Stupid Cox

When Joseph and I bought our house, Joseph called Cox to get our service switched over. The woman told him that we were paying for cable that the apartment complex already provided. I was so glad to hear that we'd been paying for cable unnecessarily for almost a year! She took the charge off and said she's see what she could do about getting us a refund.

We never got a refund. Granted, maybe we should have fought a little harder. But Joseph and I are both a bit non-confrontational. We just let it go.

Well, we got our house and we had about twenty channels, half of which were Spanish or Religious. I asked Joseph how much we were paying for that...it was about $35/month. I told him just to cancel it. He called to cancel, and NOTHING changed. I was a tad peeved thinking we were paying too much again.

Well, today was the latest development. Joseph's cable hook up was in the den/rockband room, and he just had it hooked up wirelessly to the computer in the office (and my laptop can go anywhere) but he has been meaning to change the hook-up to the office. So he made an appointment for Cox today.

The Cox guy came out, hooked up our cable, petted our cat, etc. etc. Well, I tried to turn on the TV and I got nothing. I told Joseph to go ask the guy why we had no TV. Apparently, when we cancelled it they didn't turn it off. We were getting TV illegally (through no fault of our own).

I don't feel bad; Cox already owes me money. But I have to say I am not too happy with the whole experience.

So we have no TV. We are going to look into getting an antenna....or just find a new hobby.

Work at Home

The nation is a little freaked out about the swine flu. My job is taking precautions so that if a large amount of people need to be sent home, at least some of them will be able to work from home. I was given a packet and other various items to install on my computer today to work from home.

I started at 7:30 in the morning, which is my normal time since I work four ten-hour days. I was able to connect the portion to see my desktop and had access to all of the systems I had access to at work. So step one was a success. Step two was connecting the phone.

I got to the LAST STEP, clicked the button, and waited. And waited. And waited. There was a scrolling bar that let me know the computer was thinking, but it wasn't one of those progress bars that tell you it is about done; it was just scrolling non-stop. I called the help desk after about half an hour. The help desk told me to un-install it, re-boot my computer, and re-install the software. I asked him exactly how long am I supposed to wait? He said it could take awhile.

I did as the man said, waited an hour, took my hour lunch, came back, and it was still thinking. I called the help desk again. The second guy I talked to said the first guy was wrong; it is supposed to install in about 30 seconds.

Great.

He asks me to poke around in my computer, checking this and verifying that. He gets about three other people involved. Finally, he tells me, I have been disqualified from the work at home pilot. Go into work.

I got into work about 2:30.

I have a massive headache and I haven't even done anything all day. And I'm feeling a little guilty that I am getting paid for not doing anything.

And the best part is...my coworkers that are working from home are having phone problems. Dropped calls, bad connections....I love modern technology. Making life so much easier.

Although I did enjoy not wearing any shoes for the first part of the day.

Later....

Joseph is home and he thinks he knows what the problem is. My handsome computer nerd. If he can fix it I am going to laugh hysterically.

Side, unrelated note: It is restaurant week in Phoenix!!! Joseph and I made reservations for Ruth's Chris this Friday night and I am excited!

Marley and her Babies

Here is our cat Marley. We adopted her from Joseph's sister Katrina.

Katrina took her to the vet and the vet said she was fixed.

After a few weeks of having Marley, we thought we must be feeding her too much

because she was getting fat.

Marley is such a beautiful cat

She was stretched out on my rug with her

big pregnant belly.

Marley had her babies this morning.

September 17, 2009

There are four babies. One black, one grey,

and two are grey and brown/orange.

The babies look like little rats.

Their eyes are closed and they can only crawl.

Marley is such a good Mom. She stays near her babies and

lets them nurse pretty much non-stop.

I picked up one of the kittens and was

surprised to see an umbilical cord!

I think we are used to the idea...but it

did come as a bit of a surprise.

More Home Improvement

He looks a little grumpy, no?
It was such a pain in the butt cutting that piece of wood.
We started out with a ten foot two by four.

The cabinet was an inch smaller than the hole.
He was trying really hard to screw in the screw.
I said, "Joseph, your drill is going to wrong way....
rightie-tightie, leftie loosie."
We have decided that I am the brains and he is the brawn.

I FINALLY have a medicine cabinet! I danced around and sang, I was soooo happy.

Here is what we were using in place of draperies...very attractive.

Look at how monstrous that window is.

The draperies are gorgeous....

Just look at that handsome boy.

Home Improvements

We have been slowly updating our house so that it is even more beautiful. We are (pretty much almost completely) done painting...there are still tiny little touch-up spots that I have pretty much given up on. I really hate painting, so unless Joseph does it....

My very generous co-workers at USAA gave me Lowe's giftcards (and tools!) so we got busy this weekend. We have already spent the giftcards and I would just like to take this minute to say thank you. Danielle, Karen, Renee & Brett, Juliet, Brad, Amber, Brian, Alisha, "Jimmy," Greg & Beth, Asmahan, Jen, GMatt, JMatt, Michael Curtis, Jode, Laura, Catherine, Casey E, Pam, Sean, Ashley, Bea, Charlotte, Robee, and Mr. Cavanaugh...seriously, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

And I have received other gifts, so I would like to say thank you to you as well....they just weren't Lowe's giftcards so they don't really pertain to this post...but I still appreciate the generosity.

I have a list of home projects, and we knocked a few out this weekend. We now have a beautiful fan in our bedroom (thanks Dad, you're awesome to come help!) and replaced the ridiculously ugly hallway lights. We replaced the thermostat about a week ago, so that wasn't a project for today, but I wanted to throw that in there.

This is the ceiling "before" picture. Notice the lack of a fan.

Frustrated Joseph.

Joseph, much happier now that my Dad is helping.

What a beautiful fan! And they installed a remote!

I could not WAIT to get rid of this gross light fixture. There were two in my hallway.

The fixture has been removed...look at that paint.

My beautiful hallway light! This is the first one, the second one went
much faster once we knew what we were doing.

I forgot to take the "before" shot of the old thermostat until the face plate had been taken off....

Brand new programmable thermostat.

We still have to install the new medicine cabinet in my master bath...that might have to wait for another day....

And I would just like to say that Joseph and I were a team installing the hallway lights...I was able to solve a couple problems. :) But for the fan installation I was busy keeping my mom company. So I will help on the next two.

House Pictures

This is my kitchen.

This is from the living room.

My huge backyard. Ahahaha!!

My guest bath, butterfly theme.

Here is the living room "before" picture.

This is our master bath on our walk-through. The medicine cabinet needs to be replaced.

Here is the "after" master bath.

Here is our bedroom. It's a little messy. That's all Joseph's stuff.

Our bedroom doesn't have draperies yet. That window is so huge we are going to have to custom-order them and it's dang expensive.

Here is our living room. We got a good deal on the couches and love the rug.

So there is my house. I love it. It is still a work in progress but I think we are far enough along that we can start planning our house-warming party.

My house

It has been a tiring weekend. Joseph and I have gotten a lot done but there is still SO much to do. We haven't even STARTED moving yet....

The house was built in 1995, and it's in really good shape. The only thing we are trying to get rid of is a strange smokey smell. It's not too bad; once you're in the house for two minutes you don't notice it anymore. But that is not the first impression I want to be giving my guests! So we are scrubbing the walls and we are going to paint. Ugh, painting....

The kitchen faucet needed to be replaced. That was the only major repair...the house is really move-in ready but we want everything done before we start moving in. Joseph and I replaced the kitchen faucet by ourselves. We were proud as peacocks. It doesn't leak and it look FABULOUS. My kitchen has ugly countertops and old cabinets, but we're going to eventually replace those. The floorplan is awesome and the backyard is HUGE (really hard to come by in pricey Phoenix) so we think we got a good deal.

We also replaced the toilet seats, because...come on....that's just gross. Joseph let me do that because I like to do handyman stuff. I was telling him how glad I was that he wasn't letting his man-pride get in the way, and he was letting his wife do the manly stuff. His reply? "I wasn't touching those toilet seats!" Ah, my honest, handsome boy.

We are going to have to figure out how to install our garage door opener. That will be the next project after painting. We're also going to have to figure out how to take down the ugly fans so we can install new ones. Being a homeowner is expensive.

On my wish list: change out the light fixtures (they are an ugly brass), change the locks (not a wish, a must), change the closet into a pantry (who puts a closet in the kitchen??), remove the palm tree and cactus from the front yard (Joseph and I may be native Phoenicians, but I do not like cacti), eventually replace the kitchen cabinets/countertop and vanities in the bathrooms, and other little projects like making a seat for my little nook and making myself a headboard for my new (yet to be purchased) bed.

It's a bit daunting. But if you know me, you know I'll get it done. :) Joseph is very helpful when I am in project-mode.

If anyone wants to help with the painting/moving....I would seriously appreciate it. Joseph's mom offered but since our closing was DELAYED she has now moved back to Tennessee. Ah, I should probably write a post about the horror of a process it was to purchase this house...for posterity....I am too tired right now. It's finally our house and that's all that matters. Woo hoo we are homeowners!!