My "blockbuster" kind of day

My favorite quote of this year so far came from a friend of mine recently arguing with an employee and two managers at a Raleigh Blockbuster: " I don't live in a pig sty where I have things stuffed in my couch where I can't find them." Long story short; they were trying to make her pay for a movie that she had turned in weeks before and she wasn't going to do it. If you want the entire story in all its hilarity, you should call Kristen... it is much funnier coming from her.

So that leads me into my "blockbuster" day. The day gets off to a GREAT start as I wait in the doctor's office for an hour and 40 minutes for Ceilidh's pediatrician to tell me she has Influenza. Thankfully it is the less severe strain but I'm still sad she feels so out of sorts. Once I get home and get her fed and settled, I turn to the other big issue in our household, our heat.

Saturday night after watching an incredibly disappointing loss by the Tarheels, we come home to a house without heat. Yes, our house literally dropped to 57 degrees before the morning. I am frustrated A. that we have no heat B. we just spent a lot of money a year and a half ago getting a BRAND new heating and air system C. it is a Sunday so it will be a weekend service call. To make another really long story short, the technician comes out and immediately tells us what is wrong, and that if the issue would have been caught when it should have been ( a year ago!), we would not have had any problems this last year, nor would we be paying for this service now. That is when Cyndy and Andrew turned on the Kristen blockbuster mode. Yes, mister technician, if it had been caught, we would not be paying for it , and oh yeah, we are not paying for it now either. He was able to rig our system to make the heat work, but said it could go out again at any minute. He said he would be back tomorrow (today) to put in the new part.

Mind you, we were both very nice, just expressed our frustration not with him, but with the quality of equipment we had. So today at 3:30pm when I had not heard one peep from the technician or the office, I call to see what is going on. Apparently the technicians are bad about committing to come the next day without knowing the schedule. Thanks for the call to let me know you weren't coming today. So I take the opportunity to talk with someone at the office about our frustrations of paying money for something that A. shouldn't be breaking down (only 1 1/2 years old) and B. should have been caught last year during yet another service call. Well of course I get sent from person to person until finally I get a call back from the sales manager who sold us the unit. He of course tries to tell me his technician spoke out of turn, and there is no way he could have known that the current issue was the same issue a year ago. (Mind you, the sales manager was the one that "fixed" the issue a year ago, and the symptoms are the same exact thing!) He keeps telling me they will give me a deal and only make me pay for the analysis fee and not parts and labor. Thanks but no thanks. I wouldn't even have an analysis fee if the problem had been fixed a year ago like your technician said it should have been!!!!!!!

So finally, he tells me he will call someone else and see what he can do. I say thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. He tells me it might take a few minutes and I say that is ok, I will wait. Well, we had this conversation at 4:10pm and as I write this it is 9:16pm. Who wants to put money on the fact I won't be hearing from him tonight? Wow, is all I have to say about my whole day. Stay tuned if you want to find out what happens. I am very proud of myself for staying calm and kind, but I'm not backing down. I can be kind in my assertiveness. ha