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Home > Archive: June, 2006

Archive for June, 2006

Check your junkmail!

June 24th, 2006 at 09:51 pm

About two weeks ago (actually, I now know it was the 8th) I came home from work and sat down to watch the evening news. I couldn't do it though, because my cable was not working! I checked on my Tivo for the programs that were supposed to have recorded that day, and the last one had finished at 3 p.m. I fiddled around with the cords and cables, and could not make it work.

I called the cable company and told them what had happened. When I mentioned I had a Tivo, they told me to check and make sure it wasn't an issue with my Tivo. I rebooted my Tivo, rechecked everything. Still didn't work.

My dad suggested I talk to my apartment management - maybe they had accidentally drilled/cut through the cable line. I had to wait till last Friday after work (they are closed before I get off, except on Fridays). The lady I spoke to just kept repeating that they don't mess with cable or phone lines (yeah right on the phone lines - but anyway.)

On Sunday my dad was here for Father's day and he pretty much did everything I had done - and came to the same conclusion. The problem wasn't my equipment.

I procrastinated until Friday to call the cable company. I called and explained to them all of the above. They scheduled someone to come out here on Sunday afternoon at no charge. Whoo!

Now --- on to this afternoon. I was working around my apartment doing some general pickup. One pile I hadn't touched for a while was the junk mail pile. Usually, I'll just toss it or shred it. As I was going through the pile, I noticed a letter I'd received from Comcast for "Current Resident". I figured it was just a promotional deal . . . but, I decided to open it in case it might give me something to persuade a better deal.

Lo and behold - it was a notice that they had performed a cable audit and found that my apartment had cable, but no account with them - on the 8th - so they turned it off!

I quickly went to check my latest account statement from them - and sure enough - they had the wrong apartment number for my address! When I first moved in, back in February, and had the cable installed, somehow on the work order they had had 2034 instead of my #. We managed to catch the guy before he left that day. I thought at the time, that that was that.

But apparentally not.

I called Comcast and explained the whole thing to one of the billing department ladies. She hadn't ever dealt with anything like this - so she sent me to a customer care person. In the end, both ladies I spoke to were very friendly and apologetic. I will be getting my cable working again tomorrow afternoon -- and I will be getting a credit from the 8th of June plus an extra week.

Just in time for Big Brother to start. Smile Smile

Moral of the story: Check your junkmail!

KIF

Small successes

June 24th, 2006 at 04:44 pm

This past week I drove out to Garland two times. Why? To make sure my friend's cat had plenty of food and water. My friend and her family were on vacation this past week.

Why am I mentioning this? The closest Dairy Queen that I know of, is the one near my friend's house. This is also near where I go for my Coupon Club once a month. I absolutely LOVE to get a DQ Blizzard, usually with two mixes (cookie dough and oreos!). A small one costs approximately $3 - not to mention about 750 calories (with the extra mix).

Thankfully, this DQ is about 12 miles from me (translates into ~20-25 minutes actual driving time) so the only time I go near it is when I visit my friend, or go to Coupon Club. The last few months I have been letting myself get a Blizzard each time I go. This past week, I had TWO chances to get one, and somehow, someway talked myself out of it BOTH times! This is a victory for me both in finances, and in sticking to my diet. Why spend nearly half my daily calorie allowance on ONE treat? Why spend $3 of my grocery money on something that is so unhealthy - especially when that same $3 could buy several pounds of apples or bananas or other good for me treats?!

Another small victory for me happend at work on Friday. Someone brought in a box of Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts. This happens to be yet another food that I LOVE (especially warmed in the micro for 15 seconds!). It was free food too - which is something hard to pass up. I was in that breakroom at least 3x, and passed by there several dozen more times during the day. BUT - I did not succumb!

What so far is the result of these two small victories (plus more in the last month)? Saved at least $6 .... and lost 7 pounds (total for 3 weeks)!!! Smile

Free Diet and Nutrition site similar to WW's!

June 21st, 2006 at 03:42 am

I just wanted to let you all know about this great site I found called Spark People. It is similar to fitday.com in that you can track you food intake, etc. But it has a lot more features, i.e. messageboards, lots of interesting articles, visuals for various strength training exercises, etc. In a way, it is quite similar to the Weight Watcher's site (including it's paid features) for absolutely no cost!

It really is fantastic!

Now, a question. I am thinking about getting a food scale. I want one that measures in grams and is digital. I would love to have suggestions on what to get!

I apologize for having been absent for awhile on my posting. I've begun to work in the back office in the afternoons M - Th and all day Friday, so have had MUCH less computer time. I still haven't asked about a raise, but am planning on it within the next month or so. Smile

Thanks all!

Laura

Car Repairs at the Dealership

June 1st, 2006 at 09:58 pm

Last night my dad and I traded cars so he could take my car for its 90K mile checkup. He had called around to a number of different places, and supposedly the Honda Dealership had the least expensive quote, so I told him to go with the dealer.

Today during my lunch break dad calls me and tells me my car is finished and he's bringing it back. I was pretty surprised it was already finished, but very happy to get it back so soon.

Then he told me about what happened at the dealership. The price they had quoted was $259 + tax. While they were working on my car, they found out that the Mandolin? was broken and needed to be replaced - a $800 repair!!! Luckily it was a part that was under warranty (via the EPA, 14 years or 150k miles) so it didn't cost me a dime. WHEW!

Apparantally I also somehow qualified for a free tune-up (sparkplugs, oil change, etc). Also, they lubricated my gas pedal ($45 value) for free.

They also found out that some part on my rear wheel needs to be fixed ($600) but is not urgent. (Will wait awhile on this one.)

So, after all was said and done, my 90K mile checkup ended up costing $230.10 !!!

Considering how much I am driving, I have the feeling it will be a LONG time before I have to go in for another checkup ... but I am very happy that the dealership treated me so fairly.

Lesson learned: Don't assume that getting car repairs/maintenance at the dealership equals getting ripped off!

KIF,

Laura