Last Week's Harvest....No More Cucumbers Please!

After nagging for THREE DAYS I did finally get someone to pick some green beans before they grew to GINORMOUS proportions and we picked the 5th head of cauliflower for Kallaum's Thursday dinner plus I found 2 huge cukes hidden in the back garden bed....

This Harvest--
TOTAL....2lb. 8.8oz.

Garden Harvest Weight Total to date....36 lb. 1.02 oz.

I am actually scared to go check the front and side garden beds now.  Last week there were more beans, yellow squash, golden peppers and a bunch of tomatoes close to turning or otherwise being ready to pick.

I also have a request for the Garden gods....no more cukes please!  We are overrun and a person can only eat so many salads or pickles.  ;-)


Sluggy

I Just Don't Get It....The One Where I Rant

Sometimes I think I was born on this planet by mistake.
Or maybe I was just born in the wrong century or country or something!

I just don't get it.....
I just don't get people.

I have a refrigerator that works sometimes and other times it decides it would rather not work properly.
So, since it's only 5 yrs old and replacing it would be quite expensive AND not as good for the environment as repairing it(which might also be cheaper than replacing), I am trying to find a local appliance repair person to attempt to fix it.

Now you would think....maybe this is where I get into trouble, projecting rational thoughts onto other beings of the human race...lol...that if you are in business for yourself, and you make your living and earn your money by being an appliance repair person, that you would do things to get repair jobs so you can earn that money.
"Doing things" would include like returning telephone calls from potential customers.
People who WANT TO give you money for your skills.
ESPECIALLY in this sluggish economy where most everyone is complaining non-stop that business is so slow and they don't have enough work to make a decent living.

You would think.....huh?

I have had ONE whole repair person return my calls.  
And that call went like this.....

Ring ring ring....
Daughter-"Hello?"
THEM-"Yah, you called about your fridge?"
Daughter-"That was my mom, just a minute, I'll put her on the phone."
*Daughter hands me the phone.*
Me-"Hello?"
Silence on the other end.
Me-"Hello?"
More silence on the other end.
Me-"HELLO!?"
More silence on the other end....but I can tell the line is open and 'live' because I hear breathing...
Then 3 seconds later the line goes CLICK and disconnects.

So I hang the phone up and stand and wait for them to call back.....and I wait and wait some more.
And the next day comes & they have yet to call back.
Now you would think....uh oh....there I go again "thinking" lol....that if the connection on their end was bad that they would call back?

You would think....
But no, I end up calling AGAIN and leaving my message again.

I swear, every time I have to find someone in the trade industries(construction or handyman repair, appliance repair, electrician)-the trades were people are self-employed, I run into these kinds of problems.
Problems like not returning calls, not showing up when they say they will, never showing up for appointments at all, and a whole host of little annoyances that you can overlook if they are good at their job and get it done.
I swear, if someone wanted to make a great living in this country and had a skill people would pay them decently for, all they would have to do to make a fortune would be to be halfway polite and actually show up and be ready to work!
Courtesy, integrity & showing up SOBER will make you a rich man!!

I am beginning to think that a lot of people who just don't want to work more than they have to, to support their lifestyles, go and buy a pick-up truck and have a sign put on the door that they are in *fill in the blank* business.  It sounds better than calling yourself an unemployed bum who doesn't WANT to work or can't handle working for someone else.  (I am NOT talking about unemployed people who get laid off due to the recession or something and who want to work but can't find a job.)

Oh....the one exception I have found in the trades are the plumbers.  For some reason the ONLY guys we have ever had work for us that were top notch in skills and in human decency were plumbers.

So I am being forced to buy a new fridge....it's either that or let our food spoil.
Or divorce my Hubs and find a new one that is handy....real quick!lol

All I want to know is this.....

 Where is NORM when I need him???!!!

Have you ever had any luck with hiring self-employed folks to work for you? 
Or have your interactions been unsatisfactory like mine?

Sluggy

I Finally Did It.....I Sewed Something in 2010!

One of my goals for 2010 was to get to my piles of sewing projects.
Well, I forgot to mention in my post about last week that I finally did sew something....woohoo!!

Of course, it wasn't anything exciting though and it wasn't anything from the pile of unfinished projects.
Just hemming #1 son's new jeans and patching up a rip in an older pair of pants for him.

But hey!....I'll add these to my project list so I can check something off !!lol

4 pairs of jeans hemmed....CHECK!
1 pair of jeans patched....CHECK!

There!
I feel a sense of accomplishment wafting over me....ahhhhhh!

Hubs also tried on 2 pair of pants that have been sitting in the closet for a couple of years so I could pin and hem them.....and they don't fit anymore!
I can send them to Salvation Army & mark those off my list of things to do too, right?lol
OK!...I am building momentum here now!! ;-)

Go me! ;-)

Sluggy

Monday's Rite-Aid Trip.....Pencils, Notebooks and Book Covers, OH MY!

 I drug my hot self out to Rite-Aid after dinner last night.  The place was a freaking zoo!  Hardly an empty parking space outside the store and jammed full of frantic moms inside on the school supplies aisles pawing through what was left on the shelves.....yes, a sure sign that today was the 1st day of school in my town.lol
After snapping up a portfolio for #2 son back in the regular school supplies aisle(I didn't even attempt diving into the mayhem on display in the seasonal school aisles!), I headed to the hair color section and then the baby section, before stopping at the drink cooler next to the registers.
Here is what I picked up....

3 x Garnier HerbaShine Hair Color on sale $5.99=$17.97
2 x Sobe Drinks on sale $.99=$1.98
1 x Butt Paste on sale=$3.99
1 x Portfolio(for #2 son)$1.83-with 20% wellness discount=$1.83 *not pictured*
SubTotal....$25.77

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$25 from Newsletter I signed up for in Jan. IPQ from PDF=$5.00
3 x $3/1 Garnier HerbaShine IPQ(coupons,dotcom)=$9.00
1 x $2/1 Garnier HerbaShine AdPerks/VV IPQ=$2.00
1 x BOGO Sobe IPQ(from Sobe Game)=$.99
1 x $3/1 Butt Paste AdPerks/VV IPQ=$3.00
1 x $2/1 Butt Paste ManuQ=$2.00
Coupon Total....$21.99

Also used....
1 x $1 +Ups(from Doritos)
1 x $2 +Ups(from Coke packs)
$3.00

$25.77-$21.99=$3.78-$3+Ups=$.78 OOP put on free Rite-Aid gift card so ZERO OOP



This Transaction....

Total Spent....$.78 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$39.73
SCR qualified for...$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$5.00(Garnier)


MONTHLY TOTALS-September Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......2
Total Spent....$9.45 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$81.10
SCR qualified for....$0 in cash and $0 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$0
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0
+Up Rewards spent....$11.00
+Up Rewards earned....$8.00

Total 'Spent'...$9.45 on gift cards
Total Cash I'm getting Back=$0
Total Gift Cards I'm getting=$0
+Up Rewards left to spend=$9.00


Sluggy

The Rest of Last Week....Reserve my Padded Room Please!

When last we saw our intrepid blogger, she had been forced to drop a big wad of cash at the mall for assorted teens Back-to-School clothing needs on Wednesday.
Wednesday night Hubs and I took #1 son and his English buddy out for #1 son's Birthday meal(the bday is in July but he hasn't been home until now since before July).
They wanted steak so it was Lone Star Steakhouse.
This was after having massive hunks of hamburgers for lunch at Red Robin.
Egads!

So Thursday started out with a bang.
See this stupid beagle?

She decided to make a run for it to freedom while I was trying to clip her to the tie-out cable.
She had back problems last winter and Hubs put that blue harness on her, changing it out for her collar.
Of course, he neglected to move her tags(rabies, license, name & phone number)from the collar to the harness so there was no way to recover her if she didn't come home on her own.
Just great!
And she indeed did NOT come home.
Daughter is her owner but she didn't seem to care one way or another if the dog came home.
And she did next to nothing to find her.....

The rest of Thursday was more shopping(new boots for #1 son-he goes to school near Lake Erie so there is deep snow for 5 months of the year there) & restocking #1 son with toiletries(a la the stockpile).  He found everything he needed/wanted, so it cost me NOTHING!!  That was awesome....

I went grocery shopping and spent an eyeball popping $81.28!!!  I can't remember the last time I spent that much money in one fell swoop on groceries.  I got a little weak in the knees when the cashier told me the total.lol   And again, I didn't use a single coupon....but I did save $65.61, mostly on some markdown meats.

Kallaum volunteered to make us dinner on Thursday.....a proper Baked Chicken dinner.  Chicken, mashed potatoes and assorted 'veg'(that he boiled the shit out of!lol).  Of course the crowning glory of all these dishes was gravy(which I made)ladled over everything.  Kallaum doesn't seem a fan of  'veg' but if you smother it in gravy he'll eat it. ;-)
I had hoped he would make some Yorkshire Pudding....he's from Yorkshire so that would be cool, right?lol  Maybe next time he comes to visit next summer since he does plan on returning to work at the camp in 2011.

Friday was a lazy day....still no sign of the missing beagle....getting #1 and Kallaum's laundry done and packed up, then loading up Hubs car once he got home from work.
I roasted corn on the cob and cooked assorted meats on the grill.  #1 son & Kallaum each ate...
2 ears of corn
2 steaks
3 hot dogs
1 or 2 hamburgers(1 ate 1, 1 ate 2 but I don't recall whom ate which amount)

Honestly, I don't know WHERE they put it all!!!lol

Then we had #1 son's belated Birthday Cake....

Of course, the teens started eating the cake BEFORE we got a chance to put a candle on it and sing.lol

Blowing out a candle on a 2/3 eaten cake just isn't right, is it?

Saturday morning at the crack of 7.....

Packing the last few things.

And posing for a final photo for the Long Suffering Mom....

And then, they were gone....

And I went back to bed.  Geez, last week just wore me out. lolol
Saturday and still no missing beagle sightings, plus the fridge that I 'fixed' is broken again, so I got to haul all the frozen foods I had hauled into the upright freezer, back into the freezer of the fridge the previous week, back from the fridge/freezer into the upright freezer again!
My fix was only a temporary measure and I need to call a proper repairman to replace something in the appliance.
Bleh!!!

Sunday morning Hubs called up to the SPCA and guess who was there?
Yep.....the runaway beagle.

So he went and bailed her out($$$!) and promptly put the tags onto the harness.  Someone had dropped her off at the shelter late Friday, so after running wild for 1.5 days, she got to enjoy the barking madhouse of the SPCA for another 1.5 days.
She got home and collapsed in the dog crate and fell dead asleep.

Here is what a goofball dog looks like zonked out and snoring for 6 hours.
I thought I was one dog closer(1 down, 2 to go)to actually fixing up my living/dining room.....it was a let down but I'm glad she's safe.

To sum up last week....
it was crazy with activity(for me at least!)
it was expensive(massive amounts of meat and BTS shopping to the tune of $250 doesn't come cheap!...not to mention impending fridge repair)
it was hectic with all the cooking and cleaning
it reeked havoc on my sleep schedule(nocturnal teens will do that to ya!)


But I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat......well, except for that runaway beagle part.


Sluggy