday he dislikes Birthday Cake (we're going to try it again tonight for his birthday to see how it goes) and apart from that he doesn't appear to dislike a whole lot of things. He is a very good baby and doesn't really get upset or angry about anything. He does get frustrated about certain things but rarely does he dislike anything really.
What gets said most often about Asher: He continues to charm all walks of life with is smile and personality so it's probably no surprise that everyone continues to tell us how handsome he is and how happy he seems to be.
Best Known For: His contagious smile, contagious laugh, sharing, excellent disposition and all round awesome baby.
Health: We see his doctor on Friday for his year check up and we will see where we are at with his health. So far he's only had one ear infection (knock on wood). As far as his high blood pressure goes, well it seems to be going up again and Carrie and I really need to make a decision next week if we are going to continue going to Iowa City or switch to the Mayo Clinic. Our doctor in Iowa City took another job in Michigan or Wisconsin and we would have to basically start all over with another doctor and we don't know how we feel about Iowa City after our last disappointing appointment there. We will make a decision next week on what we want to do next. Other than those little problems Asher appears to be very healthy and happy.
How He's Like His Daddy: While Asher doesn't necessarily have a temper really, he can get pretty frustrated and holler at what ever it is he is mad at, that is like me. It's one of my flaws, having a hot head and I think Asher may have bit of that.
How He's Like His Mommy: So far Asher is just like his mother in his understanding, compassion and ability to share with other people. He is also like his mom in the way that they both light up the room when they enter it. You know if they come into a room together it's kind of like an eclipse. It's so bright it could damage your eyes, but you have to look because you're drawn to them. I'm drawn to these two, and I love them both dearly. This is still so true that I don't want to change a word of it.
So there you go, a year later and it's amazing to see how Asher, I and the rest of the world has changed. It's amazing what a year can bring for you.
Klaatu Verada Nictu
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I had a blast last night...
I'm very tired this morning, I only got a few hours of sleep, but it was so worth it playing a show last night. Of course we had a snow storm here (not so much of a storm as it's just still snowing since yesterday at about 3:00 pm) so the turn out wasn't the best but some good friends did make it out. I want to shout out to LC, Ryan, Chuck, Melanie and Marcy all for coming out and showing me and Tyler some love and support. Hell I even made a little money which will buy me some new light scribe DVDs!
As for the show itself, I had some mistakes as should be expected for only practicing my set twice in over a year, but the video worked perfectly and no real major mishaps happened. My processor for my vocals was full of all kinds of feedback so I just used clean vocals, that's the first time I've done that since I first started playing in bands nearly 17 years ago. And while I wasn't the best judge of what it sounded like, I think it sounded pretty damn good. The last song of the night "Blood" sounded particularly good in my head on the sung parts on the final part of the chorus.
Everyone who was there seemed to enjoy it and had a good time and that is all that really matters to me. I had a ton of fun. I also had a blast talking to Cody from the Reverb last night as well. We talked business and marketing and all that and it was a ton of fun, a little known fact is that Cody opened a new bar at the old Broosters location where they are focusing more on food and stuff but will also do shows and more nationals. Package tours and what not. I'm really excited for his success and I hope his business continue to grow. Cody is a great guy and deserves it.
Also I think I'm going to do a show every couple of months there now, and Cody said next time I should project my video on their big screen while I'm playing behind it and that is an awesome idea so next that is exactly what I will do. I can't wait and I'm looking forward to it already.
Thanks again to everyone that showed up!
As for the show itself, I had some mistakes as should be expected for only practicing my set twice in over a year, but the video worked perfectly and no real major mishaps happened. My processor for my vocals was full of all kinds of feedback so I just used clean vocals, that's the first time I've done that since I first started playing in bands nearly 17 years ago. And while I wasn't the best judge of what it sounded like, I think it sounded pretty damn good. The last song of the night "Blood" sounded particularly good in my head on the sung parts on the final part of the chorus.
Everyone who was there seemed to enjoy it and had a good time and that is all that really matters to me. I had a ton of fun. I also had a blast talking to Cody from the Reverb last night as well. We talked business and marketing and all that and it was a ton of fun, a little known fact is that Cody opened a new bar at the old Broosters location where they are focusing more on food and stuff but will also do shows and more nationals. Package tours and what not. I'm really excited for his success and I hope his business continue to grow. Cody is a great guy and deserves it.
Also I think I'm going to do a show every couple of months there now, and Cody said next time I should project my video on their big screen while I'm playing behind it and that is an awesome idea so next that is exactly what I will do. I can't wait and I'm looking forward to it already.
Thanks again to everyone that showed up!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Microwaved returns to the stage...
Well, it's been awhile, but I'm finally going to return to the stage and play a show on January 16th, 2008 at The Reverb to kick off their new bi-weekly industrial night. I'm very very excited about this and hope that anyone in the area can come out and enjoy my music live! I will be joined that evening by my buddy Tyler Crew and his solo project Einzeln and someone else who I can book as well.
Wish me luck!
Wish me luck!
When hard work and creativity pay off...
You get this.
The client I worked with was very unhappy with his past advertising campaigns and wanted something that would grab peoples attention and get them talking. He gave me a clean slate and an invitation to create what ever I thought would work and I came up with this. With the help of Kevan Rabat (he supplied the voice), Matt Krivanek (he provided the lips) and Kim Leer (she created the fish and the tackle) I came up with this commercial and made it happen. For viewers in Eastern Iowa look for this to be in heavy rotation from the 11th through the 18th of January on KWWL, KGAN and OnMedia, to my friends in Minnesota look for this to be in the Bob Jensen Fishing Show that is produced up there. Needless to say the client was way impressed and is looking forward to pushing the envelope next year as well!
The client I worked with was very unhappy with his past advertising campaigns and wanted something that would grab peoples attention and get them talking. He gave me a clean slate and an invitation to create what ever I thought would work and I came up with this. With the help of Kevan Rabat (he supplied the voice), Matt Krivanek (he provided the lips) and Kim Leer (she created the fish and the tackle) I came up with this commercial and made it happen. For viewers in Eastern Iowa look for this to be in heavy rotation from the 11th through the 18th of January on KWWL, KGAN and OnMedia, to my friends in Minnesota look for this to be in the Bob Jensen Fishing Show that is produced up there. Needless to say the client was way impressed and is looking forward to pushing the envelope next year as well!
In your best Rainman voice say...
WAL-MART SUCKS!
So here's the deal. Last Friday I took the old Camry in for a check up and oil change and came to find out that my tires were really bad, like the belts where showing bad, which explained why my car was shaking like I was in an Earthquake every time I drove it. Well my mechanic, who I really trust by the way, told me it would be nearly $400 dollars for 60,000 mile tires from them. OUCH! I don't know about you but I don't have that kind of cash laying around since the boy was brought onto this planet. So I said, I'm sorry I don't have the money and I will have to come back. Which both he and I knew wasn't the truth, the tires were in bad shape and I can't be driving around with a baby and bad tires. But, I didn't want to hurt his feelings either so I lied.
So I get back to the office and I start calling around. Wal-Mart seems to have the best deal. Now also keep in mind that my Camry has 189,600 miles on it, so I don't need tires that are going to last me until the next 2012 presidential election, I just need cheap tires to get me through the next couple of years. Well basically no one has tires for less that 60,000 miles and Wal-Mart had some for 45,000 miles and they were the same exact price as the 60,000 mile tires. Any who, I'm getting off topic.
I decided that Wal-Mart had the best deal so I called to schedule an appointment for Saturday to get the new tires on the car. I call and Tammy answered the phone after about 9 minutes of letting it ring and kindly answered my questions. Then once I had all questions answered satisfactorily I said, thank you and I would like to schedule an appointment for tomorrow to get these new wonderful tires. Tammy said, "we don't take appointments just come on in and will get you taken care of". So I show up at about 3:00 pm at the Wal-Mart in Cedar Falls. I get into the tire department and proceeded to wait for about 10 minutes with no one showing up to help me. Not only that but two wonderfully brilliant employees walked right past me twice and never even acknowledged my presence. That was frustrating at best. Finally on their third trip past me they asked if they could help me. At about the same exact time Tammy showed up too. So now standing before me were three wonderfully friendly Wal-Mart employees (notice the sarcasm) I said, why yes, I spoke to you yesterday and I would like to get four new tires for my car for the price of $55 dollars per tire and $10 per tire for installation. First, the fine gentlemen look at me like I've just asked them if they would let me fly a plane and then Tammy gets a strange look on her face. And almost in unison they say, "it will be about a four hour wait".
My jaw hit the ground. I looked right at Tammy and I said "you have to be kidding me?". She said no. I looked at her again and said, "yesterday I spoke to you on the phone and you said that you don't take appointments. I was lead to believe that I could just show up and would be taken care of. You see I don't have a lot of time to get stuff likes this done and I only have a babysitter for a limited amount of time and my tires are in serious shape and I need to get new tires put on my car today". She looked at me and said, "sir there is nothing I can do for you, it will be a four hour wait." Now I'm getting mad, you see I don't have time for this, I really don't. As most of you know I work during the week and Carrie works on the weekends, we don't have time to sit around and wait for tires, not to mention my car was not safe for hauling a baby around town.
So the anger is getting the best of me and I say to her, "perhaps you can help me out by scheduling an appointment for me for tomorrow?" She says, "we don't take appointments but you can be here at 7:00 am and hopefully no one will be ahead of you". Now she's pushed my final button, the anger is evident and almost to the point of rage. I look right at her, trying to maintain my calm and I say "listen you can't tell me on the phone to come on in and will get you taken care of "no appointment necessary" and then not deliver on that promise, I'm too busy and the general public are too busy for this kind of crap. You're either going to help me out right now and get something to work or I'm walking out the door and your losing a customer." She looked at me and said "I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do to help you, and in one hour we are losing another tech so it will probably be an even longer wait after that." I lost it. I stormed out of Wal-Mart got into my car and nearly killed one of these valuable techs as he was walking back to the shop. I felt bad about that, but my anger for Wal-Mart was just over the top. Mind you I believe Wal-Mart is the bane of our existence to begin with. Not so much that I have a problem with the company or it's practices, I just hate Wal-Mart. There is so much wrong with Wal-Mart I can't even begin to scratch the surface suffice it to say I will no longer be going to Wal-Mart unless it's an absolute necessity I can't get any where else.
So after leaving Wal-Mart I went to Blain's Farm and Fleet across the street. I'm already pretty hot and not really wanting to fight with anyone else, so I walk in looking to either get a deal worked out or drink someones blood. Fortunately for me I got probably the most helpful dude ever at Blain's. I walk in and say "I need four new tires for my car for a '96 Camry with 189,000 miles, I don't want to spend a lot of money since I probably won't have the car another five years so what can you do for me?" The first thing he says is, well there's a bit of a wait. I then proceeded to explain my situation to the gentlemen and he said. "Let me go in back and see what I can do." He came back out and said, will get you in in 15 minutes and it will be 10 to 15 minutes per tire, will have you out of here in a little more than an hour.
It was that easy to help me out. Not only that but I got 70,000 mile tires for two dollars less than the 45,000 mile tires at Wal-Mart.
So once again in your best Rainman voice say WAL-MART SUCKS!.
On another note, Carrie and I resigned up with Verizon Wireless last night and we both got the new LG Chocolate phones (she the black one and I the blue one) for the wonderful price of $30. You can't beat that with a stick!
So here's the deal. Last Friday I took the old Camry in for a check up and oil change and came to find out that my tires were really bad, like the belts where showing bad, which explained why my car was shaking like I was in an Earthquake every time I drove it. Well my mechanic, who I really trust by the way, told me it would be nearly $400 dollars for 60,000 mile tires from them. OUCH! I don't know about you but I don't have that kind of cash laying around since the boy was brought onto this planet. So I said, I'm sorry I don't have the money and I will have to come back. Which both he and I knew wasn't the truth, the tires were in bad shape and I can't be driving around with a baby and bad tires. But, I didn't want to hurt his feelings either so I lied.
So I get back to the office and I start calling around. Wal-Mart seems to have the best deal. Now also keep in mind that my Camry has 189,600 miles on it, so I don't need tires that are going to last me until the next 2012 presidential election, I just need cheap tires to get me through the next couple of years. Well basically no one has tires for less that 60,000 miles and Wal-Mart had some for 45,000 miles and they were the same exact price as the 60,000 mile tires. Any who, I'm getting off topic.
I decided that Wal-Mart had the best deal so I called to schedule an appointment for Saturday to get the new tires on the car. I call and Tammy answered the phone after about 9 minutes of letting it ring and kindly answered my questions. Then once I had all questions answered satisfactorily I said, thank you and I would like to schedule an appointment for tomorrow to get these new wonderful tires. Tammy said, "we don't take appointments just come on in and will get you taken care of". So I show up at about 3:00 pm at the Wal-Mart in Cedar Falls. I get into the tire department and proceeded to wait for about 10 minutes with no one showing up to help me. Not only that but two wonderfully brilliant employees walked right past me twice and never even acknowledged my presence. That was frustrating at best. Finally on their third trip past me they asked if they could help me. At about the same exact time Tammy showed up too. So now standing before me were three wonderfully friendly Wal-Mart employees (notice the sarcasm) I said, why yes, I spoke to you yesterday and I would like to get four new tires for my car for the price of $55 dollars per tire and $10 per tire for installation. First, the fine gentlemen look at me like I've just asked them if they would let me fly a plane and then Tammy gets a strange look on her face. And almost in unison they say, "it will be about a four hour wait".
My jaw hit the ground. I looked right at Tammy and I said "you have to be kidding me?". She said no. I looked at her again and said, "yesterday I spoke to you on the phone and you said that you don't take appointments. I was lead to believe that I could just show up and would be taken care of. You see I don't have a lot of time to get stuff likes this done and I only have a babysitter for a limited amount of time and my tires are in serious shape and I need to get new tires put on my car today". She looked at me and said, "sir there is nothing I can do for you, it will be a four hour wait." Now I'm getting mad, you see I don't have time for this, I really don't. As most of you know I work during the week and Carrie works on the weekends, we don't have time to sit around and wait for tires, not to mention my car was not safe for hauling a baby around town.
So the anger is getting the best of me and I say to her, "perhaps you can help me out by scheduling an appointment for me for tomorrow?" She says, "we don't take appointments but you can be here at 7:00 am and hopefully no one will be ahead of you". Now she's pushed my final button, the anger is evident and almost to the point of rage. I look right at her, trying to maintain my calm and I say "listen you can't tell me on the phone to come on in and will get you taken care of "no appointment necessary" and then not deliver on that promise, I'm too busy and the general public are too busy for this kind of crap. You're either going to help me out right now and get something to work or I'm walking out the door and your losing a customer." She looked at me and said "I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do to help you, and in one hour we are losing another tech so it will probably be an even longer wait after that." I lost it. I stormed out of Wal-Mart got into my car and nearly killed one of these valuable techs as he was walking back to the shop. I felt bad about that, but my anger for Wal-Mart was just over the top. Mind you I believe Wal-Mart is the bane of our existence to begin with. Not so much that I have a problem with the company or it's practices, I just hate Wal-Mart. There is so much wrong with Wal-Mart I can't even begin to scratch the surface suffice it to say I will no longer be going to Wal-Mart unless it's an absolute necessity I can't get any where else.
So after leaving Wal-Mart I went to Blain's Farm and Fleet across the street. I'm already pretty hot and not really wanting to fight with anyone else, so I walk in looking to either get a deal worked out or drink someones blood. Fortunately for me I got probably the most helpful dude ever at Blain's. I walk in and say "I need four new tires for my car for a '96 Camry with 189,000 miles, I don't want to spend a lot of money since I probably won't have the car another five years so what can you do for me?" The first thing he says is, well there's a bit of a wait. I then proceeded to explain my situation to the gentlemen and he said. "Let me go in back and see what I can do." He came back out and said, will get you in in 15 minutes and it will be 10 to 15 minutes per tire, will have you out of here in a little more than an hour.
It was that easy to help me out. Not only that but I got 70,000 mile tires for two dollars less than the 45,000 mile tires at Wal-Mart.
So once again in your best Rainman voice say WAL-MART SUCKS!.
On another note, Carrie and I resigned up with Verizon Wireless last night and we both got the new LG Chocolate phones (she the black one and I the blue one) for the wonderful price of $30. You can't beat that with a stick!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy 5th Anniversary Baby!
I won't make this too sappy, but I wanted to take a little bit of time and wish my dear wife a Happy Anniversary!
It's been five years since we strolled down that red carpet on that beautiful white sandy beach in the Bahamas and I'm just as excited and in love with you today as I was that day, maybe even more so.
We've seen a lot of changes since that day, and in fact, the almost 9+ years we've been together.
There's been a lot of growing and changing and of course the birth of our son Asher.
I still remember the first night I saw you like it was yesterday, your glowing smile and radiating beauty captured my eyes and here we are so many years later and your smile and radiance still captures me in that same special way.
Thank you for taking a chance on me, I know I let you down a lot of times and I'm glad you stuck it through to see me grow and become a man.
I love you with all my heart Carrie and here's to so many more years ahead of us.
Thank you so much, and I love you with of all my heart.
Gabriel your husband.
It's been five years since we strolled down that red carpet on that beautiful white sandy beach in the Bahamas and I'm just as excited and in love with you today as I was that day, maybe even more so.
We've seen a lot of changes since that day, and in fact, the almost 9+ years we've been together.
There's been a lot of growing and changing and of course the birth of our son Asher.
I still remember the first night I saw you like it was yesterday, your glowing smile and radiating beauty captured my eyes and here we are so many years later and your smile and radiance still captures me in that same special way.
Thank you for taking a chance on me, I know I let you down a lot of times and I'm glad you stuck it through to see me grow and become a man.
I love you with all my heart Carrie and here's to so many more years ahead of us.
Thank you so much, and I love you with of all my heart.
Gabriel your husband.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The End of 2007 brings in 2008
Well the last month of 2007 really brought a lot of new things into my world, some exciting and fun some scary. Here's just a brief run down of the last month to a year full of change.
For my birthday I got PlayStation 2 and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock two things I've been wanting since their creation.
After that the month kind of quieted down until the last few days when all of these things happened.
1. Asher got two more teeth up front on the top!
2. Asher took two steps on his own yesterday, I'm pretty sure he will be walking in the next couple of weeks, probably just in time for his first birthday!
3. My cousin Blake called on New Years Eve and I had an awesome chat with him, it sounds like despite the fact that we have never met we are going to be good friends. We have a ton in common which is just damn weird for someone you've never met in your life but shares a blood bond with you. In fact he even owns a Smakdab CD, he didn't know anything about me at the time when he bought it, just goes to show you how paths in life cross with out ever really knowing it.
Happy New Year everyone and may 2008 be great! (Cliche intended).
For my birthday I got PlayStation 2 and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock two things I've been wanting since their creation.
After that the month kind of quieted down until the last few days when all of these things happened.
1. Asher got two more teeth up front on the top!
2. Asher took two steps on his own yesterday, I'm pretty sure he will be walking in the next couple of weeks, probably just in time for his first birthday!
3. My cousin Blake called on New Years Eve and I had an awesome chat with him, it sounds like despite the fact that we have never met we are going to be good friends. We have a ton in common which is just damn weird for someone you've never met in your life but shares a blood bond with you. In fact he even owns a Smakdab CD, he didn't know anything about me at the time when he bought it, just goes to show you how paths in life cross with out ever really knowing it.
Happy New Year everyone and may 2008 be great! (Cliche intended).
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