Showing posts with label Etsy listings up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Etsy listings up. Show all posts

Monday, May 5, 2014

What's New at Chez Sluggy?

Just some Random Stuff going on around here......

*  I just added up the credit card expensed from our road trip to Louisiana and I am not happy.
$2985.58 on the card.
Bleh.
Between that and having just finished our Net Worth Statement for MAY I am not a happy camper right now.  Retirement Funds were up only $4,500 from March(last month these were up $11,500) and the cash funds were down $2,100....plus now a big chunk of our liquid money is tied up in a Personal Loan to our daughter.
I am feeling rather poorer right now.

*  After almost 2 months of looking for a new part time job, #2 Son found one!
Guess where he is working?



If you guessed the new local bakery that opened up recently in  teeny tiny town, you are correct!

#2 Son had quit his demanding restaurant kitchen job back in February.  Not only was it a hostile work environment but he was working basically fulltime hours around his school and activities schedule and since he was a kid they were not paying him commensurate with his duties and work.
And he had college auditions coming up to prepare for so he gave his notice in late January.

I figured at this point in the year no one around here would hire him when they found out he'd be leaving to go away to college in August.
why spent the time and energy(not to mention the money!)to train someone who will leave in less than 4 months.

But someone DID hire him!
And he is loving the people and the work.  And it seems they are loving him since they have him working the doughnut filling station and the register and have put him on the schedule for weekend mornings(their busy times).

While he is enjoying a better work environment I am not enjoying that he bring bags, BAGS I SAY!, of pastries, doughnuts and bread home every day he works til closing time.
I guess the 50% off rack at Weis and the Bread Outlet will see a lot less(if not any)of my money any longer.

All I can say about the photo above is......Must Resist Eating This!......
8-)

And the restaurant where he was taken advantage of?
Here's what happened to it March 17th......

 


If you knew what went on in that kitchen, you'd never have wanted to eat there again......I'm just sayin'......

*  Wednesday night was a last for us.
The last High School Band/Chorus Concert we ever need to attend(outside of any for grandchildren, some day).
And I am OVERJOYED!
Not that I don't love going to see my kids perform.....but I am so sick and tired of the ignorant, uncivilized behavior of the audience members.
Ok, the fellow students and siblings of the kids performing I can understand--they are young and haven't learned you don't get up in the middle of a concert while a number is being performed to walk the aisles, you don't talk through the entire number and you don't play on your PHONE during it!

But what GETS ME are the PARENTS of these kids who do all this!!!  When their kid is not performing, they chat, bring coffees into the auditorium and slurp it, text on their phones and I have to listen to phone sounds and they get up during numbers and go back and forth to their seats.
Its. Maddening!!!

I thought for sure Hubs was going to get into a knife fight Wednesday when he turned around and yelled at the assholes sitting behind us.
Gawd, these people here are so ignorant....but I am sure it's in all parts of the country.

The teachers use to tell the audience(parents)not to leave after their student performs....this was common a few years ago, as a kid finished their bit, they and their parents and friends would leave and by the time the Jazz Band(which was always last to perform)went on, the only folks in the audience were family and friends of those performers.

I sure wish these asshole parents would go back to leaving after their kids were done.  At least the rest of us behaved audience members would get to ENJOY the last few numbers of the evening. 8-(

I got #2 Son's last high school band performances on film, albeit shaky film. lol

*  On the medical front.......

I received a package in the mail earlier this week with a small plastic piece, a prepaid padded envelope and instructions on how to remove the modem from my Bi-PAP machine from my current DME supplier.
Ok.....

The only problem is, they picked up the Bi-PAP April 10th, as I returned it to them since I have one already. And the modem was attached to aforementioned Bi-PAP that no longer lives here.
So what exactly do they want me to return?!? lolz

So I had to call them and tell them all this, at which point the CS agent made a "note" in my file.
A rep from the DME company called me back and said to just pitch the small plastic piece(it's a cover to plug up the hole in the Bi-PAP(that isn't here)and ignore the instructions.
Well yah......nothing here to return so darn right I'm ignoring the instructions.

Then I called the Dr. in Pittsburgh that is billing my son for 2 visits and tests he had done the end of December.
His work-sponsored insurance didn't kick in until Jan. 1st of this year so he had no medical insurance last December, as he was no longer on our family plan.

I called them to get some kind of "uninsured patient" discount on these bills since it has to be covered totally out of pocket and my son has limited funds and can't really afford this now.

Well the DICKHEADS at Premier Medical Associates PC out of Pittsburgh PA "don't do that" I was told twice before I hung up on them.
If you have financial hardship you have to apply to Medicaid and send them a copy of the determination that Medicaid sends you back on your case.
Hey, I don't want to get the government involved in this, I just want to help my kid pay his bill.

Oh, they will set up a payment plan for you....for the full amount.
I have always asked for and gotten a discount for paying cash when I had work done that wasn't covered by our insurance.

I ask, is it fair that folks with medical insurance get a discount(as the medical suppliers give the insurance companies a discounted rate for services, which it turn means the insured pay less)and those without coverage pay the full freight?!
I think not.

The woman on the phone was NOT helpful in the least and I told her, "I guess you people don't want to get paid, do you?", to which she had no reply.

I think I will send them $5 a month until it's paid off.  Better yet, maybe I'll send it in cash....$5 worth of pennies via Priority mail each month.
I know that will cost me far more than he owes but did I mention that Premier Medical Associates PC are DICKHEADS yet?!?

Oh you DO NOT want to get on a post-menopausal women's bad side.......

*  I spent a good part of the weekend reorganizing my fabric hoarded stash inventory. I pulled some things to donate since they don't seem to be "salesworthy" and started getting ALL of it listed or relisted on Etsy(except for the Fall/Winter fabrics). 
If you are in need of nice vintage fabrics for your sewing needs, be sure and stop by my store on Etsy "Slugmama's".  There is a link on the right sidebar.

And I STILL don't get this "favoriting" thing they have over on that site.
I really don't CARE if you "Like" one of my fabrics.
I just care if you BUY the blasted stuff! lolz
WTF?!.....shaking my head......

Not quite done but I do have 104 listings on Etsy up as of right now.

*  I have a wild hair up my ass about my kitchen lately.
I have always detested it.....hated the layout(so bad!).....hated the cabinets(cheap and so boring).....hated the tile backsplash color(so dated).
I got rid of the duck wallpaper(ewww!)years ago and painted the walls.  I am tired of those walls now too.  I also replaced the sink, countertops, even the cabinet hardware and the appliances over time.
The only thing we haven't replaced is the backsplash and the cabinets.

I can repaint the walls but that still doesn't fix the layout and the old fake oak cabinets.
I am thinking drastic measures need to be taken.

We are moving and selling this house in approx. 4 years.  We will NOT get top dollar with this kitchen.
So I am considering a major gut of the kitchen.
Remove Everything, change the layout and start from scratch.
Maybe keep the floor because that is tile(which we also had redone)and the only thing I like in this kitchen.
Redo and update the kitchen soon so I at least get a new kitchen for a few years before we move and sell this place seems like a good thing to do rather than wait 3 years and just redo it all to sell.

What do y'all think about this idea?
And if anyone has remodeled their kitchen, tell me how much it cost in the end please.
I am scared of getting started with this and getting carried away and spending way more than I feel comfortable with.  8-0


*  Now that the Band Concert and the Prom are over with for this year, we are down to 3 more Events and we can put High School in our rearview mirror forever!
We have the French National Honor Society in 2 weeks, Class/Awards Night early June and Graduation on June 13th(yes Friday the 13th LOL).
Then I get my "survived High School" parenting badge and we just have 1 more to get through College and our days of Active Parenting are DONE!
Woohoo!
And then it's on to the next phase of life here at Chez Sluggy.......

Sluggy