I love precious moments like this.

Me & Logo

Let me in!

I have about 30K miles on Continental. *Sweet, Continental is a hub in CLE*
I want to book a one-way ticket *Should be NP*
I login to continental.com and enter my frequent flyer # *ok*
No selection for one way ticket using my miles *boo*
Need to call customer service, but closed at 8:30 CST *FAIL*

We can’t wait till we get a chance to get our hair cut from her. Sounds like we need to plan a girl’s weekend in NYC.

THANKS TABATHA! I think my sister might fly home from London just to come back to your salon

Chicken Coop?

For weeks, the apartment complex down the street has had signs by the entrance:

“Move-in special”
“3 bedrooms available”
“First month’s rent free”

It’s not just the housing market that is suffering, apparently apartment complexs are lacking tenants.

The latest marketing tactic has gone a bit too far. A couple days ago, they had a man in a frog suit holding a sign. Today, I snapped this pic. Somehow, I don’t think I would live in a place that has a chicken man standing out front with a sign that says “Huge Floor Plans.” Would you?

www.doggiedooley.com

After reading about the Doggie Dooley from my new favorite Siberian Husky blog – Washington Woos – I have been thinking about getting this for the new house. In my condo, we had to pick up after the dogs however I know I will get lazy in the mornings and just open the sliding glass door instead, especially in the winter! This also means I can cut back on the $20, biodegradable bags I buy at the store.

I sent a note to my two sisters that I wanted one, maybe as a house warming gift. Sister #2 Debbie said “I am NOT buying you one of those, but tell me if you like it if you buy it.” Sister #1 Patti said, “Do it and buy extra enzymes!” For $37.99 from my favorite store in the world Costco, I just might have to buy this for the new house. What do you think? Buy it or scoop?

Logan and Kali at the lake

This week is all about the move….and for some reason I’m feeling like I need to write about it.

After work today, I took Logan and Kali on our routine walk around the complex. As usual,  the fish by the shore get scared and the girls get excited – ooo, movement! I decided to let them hang by the lake for a bit while I listened to the fountain. I snapped this pic. If you are like me and take a ton of pictures, I have been extremely happen with the camera on my blackberry curve. In fact, my blackberry is one of the best phones I have EVER had.

The new house sits across from a retention pond but there is a fence around it – no swimming, no fishing, blah blah blah – so no way of getting this close. At least on nice days we will be able to open the windows and hear the water.

No more bushes

This week I will be taking vacation to move into the new house – YEAH! I think I am going to try and post all about the moving adventure.

Spent the mjority of time this weekend at the new place ripping out bushes, pruning, cutting down the “leaning tower of tree” etc. The landscaping was from the original builders and just neglected over the years. The bushes were planted too close to the house (which caused some damage) and covered the beautiful bay window. I decided that it was time to start fresh. During the demo, we found a baseball, an old solar light, a box of raisins, 3 tennis balls, a nerf golf ball, a Nyla Bone frisbee and a dead bird. Is this Suburbia or what?

Here’s a comparison shot of the house with and without the bushes. The area on the left by the tree has some nice landscaping stones that I will need to rearrange.

Anyone have suggestions on new plants for the front? Sun from morning till night as it rises on the left side of the house and sets on the right.

I spent this weekend in Cleveland for a big weekend of family bonding. Saturday, my niece Giovanna was baptised by Father Frank, who is my grandmother’s nephew. She was a bit fussy but overall, it was quick and dirty. During Father’s surmon, he was commenting how God-parents are important, hopefully they can also be the child’s sponsor and that you should set a little $$ aside for them when they turn 18 for college (or a car), etc. On the car ride home, my nephew Michael rode with me. I ask him if he knew who his God Parents were. Of course he didn’t know, he has the attention span of a gnat! After telling him it is my brother-in-law Tony and myself, he responded with,

“Oh yeah, you owe me $ when I am 18.”

Apparently, he was listening. Thanks Father Frank!

After the Baptism and some grub, we trucked it out to Michael’s Flag Football game. He is pretty good at doing what he is told but still doesn’t understand the concept of football. He completed 1 pass while playing QB however spent the majority of the time on the field wiping the spit that was drooling out of his mouth from an oversized mouthguard!

Michael and his mouthguard

This post is not one of those insightful, meaningful, confusious-esk ideas that normally come to me once a year, this is really a post to vent about an experience today with a local, Cincinnati owned Heating and Air company affectionately known as “the Comfort zone,” Recker and Boerger.

I live in a condo, that has five units in one building. My unit is on the first floor and my neighbor Lisa lives above me. Her 10 SEER unit recently stopped working and she asked for my recommendation for a company to replace hers. Last year, I paid $3700 from 24hr Afforable (Loveland, OH) for the government regulated, 13 SEER unit made by Carrier. 24hr Affordable had great people, easy to work with, LOVED THEM! I saw Lisa at lunchtime today and asked her if she made a decision. Next Wednesday, Recker and Boerger will be replacing her unit. While standing with Lisa, I got the number and called; asked if the men who install her unit could service my unit at the time. Mind you, the units sit side by side right outside my patio and with the price of gas, why not combine a trip?

The woman informed me that installation and service are two different people and they could NOT schedule a combined service. They were only accepting service calls for June 25 or later. I am not an expect however I watched the installation of my unit and asked many questions, always intrigued to learn something. I know for a fact that the same tools used to test the units after they fill with chlorofluorocarbon and hydrochlorofluorocarbon refrigerants (or more widely known as Freon, coined by DuPont) are used to service them.  I kindly told the woman that I will take my $85 elsewhere and will NOT use Recker and Boerger, ever. 

You may ask, if I was so happy with 24hr Afforable, why didn’t I just call them? Honestly, I have been too busy, hence the explanation in the beginning of this post.

If there was one thing about customer loyalty I learned from my late grandfather who spent 30+ years as a meat cutter at Fisher Foods in Cleveland, it was first impression. Recker and Boerger lost a potential customer, one that might build a house in the future and will need to select a company to do all the heating and air. They made a bad first impression and gained a blogger who is very willing to write about her experience for MANY people in Cincinnati to read about. If I had the time, I would do some competitive bidding for Lisa and NOT let her use Recker and Boerger. Any others who had bad experience with them? 

The selection committee is due to make the selections for the 2008 class by Memorial Day and I will be notified immediately after if I am picked. The 2008 induction ceremony is on August 30, 3 pm; I assume it’s during halftime at one of the football games like they did last year.

This review of my athletic career has sparked me to really look at where I am physically and what I want to accomplish. This weekend, I went down to the Flying Pig Marathon and cheered on two people -  Chris Kelley, a colleague and Cathy Doxsey, my trainer. I took some pics of the event

Flying Pig

Several months ago I joked with Chris about running it with him. Part of me regrets that I didn’t do it. Chris finished just over his goal at 2:03:53. Cathy, my trainer, finished at 2:20:32. Seeing all the runners get close to the finish swine was inspiring. Especially the lady who saw it and said “Sweet Jesus!” Now I have to seriously think about training for the half next year…364 days to go.

Inspiration for me has really come in all facets this weekend. While at the gym on Saturday, running, I watched the Kentucky Derby. If you didn’t hear about what happen, I highly recommend you read ESPN’s Pat Forde’s (I’m a fan of his!) article on it. Here is a small excerpt:

(The Kentucky Derby) It gave us an overpowering tour de force from Big Brown, stomping the competition despite inexperience and unfavorable post position. And it gave us a fatal injury after the race, when filly Eight Belles followed a sensational effort of her own to finish second by fracturing both ankles, falling to the track and being euthanized on the spot.

BTW – HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!