Well, I am still in limbo with regards to end of the year finances. I did manage to get everything to the accountant but apparently he's on vacation this week (not that anyone bothered to tell me that when I dropped the information off last week). I'm still feeling very up in the air and wishing that the numbers gave me more certainty about the future of this business....
Happier thoughts...
The FIRST Lego League experience was much more positive. I made my little NXT robot follow a line and drive around and park in a garage. . . . it was awesome! I forgot how wonderful it was to be surrounded by fellow nerds. Even better, fellow nerds who are raising nerd children. Today, I got an email from FLL telling me that our kit is being shipped. I'm very excited!
My FIL is flying back in next month (perhaps even on my birthday - hint, hint. nudge, nudge.) to do some more work on our house. We passed (mostly) the framing inspection. We need to fix a couple of items but the interior walls are cleared for plumbing and electrical. Woo hoo! We should be able to live in a real house in another year. Or so.
My two youngers (Q and Eliza) are at VBS this week. They are having a ball. It's so fun to see them singing and dancing and praising God with big smiles on their face. Little makes me happier as a mother.
My computer is a big fat mess. But hopefully it's almost fixed. I finished the restore and the problem still occurred so I shipped it back to the manufacturer. I just got it back today and am spending this afternoon, and tomorrow no doubt, updating, upgrading and installing. I'm hoping it will all work. I don't know WHAT I'm going to do if this doesn't work. I already lost it with my case manager. (Honestly, I'm surprised that he even continues to take my calls.)
This is one of the least scintillating posts I've ever done.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
747s
I have a ball of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. I'm talking 747's taking of and landing, not just puny ol' butterflies.
I'm not wholly certain as to why, but I posit two possibilities.
I'm in the middle of year end tax preparation for the business and according to Quickbooks (which I have never fully trusted) the business did very well. According to our actual bank account, the business barely broke even. And I'm not sure how that's going to come out tax wise. I'm trying to just be patient while I sort out the rest of the numbers but at this middle point, it's making me very nervous.
The second potential killer is that in the spring, I agreed to coach a FIRST Lego League team. It was one of those moments when before I've done a single thing and before I HAVE to do something, I think I can do AN.Y.THING. You know, like at 9pm when I'm thinking that I need to get exercise and that tomorrow morning at 5am would be a perfect time. (Of course, it never actually happens.) But now I actually have to start working (I have coach training today through Thursday from 5:30pm - 8:30pm) and I'm freaking out. Just a bit.
I believe that confession is good for the soul, but this is doing nothing to help those planes, darnit. I was really hoping to shoot some of them out of the sky or have the FAA forcibly ground them all.
I'll let you know how it all goes later.
I'm not wholly certain as to why, but I posit two possibilities.
I'm in the middle of year end tax preparation for the business and according to Quickbooks (which I have never fully trusted) the business did very well. According to our actual bank account, the business barely broke even. And I'm not sure how that's going to come out tax wise. I'm trying to just be patient while I sort out the rest of the numbers but at this middle point, it's making me very nervous.
The second potential killer is that in the spring, I agreed to coach a FIRST Lego League team. It was one of those moments when before I've done a single thing and before I HAVE to do something, I think I can do AN.Y.THING. You know, like at 9pm when I'm thinking that I need to get exercise and that tomorrow morning at 5am would be a perfect time. (Of course, it never actually happens.) But now I actually have to start working (I have coach training today through Thursday from 5:30pm - 8:30pm) and I'm freaking out. Just a bit.
I believe that confession is good for the soul, but this is doing nothing to help those planes, darnit. I was really hoping to shoot some of them out of the sky or have the FAA forcibly ground them all.
I'll let you know how it all goes later.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Some Days I'm the Bug
First of all, have I told any of you of my pains with my new computer?
No?
Yes?
All I hear is, "No, oh great M, tell us more."
So, I will.
Our business's main computer was old five years ago when my mom passed away. I'd been working by remote access for five years on an antique. Honestly it was a bit like this:
En-ter. The. Ven-dor. Fill. In. The. Am-ount. Press enter.
.
.
.
Check saved.
La-ther. Rinse. And. Re-peat.
Happily, our business is small and my work limited.
However, when it was to be my full-time, part-time job, I wanted a better rig. So we bought this shiny new computer with bells and whistles and a lightning fast processor. Seriously, the checks were saved before I could enter them.
That is, when it worked right.
Right outta the box, I had problems. So I called the help line.
I got someone in India.
Now normally I've had no problems talking with someone from another country but this saga has taught me that actually understanding words is only one part of the problem. India has a wholly different culture and perspective on life; the lenses of the people I spoke with were quite different then mine and there was a vast, VAST difference in understanding when I spoke with someone from India versus someone from a Western country. (Far be it from me to presume that they were in the United States. . . .)
One frustration was that every time I called and spoke someone in India, he would start off at the beginning of his flow chart, asking me the exact same questions as the person before him and giving me the exact same answers, despite the knowledge that I had been through all of this before.
I had to do a system recovery (back to factory specs) on my computer 3 times.
3. times.
The actual recovery is relatively quick (thanks to that lightning fast processor) but then you have to download and install a bunch of updates, not to mention all the software that we need to run the sucker. A full day, easily, was spent on the process each time.
Another frustration was that I didn't get passed along to someone with higher authority who could do more than tell me to do a system recovery until I got upset. I used to work in customer service and as such, I try to be patient any reps I talk to and it frustrates me that my courtesy is often rewarded with dead ends.
It took me 3 system recoveries, countless phone calls and scheduled call backs which were not kept (by the computer company) before I got fed up. The real moment was when I was about ready to perform my 4th recovery (having resigned myself to no other options) and I asked, "What do I do when I complete the recovery and then call back so I don't have to go to the back of the queue?"
"Well," says the kindly representative, "You ask for a case manager."
Pause.
"Well," says me, "How about we skip the recovery and I get a case manager now?"
Remarkably, not even 10 sentences after telling me I couldn't be transferred to a case manager, I was transferred to a case manager.
With the wrong number.
More phone calls.
Finally, I was able to speak with a case manager, the end all, be all of customer support, who tells me that he can do nothing to help me because I don't have any recorded error codes, despite the fact that my computer was freezing, daily, for no reason at all and that a local tech, certified by the manufacturer, said that my motherboard was shot.
A few months passed because I was so frustrated and felt impotent.
Finally, I picked up the phone and called the credit card company to see if we could return it and dispute the charge.
Evidently, you only have 60 days, regardless of all the problems I'd had and my efforts to work it out with the manufacturer.
I called my case manager and said that I was sending it back. He said that we were not eligible for a full refund, again, despite my problems and my efforts to work it out. Even though we had purchased the computer directly from the manufacturer, their website actually counts as a separate entity. And the 21 days in which I COULD have returned my computer, had passed. 21 DAYS!! That's all they give you, even when you've been working with them. A.R.G.H!!!
But, glory be, after my attempts to return the computer, expressing my great frustration, and becoming less than pilot. . . . perhaps even less than rude, he was suddenly willing to work on my machine.
Long story short (too late!), I had to mail my computer to them, they replaced the motherboard and sent it back to me. Via ground. (Did I mention this was our work computer?) A month after mailing it, I had my computer back.
And again, glory be, it works!!
Until I tried to install the Windows 7 upgrade that came with the computer, and it wouldn't accept my authorization key, and I had to talk to my @^#&!@ case manager again, and, wouldn't you know it, had to do ANOTHER system recovery.
So - THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE SORDID TALE - I was at work today - on my day off - to complete the recovery and set my computer up. While I waited for files to update/download/install/upgrade/whatever, I went outside to get some water from the hose. (We have no indoor plumbing - yes, I have to run one block to our home whenever I have to use the bathroom.) In the process, I stepped wrong, slipped and whoosh! I was on the ground. I didn't even have time to lie there in an infantile response to the pain zinging through my body as the ground was soaked and my pants were proving quite absorbent. (It's been pouring all day.)
When I went in to check my knee, I had a nice 1.5" cut that was oozing blood.
Then, having quit for the day, one head knock against a brick wall short of a concussion, I went home to make salmon chowder. (It's been pouring all day.) (And it's bloody cold.) (I CANNOT believe today is July 3rd!) And I managed to bump a counter, knock over a 20oz (at least) cup of water and a heavy frying pan which fell, handle end down, onto my right foot.
To recap: bloody right knee (literally - no swearing here) and a scraped and bruised right foot. Not to mention my sore right butt cheek from my earlier fall.
Yup.
Sometimes I'm the bug.
And yes, that whole long tale about my computer? Purely to get more sympathy for my war wounds and bruises.
I know. I'm pathetic.
I learned it from my kids.
No?
Yes?
All I hear is, "No, oh great M, tell us more."
So, I will.
Our business's main computer was old five years ago when my mom passed away. I'd been working by remote access for five years on an antique. Honestly it was a bit like this:
En-ter. The. Ven-dor. Fill. In. The. Am-ount. Press enter.
.
.
.
Check saved.
La-ther. Rinse. And. Re-peat.
Happily, our business is small and my work limited.
However, when it was to be my full-time, part-time job, I wanted a better rig. So we bought this shiny new computer with bells and whistles and a lightning fast processor. Seriously, the checks were saved before I could enter them.
That is, when it worked right.
Right outta the box, I had problems. So I called the help line.
I got someone in India.
Now normally I've had no problems talking with someone from another country but this saga has taught me that actually understanding words is only one part of the problem. India has a wholly different culture and perspective on life; the lenses of the people I spoke with were quite different then mine and there was a vast, VAST difference in understanding when I spoke with someone from India versus someone from a Western country. (Far be it from me to presume that they were in the United States. . . .)
One frustration was that every time I called and spoke someone in India, he would start off at the beginning of his flow chart, asking me the exact same questions as the person before him and giving me the exact same answers, despite the knowledge that I had been through all of this before.
I had to do a system recovery (back to factory specs) on my computer 3 times.
3. times.
The actual recovery is relatively quick (thanks to that lightning fast processor) but then you have to download and install a bunch of updates, not to mention all the software that we need to run the sucker. A full day, easily, was spent on the process each time.
Another frustration was that I didn't get passed along to someone with higher authority who could do more than tell me to do a system recovery until I got upset. I used to work in customer service and as such, I try to be patient any reps I talk to and it frustrates me that my courtesy is often rewarded with dead ends.
It took me 3 system recoveries, countless phone calls and scheduled call backs which were not kept (by the computer company) before I got fed up. The real moment was when I was about ready to perform my 4th recovery (having resigned myself to no other options) and I asked, "What do I do when I complete the recovery and then call back so I don't have to go to the back of the queue?"
"Well," says the kindly representative, "You ask for a case manager."
Pause.
"Well," says me, "How about we skip the recovery and I get a case manager now?"
Remarkably, not even 10 sentences after telling me I couldn't be transferred to a case manager, I was transferred to a case manager.
With the wrong number.
More phone calls.
Finally, I was able to speak with a case manager, the end all, be all of customer support, who tells me that he can do nothing to help me because I don't have any recorded error codes, despite the fact that my computer was freezing, daily, for no reason at all and that a local tech, certified by the manufacturer, said that my motherboard was shot.
A few months passed because I was so frustrated and felt impotent.
Finally, I picked up the phone and called the credit card company to see if we could return it and dispute the charge.
Evidently, you only have 60 days, regardless of all the problems I'd had and my efforts to work it out with the manufacturer.
I called my case manager and said that I was sending it back. He said that we were not eligible for a full refund, again, despite my problems and my efforts to work it out. Even though we had purchased the computer directly from the manufacturer, their website actually counts as a separate entity. And the 21 days in which I COULD have returned my computer, had passed. 21 DAYS!! That's all they give you, even when you've been working with them. A.R.G.H!!!
But, glory be, after my attempts to return the computer, expressing my great frustration, and becoming less than pilot. . . . perhaps even less than rude, he was suddenly willing to work on my machine.
Long story short (too late!), I had to mail my computer to them, they replaced the motherboard and sent it back to me. Via ground. (Did I mention this was our work computer?) A month after mailing it, I had my computer back.
And again, glory be, it works!!
Until I tried to install the Windows 7 upgrade that came with the computer, and it wouldn't accept my authorization key, and I had to talk to my @^#&!@ case manager again, and, wouldn't you know it, had to do ANOTHER system recovery.
So - THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE SORDID TALE - I was at work today - on my day off - to complete the recovery and set my computer up. While I waited for files to update/download/install/upgrade/whatever, I went outside to get some water from the hose. (We have no indoor plumbing - yes, I have to run one block to our home whenever I have to use the bathroom.) In the process, I stepped wrong, slipped and whoosh! I was on the ground. I didn't even have time to lie there in an infantile response to the pain zinging through my body as the ground was soaked and my pants were proving quite absorbent. (It's been pouring all day.)
When I went in to check my knee, I had a nice 1.5" cut that was oozing blood.
Then, having quit for the day, one head knock against a brick wall short of a concussion, I went home to make salmon chowder. (It's been pouring all day.) (And it's bloody cold.) (I CANNOT believe today is July 3rd!) And I managed to bump a counter, knock over a 20oz (at least) cup of water and a heavy frying pan which fell, handle end down, onto my right foot.
To recap: bloody right knee (literally - no swearing here) and a scraped and bruised right foot. Not to mention my sore right butt cheek from my earlier fall.
Yup.
Sometimes I'm the bug.
And yes, that whole long tale about my computer? Purely to get more sympathy for my war wounds and bruises.
I know. I'm pathetic.
I learned it from my kids.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Steel Sieve, People, Steel Sieve
Last night, Raph had karate and Q was at cub camp. After I dropped Raph off, I went shopping for a few necessities: cheese, chicken and bread. (I tried to think of a "ch" word for bread, but no dice. Unfortunately, it wasn't chia bread. *sigh* My literary aspirations are constantly thwarted by reality. . . . but I digress.)After the store, I picked up Raph, dropped some stuff at a friend's house and waited for Q to get back from camp. We finally got home at about 9:30pm.
This morning, at 5:45am, as I stood in my happy bubble of a shower, I suddenly realized, "THE CHICKEN!"
My 10# bag of frozen chicken breasts had been sitting in the back of my van.
10. pounds.
So at 6am, making lunches and breakfast for my chitlins, I'm boiling water to quickly cook the chicken so I can freeze it.
Seriously?!
I used to have a brain. . . . I wonder where it's gone?
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Mysteries Solved
After living here for almost a year, the mystery regarding the piles of dirt, cement blocks with holes and large logs has been revealed; apparently we host a mining/logging celebration.
May I say, it was fab.u.lous?
Our town usually hosts a large 4th of July celebration. This celebration is one of the only opportunities the residents here are able to enjoy the sweet delights of cotton candy, the vast entertainment of pony rides and fishing ponds. Needless to say, the lines are loong. We may not have very many residents, but ALL of them show up and ALL of them want the good stuff.
Fortunately, not so many of them want to participate in a mining/logging celebration. Which means: SHORT LINES.
Seriously. Lulu's pony ride? There was no waiting involved. We paid our money, didn't even need a ticket because there was hardly anyone there, put on a helmet and by the time she looked up, the horse she wanted was ready to ride.
Cotton candy? You just walk up, plunk down the cash and walk away with sweet, sticky fluff. Mmmmm....
The only long wait involved the opportunity to operate a front-end loader (you know - Scoop). Quinn was the only one who signed up. $5 bought an awesome hat and the opportunity to use Scoop to knock down colored balls, with the matching colored tine on the scoop, and pick up a ring and move it to the other side of the area. 1 hour wait, but so. much. fun.
Also, for the mercenary side of parenting, part of the deal in the celebration is that the companies themselves trying to establish goodwill in the communities (read that as plenty of free options). Gold panning: FREE! Children's Carnival (fishing pond, ring toss, helium balloons, bean bag toss, all with prizes): FREE! Mining hat key rings with a built-in light: FREE! Candy at every booth: FREE!
My kids had a blast. They even deigned to watch a competitor or too but watching grown men shovel dirt, no matter how quickly it's done, really isn't that entertaining.
The logging events are tomorrow and I'm debating about dropping by, just on a casual Sabbath day stroll, so I can see some poor schmuck end up in the drink during the log rolling competition.
May I say, it was fab.u.lous?
Our town usually hosts a large 4th of July celebration. This celebration is one of the only opportunities the residents here are able to enjoy the sweet delights of cotton candy, the vast entertainment of pony rides and fishing ponds. Needless to say, the lines are loong. We may not have very many residents, but ALL of them show up and ALL of them want the good stuff.
Fortunately, not so many of them want to participate in a mining/logging celebration. Which means: SHORT LINES.
Seriously. Lulu's pony ride? There was no waiting involved. We paid our money, didn't even need a ticket because there was hardly anyone there, put on a helmet and by the time she looked up, the horse she wanted was ready to ride.
Cotton candy? You just walk up, plunk down the cash and walk away with sweet, sticky fluff. Mmmmm....
The only long wait involved the opportunity to operate a front-end loader (you know - Scoop). Quinn was the only one who signed up. $5 bought an awesome hat and the opportunity to use Scoop to knock down colored balls, with the matching colored tine on the scoop, and pick up a ring and move it to the other side of the area. 1 hour wait, but so. much. fun.
Also, for the mercenary side of parenting, part of the deal in the celebration is that the companies themselves trying to establish goodwill in the communities (read that as plenty of free options). Gold panning: FREE! Children's Carnival (fishing pond, ring toss, helium balloons, bean bag toss, all with prizes): FREE! Mining hat key rings with a built-in light: FREE! Candy at every booth: FREE!
My kids had a blast. They even deigned to watch a competitor or too but watching grown men shovel dirt, no matter how quickly it's done, really isn't that entertaining.
The logging events are tomorrow and I'm debating about dropping by, just on a casual Sabbath day stroll, so I can see some poor schmuck end up in the drink during the log rolling competition.
Friday, June 25, 2010
My Failure as a Mother
My favorite 11yo in the entire world (also known as my oldest son Raph) lost his very last baby tooth.
A month ago.
No tooth fairy in sight.
Poor Raph.
He knows the truth so I know he just keeps blowing it off. "Mom forgot. Again."
Really, I am just waiting for him to walk up to me some afternoon and say, "Look, the tooth's MIA - probably lost under the bed somewhere. Can I just have my $1?"
A month ago.
No tooth fairy in sight.
Poor Raph.
He knows the truth so I know he just keeps blowing it off. "Mom forgot. Again."
Really, I am just waiting for him to walk up to me some afternoon and say, "Look, the tooth's MIA - probably lost under the bed somewhere. Can I just have my $1?"
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
POSITIVE
So much to tell.
However, I am trying something new.
I have been, if you haven't been able to tell already, completely overwhelmed by life.
I still am.
It seems every time I begin to adjust and feel ready to handle the new challenges, something else pops up. I feel like Gideon, watching as my army is whittled down by God from a mighty 70,000 (I think - don't quote me on it) to a whimpy one of 300.
But, afraid that the courts may just show up and mandate that my name be legally changed to Debbie Downer, I am determined to come up with something positive.
I am POSITIVE that there is more rain falling from our skies today than anywhere else in the world.
I am POSITIVE that, barring any angels or miraculous visions, after this Friday there will be no further additions to my family and that my baby is an ever aging 6 year old. (And yes, I'm POSITIVE my husband will be THRILLED by the fact that I'm announcing this to all the world.)
I am POSITIVE, though I welcome being proved wrong, that we will be living with my father for another year as we wait for our home remodel to be finished. ("Wait...what?!" you say, "What are you building? A home?!" More details will follow, I'm POSITIVE, but they must wait as this computer is slower than honey being poured in Antarctica.)
I am POSITIVE that I will continue to remain married despite all of Robert's and my efforts in the contrary.
Hmmmm.....I am POSITIVE that my oldest son will make it to 12 but all bets are off after that.
Whew.
I'm exhausted.
So. much. positivity.
I think I need to lie down now.
However, I am trying something new.
I have been, if you haven't been able to tell already, completely overwhelmed by life.
I still am.
It seems every time I begin to adjust and feel ready to handle the new challenges, something else pops up. I feel like Gideon, watching as my army is whittled down by God from a mighty 70,000 (I think - don't quote me on it) to a whimpy one of 300.
But, afraid that the courts may just show up and mandate that my name be legally changed to Debbie Downer, I am determined to come up with something positive.
I am POSITIVE that there is more rain falling from our skies today than anywhere else in the world.
I am POSITIVE that, barring any angels or miraculous visions, after this Friday there will be no further additions to my family and that my baby is an ever aging 6 year old. (And yes, I'm POSITIVE my husband will be THRILLED by the fact that I'm announcing this to all the world.)
I am POSITIVE, though I welcome being proved wrong, that we will be living with my father for another year as we wait for our home remodel to be finished. ("Wait...what?!" you say, "What are you building? A home?!" More details will follow, I'm POSITIVE, but they must wait as this computer is slower than honey being poured in Antarctica.)
I am POSITIVE that I will continue to remain married despite all of Robert's and my efforts in the contrary.
Hmmmm.....I am POSITIVE that my oldest son will make it to 12 but all bets are off after that.
Whew.
I'm exhausted.
So. much. positivity.
I think I need to lie down now.
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