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When dealing with Customer Service…
I am in the customer service industry. Thankfully I am only in the customer service industry over the phone. I’ve done the face to face bit and there is nothing worse. At least I can mute the phone and give out a primal scream if the need should arise.So here is a sort of “what not to do when dealing with customer service” list:
When you are calling a corporation never accuse the person who answers the phone of doing something. Example: “You shipped my order to the wrong location!” “You overcharged me!” No, I can assure you that I did not do that. It’s very likely that I didn’t even take your order in the first place. I just get the pleasure of picking up the phone and getting yelled at for something I didn’t do. The same goes for referring to You People. In fact I would prefer being falsely accused than hearing the phrase You People. My people are from Ireland and I’m pretty sure they had nothing to do with your order either.
Do not use a term of endearment when referring to me. I am not your baby, sweetie, doll, hon or cutie pie. While I may be all of these things to my husband, I am NOT to you. I am a human being and deserve to be shown the same respect you would want someone to show your daughter or your mother.
I realize that you are angry when something has not gone your way. However, you should realize that my desire to help you resolve the situation gets greatly reduced when I am being berated and yelled at. I am fully aware that a trained monkey can do my job, but telling me that does not exactly make me want to bend over backwards to help you…and I don’t think the monkey would either.
In the same vein, swearing is NOT an option. I may cuss like a sailor in my every day life but I do not get paid enough to hear you cursing into my headset. The occasional “damn, I forgot to get my credit card.” aside, I will give you one warning and if you continue to swear at me I will disconnect the call. There is a fine line between being a good customer service representative and taking abuse and since all my calls are recorded, it only makes you look like an ass if you call back and try to get me in trouble.
Do you really think I am interested in hearing your jokes? I’m not. I will listen politely and give you a fake chuckle when you deliver the unfunny punchline but when we hang up I will make fun of you to my co-workers so I can have a real laugh at your expense. Since you fancy yourself a comedian, I don’t figure that you would mind.
Yes, we value our customers, but you are NOT any more important than any other customer. I’m sure in your world, you hold a lot of clout but in mine…not so much. Asking me if I know who I am talking to will result in me reading off your name and address from my computer screen, not make me bow and scrape because you are in fact “kind of a big deal.” If you were that big of a deal with our company, I can assure you that I, a lowly customer service representative would not be taking the phone call.
Do NOT try and engage me in a conversation about religion or politics. I am not being paid to discuss my views on such subjects and chances are, you wouldn’t agree with them anyway, so it’s best we just don’t go down that route. Telling me “God bless you.” if I sneeze is fine but asking me if I have accepted jesus christ as my personal savior is not. Yes, I realize the economy is in the crapper but that has nothing to do with whether you want expedited shipping on your order or not.
We are not friends. My goal is to get you off the phone, hopefully satisfied with the transaction, as fast as possible. I do not need to know, nor do I care that your sister’s friend’s cousin’s hairdresser once visited Monterey and found it to be just lovely. I know what this story is…it is a gateway story and it will lead to harder and more powerful stories. It is best just to not tell any stories at all. If you don’t start, you don’t have to go through the pain of quitting cold turkey.
I realize that you are lonely but there is probably a reason your family stopped talking to you. You are boring. Now if you will excuse me I have to take another call. Have a wonderful day.
It's Christmas!
We got a Christmas tree tonight!!!!! Woohoo!
I know that is exciting for most people, but for me it is super exciting!
I remember as a child sitting in awe on the carpet as my father assembled the giant fake Xmas tree that he put together every year. It was one of those hideous dinosaurs that you had to match color to color each inch of the way. My dad would get frustrated but my brother and I were there to make sure we had all the colors of the branches together to give him as he moved on to the next step. It was one of the few things my brother and I agreed upon.
With the tree assembled, we were not able to decorate it just yet. I remember that clearly. My father had had enough with putting it together and wanted nothing further that night.
Being that we lived next door to our grandparents and the fact that they were semi retired, gave them the job of coming over to our house while my brother and I were still at school and putting the lights on the tree.
That was the official go ahead. Once the lights were on, we were free to decorate to our hearts content.
We were nearly giddy all through the school day, knowing that when we got home there would be fresh strands of blinking lights on our artificial tree…not that we could plug them in…no, that was left for the adults. But the mere fact that they were on the tree meant that my brother and I could pull a full force assault on the tree with our decorations, no matter how horrendous they were.
Tinsel was my favorite. Who could ignore the shiny silver glassiness that adorned the “leaves” of the tree. I loved to pull all the tinsel out and just play in it. This was of course, discouraged.
At the end of the day, after the tree was assembled and lit, my brother and I made haste with the decorations. As if that would hurry Santa down the chimney and deliver our presents faster.
After my father left and it was just my brother and I attending to the tree, the magic wore off. After my fifteenth birthday we didn’t even go on with the charade. There was no point. Christmas wasn’t about the tree or decorations. It wasn’t about much other than family for the few slim years we could afford nothing else.
Now…19 years after I have ever possessed or decorated a Christmas tree, I find myself giddy. I want to document the process on video, though it is a small tree on a table. I want to shout from the rooftops that I have a Christmas tree and I surely can’t wait to string up the lights and put the small green and gold ornaments on it. And I might have gone just a little bit overboard in the star that changes color on the top. It will probably weigh down the whole tree and make it droop, but I don’t care. It is Christmas and I have a tree!
Currently Reading:
No Longer On This Earth, But Forever In Our Hearts
This morning Romie was the same. He had relieved himself on the blanket so Rob washed and dried it.
Romie was now refusing water so Rob called and left the vet a message. Around 7:30 this morning they called us back. They told us to bring him in around 9:45.
Needless to say the minutes passed like hours until it was time. We rolled Romie back on to the now clean blanket and fireman carried him out to the back of the PT. He was a little shaken by the experience and gagged a few times…I thought he might throw up but there wasn’t really anything *to* throw up…after a few seconds he just laid back down and was fine.
As Rob went back to lock up the house I sat on the tailgate of the PT and petted Romie as the tears flowed quite freely.
A few minutes later and we were off to the vet.
When we got there we were both very emotional and the receptionist was very nice. He had seen us out the window prior to coming in the office and told us that the vet was just finishing up and he would be more than happy to come out and get us if we wanted to go back and spend more time with Romie.
Of course, that is what we did. As we were both sitting on the tailgate of the PT petting our beloved dog, a man in a black car drove up blasting the James Blunt song “You’re beautiful” and parked. Not shutting the music off he got out of his car(huge hairy man with no shirt, by the way…) and started shaking out his floor mats.
Rob looked down as his expression broke and said: “He couldn’t be playing Earth, Wind and Fire?” before he burst into tears.
It is a joke of ours that no one can be sad while listening to Earth, Wind and Fire or Dance Hall Crashers.
The guy let the song play in it’s entirety before he finally shut the car off and put a shirt on, disappearing into a building. I don’t think I will ever be able to hear that song again without tearing up…
Finally the receptionist called us in and we waited in the examining room until the vet showed up. He came in and we explained the situation. He told us that in his experience with larger dogs when they lose mobility and the ability to walk away from their refuse, they are no longer happy. When he heard that he was also not eating or drinking anymore he was even more sure that euthanasia was the answer.
He came out to the car and did a brief exam on the dog. He said the heart and lungs still sounded healthy but that obviously with the loss of the back end and the not eating or drinking…at sixteen the most humane thing to do would be to put him down.
They were all very nice and accommodating there. They let us take care of the financial part first at our request. We knew we would be in no shape to want to do it after. They even brought what they needed out to the car so that Romie didn’t have to be moved or otherwise inconvenienced any more than he already had been.
I thought I was ready for it but when he came out with the syringe I lost it. Rob wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to where I couldn’t see what they were doing. With my face buried in his chest I sobbed long and hard, beginning to shake.
Rob just kept whispering into my hair, reminding me to breathe. Telling me that Romie has had a long and happy life.
And just like that it was over. I heard Rob thanking the vet and I looked up long enough to mumble some sort of thanks. He patted me on the back, gave his condolences and they were gone.
I sobbed some more into Rob’s chest. I felt one arm leave me and I heard the back door of the PT swing shut.
I had originally told Rob that I didn’t want to go with him to the burial. That was what I said on Wednesday night when I was in full on denial that my dog could be dying. When Rob said he was going to drop me off at home and head straight for Salinas I realized I needed to be there for that. I wasn’t sure if it was because I didn’t want to be alone or that I wanted the closure, but I knew I had to go.
We stopped at the house very briefly and I stayed in the car.
Not that long ago my friend LaShundia and her children had made Rob and I a gift. They were white dog bone picture frames and the kids had written in pink puffy paint the names of each of the dogs on the frames and put pictures of each inside them. Rob had said at the time that if we ever got the dogs cremated when they passed it would make a cute frame to put with their ashes. Well, it turned out they make a good headstone as well. That is why we stopped at home. Rob also brought Pappy out to me.
Pappy got to ride in the front seat with me for once as we made our way to Rob’s parents house.
Rob had called before we left the vet so Pa Mackadoo had already started digging when we got there. Rob helped him finish and then while Pa went to find a suitable post for our new makeshift headstone, Rob covered Romie with a sheet and we fireman carried him over to his final resting spot.
Once he was covered and the headstone in place, we stood for a few minutes, saying our silent goodbyes and then left.
Now we are here at home and I keep shifting from crying to numb. I think that the decision making was the worst part. I can easily say that to decide to put Romie down was the hardest decision of my life. I mean, I knew what had to be done. I knew that it was for the best…but how can you say that you want to put your dog to sleep when that dog is staring up at your with his sweet brown eyes…not understanding what is going on himself?
But I know it was painless…he just went to sleep. He is in a much better place now and he is not in any pain.
So, to those of you that have known Romie as part of the Mackadoo household, say a prayer, raise a glass…do whatever it is that you do, but do it in honor of Romie. For he truly was one of the best dogs I have ever met, and I am honored just to have had him in my life for the last nine years.
I love you Romie and I will never forget you.
Romie…
I’m not sure if Romie will make it through the night.
What happened was that I came home from work last night and he didn’t greet me to shove past me out the door to go pee like usual. He sort of walked stiffly out of the bedroom and looked at me. I had to coax him out and even then he only went a few steps, peed and pooped and again just stood there looking off into space. I had to take him by the collar and bring him back in.
Normally I feed them right then and there and if I don’t, Romie bugs me until I give in. It so happened that we were out of dog food that night and I was waiting for Rob to bring some home from the store. But Romie just simply stood looking like a zombie until he finally laid down and didn’t budge…not even when Rob came home with the food.
Rob was able to feed him a small handful of food but he still didn’t move.
Later in the night Rob tried to get him up to at least go outside and as soon as he stood his breath became very labored. That happened the two times Romie managed to stand and walk a few steps.
At that point we were pretty sure that it was the beginning of the end. We put him on a blanket before we went to bed…pretty sure he’d be gone by morning. He didn’t appear to be in pain, and the guy is sixteen years old so we figured there was no point in rushing to the vet.
This morning he was still alive but pretty much immobile. He drank from the water bowl we brought him but refused food.
Timing being as crappy as it was, we had to go to my inlaws for thanksgiving dinner. That was a hard decision. In the end we went, bringing Pappy with us so he wouldn’t bother the big guy.
Right before we left, Romie didn’t move anywhere but just let his bladder loose and peed all over the carpet. I was pretty sure he would be gone when we got home.
When we finally did, he was in the same position as we left him.
I got him to drink some more water and lick a little bit of peanut butter off my finger but he wanted nothing to do with his dog food.
He still doesn’t appear to be in pain and seems quite content just to lay on his side and sleep. We did roll him over just a few minutes ago so that he doesn’t have any complications for laying on one side for too long.
Tomorrow if he is still alive we will take him to the vet. Even if he is dying from old age it appears to be very slow and there is no reason to let him starve to death.
We want him home with us when it happens but at this point it is just cruel to let him starve and be dehydrated. It’s a long shot but if they do have to put him down we want to know if there is a way we can do it at home. We want him here with us and after it is over we want to bury him in our inlaws yard where Sarah is.
I’m much more level headed about this today than I was last night or this morning.
Rob and I had always discussed in passing: “When Romie goes…” but I never really allowed my head to think it was really going to happen. Last night I had no other choice but to accept that reality. Sure, there will be a lot more tears and sadness…but I’ve had a chance to wrap my head around the fact that it is inevitable.
I called my mom tonight and she said: “Well we’ve been through this before…” but I had to remind her that when we finally had to put my childhood dog Mitzi down, we hadn’t lived with her for over a year. We were forced to move into a place that didn’t allow pets so she had to stay with my grandparents for that last year of her life. It allowed me to separate myself more from the situation.
Pappy is depressed too. He doesn’t understand why his brother won’t play with him anymore.
My girls, Paula and Jenn have shown we the meaning of true friendship in the last day and a half. They have been here for me through this…knowing this is as close as losing a family member for me and I am so grateful to them I can’t put it into words. Love you bitches.
So that’s about it from here.
Please keep Romie in your thoughts…that he either makes a full recovery or makes a safe and painless transition to a better place.
Currently Reading:
Well, we are here in fabulous Las Vegas and wow are we having fun!!!
We were planning on leaving work at one yesterday but because the office staff was going to be short that afternoon our boss declared everyone leave for lunch at 12 and come back at one. Since we were leaving at one that meant we get to leave an hour early. I didn’t complain.
Rob picked us up and dropped us off at the airport where Jenn and her daughter Maddie met us for lunch. We enjoyed a nice meal and then it was off to go through security where they ran my purse about a thousand times before finding out that my little mono-pod for my camera was not a shotgun.
The flight was okay until the decent of course. I knew that it would be bumpy because of the heat but even the two glasses of wine I drank couldn’t stave off a minor panic attack. Paula was a doll and kept making me laugh so I couldn’t get too worried. In the end she said it was helpful to her that I was a basket case so she couldn’t be.
Finally we were on the ground and after a quick stop at baggage claim to get Paula’s bag we were off and onto the shuttle in no time. In the back of the shuttle with virtually no air conditioning, Paula and I melted a little until we got to the Venetian and checked in.
Up in the room we took two mini vodkas out of the mini bar and had a cocktail while we relaxed a little from the flight. We were giddy with our freedom to put it mildly. It’s not that our husbands are overbearing by any stretch of the imagination but the word frugal comes to mind. Had they been there they would have reminded us that a quick trip to the liquor store downstairs would have given us more bang for our buck and probably would have cost less than the two tiny bottles and can of soda we took out of the bar. And they would probably be right, that is not the point. The point was that we were on vacation and if after a bumpy flight we wanted to relax with an expensive cocktail in the room, then dammit, we deserved it.
Because our flight was late and the shuttle took forever we didn’t have the time we wanted to go gamble a little so we just got tarted up and headed out to the Excalibur for the Thunder From Down Under show.
Once at the casino we got a quick drink and got our tickets from will call before settling in at a bar so we could smoke.
Finally they opened the doors and we took our seats at the first table and waited. There were tons of bachelorettes there so that was fun to see them all dressed up.
I was a little worried because the theater was so small looking. On the advertisements they made it look like a huge auditorium and it was really just the size of a small club with an average to small stage.
Having said that, I ate my words when they guys took the stage! Wow! Not only are these boys HOT, but they are fabulous dancers and everything was so polished and co-ordinated. The energy was through the roof. And I needn’t have worried about the small stage because they kept leaping off of it and dancing on our tables., running through the crowds, grinding on the ladies.
I can’t express how much fun this was. I highly recommend it to any gal that wants to have a good time and be thisclose to some prime eye candy. The only bummer about this show is that you can’t take pictures. No pictures but you are fully encouraged to touch the men. Anywhere you want to. Heh.
At the end they invite everyone to come on stage and have your pictures taken with the boys (for a fee of course) and while we wanted to do that, we realized we’d probably be in line for another two hours if we did so we opted out.
Instead we found a liquor store and stocked up on booze, soda and snacks before cabbing it back to our hotel where we changed into our PJ’s and had some cocktails. It had been such a long day so we decided we would just stay in and fiddle on the computer, having drinks and relaxing. And that is just what we did.
Twice during the night there was some commotion in the hallway that woke us up but other than that it wasn’t a bad sleep. We woke around eight and got ready for breakfast.
That is when Paula and I met Joey Buttafucco.Okay, it wasn’t REALLY Joey Buttafucco but he sure looked like him! He had on a white wife beater with his massive amount of grey chest hair showing through the top, a pair of running shorts and some cute white socks with black bunnies or something similar on them, pulled all the way up with his sneakers. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure he was as much Joey Buttafucco as Pauly Walnuts from the Sopranos. Either way, you get the idea.
He came down on the elevator with us, it was around nine in the morning. He mentioned that us girls were up early. We laughed and said we were starving because we had drank our dinner. He told us that he tried to place a sports bet the night before but they told him he couldn’t. That is why he was up at the ungodly hour of nine in the morning. He started advising us where to go to breakfast, but we told him where we wanted to go and he followed us down in the second elevator to the casino floor, telling us about how the other food place was closer but the one we wanted had a better selection.
When we reached the casino floor he asked us if we knew where to go and Paula piped up: “Yes, we know right were to go!” Even though we didn’t because I’m pretty sure he would have asked to join us once we got there. Heh.
At the Grand Lux Cafe we got a nice yummy breakfast. Paula was a good girl and got the omelet but not me, I was on vacation dammit and got the truckers special. That is why she is skinny and I am not.
With our bellies full we sat down and some machines and played for awhile. We both got a morning cocktail(screwdriver for me and a bloody mary for Paula) and played a while longer. Me breaking even and Paula winning on the dollar slots.
Finally the booze and lack of sleep from the night before hit us and it was back up to the room where Paula played around on the computer and I took a wonderfully relaxing bath in the huge tub while reading my book. Oh that was just heaven!! It left me relaxed yet refreshed.
We uncorked a bottle of wine and talked for awhile before we got ready and went to the wax museum. As usual, it was wonderful. We took tons of pictures and it was so fun. Well worth the price of admission even though I forgot my coupons.
After that we stopped off at the pizza place at the food court where Paula was a good girl and got a salad and I got a slice of deep dish. That is why she is skinny and I am not.
Soon it was time to get all dressed up and go see Phantom of the Opera. I had seen it once before with Rob on one of our anniversary trips and had just been floored. Knowing Paula was such a fan of the movie I popped for the tickets so she could see it live. I knew what an amazing experience it had been for me and I knew she would have the same appreciation.As soon as the curtain was raised she and I were both enthralled in the tale and mesmerized by the costumes and sets. She said it was one of the best things she had ever seen and I was so glad I was able to give her that experience.
After we got back we had some cocktails in the room and talked a lot. Deep, meaningful, booze-fueled conversations. It was cool, but we decided that it was time to go down and gamble more.
We hit a good run on a Sopranos penny slot. We kept winning but the streak turned bad and we ended up losing. It was okay though because we had a helluva good time doing it and it lasted a long time.
We decided it was time to pick up some pizza and head back up to the room. That is where we are now. Paula has retired to bed and I will follow shortly but I had to type out this blog before I forgot some stuff.
Okay…it’s way late and I need to go to bed. This has been an amazing trip and I’m so happy we got to go!
And how was your weekend?
Upcoming Travels
So I don’t know if I really blogged about it before other than mentioning it in passing but Paula and I are hitting Vegas this weekend for a little girls weekend of fun.
I got an insanely good deal at the Venetian so I finally get to stay there! That just puts me over the moon! I’ve wanted to stay there for so many years and now I finally get to.
We got the cheap flights out of Monterey so we leave on Friday and come home on Sunday. So it’s going to be another really fast trip but I’m pretty stoked. You can’t tell that can you?
Tonight I’ll try and see how much clothes I can stuff into the laptop backpack and my big purse. They charge you 35 bucks to check a bag so I’ll see if I can make due. Last time I had my own backpack but Rob said the laptop case is quite roomy. We’ll see.
In other news the fires are still raging near my house. According to my friend Meegs who is friends with a firefighter out here we shouldn’t be in any danger but it was so creepy this morning.
The smoke was hanging low in the air and as we drove in towards the village the only thing passing us was a long string of fire trucks.
I’m a little worried about leaving for the weekend. If Rob has to evacuate while I’m gone I’m sure he’ll be fine but I’ll feel pretty helpless. I think I might put together a box before I leave of things I want him to take in case.
Hmmm. Good idea.
Not much else going on around my neck of the woods. Vegas in August is shaping up to be a whirlwind trip of lots of things to do and people to see. I’m so happy that DD and Alan are coming out to see us! Our friends Chad and Denise will also be in town for a night. We haven’t seen them since Glenn’s wedding in 2001 so that will be cool. Plus of course my mom and we’ll hang out with Marc and Jenna again and finally get to meet Baby Cooper. He was still in Jenna’s belly last year when we saw them. 🙂
I’m very much looking forward to that trip as well.
In September I’m heading back to Maine for the first time since I think 2002. I’m looking forward to being there but not getting there. The flight is divided into three legs and I’m taking the red eye out. My hope is that I’ll get to sleep during the middle flight since that is like 5 hours. If I get to sleep on the plane it’s kinda like gaining an extra day. That has always been my biggest gripe about flying back home. You lose two days just in traveling. At any rate the I haven’t traveled for this length of time by myself since I left for AZ in 1999…and if I remember right I was sucking down airline bottles of booze to help ease my fears. 🙂 I don’t think my mom would appreciate coming to pick me up and finding me staggering and reeking of booze. Heh. I guess that is what Xanax is for eh?
California Wildfires
In case any of my friends outside of where I live are interested, there are a lot of fires going on in California right now. A lot of them were sparked by a lightening storm that we had recently and I am really frightened about how many will be sparked after 4th of July.
They’ve pretty much banned fireworks around here because of the fires and I am glad of that.
Right now there is a fire raging fairly near my house…not alarmingly near but we can see and feel the smoke in the air and there has been ashes raining from the sky on a couple of days.
It’s disturbing to me because of a couple of factors.
The first is that I quit smoking in August and in the past week I have felt the like I was still smoking given the air quality since the fires. My lungs have felt crappy and there has been that nasty dry hacking cough in the back of my throat in the morning. There is literally a haze on the horizon and it is all smoke from the fire. Today was the first day I saw blue sky before leaving my house this morning.
The second is that locations within 15 miles of my house are now on voluntary evacuation right now. Rob said it is only because of the back fires they lit to help stop the fire and I’m sure that is true, but it doesn’t make me feel any less safe.
Everyone is reassuring me that there is nothing wrong and it will be stopped before it reaches the point of evacuation…and this is exactly what I will tell my mother if she calls and asks about it, but I’m really scared.
Mostly I’m scared to leave the dogs here during the day. I know in the sane part of my mind that we will be notified well enough in advance to bring the dogs to my inlaws, but the panic part of my brain says, well, to panic!
I know that I’m being totally irrational but I can feel the anxiety building(it is what I do, after all) and I just want to make it stop.
Okay, that is all. I know I’m safe and that I will be okay but it helps to vent sometimes.
Thanks for listening Internet.
Of Course I did.
Okay so it’s now less than three weeks away from a quickie girls weekend in Vegas that Paula and I just put together(allegiant air rules!)
It’s going to be awesome, we’re staying in a suite at the Venetian and we have tickets for Thunder from Down Under at the Excalibur(Front row thankyouverymuch). I just can’t wait!
Well, last night I ordered this arm extender thing for my camera. It basically makes it so that you can take a picture of you and whoever you are with in front of something without having to ask someone to do it or to look like it’s just your faces in the shot. This is very exciting to me. Not just for this upcoming trips but hell, I’m going to carry that thing everywhere! You know how I am about my camera and taking pictures right? Now I can actually be in some of the pictures I take!!
Soooooooooooo….
This afternoon I tarted myself up because I was bored and I thought I would take pictures of a couple of different shirts that I was considering wearing in Vegas…you know cleavage bearing shirts and all that. I was going to send the pics to Paula to see what she thought(she is much more fashion minded than I).
Can you guess what happened?
Instead of using the tripod that I bought months ago and have never taken out of the box, I propped the camera up on the big screen TV. I’ve done this many times when I have taken a picture of myself with no problems.
Not today kid! After a couple of shots, I turned it on it’s side to get a lengthwise view and set the timer. As I posed I watched the camera tumble to the carpet. I laughed, picked it up and tried again.
This time the camera just beeped at me. I picked it up and looked at it. Wait, the lens isn’t supposed to slant off to the side is it?
Yup, I broke the fucking camera!
I’ll say that one more time: I BROKE THE FUCKING CAMERA!!!
The thing I use almost daily. I broke it because I was being vain and taking pictures of myself. I broke it because I was being lazy and didn’t want to set up the tripod. I broke it THREE WEEKS before my big girls weekend in Vegas! I broke it less than 24 hours after ordering a really cool accessory for it!
How stupid do I feel?
I fessed up to Rob and surprisingly he isn’t upset. He said he was never sold on this camera and he is going to take it as a blessing in disguise.
So today we are going to research cameras online and tomorrow, after Rob is done playing the farmers market in Salinas, we will head over to Best Buy and see about picking up a new one.
But seriously…only me!
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh yeah, and I just broke my temporary crown on my tooth too. Goooo me!
So I left work around 1:30 on Friday–my birthday–and Rob and I headed out to the Monterey Airport for the maiden voyage of Allegiant Airlines new flight from there directly to Vegas.
There had been all sorts of promotions on the radio and in the paper on this launch since they were offering the first flights at 49 bucks each way. Rob and I looked into it and decided that it was about time we had a quick weekend trip to Vegas again.
When we lived in AZ it was only a five hour drive so we did it quite often. Since we moved the only times we get out to gamble is one week in August for our anniversary. We booked this flight because it fell on my birthday, I didn’t realize at the time that this would be the first run on this particular flight path until Rob brought it up to me.
When we got to the airport there was a healthy line for such a tiny airport but more importantly, there was Elvis. Yes, Elvis and his little showgirl friend were there to launch the 1st flight every from Monterey to Vegas. It was kinda funny all the people wanting to have their picture taken with him knowing they were about to fly into a town with a million other Elvy around.
When we finally made it through security and got to go board the plane, we were handed “goody bags” as we exited the building. They consisted of a deck of cards, Elvis style sunglasses, a flashing vegas sign magnet, a Vegas collectible spoon and a couple of other cute little vegas things.
As we made our way to our seats I noticed that ever empty seat had a plastic champagne glass sitting in it. Yup, we got some free bubbly while in flight served by Elvis and the showgirl. I found this very amusing because before I left on Friday my office-mate Misty was singing to me that I was going on a plane and they were going to give me free champagne because it was my birthday, just joking around. Heh!
The other perk the airline gave us was at the end of the flight, everyone aboard got vouchers for Blue Man Group tickets Saturday night! I love this airline!
The flight got quite bumpy as we made our decent and I had a bit of a panic attack but soon we were on the ground and meeting Renee by the shuttle bus.
Due to the location of our hotel we were the last ones to be dropped off but that was fine.
Check in at the El Cortez was a breeze and our room was surprisingly large. We quickly headed downstairs to get our players cards and take pictures for a keychain that was offered in the fun book they gave us. After that it was off to Walgreens to pick up some snacks and drinks and things we would need for the weekend that we didn’t pack.
We relaxed in the room for awhile after we got back and then headed down to gamble. Renee was running on about two hours sleep from the night before and after a couple of cocktails was feeling the effects of both. We found Rob and decided to go across the street to Mamacita’s Mexican place where we ordered a ton of food and sobered up while waiting for it.
Back in the room we changed into our jammies and ate. We all agreed that we might go back downstairs for a little black jack in a little bit. We weren’t really ready to go to bed yet.
Renee laid down for a 15 minute power nap and told us to wake her up when we wanted to go downstairs. A half an hour later my attempt to wake her was greeted with an unenthusiastic “mnnhmmphhh.” I asked her if she wanted to stay and sleep and she said yes so Rob and I left her in dreamland.
Downstairs Rob and I lost money at an alarmingly rapid rate at the first black jack table we came to so we decided that table games were done for the trip. Feeling kind of defeated, we sat at the bar and played some quarter video black jack for awhile and then decided we’d had it and came back upstairs and went to bed.
Saturday morning we woke up ungodly early, showered and got ready. We trotted on down to Neonopolis to the theater and got our tickets to see our girls in the Sex and The City movie.
As we were buying our tickets, the token gay SATC male fan came up to us. He was wearing tight white jeans, a white tank top and a white newsboy cap. He took one look at us and said: “You girls going to see Carrie?” He was adorable and if I lived here I would have totally exchanged numbers and become friends. We said of course and we discussed the benefits of seeing it at ten in the morning as opposed to the chaos that must have been the Friday premiere.
He was right because it turned out there were only five of us in the whole theater once the movie started.
It was, of course, wonderful. It started out a little slow for me. I think it was because they have to give a sort of preamble to those who have never seen the shows. Kind of like the beginning of the Stephanie Plum novel. It has to be explained for those that aren’t familiar with the past plot lines. But I already know this part, skip to the good stuff would ya??
It got better and I think I teared up at least five times. Had I been watching in the the privacy of my own home I probably would have been flat out bawling but alas I had to hold it in.
The bad thing about the movie is now there is nothing to look forward to. They have covered everything they need to cover and there won’t be another movie. Nor would I really think I would want one because it would just have to rehash everything this one did in order to be half as interesting, but…it’s so final. The girls are retired. Don’t get me wrong, I was looking forward to this movie and am so happy it was made. It’s just kinda like, I didn’t want it to end.
At any rate we left the movies and hit Walgreens for more soda for Rob and came back to the hotel.
We went downstairs and gambled a bit but I just wasn’t feeling it. I had some luck on a wheel of fortune machine but I was just too tired. I left Rob and Renee to play and came up to the room to lie down. I didn’t sleep but it was nice to lay down for a while.
Soon it was time to get ready and go to our complimentary tickets to Blue Man Group. I have seen the show twice before when it was at the Luxor, but it’s a phenomenal show. Renee had never seen it and the price was right. We had the front desk call a cab and then headed down.
I knew it would be a bad cab ride when the driver picked us up and promptly backed into a metal post, messing up the back end of his cab and just kept driving. He took the freeway, drove at a crazy speed and changed lanes often without using his turn signals.
Thankfully we made it to the Venetian safely and got our tickets to the show.
We had an hour to kill so we stopped at an Asian place to eat dinner. We had tons of leftovers but no place to store them during the show so we had to waste the food.
After dinner we stopped at a slot machine so we could smoke. I put five dollars in a nickel machine and promptly won 78 dollars. When I say promptly, I mean the first turn of the reels! I couldn’t believe it but I cashed out right away!
The show was awesome of course. If you’ve never seen it, it can’t be described so I’ll spare you the trying. It’s just a kick ass show. I was glad to see there were some new bits that had been added since the first two shows that I had seen. Oh, and our seats were fabulous. We were so freaking close it wasn’t funny. Did I mention I love Allegiant Air?
The cab ride home was less scary and cheaper so I tipped the guy more.
We played a 20 but cashed out at ten when Renee lost her money.
For a little while no one really seemed to know where they wanted to go or what they wanted to do so we just milled around under the FMS canopy until the last show of the night started. We watched it as I taped it with my camera, but it wasn’t very good.
After we spotted another wheel of fortune machine in the Fremont so we plunked down and put a 20 in. I got a couple of crap bonuses until I finally got the 5000 credit bonus putting my 20 up to 70 something. We of course cashed out and then Renee said we should go to Four Queens and get a drink. So we put some money in some video poker machines at the bar and got comped a bunch of drinks.
At that point we were tired and somewhat drunk so we headed to the Chicago Brewpub and got some grub to bring back to the room. We got White Garlic Pizza, Cheese Knots, and hot wings and headed up to the room where we ate and fell asleep while watching that movie about the puppets from the south park guys.
All too soon we had to wake up and get ready to leave. We all showered, dressed and packed up. Rob went downstairs to play some roulette for a co-worker and Renee and I finished up our packing. We all met up downstairs and eventually caught the shuttle back to the airport after Renee put five in a machine and cashed out with 35.00!
When we got to the airport we bid Renee goodbye and headed off to our separate gates. After we got through the security checkpoint we stopped at a bank of chairs to put our shoes back on. It was then when Rob discovered his boarding pass and ID were missing. We searched and searched all our carry on luggage but it was no use. They were gone. The only thing that Rob could think of was that he set them down in one of those buckets while taking the laptop out and putting it back in it’s case but when he asked lost and found they hadn’t seen anything.
So we ended up going to the gate and the very nice people there told us that if we couldn’t find it they would probably be able to have TSA approve another boarding pass with my ID and last name and his credit cards as identification.
With that knowledge he headed back to the lost and found while I got a mini pizza from the pizza hut express. About ten minutes later he texted me that they had found it and he was coming back to the gate. Phew!!! What a relief!
The contrast from the flight to Vegas and from Vegas was stereotypically funny. On the Friday flight to Vegas everyone was whooping it up, getting drunk on free champagne and being loud. On the way home on Sunday everyone was very subdued and hungover. Everyone had sunglasses on and was sleeping on the flight. Heh.
Great trip, great memories.
Things to do and NOT to do before your birthday
Okay I am turning 34 tomorrow and heading to Vegas for the weekend so I thought I would put together a list of things you should do and not do right before your vacation birthday.
1) DO: enjoy a fabulous lunch with your girls! Enjoy every bit of their time and thank goodness you have them in your life.
2) DO: Talk to the friend you are traveling with and plan your fabulous weekend. It is half as exciting as the actual vacation.
3) DO: Pack and get everything squared away for the trip.
4) DO: Shave your legs and pits for a weekend trip. Can’t pack your razor if you aren’t checking a bag!
5) DO NOT: decide to give yourself a makeshift pedicure the night before your flight. Especially when you “shave” off too much skin and can’t stop bleeding
6) DO NOT: pretend like you can stop the bleeding and you didn’t do anything wrong from your husband that is VERY worried.
7) DO: sit and wait until you both figure something out and put pressure on your big toe bleeder.
8) DO: thank goodness that the bleeding has finally stopped and you can just chalk it up to stupidity.
9) DO: finish packing and eat dinner.
10) DO: Try really hard to sleep, knowing that you get to fly out to Vegas the next day!
I hope this has helped all of you.
I am a 40 something married woman living in California.
I enjoy knitting and crocheting, watching crap movies, snuggling with my two adorable dogs and trying to be a good person.
