10-27-10 Wednesday (Dead Blogging)

I’m blogging to you live from the BMW dealer.  Live?  As opposed to dead?  Hmmmm, well, and not so live by the time you read it.  Just scratch all that out.  Sheesh.

OK, so I’m at the dealer getting Jim’s car fixed.  The rearview mirror has some sort of  liquid type stuff in it that enables it to dim.  With fanciness of bells and whistles also equates to more things to go wrong.  A new mirror is over $400 for the part.  That doesn’t even include labor although Jim can install a new one.  I called the dealer to see if our certified preowned warranty would take care of it.  They said it would.  I think we have a $50 deductible. 

Replacing a mirror (if in stock) and washing the car should be a short visit however the waiting room is slap full of people (22 seats).  I can betcha there’s more customers here than there are technicians.  Assuming I’d be here a while I prepared by bringing my laptop (obviously). 

The last time I was here I blogged as well.  I bitched about some “characters” here the last time.  Well, I gotta keep up with the theme.  So far the TV is extremely loud and naturally when the commercials play, it’s ridiculously loud.  I woman, who has since left the waiting room was in seat in front of me and talking on the phone loudly.  Maybe she was competing with the TV?  Either way, get your ass out of the room.  Go step outside and yap on the phone. 

I’m not sure why it strikes me as funny but a woman was standing outside talking on the phone.  She was leaned against the wall with one foot tilted upward exposing the sole of her shoe.  On the bottom, a TJ Maxx price tag.  Maybe she never removed the tag thinking, “who’s gonna see it?”  Me, me, me.   Every time I get my camera phone ready to snap a photo she paces away.

Hmmmm, the next “character” in the waiting room just reared it’s ugly head.  A misbehaved child.  His momma might need to take him outside and have a “talk” with him.  He’s disturbing me.  I’m disturbed enough without his help.

In other non-important news, the leaves around town are just gorgeous.  I’m trying not to wreck the car while I stare off in space and think how lucky I am to live here.  I’m very happy here.  Can ya tell?  Now, if I can just get a job – that I like – it will be even more perfect.

So far I’ve been here for an hour and 15 minutes.  I’m bored.  I have ironing to do.  Sounds fun doesn’t it?  Maybe I should just stay here?

I checked with my service consultant who said it’s done and in the wash bay.  It will take 20 minutes more.  It’s now been 1 hour, 45 minutes.  Oy. 

Finally I get to leave.  They replaced the mirror; I paid my $50 deductible.  They didn’t even wash the car!  They cleaned the wheels is all.  2 hours to have a mirror replaced and wheels cleaned.

On my way home I stopped at Walmart and picked up my new glasses.  I wear contact lenses 99.99% of the time.  I sleep in them!  I take them out for 30 seconds everyday to rinse them.   I’m hoping that I’ll be inspired to wear glasses instead of just the contacts so I can give my eyes a much deserved break.

If you don’t like them, please direct negative comments to Tim who helped me pick them out.  Oh and I guess if you like them you can praise him too.  Feel free to be honest.  I was only arrested once for stalking a blog follower and that was totally dismissed.  No body, no case.

Back in July, Jim’s Dad sent him this birthday card:

So what did he send us for Halloween???????

Above: The inside of the card read: “See, there are things more frightening than Halloween.”

Nauseated?  Yeah.

10-25-10 Monday & 10-26-10 Tuesday

Monday: I had a 3 hour assessment/test thingamajig in Uptown today.  It was with Duke Energy for a customer service position.   Along with 8 other candidates, we each had our own work station.  They provided a computer, headphones, scratch paper, 2 pencils and calculators.  The whole thing was a simulation to grade speed and accuracy.  First we had to learn (via the computer) what ABC Electric’s policies were.  We were provided with several charts to refer to as we did our “job”.  We “took phone calls” which were simulated prerecorded calls with “customers” spouting out information to establish new service, change existing service, negotiate payment options for past due accounts, dispute meter readings/bills, set up budget billing accounts, etc.  Very in depth, fast typing, accurate listening, the works.  Crazy stuff!  I passed!  Yay!

The only problem now is that there aren’t any positions open right now, at least according to their website.  I was told they’d resume hiring at the beginning of November.  That’s not too far away.  Naturally as I typed the previous paragraph I just got this in my email:

“I just wanted to provide you with a quick status update for the CSR position that you had applied, tested for and passed. Currently our hiring team is taking some time off from conducting interviews. They will resume interviewing sometime towards the middle of November to early December.”

Oh well, we’ll see what happens.

Tim came over and I helped him with his résumé.  While doing that, I multitasked and made lasagna.  I don’t know exactly what caused it but it was flavorless.  Maybe the beef, the sauce, the cheese?  Usually it comes out pretty good.  Never as good as our friend, Laurie’s, but edible.  Anyway, you would have thought I made it with layers of cardboard rather than lasagna noodles.  Damn we miss Laurie and Pearl, and no, not just for the lasagna. 

Tuesday: This morning I applied for a job with a major home improvement store.  Something in human resources actually.  I had to take an assessment.  I’ve taken this exact assessment in July so I assume it’s only “good” for a certain amount of time.  I took screen shots again¹:

¹Clicking on each photo will open a new window with a larger version of the photo.  Go ahead – you know you want to look.

Wow.  I hate assessments.  After I take them I’m left wondering how soon it will be until a van pulls into the neighborhood toting a straight jacket with my name on it?  Do they even personalize straight jackets?  Cool.

Mostly out of pure boredom I took a drive to Walmart.  I was curious if my glasses had come in yet.  I never received an itemized receipt the day or my order – just a credit card slip.  I wanted to be sure the order was even placed.  The woman helping me the other day seemed slightly on the novice side.  Yes, I could have called them but like I said the trip was mostly out of boredom.   Today I received my itemized receipt and was told my glasses should be in tomorrow.  I’m kinda excited even though I hate wearing glasses.  I know, I’m crazy, please refer to the photo above.

The Walmart closest to me has a full aisle devoted to clearance items.  I love browsing the clearance aisle!  I pick up so many different things but luckily leave them where I found them.  

Carl & Tim came over and cooked us dinner.  Tacos!  Mmmmmm.  As typical, I forgot to take pictures capturing the moments of Carl and/or Tim dicing, chopping, frying, etc.  Tomorrow night they’re coming over for dinner again.  I’m making chicken stir fry for them!

10-24-10 Sunday (Cheap Houses)

Mmmmmm, how I love food so why not start the day with sugary sweet specialty french toast.  Yes, Jim fell prey to a yummy looking ad for Terrace Café that ran in a local paper.  The ad itself is on their website too but too small to be readable.  Here’s the photo portion:

That my friends, is a Red Velvet Waffle.

Jim said it was good not but as much as he expected.

I chose the S’mores French Toast.  I felt like a child.  Mine was delish.  AND just in case it didn’t have enough calories, I added syrup.  Mmmmmmm.

Did I mention mmmmmmmmmm?

We spent most of the day driving around and checking out neighborhoods.  Here’s my day in pictures:

Above: Unique looking pine cones.  They grew upward.  Anyone know what kind it is?

Above: These people went all out for Halloween.  They covered the front of their house with cardboard or the like with an image of gray brick.  The eaves have a great scalloped edge that fits the theme.

Above: At another house.  I loved the crime scene idea.

Above: Lower left sign reads “cheap house $29,000”.  Yeah I agree it’s a cheap house but no other info.

Above/below: Cute house and then next door is this permanent trailer.  It was out of place for the neighborhood.

 

Above: Just a tree that made me gasp with joy.

10-23-10 Saturday (Bring A Rake)

Jim and I took a drive to the mountains.  We wanted to see some of the fall foliage.  It.was.fantastic.  I was in awe 90% of the time.  We headed north and drove the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Above: This was taken at some gem display rest area state/national park thingy place.

 

Above: In Blowing Rock, Jim found his grandparents house from years and years ago!

 

Trust me.  The photos don’t do it justice.  I wore rose colored sunglasses which amplified the colors.  Intense.  Beautiful. 

We did visit Boone.  It’s a charming town.  There’s old and new parts.  We drove through the old town part.  Charming but busy and a lack of parking.  It was 2pm.  We were hungry so we decided to scout for a NON-chain restaurant.  Every place looked busy.  2pm – dunno why. 

We finally came across a place that looked “not so busy”.  We walked into this place, Mountain House Pancakes, and it was a knock off of Cracker Barrel only with much more crap.  There was a line to get seated.  We didn’t have to wait too long.  Service sucked.  There seemed to have been more bus boys than wait staff.  The food was substandard.  I thought maybe we’re missing something.  Some hidden charm?  Everything screamed bargain to me.  The ketchup and Sweet n Low packets were off brand Sysco stuff.  The “meat” in my club sandwich was a dark weird looking meat.  It was the kind that would come in one of those 50 cent packs.  Jim thought it might be roast beef.  Hmmmm.

As typical when blogging, I researched the place to incorporate information I’ve found.  I found many humorous reviews about the place.  Here, if you wanna see.  Ugh.