Advice wanted

For the past three nights Claire has poo'd in the bathtub. Brian gives her baths. We usually bath her at the same time every night. What do we do? Shes only done it once before this. Does the warm water just suddenly loosen her bowels and we (and by we I mean Brian :) are just doomed? Or should we sit her on the potty before bathtime? Please advise :)

It's hot

Oh my gosh...we are dying here! It's been 90 the past couple of days. Sure this isn't really hot compared to other parts of the country, like AZ, TX, or LA, but it is really hot for Sequim Wa when the majority of the summer is in the 70's. Most people don't have air conditioning here. We don't. Claire and I spent pretty much all day yesterday on the couch in front of the fan. It's going to be just as hot today and probably tomorrow but it should start cooling down by this weekend. I think we are breaking all sorts of records here. NOT FUN!! I should be cleaning since my momma comes on Friday but I have no energy.
Claire eating cheese :)

Funny :)

Saw this on my cousin Haley's facebook. Just had to pass it on :)

Customer Service

So I basically work customer service at my job. In one way or another, don't we all? We do a user survey every so often and send an email out to people who use our software and get ideas for updates, and ask them to review our sales/technical support/consulting services (that's what I'm involved in). This last round, something like 90%+ gave us a 4 or a 5 on overall rating. Not too shabby.

Now, please allow me to share you with you the horror that is Dell and WorldWideRebates.com customer service.

I use slickdeals.net to check for deals on things. It's great, and people say things like "I tried this, it works, etc etc." So I'm looking to buy a few parts to get our desktop up and running again, and I see a $100+ video card on sale for $45. Pretty good deal right? I read through the posts and people find a mail-in rebate on a different site for an additional $20 off. The mail in r

ebate says "channel wide" and people say it will work at Dell. So, that's a $100+ video card for $25 plus shipping. I'm sold. What harm could a little old mail in rebate cause.

Oh.my.goodness.

Like this, only less comic-based and more painful

So I call in and make the purchase, because I want to talk to a real person. And, Dell's sales lines are US based, as opposed to their customer service lines. I talk to a guy. We chat. I order and provide all of my contact information. The item is backordered, but no worries. 15 minutes later (5 was just navigating Dell's automated phone operator) I'm all set.

2 weeks go by, and someone at work brings a package back and says "Is this yours?" I look at it. It's addressed to Bryan Stevens at Sawtooth Software in Dungeness WA. We start at each other confused for a moment. I see it's from Dell. I shrug and reply in the affirmative. I open up and sure enough, it's my video card. Hooray! I check the packing sheet. Oh noes...

Bill to:

Bryan Stevens

Sawtooth Software

530 W Fir St

Dungeness, WA 98382

For those of you who know me, my name is not Bryan, it's Brian. And, my last name is McEwan, not Stevens. And, I live in Sequim, not Dungeness. But the fail that is Dell began much before this. They even got my email address wrong, so no confirmation email came to me so that I could say "Hm, almost everything about that is wrong." If you remember, I have a rebate. And someone might raise an eyebrow if Brian McEwan in Sequim applies for a rebate on an item that Bryan Stevens from Dungeness purchased (I looked it up, Dugneness is a small, unincorporated town nearby).

I like images. They convey feelings so well.

Above: Yep

So I call up Dell. I'm not racist, but people from India are, on average, hard to understand to a native English speaker. That's just how it is. Suprisingly large numbers of Indian people use our software. Some are nice. I've got nothing against them, really. And, the guy who screwed up my order wasn't from India.

Anyway.

So the first guy tells me to go to their website and change the invoice. I go there. Guess what? I can't change the invoice. I call back. A second person tells me they can't change it, I have to submit a request from the My Accounts place on the website. I do so. I get a response "We can't change it." Wait...what? I email back "This is not my fault, either change it or give me $20 to cover my rebate." Someone else emails back. I say here's my information. They email back and say "Oh wait, we were wrong, we can only change EITHER the bill to or the ship to address. I call up. I say "This isn't my fault, I want a correct invoice." They tell me to get a correct invoice, I'll need to return the item and make the purchase again....and pay shipping...again...

Again

I say no, that's rediculous. There has got to be someone there who can change the address on an invoice. I ask to speak with a manager. He says he can only change one address or I can return the item. I go a bit personal now. I just want some vindication. I ask him if he thinks I should pay for something that's not my fault. He dodges the question. I ask him if he thinks which is more likely: I gave completely wrong information about myself, or the Dell person got it wrong. He dodges again and says he won't comment on fellow workers. I ask him to be human and give me his opinion. He declines. I say I will return it if you waive shipping. He says only sales people can waive shipping, not customer service. He can transfer me to sales if I'd like, but pretty much tells me I won't get free shipping. I ask him to change my bill to address to the correct information. He agrees and I follow a link he sends me via email to chat with a sales person.

Sales person says "Sorry, I only do laptops and desktops. You'll need to call on the phone about video cards." Great. I call, I talk to a guy and explain my situation. Remember, US based sales line. He concurs. He agrees with me, he says it sucks. I'm feeling good. This guy is on my side. He's trying to trick the system into thinking I returned and bought a new one without wasted postage effort. Oh no! He's foiled! The video card is no longer for sale! There's absolutely nothing he can do. He tells me he will put in a request with some other department to call me and try to make me happy. I say ok. As of now, 2+ weeks later, I have no heard from that department.

I check my email the next day. An email Dell. Your corrected invoice. I open it up.

Bill to:

Brian McEwan

Bryan Stevens

90 S Rhodefer Road

E105

Sequim, WA 98382

They left Bryan Stevens on there. The bill was apparently paid by two people. It's wrong, again.

Two hands this time

I email them back. Hey, you got my information wrong. Bryan Stevens does not exist, and to make matters worse, you used my old billing address, NOT the one I gave you over the phone because we moved 2 weeks ago. Please correct this.

I get a phone call from a guy. He apologizes. He confirms my information again. 909 E Cedar St. Brian with an I, yes. Ok, it will be a few days. Thanks. I get an email from Dell.

Bill to:

Bryan McEwan

NO!

I email back. My name is wrong, again. It's Brian with an I. Please fix it and send it back. I get another phone call. Can I confirm your information? Yes, 909 E Cedar. Yes, Brian with an I. Ok, thank you.

A few days goes by. He calls back again to let me know it's going to be another few days. I say ok. I check my email:

Bill to:

Bryan McEwan

909 101 E Cedar St

Bring in the reinforcements

The address is wrong. Again. For the fourth time. And it still has a Y. Are you comprehending this? I placed the order the first week of June. It's almost the end of July, and I still don't have a corrected invoice. I joke, I put up funny pictures, by I have lost all confidence in Dell and would warn you to consider someone else for your next computer purchase. The customer service is horrendous, several times the people I spoke to were rude and interrupted me. It's almost two months and my issue is still not resolved.

Plah. Stay tuned tomorrow when I give my account of the rebate company.

P.S. I have no idea why the text formatting changed, but I like it!

Friends.....part 1

I didn't have many good friends from high school, but the two I did have were the BEST ever!! These are them. Jenna and Rachel. Aren't they B-E-A-U-TIFUL? Yes, I did have the most gorgeous friends.

They were the best friends you can imagine. We had so much fun together. They always stood up for me and helped me. It drove my dad crazy because I would get home from school and call them and talk forever. He couldn't understand how we could see eachother all day and still have things to talk about. Lol. It's a girl thing.

We went on field trips.
We celebrated birthdays. We "kidnapped" Jenna one year. Went to her house really early and woke her up.
We goofed around
It was hard when I went away to school to say goodbye.
This was when we went to Rachel's church for Christmas midnight Mass. It was funny because we were the Mormon, Catholic, and Baptist and got along great. Rachel and Jenna came to almost all of our dances. I definently would not have as much fun without them.
We even worked together. This is when I came home for a visit and surprised them at work. It was so much fun working at Buck's Pizza together. It didn't seem like work when you were with your best friends. There are so many stories from that place.

We talked about boys, crushed on boys, and got revenge on boys....
And had so much fun doing it
We were in clubs together. This is beta convention.
IHOP around Christmas
My last year at high school we had one class that we were all in together. Coach Wall's psychology class. hehe. Not only were we in it together but he sat us by eachother. Rachel sat beside me and Jenna sat behind me...not a smart move. Actually, he probably liked it because we were pretty much the only ones to comment and pay attention. ;) Shortness of br...eath. Baby reflexes....walking up the stairs. hehe It was a pretty laid back class as you can see. Jenna took over the teachers desk.
This picture cracks me up EVERY TIME I see it. Seriously, I laugh outloud. Nobody realized that there was a football tournament going on the same day as Rachel's wedding. The whole parking lot was full of cars going to the tournament and Rachel was not happy :) Luckily they moved them all before the wedding started so there was room for all the guests to park!
It was a lovely wedding and I was so glad I could be there.

Seriously...the best friends ever and I miss them SOOO much. I wish we could have a big get together again...it's hard growing up and getting responsible.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!

Illinois Family pictures

Mom and DadGrandma and GrandpaThe Boiz
Claire did okay during it all
To illustrate how short I am compared to everryyyyyyone
Claire and Mazy....almost one year apart exactly. I was having an anxiety attack during this photo. Sure enough, Claire got tired really quick and started pushing Mazy off.
Mike and Leah and Mazy
Whole Fam
Playing in the flowers
The gurlz

Good weekend

We had a good time this weekend! It started with Lisa, my VT companion calling us (Thanks!!)about a table that she saw at a garage sale. I sent Brian off to look at it and he came home with the table and 4 chairs. It is an interesting table...very sturdy and nice and dark green. Lol. I dont really care though, I could probably paint it but it's not a bad colour and really...I just don't have the energy to paint a table :) Our first table of our married life! Our card table has been banished to the third bedroom to be used as a craft table. Whoo hoo! Anyway, the table was not the only 'treasure' Brian came home with. He also got a tv stand, tv, vcr, and an exercise bike...lol. All for about $60, which includes the table and chairs. So now we can put the exercise bike in the third bedroom and I can use it while Claire is taking a nap and watch something :) Thats the theory anyway. Then we went to the library sale and got some books for Claire and...wait for it...the first season of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman on VHS. hahahah. Awesome right? There are like 6 tapes.

After that we headed out to Joyce which is like 50 minutes away. I am on a group called freecycle and a lady was giving away some embroidery hoops. I want them to decorate. While we were there we stopped at Salt River Creek. This is a place that have a lot of tide pools. We didn't really know where to go but we had fun anyway. Next time I will time it better so the tide is all the way out when we go.

Before we went down the trail.

I still can't believe we live by the ocean. Down by the beach with an unidentified person modestly mooning us.
Tide pool
Sea anemone.

It was windy and COLD...seriously...it is July. It was 51 today!Pretty place

Brian thought the Nudibranch things were funnyWhen we got home we worked on the house. We cleaned off the table and chairs and moved everything inside.

Working hard

We could finally watch Beauty and the Beast since we have a VCR now. Claire LOVES Beauty and the Beast. She couldn't take her eyes off the tv. lol. I'm okay with that. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite!

Sunday Brian had to give a talk and it was FABULOUS. Funny thing is is that his mom and his brother had to give talks yesterday in their wards. I had to give a lesson too and it didn't turn out too bad either. It was a good weekend.

Claire will kill me for this someday...but not for a few years :)

Uninspired

Thats the way I feel with this blog sometimes. I read some blogs that are so funny and witty and entertaining...I am not a good writer, or witty, or anything. Oh well...I just remember that this is my journal away from journal (always away from journal...I don't write in one) and way to make grandmas happy :) So in that train of thought, here are some pictures to make grandmas happy.
Its a hard life

Claire is one quirky little girl. For example, she loves to drink out of a water bottle but refuses to do so unless she is holding the cap. Weird. I dunno. Well, I must go...she is taking her diaper off.