Ellie To Pearl

Two years ago Steve and I wanted a "cheap" car in Florida so we found a Honda Element, the ugliest car since the Aztez.  The main problem with it was that the back seat was set so far back that our old friends down here (FRED) had a rough time getting into the back seat and in order for the back seat passenger to get out, the front door had to be opened before the back doors could open.  It wasn't so bad for Steve and I because we don't have kids but for a parent trying to drop kids off at school it would be a horrible choice. 

We got to Florida to a mountain of mail and one of the items was an offer to trade Ellie in for a new car so we thought we'd go in and check it out.  We looked at an SUV but they were small and more than what we wanted to spend.  Steve told me to look at the Accord so we did.  We really liked it.  Nigel, the man we purchased Ellie from was there and worked with us.  Ellie had 3600 miles on her and they were not giving us much of a deal on her so I walked away telling them that it was them who approached us about this and the trade in offer was horrible.  A day later I received a note from Nigel asking me what payment I wanted.  I told him is was not the payment but we were not getting a deal on Ellie NOR were we getting anything off on the Accord.  He wrote back again telling me there were now incentives on the Accord but did not tell me what they were.  I told him point blank, I am not going to negotiate against myself and I wanted to know what the incentives were.  He then told me he'd give us $500 more for Ellie and $1000 off the Accord.  That afternoon we went in to do the paper work and now we have Pearl.  She even has a door unlock switch on my side and lights that go on by themselves, which Ellie didn't.   We really moved up in the world.  We plan to drive Pearl back to Wisconsin this spring and drive back for the summer and fly home for school to start again.   Sounds like a plan to me.  Although flying is much quicker, it is not as easy with Mr. Moe as we had hopped and Steve's doctor saw no reason we could not drive as long as he got out regularly to walk around.  With the dog and two weak bladders, we have to do that anyway.  

Kicked Out and Fired

About a week ago Steve and I were hungry for a little "pre-bed" snack so our friend Freddy, Steve and I went to McDonald's at Colony Plaza.  We got there about 10:40 PM 20 minutes before closing. The manager made it clear to us that she was not going to be there until 12:00 or later waiting for us to leave and the doors lock at 11:00.  As we were placing our order several other people came in and wanted to eat so there were about eight of us in there.  The manager yelled to the back, "we're slammed out here".  Someone ordered chicken that was to deep fried and she told them the fryer was shut off they'd have to have it grilled.  

All of us were eating as quickly as we could and not enjoying this lady running around making it clear that she was closing at 11:00.  We thought she was just going to lock the door at 11:00 and allow us to eat.  WRONG!  At 11:05 she went to the front door, opened it up and basically threw us out.  It mad me very angry because if they say we're open until 11:00 than means if I come in a two minutes to 11:00 they should serve me and allow me to eat at a easy pace.  She could have just said to take our time while they shut things down and cleaned up and allowed us to eat but no, she threw us out at 11:05.  Well, Brian being Brian, I was not going to take that so my first instinct was to call Ronald McDonald and complain but I figured with Face Time, Twitter and Face Book he would not call me back so I sent an email explaining my dreadful experience.   Within a day I received an email asking for the exact address of the store and they were going to investigate the closing procedures.  I sent that email back and haven't heard back.  I know Ronald will be stopping by.

So, we get thrown out of McDonald's so I go to my second favorite spot, Subway in Sumter Landing.  We got there about 9:15 PM and they closed at 10:00 PM.  We entered the store to blaring country music which was enough to make me vomit before we ate.  The lady was cleaning the tables and doing some odd jobs while Steve and I stood in line as she wiped off three tables completely ignoring us.  I finally said to her "are you open" and said yes and came strolling over to us.  As she passed me I asked her to "turn the music down".  She turned it down just a tad, nothing to brag about.  She made our sandwiches with a nasty look on her face.  She got to the point where she asked me if I wanted mine toasted.  I told her, and I quote, "don't put yourself out".  She looked at me and said "you're not putting me out, I asked a simple question if you wanted it toasted".  I told her I did not appreciate the way we were being treated and blah, blah.  She then proceeded to tell us that she'd been a waitress in Ohio for years and had carpal tunnel and didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to make sandwiches.  She continued to tell us that she also has a bad back and can't sleep with her husband in bed and has to sleep on the couch so the back of the couch supports her back.  I really didn't care to hear this and frankly, "I didn't like her" and wanted to stick her head in the oven. 

We ate our subs as she continued to clean up.  Well, Brian was not going to stand for this so I wrote to Subway and told them this exact story.  I didn't hear anything from them until Thursday about 1:30.  Marion called me while on my golf cart route to say she was sorry and assured me it would never happen again.  I told Marion that I eat at their store almost every day and this is the first time I've experienced this.  She told me, "this lady is mean and nasty inside and believe me, this will never happen again".  Our conversation continued at the most inopportune time.  As we spoke I had to tell Marion to hold on, my order was ready at the McDonald's drive thru window.   Perhaps a lack of credibility.   I have a feeling we will not be seeing carpal tunnel lady again. 

Between this and learning that Subway got in trouble for telling people the foot long is 12 inches only to learn it was only 11 inches this is very bad.  As often as I eat at Subway I feel they owe me at least three feet. 

It all goes back to the old saying, size does matter.  



Using Your Head

As children our parents always told us to "use our heads".  I'm not sure it was a literal remark but I did what I was told. 

Steve and I always watch the home fix it shows on television and of course we never listen to what that tell you.  From what I remember, they suggest putting up a ledger board to hod up the upper cabinets until they were attached to the wall and you use the ledger board so you don't have to use your head to hold up the units. Who ever heard of such a silly way to do things.  God gave us a head and a neck so I used mine.  Unfortunately, after we got the cabinet on my head attached to the wall we read the directions only to learn that you're supposed to use clamps to hook them together then lift them onto the supposed ledger board.  Isn't that just too silly.
 

So we got the wall cabinets up and off my head then started on the lowers.  Our original plan (all taped out on the floor with blue painter's tape) called for a square corner as we thought a Lazy Susan would be too expensive.  Well, we changed our minds and bought Susan and she seems to have changed our lives not to mention our plan.  Just like a woman.  We started in the back and put the lowers under the cabinets that were on my head.   That was simple as there were two places left open for under counter refrigerators.    Then we went to the other corner and started with the sink unit.  Because the pipe was sticking out of the floor from the construction we had to cut a part of the base cabinet out to accommodate the pipes.  We went along and made the turn with Susan.  We continued on with the run forming a peninsula.  It looked pretty good if I do say so myself.   We clamped everything together then hooked the units to each other and praised ourselves for a job sell done. 

So we thought, what the hell, let's assemble the counter tops that came in two pieces.  We followed the instructions and did it upside down on cardboard.  We put the little adjuster things on the bottom then pulled it apart again and put the glue in.  We let it sit over night.  Well, when we pushed the two pieces back together the glue stuck the counter top to the cardboard which meant a bit of cleaning and a bit of laughing. 

We hoisted the top onto the base cabinets and it just didn't fit.  We were close but it was just not quite right.  As we looked, we didn't cut the hole for the floor pipes large enough and the first cabinet was off about 1/2 inch so we had to pull it all apart, cut the hole bigger and push it over the half inch.  Then Susan got ugly about it and didn't want to cooperate.  She seemed to be twisted, and I'm not going to comment on that anymore.  After the adjustment the top fit splendidly and we attached the counter top to the base units and it looks like a bar.   Now we will build a wall to set the actual drinking part and that will be finished. 

One side story.  Steve and I hate our kitchen in Florida and said that if the bar in the basement went well we'd do the Florida kitchen ourselves.  In closing, we will be hiring a carpenter. 

What A Pair

Everyone says that age is sometimes not kind.  That's a bunch of crap, age is a bitch.  Steve's mother once told us that if men can live to 60 you've made it.  Based on these two pictures she may be correct. 

My visit to the hospital was due to chest pain.  After thinking about it for a bit of time we thought it was best to head to the ER.  They took me in immediately as usual and hooked me up to all sorts of stuff as I was having horrible back pain as well.  I was so weak I could hardly stand for a chest x-ray.  After the needle lady came in there was blood all over my arm, the side of the bed and the floor.  I asked her if she'd done this before and her response was "no, they sent me up from food service".  My response was "I thought so".  They were all very nice.  Every time they'd give me medication for the pain I'd feel as though I had to vomit but I'd rather die than throw up.  They gave me the lovely vomit bucket which was nice but difficult to carry around for different tests so I figured I'd wear it as a hat.  I also told them that in a theater, a bucket of popcorn this size would bring $20.  They did all the tests to make sure I did not have an aorta issue and every time they'd give me medication the urge to use my bucket arose but rest assured, I'd rather die. 

After they ruled out everything they gave me some medication for nausea and sent me home.  Having not eaten all day I said to Steve that we should go to Culvers.  We stopped for a prime rib sandwich and a turtle sundae.  I took one bite of the sundae and couldn't eat another bit of it.  As we neared our house after my wise choice of dinner, we got to the corner of Clancy and Highway N, just up the road from our neighbors (whom we NEVER see) I told Steve to pull over, and I mean it, pull over now.  I exited the car and got on my hands and knees and proceeded to relieve myself of my prime rib sandwich in our neighbor's front yard,  Not once, but twice and I had left my popcorn bucket at the hospital.  Keep in mind we never see these people on the corner and pass their house everyday countless times.  While Brian was on hands and knees ridding himself of his Culver's dinner, who comes out of the house but the people who we never see.  Low and behold, there was a large man puking in their front yard.   The only thing I could think of was "I hope they don't think I was drunk". 

We got home and I passed out with a major fever.  Steve told me I was panting like a dog.  Well, being on all fours, who knows.  Steve said I was hot to the touch.  I suggested he make fajitas on my forehead.   It was not a good thing and I got my flu shot. 

As to Steve's photo next to mine....  We were working in the basement and Steve was installing base cabinets and attaching the new countertops to the base cabinets and as we were ending for the evening he began to experience pain.  We will just say pain!   We thought it was because he's significantly older than me and this was too much work for the old fossil.  He went upstairs took a shower and thought a good nights sleep would do it.  Well, as long as he didn't move he was fine.  If he moved, let's just say we thought he had a hernia.   It got worse and worse so we took him to the ER for a most embarrassing examination.   It was one of those, turn your head and ----------.  He was in a lot of pain so they doped him up, the only way to live a good life now a days.  After some tests they told him what was wrong and sent him home.   Let's just say he did not get the popcorn bucket nor did he puke in the neighbor's front yard.   And that is all I will share