Birth of a Dream

Recently a friend of mine posted some pictures on Facebook of her 4th of July celebration...it included her family and neighbors spending the day at a pond near their house.  And that triggered something in me...  a longing to be near water.

Actually I wanted to spend the 4th on some form of water, but alas there is no Gulf of Colorado so a trip to the beach was out.  And all the beaches we do (fresh water) were going to be way over packed.  If we had a beach it would have been packed too.  But this private pond thing... Hey!  That's an idea!

Well, how do you get your own private pond?  Well first you need some land.  So I started looking for a place to stay near here on a lake... which got me on the path of looking for a cabin to rent on a lake.

And I found one!  It was really nice too.  http://mooselake-lodge.com/woolly-house-cabin-rental-on-lake/  Now one might think that hubby would be rolling his eyes at me on this idea...but he actually was very much in favor of it!  He allowed me to get more info.  But the problem with this cabin was that it was booked until mid September.  And hubby couldn't get away then.  SIGH!

So that led to thinking that in order to get a cabin to stay in, we might ought to just buy one.  So I started researching that...and guess what...I found one of those too...actually quite a few but most of them were too big for us.

That was a problem with the rental cabins too, most of them were too big.  One cabin wasn't huge, but it had been set up to sleep 10 people!  Um we don't need something that big.

So I found a cabin that was nice and small... I was looking at first at two bedroom cabins, but ended up finding and falling in love with a little one bedroom cabin.  It's so cute!  Now I can't be sure, but it appears that the one bedroom is actually the entire length of the cabin and therefore might be large enough that we can fit two beds in there... a full size for me & hubby and a twin for Darly.  And while that might not be ideal, for a vacation it works. (note: hubby is not rolling his eyes!)

Then my mind turns to furnishing this place... (yeah, I'm that crazy!)  And I start thinking about what we have in our house that we aren't using.  We have a couch in the basement that Darly keeps piling her toys on.  We have a coffee table that right now is covered in plants in the kitchen.  We have a kitchen table in my sewing room that I use for cutting fabric on, but hubby is gonna make me a new cutting table that is the right size, so this one won't be needed there.  We have beds in the guest room and sewing room that aren't getting used cuz no one visits us.  All that we'll need is chairs for the kitchen table...one garage sale or trip to a thrift store and we're all set!  (note: hubby is still not rolling his eyes.)

Then came the question of how do we go about affording a second home...a vacation home?  And I got to thinking that we wouldn't possibly be able to go to the cabin all the time, so there would be a lot of time where it would just sit empty... and loads of people like to rent cabins, evidenced by the lack of availability of that rental cabin we found.  Why not rent the cabin?  Hey!  This is sounding awesome.  Rental rates in that area are higher than most hotels charge (okay, I've never stayed at anything above a 3 star that I paid for!)  And that rate even with paying someone to manage the place for us, more than covers the mortgage...maybe a bit of profit?  and if no profit, if it just pays for itself then it's totally worth it.  And the bonus of a rental management company... they make sure the pipes don't freeze in the winter!  YAY  (hubby is still for this!)

oh, the cabin I want isn't actually on a lake or pond.  There is a creek though...and maybe we could build a pond like my friend's neighbors did?  maybe.  (*hubby rolls eyes*)

So I get this all figured out and I'm ready to make the appointment to see the place and drive up there, when Yahoo News puts out this story about how housing prices are expected to continue to fall and will probably be 20% lower in the next two year.  TWO YEARS!  :(  That means we'll be waiting on this dream...and I'll be checking the website to see if this cabin remains available... but even if it doesn't there are others.  oh well, I can wait...I think. :D

House Rules Revisited sigh

Okay, I'm quite aware that the way I run my house isn't the same as everyone else.  (God makes us all different, our parents raise us all different...so we are all different.)  I have a plan and it works for us...most of the time.

I feel very blessed that my loving husband was well trained by his parents and isn't a slob who leaves his dirty clothes all over the place.  He also doesn't leave dirty dishes all over...or even leave the toilet seat up!  I am hoping and praying that Darly will be equally blessed when she finds her soul mate. 

Some rules we have around here are:
There are TWO acceptable locations for dirty clothing.  1) a clothing hamper (locations in each bathroom and in the child's bedroom) or 2) the laundry room.  Clothing left in any other location will result in severe nagging and or the clothing not being washed.

If YOU are the one to use up the last of an item that needs to be replaced, YOU must write that item on the grocery list.  You cannot tell the MOM that you are out of said item.  She has too much to do to remember that you ran out of said item.  (that reminds MOM that she should post a separate list for items that we don't buy at the grocery store.)  If you don't put the item on the shopping list, don't expect for it to magically replace itself...unless YOU would like to make a trip to the store for it.

If YOU take something out, return it to it's original location...and DON'T expect the MOM to know where it is that you left it.  MOM has a great memory, but she isn't psychic!

The reason we are revisiting the rules today is because of a conversation that began last night.  When hubby returned home from work last night he noticed that Darly was doing laundry and asked if I had washed jeans.  When I informed him that I wasn't doing laundry and that yes he still had plenty of time to get his jeans in the wash, he let me know that he wanted a certain pair of his jeans washed.  I let him know that I would not be washing jeans that evening.
So today I decided that I should probably go ahead and wash our clothes as hubby had that pair of jeans he wanted washed.  I collected the hampers and proceeded to start the wash...I always do the whites first as they tend to have the most items that need air drying and the heat from the dryer tends to speed this process along.  However, upon sorting the clothing I realized that hubby's jeans were NOT in the hamper.  Hummm?  Where are hubby's jeans? 
So I call him...he answers on the first ring.  I ask where his jeans that he wanted washed are.  and he informs me that they are hanging in the closet...along with all the CLEAN laundry!  I question the thinking of hanging up the dirty jeans that he wanted washed.  He explains that he didn't know when I would be doing the wash.  Um I just don't get it!
Then he asks if I'm also washing towels.  uh yeah, I don't save up for a special wash day for each item...if it's in the hampers, it gets washed.  Taking that as a yes, he asks if I can go and get two towels out of a cardboard box in the garage and wash them also.  He isn't sure which box.  Wash day should NOT be a scavenger hunt!  Oye!  I shouldn't have called and just let the jeans wait until genius remembered to put them in the hamper...it isn't as if that's his only pair of jeans.

The other two rules I posted are just there for your amusement today...no one in the house has broken them recently, so there's no humorous story to go with them.

it pays to whine!

recent advertisements for a company that provides Cable services (they provide internet & phone services as well) in our area are trying to make folks who subscribe to the land line phone provider nervous because they're switching names (being bought out or some kind of merge).  I wasn't nervous about the switch, but it did get me thinking that it was time to look at my bill.

See we have the phone/internet bill set up for auto-pay.  So I never look at it...it just gets paid.  I looked at the bill and it seemed to me that the rate I'm paying was higher...and I had signed up for a Price for Life package.  So I went online and checked out the current rates for my internet & phone package.  Turns out that I'm paying more for my deal than what they normally charge folks for the exact same service!  So I got in an online chat session and asked what was up.  Turns out that my bill is not any higher than I remember...I just hadn't payed it any attention.  However, I was correct in that I'm paying more than what other customers are paying for the same service.

And they have a deal where I can upgrade my internet and phone service and pay LESS than I'm currently paying...even after the 5 year introductory rate price.  Wow!  I can have faster internet, more phone services and pay $10 less than I'm currently paying...AND at the end of the 5 years I still won't be paying what I am now???  um YEAH sign me up!

So I did! :D

And as for the advertisement that caused all of this.  The cable company is saying that our phone company will be taking away our choices since they're switching to the new company.  Ummm isn't this the same thing as when they switched from being AT&T to Comcast to Xfinity???

Access Denied!

I'm having with drawl today folks.  Due to site maintenance my Facebook account won't let me in!!!  Horrors!

I can get into everything else on my computer...a start.  Darly can get to her Facebook... grumble!  But my account won't let me in!!!

ARGH!!!

Dinner?

So Darly & I went to see a play this evening and afterward we needed to eat...

Me: So what would you like for dinner?
Darly: I don't know... something crunchy?
Me: What's that?  Popcorn?
Darly: ummm no. 
Me: Tacos?
Darly: ummm no.
Me: what???
Darly: I think I want that pizza at the mall.
Me: umm that's not crunch...and I think the mall is closed.
Darly: well what do you want?
Me: anything
Darly: okay I'll eat just about anything too.
Me: okay how about Wendy's?
Darly: no
Me: Subway
Darly: no
Me: oooh!  I know... how about those little pizzas at the grocery store...in about 20 min we'll have pizza AND crunchy.
Darly: no

I suggested a few other things and she said no to them all...so
Me: FINE!  We can just go home



After passing all food possibilities and are walking distance from home...
Darly: What about Quiznos?
Me: NO!  We are going home!


We get home and I make myself a bagel.  Darly pouts on the couch.
Me: are you going to eat something or just starve because you're mad at me?
Darly: Starve.
Me: okay fine!


about an hour later...
Darly:  Okay, you win.  I'll go eat
Me:  I didn't realize it was a contest. 

well no wonder! - Rant!

Today a friend of mine posted on Facebook a rant about this article http://www.wfsb.com/news/27846498/detail.html?source=hart

Basically some kids had a contest to see who could ask a girl to the prom in the most creative way and the boy who won is now banned from going to the prom because he trespassed and vandalized the school to do it.

The reason I'm ranting is that my friend and her friends don't seem to think what the boy did was trespassing (one said because our tax dollars pay for the school therefore making it our property) or vandalism because the letters were just taped to the building.

Um this is why our country is such a mess folks...if we don't all agree on the laws that we agreed upon then we have a problem.

I'm a bit torn about if the punishment fits the crime.  I mean typically if you vandalize something, they make you clean it up and do some community service...and if you trespass you usually get a fine and more community service.  However, I can see the school's perspective that if the parents didn't bother to teach their child that putting words up on a building you don't own is called vandalism then perhaps keeping the child from the activity they are vandalizing over is the right thing to do.

I think that I may have to show this to my child and see if I've raised her up right.  I sure hope so.

Money for nuthin - FARCE!

sigh!  I re-learned that nothing in life is free.  I should have known better...but alas I got sucked in.

recently a friend of mine posted a link on her facebook for free air line tickets.  I knew better, but I need air line tickets, so I clicked on the link...and happily gave them my contact info so I could get the free tickets they said I had won.

Then on the next page I learned the horrible truth!  It was a page that told me to get the "free" tickets I had to sign up for some more great offers.  you know the ones... "Try Netflix!" "Bookclub of the month!" "check our lower insurance rates!"  blah blah blah.

I immediately closed the window but of course it was too late...they already had my email address.  And soon enough the spam started hitting the fan.  UGH!

Since I also foolishly gave them my real address, I'm sure I'll start getting junk mail galore too.  Time to renew my subscriptions in the "Don't send me junk mail!" lists.

*hangs head in shame and leaves the room*  http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm

Happy Resurrection Day!

The beginning of the end?

Could this really be it?  I think I've been waiting for this time of my life since I was 13 and first got my cycle.

Auntie Flo has never been my friend.  I can barely remember the "excitement" about becoming a woman when I was a tweenager because when Auntie first came to visit I was like "WHAT THE???  Who in their right mind thinks this is a good thing?  OYE!"  (note: I've tried to put a better spin on things for Darly.)  But honestly, what is good about this?

So when I started noticing some signs of peri-menopause, I was THRILLED!  I couldn't be more happy about entering this time of my life.  I was ready to start singing

But then things started going back to how they were before!  What was going on???  and then I figured it out...seems that lovely Darly was sharing her hormones with me.  oh boy!

Luckily that only lasted a few months and it seems I'm back on track for menopause again.  w00t!  Although there are some symptoms that I'm having that I would rather do without.

One thing is that I don't want go through menopause on hormone replacement therapy.  My mom and mother in law both used HRT and did okay, but I think that I'm pretty well informed about the pros and cons and it just doesn't seem to me that HRT is the way to go for me.  So I've been looking into products like Estroven.  

Estroven® products are herbal supplements made with all-natural ingredients to provide natural menopause symptom relief. Black cohosh plus soy isoflavones are combined with essential nutrients like calcium, folic acid, and B-vitamins. These work naturally in the body to help reduce hot flashes, night sweats, and other menopausal symptoms. Hundreds of thousands of women trust Estroven® products every year, and pharmacists recommend them 3 to 1 over other brands of menopause supplements.†

Estroven has different menopause formulas to help combat symptoms, so I'll be grabbing the one that looks right for me.  I'm also going to make more of an effort to get to the gym (swimsuit season is coming up fast!) so that should help too.

I'm also liking Estroven on Facebook so I can keep up to date on savings.  Just looking at their wall I'm learning all kinds of great stuff. :D

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Estroven and received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

I don't blog enough

sigh...it seems that my life as a product reviewer is over.  I don't blog enough, I don't have enough of a following.  Oh well, it was a nice gig while it lasted.  I got to try out some really neat things.  I hope that if you tried any that you liked them.  The new thing seems to be twitter and I just refuse to do that seeing as I already spend way too much time on Facebook.  (see I can't even give it proper respect by capitalizing the name :p  )

I'll try to post my longer notes over here so that those of you few loyal folks who still follow me here can know what's going on.  My shorter entries will be on Facebook.  If I think it's important I may cross post.

Bummer, I was really looking forward to trying out that new thingamagig.

Yes, My Grown Homeschooled Children Are Odd — And Yours Will Be Too!

Yes, My Grown Homeschooled Children Are Odd — And Yours Will Be Too!

Ya gotta be kidding me! Really?

So after all this time...after all the hard work DH has done getting MIL's house ready...oh wait, I should show you.

When the house was originally put on the market we had a lot of showings, but it just wouldn't sell.  One of the main comments we kept getting was that the buyers wanted the kitchen already redone.  I don't really understand why someone would want to buy someone else's idea of perfect, except that it seems they don't want to spend the money to do it themselves.  Hummm don't they realize that we up the price of the house when we have to add improvements?  I guess not.


Here's the before...

And here's the after...

DH put in the tile himself and we paid to have the granite put in.  So after many hours of hard work the house was put back on the market and had 7 showings for it's first weekend out.  Everyone LOVED the new kitchen.  (okay?)  and on Monday our realtor called to ask hubby a question from one of the folks who came to see the house...

The want to know if he would accept an offer with a contingency...  They need to sell their house first...And (get this) they haven't even put their house on the market yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When DH told me this my reaction was ____NO!  and he didn't even get upset with me about the expletive...apparently his reaction was very similar.

Ya gotta be kidding me... after all this time and all this work they expect us to take their offer and just wait for their house to sell???  Yeah RIGHT!  I don't think so pal!  you want the house, you sell yours first...then you go find a house.  Unless of course you want to pay the mortgage on our house while we wait.  :p

oh and what's with all these folks 1 leaving all the lights turned on in the house when they come to see it and 2 using the bathrooms???  They've used up all the toilet paper in one of the bathrooms and hubby has had to clean the toilet...cuz who knows who might get turned off from someone coloring in there.  ewwe!

Hubby always makes the plan bigger

After YEARS of sewing little hobby projects, I've decided that I'm finally ready to be a bit more dedicated to it... I think it was trying to cut some fabric for my latest project

with scissors that were already toast that did it for me.  Don't worry, I'm not gonna start sewing my own clothes...well unless I can't find what I'm looking for!  :D

Luckily I had gotten some coupons for a local sewing place and was able to purchase new sewing scissors...GOOD ones for half price.  YAY!  I love a good deal.  I also looked for one of these. 
At first I looked for it at the same store that I bought my scissors...they had one online (that I can't find now, perhaps because when I looked yesterday it was out of stock?) but when we were at the store they were completely out of them.  So I decided to try my local Wally World.  I knew it was a long shot, but totally worth a try...right?

YES!  So worth a try!  Not only did I find it, they had it for $2 less than the sewing place!!! :D  *happy dance!*
The only problem I now had was that the table that I'm currently using to cut fabric on is 30"x40" and the board is of course 36"x60" (the size of the largest yard of fabric you can get). 

So I think I should just have hubby make me a cubby hole shelf to make up the difference in size and I'll just put the extra 6 inches in width to the back so I don't put any weight on it. :D  I drew up the plans...

When I showed them to hubby, he balked at my idea.  He didn't like that it is a book shelf but since the middle shelf could be one piece it would require that the back of the shelf a sturdier piece of wood so it can support the middle shelf.  He tried to talk me into just a regular book shelf...but I didn't want that.  So after learning why I wanted the shelf to look like this he suggests just building me a new table! 

As it turns out we have the materials to just build a new table...he could even make the legs on one side be  storage shelves for me.  And it wouldn't take that much more work.  So now instead of getting a new shelf, I'm getting a new table...one day.  I told him I wanted it for Mother's day.  I wonder if I'll really get it by then.  LOL!

Different shoes

Today I ordered new jazz shoes for Darly.  She needs these for her dance class and they're a royal pain to get.

If you buy them locally they cost more, but at least you know they fit.  But if you order them online you can find ones that are much cheaper.  They're a knock-off brand but considering how quickly she's going to outgrow or go through them it's worth it...IF I get the right size!

See these shoes don't run the same size as street shoes...the manufacturers tell you this.  (then why not change the number on the shoe???  ah to keep us confused and make most of your money on the restocking charges when we are forced to return them!)  GREAT

So I found Darly some shoes a few months ago and ordered them without checking her current shoes that we inherited from a friend (BTW:  Thanks friend!  those shoes came at just the right time for us!  They've been a life saver!)  back to the story... so I'm online and find the shoes and order based on her current street shoe size and the website's recommendations on how much larger to order...only to get the shoes and find out that they are the EXACT same size as the shoes we already had that are tight!  ARGH!  The bad part they charged a $15 restocking fee.  phoey!

So I didn't return them.  I found someone in her class with smaller feet!  I'm selling them at a discount, but it's way less than the $15 restocking fee.  So we're all happy-ish.

Then I found these shoes today that I've just ordered.  All the reviews are glowing and I've ordered the right size...maybe a tiny bit bigger?  Hopefully they last the rest of the year, and even more hopefully I can then sell them to someone with feet smaller than BIGFOO... er Darly.

Slowcooker!!!

As I mentioned in my first Shoe post...I found a deal on a crock pot that I was looking for online!  So I placed my order...got my confirmation and waited.

Then the day that I was to get my slow cooker I get an email from Fedex that they BROKE my slow cooker right here in my very own city!  They were less than an hour from my house in bad traffic and they BROKE my slow cooker!  ARGH!

And then I hear nothing!  *chirp chirp!*

So I email the company...they assure me that yes I will be getting a new slow cooker as soon as possible.

And they thanked me for my patience too.  LOL I thought that was quite ironic since I wasn't being very patient about it, however they could have thwarted my impatience by simply emaiing me when they were notified that the slow cooker was broken...AND if they had sent out the new slow cooker as soon as they knew the other one was broken...but alas...I had to make contact.

Finally Fedex tells me my replacement slow cooker is on it's way.  Of course the day it is due to arrive, I have a bazillion things planned, but I didn't want to miss the delivery...so I canceled those plans (no trip to the gym) and waited.

Fedex finally shows up at around noon!  and my slow cooker arrived in one piece...of course it was in a box large enough to ship a PERSON!  It's here and it looks fine...I've yet to clean and use it though...wish me luck!

Internet Safety

Darly is fast approaching the age where most social networks will allow her to have an account legally.  I know I'm a really mean mom for not allowing her to have an account early like so many folks that I know.  But then I see this article and feel justified in sticking to my guns.

So since Darly is almost old enough, I want to make sure she's smart enough. 

She seems to be.  My niece who is too young for an account and has one anyway recently posted this meme...
1. Who knows you best?
The message reads:
Can you do this? My middle name __________, my age ___, my favorite soda _______, my birthday ___/___/___, whose the love of my life ______, my best friend _____, my favorite color ______, my eye color _______, my hair color ______ my favorite food ________ and my mom's name __________. Put this as your status and see who knows you best.

Note:  I copied this from this Yahoo Article on Biggest Facebook Security Threats  I showed Darly the post and she rolled her eyes and was able to tell me why it's a bad idea.  I told my niece that she should pull it down, and niece said it wouldn't hurt anything because no one she knows would know all that info.  I told her that I knew all that info but I'm smart enough to not post it.  When I tried to go now to copy it from her wall I wasn't able to find it...so either she pulled it, or her parents did.  Whew!

A friend of mine set up a class on Internet Safety that we attended today.  The guy heading up the class has many different social network accounts and poses as young children to catch pedophiles.  He catches a lot, but there are a whole lot more that he can't catch.

He started off the class showing the kids just how easy it is for a predator to find kids.  Then he showed the kids how he catches them.

He gave tips on the dos and don'ts of internet safety...one huge tip was to not be online friends with anyone you haven't met.  (I guess that should knock out most of my blog readers!)  But it so totally makes a ton of good sense.

I guess the best part of the class was that Darly took it all very seriously.  She even reconsidered if she really needs to have a Facebook account.  I'll let her have an account, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it...and of course her first friend will be me.  I'll make sure her account is totally closed and I'll be a mean mom at every turn.

:( shoes

I have this one pair of shoes that I like to wear to Church.  They're black and very basic, but they go with everything and they are so comfortable. 

If you know one thing about me, it is that I am NOT a slave to fashion!  I don't care how in something is, if it isn't comfortable, then I ain't buying it...I learned my lesson a long time ago with the 2 hour shoes.  (btw: I tried to pawn the 2 hour shoes off on Darly cuz she's my size now, and even she wouldn't go for them!)

So my very comfortable shoes are of course now showing their age and are in need of replacement.  And of course they stopped making this shoe "eons" ago...so I've been searching for something close.  I figured first I would try with the same brand of shoes.  I have no idea where I bought these shoes, so I look them up by brand online.  They're Mushrooms btw.

I find the Mushroom shoes website.  They don't sell the shoes there.  You have to go to one of three retailers for them...One of the 3 I've never heard of.  The other two are Famous Footwear & Mervyn's.  And of course neither of them really carry the shoes either.

More Googling and I find that Kmart actually carries the brand, but of course not my shoe.  Bummer!  And when looking at what they do carry, the ones I might try...not my size!  Double Bummer!  My size only comes in barf or sandals.

I then started shopping around for other comfy shoes...I'm still looking.

In other news: I got an email that Darly had put something she wanted on my ebay watch list and the auction was almost over.  Instead of bidding on that I bought myself a slow cooker. :p

Wrong Mommy

has this ever happened to you?  You are in a location and some small child who is focused on other things (toys, animals at the zoo, etc...) grabs your leg and finally looks up in total shock because YOU are NOT their parent.

I've had this happened more times than I can remember.  It doesn't seem to matter what you say to the poor child...they are just horrified at the mistake.  The latest time I was shopping at some place with a friend and while looking at some items a mom with her 3 very young ones came near to look in the same section.  I did notice that one child was rather close to me but chose to not say anything...I probably should have though because next she hugged my leg and looked up to ask me a question.  Her real mom was only 2 feet away with the other kids.  But I kinda felt bad having to say to the child "sorry honey, wrong mommy."

Real mom looks over, smiles and holds out her arms for her baby to come running into.  I smile at mom and walk away.

I think the funniest time this happened was at a Girl Scout meeting.  Mom was with older kiddos and the youngest runs over to me, grabs my leg and hollers at me that she's ready to go home.  I look down and tell her she's got the wrong mommy and she recoils in horror.  poor kiddo.  Luckily for her I wasn't a stranger.  But it has happened several times with kids I don't know too.

Usually the only resemblance I have to real mommy is that I'm wearing the "mom uniform" jeans and shirt for the season.  but at knee height I'm the right looking mommy. ;o)  I wonder how long this will last?

Fiddler on the Roof Jr!

Darly's next play!  Come & see if you can! :D

Window crap continues

today after waiting since December to get this window replacement finished I find that we are yet still tied up in this drama!

After installing the windows I called the city building department and had an inspector come out to finish up the project...only we couldn't because one of our windows was ordered wrong and didn't meet fire safety codes.  Turns out when the guy ordered the window he forgot to mark that this window needed a special hinge on it so that it would open up all the way.  And so the window that was installed in December only opened to 19 inches and needed to open to at least 20 to pass.

So we waited for a new window to be made.  I was told this would take only a few weeks, but as you can see it took much longer as I was only called to make the appointment to install it last week.

The guy gets here and first off he never showed me the window before ripping out the "old" window.  I didn't notice the new window didn't have the decorative grids that we ordered until he already had the window half installed.  OYE!  So I called up hubby, who isn't pleased at all...we paid extra for the grids.

I mentioned to the installer that the window should have had grids and he says "did the one I pulled out have grids?"  I'm ready to smack him.  Then he says "well it's always something!"

I've got an email into the sales guy...we'll see how long it takes to get this resolved.