no news is good news

All of us are fine here. My march madness pool got derailed thanks to North Carolina throwing their game vs G-Town away...chokers! My implementation at work went really well last week though, so no complaints about anything else. Major rollout, problems almost zip. Perfect. The 4 of us are doing good healthwise and Spring has come so we're trying to get out more and enjoy the sunshine. Yardwork and walks, lazy saturdays once in a while, etc.

Patrick turned 2 on Tuesday...it's weird to think he's that old finally, after he's been 'almost 2' for months and months now. He's growing up though--so much more intelligent and more communicative than he was 6 months ago. He's constantly showing me the 3 year old he's going to be. Overall he's good, he's healthy--that alone makes me happy. This week I am thinking more about family and being thankful for things in life that you usually take for granted. Some friends of ours are dealing with challenges with their newborn and I find myself thinking a lot during the day that I hope he's fine, I hope things go right, I hope the breaks with medicine and surgery all go their way. I know many people pray for such things, but with my personal beliefs being what they are, it's up to luck, the Fates and hope. So hope it is. I'm trusting those things to work out for them here. I've known a few people who didn't get to take their child home from the hospital for a week or more after he/she was born and I can only imagine how hard that is after the emotional rollercoaster pregnancy can be. You worry about your kids all the time once you get 'em...if you're lucky that worrying doesn't have to start before they're even home with you. I was an an emotional wreck for months leading up to Patrick's birth, hoping that things would be okay, but knowing that if we weren't lucky, if the Fates weren't kind, they might not be. Things that momentous are scary, to put it bluntly.

Here's hoping for the best. To our friends, we're thinking about you guys.

Madness

Today, like after every day of the NCAA tournament, I chant the same refrain all of the other millions of people in online pools are saying. "I...can still...win." Yes, it's a long shot, and it would be really nice to be ahead of a lot of the other donaters now hoping that complete chaos comes, but c'mon, there were about 6 good teams this year (all the 1's and 2's except Memphis and Wisconsin, that's my opinion). So any combo of those 6 in the final 4, and basically you had a shot to win by getting the last 3 games right...even if you can't pick upsets or favorites in the first 2 rounds to save your life.

I'm still mathematically alive to win it all even though I lost a final-4 team tonight. Thanks a lot Texas A&M. Damn overrated, you are, Big 12. Oh well, when UCLA beats Kansas, the overrated 12 thing will be doing me a favor.

It is really annoying though that people who just picked the top seeds to advance to the elite 8 are doing well in most pools right now. That's just... lame.

I admit I'm bitter, it was a mean night of poker. Feel the tilt.

oh well, back to work. Cross your fingers for good network connection speed in the UK tonight.

Still squeakin

~Feb 28, 2007 - Fill out my tax return online, jumping at a $9.75 or $9.95 price for online tax software. Missing 2 or 3 pieces of info..plan to come back later.
~Mar 4, 2007 - Have all the pieces of data now...not motivated to finish taxes
~Mar 10,2007 - Think about doing taxes...yawn. It is our money (refund) ya know...why let them borrow it another month? Yawn. Whatever.

~Mar 17, 2007 - Realize April is approaching. Bleh. I still have to do the State forms too, don't I? Stupid...I do those by hand because they're easy to calculate, they cost $10-15 additional on top of Federal, and uh... okay, well I kinda like numbers. Yes, there is probably a recessive accountant gene somewhere in my family. Horrors. No, I'm not helping you with your taxes. I kinda enjoy mine though. Sad.

~Mar 19, I mean 20, 12 am... Finish and prepare to file taxes. WTF. 'Please let us know how you would like to pay your $14.95 fee for basic tax software, simple return.' $14.95? Dude, you raised the price? I re-read all the information on every page. I find their alternate sites..yes, one at least says $9.95 still. I'm not crazy, it was not $15 when I started, I know it. I am not paying $5 more now-- no way, no how. I briefly consider the idea of scraping all the data off the forms and using a competitor's site or this one's other $9.95 page even... Nah, screw that. They quoted me $9.95. Bitches. It's on now.

~Mar 20, 12:20 am. Find their websites offering coupons. Try all coupons. No dice.
~Fire off scathing email. 'Bait and Switch' phrase used of course. Not appreciated. Mention that I'm loyal returning customer (which I am). Okay, loyal is maybe stretching it, as I can be bought away for about $2, let's be real. I am a returning customer though. Attempt to come off as irritated but understanding customer. Which I am...if I end up getting my $5 at some point.

~Try online chat function...you get automated robby the robot semi-intelligent (a word that actually means un-intelligent) customer service AI. Ask Robby one question. throw hands in air and type in 'live help'...assuming I won't get any. Wonder of wonders...a person types back.... Hello helpful Aaron dude! Ya, there's this thing where you guys tried to scr-- er I mean you changed the price etc...
Aaron come back in a minute -- 'Sorry, yes they scale the price up as the date approaches.. can I offer you a coupon for the difference?'

At this point half of me wants to dance the snoopy dance and give the sign rugby officials give for a goal, but the Squeaky Mouse part of me is sad...because this was too easy. I consider saying 'hey I'll tell you want, you better knock off another $5 as well because I'm pissed now.' but I think better of it. Aaron seems like swell guy (I'm sure his real name is Aaron too and he lives in the states...doing online tech support at midnight) and this wasn't so difficult... I just thank him and take my coupon. I suppose I have my $5 back now and it didn't take more than a few minutes, so no harm done.
~I try the coupon before I close the chat, ya, my $5 credit works now. Sweet! Bam. Okay, mouse goes back to his hole.

So once again, today's moral is: Never give up fighting for what is rightfully yours. And/or what is someone else's but they're unwilling to fight over. Remember especially if they represent a company...it's not their money, so they really want to give it to you, the customer they empathize with from within their squalid, underpaid call-support-center working conditions. They're your ally on the inside. This is the cult of squirrel concept. As a business-owner, never trust a squirrel to defend your nuts against other squirrels..they are all in on it together. Little bastids... this is why we have to raise costs ya know. Ahem.

Oh well, all's well that ends with me getting mine. Peace out yo.



p.s. Cool moment of the day. Riding in the car with Cameron after school--I turn on my CD and ask him what he wants to hear. 'The one with the na-na-nanana' 'What?' I ask him. 'I don't understand.' 'The one with the ... with the... with the,' he's not sure how to describe it. 'What's it sound like?' I ask, not expecting him to know lyrics. 'The one with the boys and girls!'
It dawns on me. 'You mean 'hey girls, hey boys, superstar djs...here we go!' 'YES! The boys and girls!'
Awesome. My kid just put in a request for Chemical Brothers.
I queue it up. 'hey girls...hey boys.... superstar DJs... herewego!' We agree it's very cool, and he grooves a bit as we cruise along. I run by the bank to deposit cash and we get watermelon dum-dum lollipops to celebrate our awesomeness. Fin.

The Police - July 2, 2007 in St. Louis

'We are The Police, and we're back.' - Grammys, 2007.

I didn't get to see the Grammy show live sadly, since I was in London, but I caught the video the next week. Hearing Sting yell that and then kick off the show with Roxanne just gave me goosebumps

Well the best band ever is back and I'm going to be there to see 'em in July. I maybe went a bit crazy and made sure I got the best seats I could without paying more than face value. The standard seats even by using the fan club were still considerably pricey, but hey it's the concert of a lifetime for me. I've been crazy about the band since sometime around 1984, which was unfortunately too late to see them back then, but they are BACK. I really like Sting (seen him 5 times, or was it 6?) but I think the Police stuff was even better and I already have gone on a yo-yo ride the last few days wondering if I should have hocked the house and my car to make sure I was in the first row or two. Still i did really well. 21st row center. Can't wait!

Happy, delirious, crazy, stoked, amped, insane, ecstatic, overjoyed and excited am I.

EEEEE OOOOO