Auto-Pay Rant

When we signed up for our internet service here, we were horrified when our first bill was significantly higher than we expected it to be.  We're complete cheapskates when it comes to wi-fi and go for cheap over speed any day-- so why was our bill so expensive?  It turned out that the price we'd heard quoted only worked if you got the discount they offered for enrolling in their auto-pay program.  I dislike auto-pay because I'm paranoid that companies will begin overcharging me and I won't notice, so I usually resist stuff like this, but this time it was a significant savings, so we signed up.

Two days later, a thunder storm fried our router.  I tried to call and work out the problem, but Craig's name was the only one on the account, so they wouldn't talk to me.  And he was away at scout camp.  No internet until he came back.  (Once he spoke with them, they did replace the router, at least.)

So today, I open our bill from them and it's more than double what it ought to be.  Because we missed last month's payment. 

HOW CAN YOU MISS A PAYMENT WHEN YOU PAY AUTOMATICALLY???

I called to sort things out, but learned that I still wasn't on the account.  Fuming a bit over this, I made Craig call after dinner.   (I will admit to being impressed that they were still open.)  The first thing he did was to finally add me to the account.  About freakin' time.  Then he set about figuring out what had gone wrong.

Apparently, they'd stopped accepting our particular credit card.  This had all been explained in January's bill, but I never bothered to read the bill because we're enrolled in auto-pay, people!!!!  So I had missed that important memo.

So to re-cap: they insisted we enroll in auto-pay, then they un-enrolled us, and then they charged us for not being enrolled and missing a payment.

And now I feel completely justified in my distrust of this stuff.

End of rant.

A Street By Any Other Name...

I love my new neighborhood.  But.  The street names are embarrassingly pretentious.  For example, the street I live on is Foxchase Ridge.  You know-- because every time we have a few hours to spare, we all saddle up and go on a steeple chase!  It's just like Downton Abbey around here.  (Also, the fact that it's one word is something I have to clarify every time I give someone my address over the phone.)

Me and Mary are buddies now.  You might call us chums, I suppose?

Our neighborhood is called Foxcroft, and the other streets-- see if you can catch the pattern here!-- are Fox Horn, Fox Crest, Foxvale, Leaping Fox, and Running Fox

A leaping fox.  Just for you.

Oh, and Rolling Valley.  In the middle of this small neighborhood is one street called Rolling Valley.  What happened there?  The builders couldn't think of ANY OTHER WORD to tack onto their fox theme?  It's not like Fox Crest or Foxvale made any sense to begin with!  

Anyway.  If that's my biggest complaint, that's pretty minor.  I find it ironic, though, that when we were house hunting there was a house on Shepherd's Ridge that caught our eye and I told Craig I thought the street name sounded a bit affected-- like we thought we were in England or something.  And then we ended up living here instead.  Compared to Foxchase Ridge, Shepherd's Ridge sounds downright humble!


For all these names, though, I'm pleased to report that the foxes have NOT managed to get our chickens yet!  So that's happy.

Also, here's my cherry blossom tree that I'm so excited about.  I took this picture looking out my bedroom window, like all great photographers do...

And I love this-- here's Camille trying to look out that same window at that same tree.

More About My Trees.

The little kids and I went for morning walks the last two mornings.  (I'd been trying to get up early and go walking, but daylight savings combined with a really hectic week nixed that for this week, so this was me trying to make up for that.  And, we didn't have any other plans, so it seemed like as good a thing as any to fill the time.)  There are walking trails all around our neighborhood, so it's perfect for letting Ryder run ahead while Colton straggles behind.  And I get to work hard pushing the stroller up and down the hills.  (I used to put Camille in the Ergo carrier, but going down hills with her extra weight doesn't feel good on my knees, and I'm determined to not wreck them before I'm 40.)

Anyway, I love our morning walks.  We managed to spot woodpeckers, cardinals, a blackbird, and even a pair of turkey vultures super close by!  WOW, those are creepy ugly birds!  But I was still excited to see them.

But the best thing I saw was that one of the trees in our front yard (actually, the one right behind Craig, in that picture I'm using for my blog banner) is STARTING TO BLOOM!!!!  We have a cherry blossom tree, and I didn't even know it!!!

This just barely gives you the idea, but it was the best I could do...

This is especially good because the cherry blossom tree I made Craig plant in our front yard in Manassas totally died.  Apparently you can't bully them into blooming after all.  Or, you can, but then a few months later all their leaves will turn brown and fall off and they'll never sprout another leaf again.  And you'll be left with a sad, dead little tree in your front yard that you leave there and wonder how long it will take the new owners to notice and chop down.  (We're heading in to Manassas next week and I'm very curious to see if that tree is still there, and if they ever chopped down our hideous maple that everyone wanted gone.  I'll letcha know!)

Anyway, this new tree is pretty well established, so hopefully it can withstand my brown thumb and Craig's pruning job and bless us with beautiful blossoms for many years to come.  And I'll be sure to not threaten it AT ALL.

Also, here are the pink flowers I mentioned:

They might be rather sickly hyacinths?  I'm not really sure...  But I like them!

After temperatures in the 80s, they're predicting snow for tomorrow.  The east coast can never do weather halfway.  We'll see if all my flowers survive...

Spring, Bosses, and Chicken Vents

Spring has been lovely so far, and it's barely begun.  I'm always happy just not being freezing cold, but it's even better than that-- everything is blooming and it's a delightful surprise to discover what's growing in my yard: daffodils!  Some pink flower that I haven't identified yet!  A rosemary bush!  A sage bush!  Mint that we can't seem to get rid of!  And all around my neighborhood the cherry blossom trees are blooming and willow trees are getting their soft green  leaves and I can hardly wait for everything to turn green and alive again.  {Happy Sigh!}

I have been really liking Charlottesville since we first decided to move here, but now that it's spring I absolutely LOVE it.  I love our neighborhood and I love going to the downtown mall and seeing all the people out for dinner.  I love the feel of it all.

But lest you think that our lives are absolutely perfect, I feel I should be honest and tell you about the one really awful thing here that completely blindsided us.

Currently, the fly in our ointment (so to speak), which I haven't blogged a word about, is Craig's boss.  She was hired at the same time Craig was, so he didn't interview with her or even meet her until after he'd accepted the job.  And even then, it took a couple weeks before we began to fully realize what a monster we had on our hands...  I could go on and on about just how nuts she is, but I doubt it would be all that interesting to you.  So to be concise, I will say that she's a bully, who cares only about the power she holds over people.  She's mean and nasty all the time.  And if that weren't bad enough, she's completely incompetent.  She wants everyone to do her work for her, and flies into rages-- leading to hours-long lectures-- every time anyone tries to do anything.  She has created the most toxic work environment imaginable.  And her favorite way to spend her time is by talking to Craig non-stop.  She has on occasion talked at him for over five hours.  In one sitting.

So, yes, she's terrible.  And I feel so bad for Craig because at this point there's not a whole lot that he can do about her (although he certainly has been trying anything he can think of).  I have resorted to praying for her to be fired while occasionally dreaming about poisoning her coffee...  You know, the Christ-like things one does when confronted with evil people.

Anyway, to give you the full idea of how bad she is, and then I'll stop talking about her, I will leave you with this one seemingly unrelated story:


On Kendra's birthday, I went outside to feed the chickens, and noticed that there was something seriously wrong with Quicksilver.  Her vents (that's actually the official term for a chicken's bum-- it's where eggs, feces, and urine all come out) were all red and irritated with the feathers missing, and she had poop stuck to the feathers beneath.  It was super gross looking and I felt terrible for our poor hen.  I called Craig and demanded that he come and help me out with this problem.  Since he was coming this way to bring cupcakes to Kendra's class anyway, this wasn't too hard to manage.

After cupcakes, we threw on grungy clothes and caught Quicksilver.  I held her under my arm while Craig poured warm water all over her backside (and me) and pulled the poop off from her feathers.  Then he smeared Vaseline all over the red area and we let her back to be with her flock, crossing our fingers that that would do the trick.  (It did.  She looks fine now!  Big sigh of relief!)

As we were washing our hands and changing back to clean clothes, I said to Craig, "Sorry you have to come home and help me deal with gross chicken butts."

"That's okay," he said cheerfully, "I'd much rather do this than listen to my boss yammer away at me all day!"


So that's where we are, folks!  With a beautiful spring all around us, life is almost idyllic here in Charlottesville.  Except for Evil Boss Lady. 

I'm Famous!

Just kidding, I'm not famous.  (Nor do I think I ever will be, nor do I actually want to be.  But that's a post for a whole 'nother day.)

But I did get to be interviewed for the podcast Cocoon!  My sister Natalie is friends with the two women who created it and knowing that I'm a birth junkie (the catchphrase for their podcast is, "stories of gestation"), Natalie recommended I give it a listen.  While I was at it, I shot them an email briefly describing my gamut of birth experiences if they were interested in talking with me.  And they were!

We spent an hour skyping back in January, and they edited the whole thing to what you get here.  I think they did a great job of making all my stories seem cohesive (and making me NOT sound like a blabbering idiot), so I'm very grateful for the hard work they put into this.

Check it out!


http://www.cocoonstories.com/podcast/what-does-healthy-childbirth-even-mean/

Deep Thoughts on Keeping House

I start to feel stressed out when there are loads of dirty dishes or laundry waiting to be done.  Something about it all piling up-- spilling over the sink or poking out of the laundry hamper-- makes me very unhappy.

But I have to say-- I have never noticed that waiting a day or two to vacuum a room meant that the vacuuming took any longer.


And that may or may not sort of be my philosophy about keeping house these days!  Don't look at my floors too closely when you come.  Instead, notice how few dishes are in the sink or that my laundry hamper is basically empty.  That's totally impressive, isn't it?


Besides, you never know-- I might pull out the vacuum tomorrow!  Stranger things have happened...!



UPDATE: Craig vacuumed!  What other chores will he do if I ignore them long enough???