It's Madness I Tell You

Ah, yes. The "fun" that occurs before you go out of town.

1. Telling my new clients (new as of this week... meaning they just called me Tuesday) that I will be gone for a week, all the while I'm crossing my fingers that they don't freak out and take their business somewhere else. Thankfully they didn't.

Although it's not like I would have been able to help it. This trip has been planned since Thanksgiving. Yes, seriously that long.

Check!


2. Telling existing clients that I will be gone. for. a. week. They actually knew this a month or two ago.

It's fine, but some of them want more work done. That's alright with me, but it will just have to wait until I get back.

Here's hoping they won't all pounce on me when we get back.

Check!


3. Setting up an "out of office" email that unfortunately isn't working properly - yet.

Tell me. How can it send a reply to an email that is over a month old, archived in a separate folder, and was not even sent to my work email? The silly thing auto responded to an email from J that was sent to my personal email address. I didn't set it up to work with my personal email. I'm thinking that email and I need to have a serious heart-to-heart.

Check!


4. Putting our mail "on hold" so the carrier won't get mad that we haven't checked the mail all week.

Check!


5. Notifying the police/sheriff to come by and check our house daily.

By-the-way, I think this is awesome! I can send a form in, and have an officer come by to check all our doors, windows, vehicles and property. Our tax dollars at work, doing something good for a change.

and check!


Now onto the "fun" stuff.

6. Packing items for two people into one suitcase. Did you hear me? Two pee-pulls. We. can. do. it!


Hey, we're going to be on the beach most of the time so we don't need that many changes of clothes. Plus, the beach house has a washer and dryer so that will keep any stink away.

What? What did I just say? Heh. We don't smell. We bathe regularly and use deodorant. Yep, nifty concept isn't it?

That reminds me of when we were at the store the other night. Someone walked by and almost knocked us over with their B.O.

[ahem, clears throat]


I can understand someone who is unprivileged, homeless, or in another country/culture not being able to shower or use deodorant. However, if you are out shopping wearing nice clothes, nice shoes, lots of jewelry, etc., for all that is good and decent puh-leeese take a shower and put on deodorant.

Tip of the day: If you can smell yourself, so can everyone else.

This is not passing judgment, it is a fact. You are a little bit smelly, so everyone you walk by has the "pleasure" of enduring it.

Honesty Check:

I've been in the situation where I showered, put on deodorant, and then was outside when it was really hot. When I entered an air conditioned establishment, to my surprise I could smell my own underarms. Ick! My deodorant did not seem to be working. Sweet sassafras!

Self-conscious anyone? [Flails arms about] Yes, I sure was. I probably walked around with my arms locked down at my sides trying to keep anyone from noticing.


That was quite a tangent... back to packing.



So, we have been doing laundry, folding and packing clothes, swimsuits, socks, shampoo, lotion, sunblock, and let's not forget the all important deodorant.


Almost done!


7. We are also getting Kira ready to go stay with her best dog buddy Angel, and M (Angel's mom).

Angel is the darker pup, and Kira is her usual "Red Merle" self.

Kira absolutely lurves M and Angel. She isn't coming with us, because we aren't allowed to have pets in the beach house. [sniff, sniff]

These two are so cute together, and they have a lot of fun.
Angel always acts like a puppy, even though she is about 7 or 8.

Please excuse my "mommy" voice. You know, the
voice we can't help but use when talking to little ones.

We'll pack her things tomorrow, before taking her to M's house. We don't like getting her ready too early, because then she gets anxious and stressed.

Almost done!


8. Cleaning the house so it's not a wreck when we get back.


That's one thing I can't stand. Coming back home and there's a mess, or the house needs to be vacuumed. J's grandpa is staying with us Friday night, so we need it cleaned up for guests too. There's nothing better than coming home to a tidy house and clean sheets on your bed.

Completing today!


9. Making sure we don't forget anything. Especially important things like medications, underwear... or deodorant!

Doing today and Friday!


10. Using up as much as we can of items in the fridge that will spoil.

We're down to about 4 cups of milk, so between having pancakes for dinner tonight and possibly cereal for breakfast tomorrow, we should finish it up. We used our remaining Romaine lettuce (with cranberries, pecans and almond slivers) on Tuesday for grilled chicken salad. Yum, that was so good!

Check!

11. Getting the last minute things done.

The AC repairman has been dragging his feet, and still NEEDS to come out to fix this thing. He came out last week, but of course it was cooler that day, so nothing happened with the AC.

Talking on the phone with him is like pulling teeth, or, or a root canal! He acts like we're stupid, and becomes condescending.

"Oh your thermostat is reading 84 degrees? It's not really that hot in your house. You would be able to tell if it was."

"The compressor won't come on? It's only 87 degrees outside today, that shouldn't be the problem."

"I think it's an air flow problem. It's not the air conditioner itself."

Really? I mean, jeez I thought it was your job to install the AC unit, get it up and running, and keep it running. NOT to question me. Why else would you get paid? Plus we already addressed the "air flow" issue. That was last summer/fall. J and I, along with our landlord don't think that is the problem, but then again we're not AC technicians... thus the need for Mr. AC repairman to come fix things.

What happened to satisfying the customer?

[shakes head]

If I owned this home, I would not be calling him to repair our AC, that's for sure! The sad thing is that he has done a good job in the past. I understand that this is summer (the temperatures reflect that) and he's busy, but he needs to stop being so crabby and get his job done too. Even if that means he needs to call the AC unit manufacturer.

Maybe he needs to learn a few things:

A. Don't sigh at me over the phone. - It makes me want to smack you in the head. (Not that I'd do it, but it is really aggravating and disrespectful.) If you were my child, this would not fly.

B. Don't mumble when you're up in my attic, I can STILL hear you. - Being rude to others doesn't get you very far in life.

C. Sometimes jobs stink. - If you don't like your profession, there are other things you could do.

D. If you must complain, don't do it in front of clients. It makes you look bad. - We're all human and need to "vent", but do it in private.

E. - Z. Just do your job.

Trying to finish... but some people are making it difficult!