Sprint . . .

Ahhh, good ol' Sprint. I tried to make a payment on my account today. After the hour I spent on the phone last month, I though I'd gotten it all taken care of. I tried to use the same debit card that they managed to get working last month, the same one I've successfully used every month for the last year and a half, until they switched their system 2 months ago. It could not "authenticate my card number" or whatever. I was cranky, but it's not 10:00 at night, so I was in a better humor. Bring it on Sprint, I've got all day!

I called customer service. I used the *2 feature, so it should not take the time off my minutes, which is a plus. My entire experience with Sprint seems to be summed up in my hold experience today. "All of our representatives are busy now, according to call volume, your expected wait time is less than 3 minutes. . . enter a minute of catchy music . . . according to call volume, your expected wait time is less than 5 minutes . . . enter another minute of catchy music . . . according to call volume, your expected wait time is 10 to 15 minutes . . . enter yet another minute of the catchy music . . . according to call volume, your expected wait time is 15 to 20 minutes . . . enter catchy music followed promptly by the male voice- thank you for choosing Sprint, can I get the phone number associated with the account please?" By this point, I was humorously waiting for the next time to be given. I mean, c'mon, what would be next? 30 minutes? 3 hours??

Well, the man was nice, but unable to help me. Surprise, right? The problem is with Sprint and their new mother system, not with the peon phone people. I was able to laugh as the guy made the payment but was unable to figure out the problem with the card. Poor guy, he tried. I told him that I'd spent more than an hour talking to 6 people last month, that he shouldn't feel too bad. He looked back and made an audible UFF sound when he was looking at the notes. I told him how unhappy I was with Sprint, but that I knew it wasn't his fault, and that I didn't want to be crabby to him on New Year's. I filled him in on the hold comedy and the whole "Thanks for choosing Sprint, is there anything else I can do for you?" irritation. Again I wished him a Happy New Year, told him I'd deal with it again next month and said good-bye. He chuckled in defeat, expressed (what I'm sure is required) that he didn't want me to leave Sprint, thanked me for not being crabby, and said "Thanks for choosing Sprint, huh-huh, is there anything else I can do? huh-huh." It was humorous, I was only crabby for a short time, and after all, only 6 more months of Sprint service . . . I think I can handle this 6 more times! It's a countdown!

Again, Happy New Year!

Hodgepodge and a quick look back.

Greetings! Just a quick visit to wish all a happy new year! I think that this next year may find me posting even less than I have been. Only time will tell. I've gotten lax on posting, but even more lax on my in person relationships! I must take care to not let those slide, or blogging will have to go entirely. I will put up some fight to not let it get to that point, though, as I enjoy visiting so many of you, and have learned so darn much from you all!

I had my youngest niece with me for the weekend. She'll be 11 in 5 days. (gulp . . . I think I'm feeling my age!) My oldest is 13 (14 in March) and has officially reached the point of being too cool for Aunt Mandy's house! (That is pronounced Awnt Mandy- because as I have so adamantly been corrected early on in life- I am not a six legged insect! It is weird to hear people call me Ant Amanda, which gets quite stuck on the tongue, doesn't it?) She had other stuff to do on her Christmas break, and it didn't involve me or her sister. I loved having my pre-teen cuddlebug, even though the elder was missed. We drank gas station cappuccino and went out to Pizza Hut with some friends last night. She is totally in to myspace, and it was interesting to be a part of the pre-teen drama that inevitably follows the messaging from one to another. It was good though to be able to talk to her about the drama and how it's so much easier to hurt people when it's simply leaving a quick comment instead of face to face! I also know her password and have been inside and out of her account. It's a good thing. I'm pretty sure she won't change it again for a while, so I'll have an up close view of her goings on. I feel better about that.

One more thing, has anyone else seen this list of famous people who died in 2007? I am surprised at how many I don't remember hearing about (besides those that I've never even hear of!). I try to catch the news fairly regularly and have a personalized google page with top news stories that pop up every time I open the internet, but some of these seemed to have flown right past my radar! Besides the cool fact that one of the guys was 109(December)! There was also one who was 105(October)! Pair this with the Anna Nicole Smith's, and I think the average age is still right up there. Have I mentioned before that I have this perhaps-bizarre urge to check obituaries? Seriously- I really noticed it after attending 8 or so funerals in a row of people younger than 23 years old. When I see a day with all of the ages above 70 or so, a cheer erupts from some part of my little brain. Not out of insensitivity, but a cheer that they all made it so far. The week before last showed the majority of people less than 40 or 50 and my heart broke for them. A man one year to the day older than me, a mother and her newborn child, an infant, probably a few with very young grandkids or young children(or young adult children). Is that weird? My mother checks obituaries in her local paper, too. Perhaps some is genetic? I'm sure her dad did it and her mom always knows that kind of news. I simply click the link and check the surrounding papers as often as I check my blogging buddies. (I check for other news, too!) Jeez- is that really as morbid as it sounds? I'm really not a stalker or anything. Please, share some of you weirder stalker stories so I don't feel quite so odd! Someone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I'm off to bed now. Or maybe to work on the puzzle gracing the card table in my living room. Or maybe just to bed. Thanks for letting me share my oddities!

Best wishes for a fantastic new year! Safe celebrations to all!

A

Footnote: I always forget to spell check these things before posting them. I then frantically grasp my mouse, hoping to somehow pull it back from cyberspace before my spelling stupidity is out for all to see! I then pull it back to finish the editing I should have remembered to do in the first place, but alas- it's too late. Faithful reader programs all over the globe have snapped it up, instantly notifying friends near and far that I have updated my poor, neglected blog, and delivering my spelling ineptitudes right to their inbox! I then correct the spelling for the rest of you, who opt for the "I'll check back when I get around to it!" mentality, and you are none the wiser! To those who get 2 notifications of my one new post? To you I'm sorry. Discard the first one, mmmmkay?

I'm a slug . . .

That darn pressing holiday that is a mere 3 days away is looming nearer and nearer. My mind has kicked in to vacation mode. Shopping is not done, I have no idea even what to buy! Goodies remain in their ingredient state in my cupboard and on my table. My projects remain in pieces. The dirt remains throughout my apartment. But, as for me, I'm on vacation! There's always tomorrow!

Merry Christmas,
A

It's been a while!

Hi everyone! It sure has been a while since I've posted. Hmm . . . as the holidays approach, my free time must be spent elsewhere.

I've also been trying desperately to purge and clean my little apartment. I'm a bit discouraged by the progress I'm making on my home. It's a mess, still, and doesn't seem to get any better! I've always been comfortable letting it get out of hand, and stay there for long periods of time, but lately, not so much! Unfortunately, in order for it to get better, it will inevitably get worse! Since returning home after house sitting, I've moved book shelves, taken the book shelf from my hall closet and replaced it with a hanging linen shelf thing, moving towels from my bathroom and kitchen and my bedroom to the closet, moved furniture, finally cut some boards for some shelving in my entry way, etc. I've made progress, but surface-wise, it's chaos! Today I've had the whole day to clean and tidy, but no energy to accompany it! It's a cold dreary day and I'm dog tired. And I've been reading a book that is the fifth in a series, but is actually a prequel, or the first book in the series added later. I'm almost finished, which will help give me more ambition in other areas!

I have set 3 goals for today: Buy supplies for my guinea pig, pay my bills, and finish the uber-fancy tie blanket I'm making for me. I've bought supplies and he's my next project. My bills are paid, except one, and the tie blanket is way too complicated. Perhaps I'll work on it next. Strangely, it involves sewing and I'm not to excited about that part! Tying is the easy part! Minimal progress, but progress nonetheless!

I'm not very exciting here on my blog(or anywhere else, I guess!). Thanks for those of you who have stuck with me.

Happy holidays!

Amanda

Seething!

I've spent over an hour on the phone with various Sprint representatives. They've recently changed their payment database to a new system, and for some reason the new system would not accept my debit card. After talking to 6 different people and getting transferred to a department with a 10 minute minimum wait, oh, and GETTING HUNG UP ON! Well, disconnected. Each person has to say- "Thanks for choosing Sprint, and is there anything else we can do for you tonight?" when they have, in fact, not been able to do anything for me in the first time, and I've just expressed my serious and severe dissatisfaction with Sprint. All this at 11:00 is not a good mix(although having them shut off my phone is less preferable!). The final part of the phone call resulted in me telling the man, in as polite of a manner as I could muster, that I was hanging up, because if I had to listen to one more representative say those words that they were required to say, when I've just told each person along the way how dissatisfied I was with Sprint that I was going to lose it. Since they seem to have resolved the problem and person 4 or 5 got the debit card to work as credit (after person 3 or 4 thought that my card was frozen or that because I'd paid for gas that they may have put a $75 hold on my account) and somewhere along the way they seem to have gotten the system to accept my card, I said good night and hung up the phone.

Now that I've vented, thanks for listening!, I'm off to bed. So tired . . .

And the moral of the story, boys and girls? Always put off till tomorrow what could have been resolved at 11:00pm today! Or skip Sprint.

(Jeez- do I sound a little bitter? It really has been an ongoing thing, since the very beginning! If you want more details, leave me a comment and I'll oblige- hey- no need for other people to suffer, too! I can't quietly drop them without a 150 buck fine, but I can help others not get in the same sinking boat!)

Good night.

One of my Favorites . . .

One of my favorite bands of all time is Tom Feldman and the Get-Rites. I love their blue-grassy sound, complete with a mean slide guitar, as well as their lyrics, and they are hands-down among the greatest guys/bands we've had at our coffeehouse and music festival (Yeshuapolooza- google it!). I was fortunate to be able to liaise them, er, be their "band liaison" at the festival last September. I got to meet them personally and escort them around for the day. Imagine my excitement when in my inbox tonight was a note about their newest CD release. Check them out, I highly recommend them! (If only so you can see what music style turns me on!) I love their new song Pedal Steel Heaven(also the title of their new CD). I hope you all enjoy them!



p.s. Blue Mountain Mama- I think you'll especially like them!

Update: Silly me! Here is their website! http://www.thegetrites.com/ From there you will see a link to their MySpace page above their picture!

Twenty-One years and counting . . .

There are very few days throughout my life that I can look back on and know with certainty exactly where I was in my life at a specific date and time. Twenty-One years ago today, at this time, I was in the emergency room in Red Wing Minnesota. My entire family was on our way to Saint Paul to a visitation for one of my dad's best friends, who had died from some sort of heart problem(I was only eleven, I don't remember what kind of problem). We were 4 miles from home when my dad saw a car broke down on the side of the road. It had just started snowing and he slowed down as he approached it. As he passed it, a driver crossed over the center line. My dad was unable to swerve due to the car on the side of the road. I don't remember the accident. My mother, my 2 sisters and I all blacked out for the impact. Only my father remembers it with clarity. Only dad was awake for the entire thing. My older sister and I were in the back seat, my mom and dad and my little sister were in the front seat. It was 1986, and no one was wearing seat belts. 1986 was well before airbags.

The O'Brien family was the first on the scene and witnessed it all from their vantage point on the side of the road. If we hadn't been there on the road, the driver would possibly hit the father, mother and the one son standing outside of their car waiting for help. They would never been as fortunate as we were.

The man (called Mousy) had been drinking (and perhaps doing some other things to impair his driving judgment). He reached down to the floor of the passenger side of his car, and as he did, his left hand steered him across the center line at 55-60 miles/hour. He did not see it coming and did not slow down.

My older sister and I were able to get out of the car with help from the O'Brien family. We were in shock, shaky and damn near hysterical. The rest of my family were trapped in the car. The front end of the car was smashed in, the front doors unopenable. The windshield was shattered, but I can't remember if it was still in place. Our angels seated us in the back seat of their car, covering us with the only thing we had, burlap bags, but I couldn't stay their long. I had to see my mom and dad, I had to see my little sister. The ambulance and fire crew arrived, and they were able to pull my little sister out through the windshield. Mom and Dad had to be cut out with the "Jaws of Life". When we were all out, we were split up into ambulances, Mom and Dad in one, the girls and I and Mousy in the other. Perhaps one of the girls was with Mom and Dad. They asked Mom and Dad which hospital they wanted and they left for River Falls. Our ambulance left for Red Wing(both about 15 miles away). They were part way there before Mom and Dad found out that we were on our way to opposite hospitals and they fiercely demanded to turn around.

Upon arriving, my sister or I asked them to call my aunt and uncle who lived in town. Even in a snow storm my aunt and my cousin were able to make it down to be with us. I am forever grateful for that. My older sister and I fared the best in the accident. My sister(Older) was fighting an asthma attack, and had some other minor cuts and bruises. I had a 2 inch gash on my left knee, a puncture wound on my right shin and I had slammed my face into the back of the car seat in front of me, flattening my nose. My eyes were swelling. At the end of the day I could barely see because my eyes had almost swollen shut and I looked quite a bit like a raccoon. My sister(older) and I were only kept over night. My little sister had fractured her ankle and had glass cuts across her face. She was in the ICU due to her size and age. She was fortunate. Mom had fractured her pelvis. She had a puncture wound on her right shin that matched mine.

I think Dad fared the worst. As the only one conscious throughout, he'd been able to brace himself. Years later in a college physics class my professor proved mathematically that it was mathematically impossible to brace yourself in an accident. That professor had never been in an accident with a Vietnam veteran who was bracing himself to prevent his 7 year old daughter from flying through the windshield. My daddy was a Marine, and he defied physics that day. Dad braced both feet against the floor(or against the brakes?) and his left hand against the steering wheel. His right arm was flung out in front of my little sister's face. Both of Dad's feet went through the floorboard of the car, and his left arm bent, yep- BENT the steering wheel. The rescue crew had to cut his feet out as they were trapped. He was awake and directed his rescuers in how to best go about cutting him out without further damaging his legs. He ended up with both legs broken and in casts, one up to his knee and the other to his hip, and also broke his arm. Two legs and an arm in a cast made for a highly dependent recovery time. He also had some other injuries, too. He ended up with over 300 stitches in his body. Approximately 170 of them were in his leg or thigh, and 180 of them were in his right bicep. The shifter on the steering column had tore up his arm pretty good. The amazing part of it was that if he hadn't had the ability and foresight to throw out his arm, the shifter would have hit my little sister right in the face. It would have killed her.

Mousy was fine, or maybe he wasn't fine, but he wasn't as bad off as my parents and I frankly didn't care to remember any more. Someone threw him a benefit to cover his medical expenses at the ballroom across from our house. Some family friends went to it and reported that people were smoking there, and it wasn't limited to cigarettes, if you know what I mean.

Older sister and I were released the next day, Little Sister the day after that. Mom and Dad were in the hospital for 8 and 14 days. Family came to stay with us. My cousin Randy came to stay with us to keep the fire burning. We only had wood heat and some one had to keep the fire going so the pipes wouldn't freeze. When Mom came home, I helped to care for her. She couldn't tie her shoes for weeks. When Dad came home, my cousin and whoever else had to carry him up the steps. With two broken legs and a broken arm, he was immobile. He was eventually able to use a wheelchair to get around the house, and after that he had a special crutch for his broken arm and a regular crutch for the other arm. They were both off work for a very long time. I appreciate all of the people who gave us food and presents for Christmas. We had very little income, and it was a bleak year. There wasn't money for much of anything. It was hard for my parents, especially. Several churches brought us boxes of food, the guys from my dad's work donated presents. Their kindness made it bearable.

One of the rescuers cut his hand pretty good, resulting in a scar that forever bears our name. He was the husband of my older sister's choir teacher. The O'Briens were in our 4-H club that we'd joined only months or weeks before. It was nice to have semi-familiar faces that night. I got a teddy bear while I was in the hospital with a big round stomach. His name is fatty (Creative, huh? Perhaps it was a she and she was pregnant?). I still have him. The radio or paper incorrectly announced that there were 6 in the accident- Dad, Mom, Older Sister, me and Little Sister and Jo and only five survivors. My little sister's name is Amy Jo and they'd reported her as both Amy and Jo, seriously terrorizing our friends who'd heard it.

We all have bruises and aches and pains even now from that accident. My parents arranged our insurance settlement to be delivered to each of us girls in 4 lump sums. We each got $4500 on our 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st birthday. My parents took nothing up front so that we might be able to use it to go to college. It helped, but didn't come close to paying for my college education.

And so class, that is why my mommy and daddy are my heroes.

I wasn't able to find pictures the last time I looked. If I can find them in the future, I'll scan them in and post them.

Tonight, I am thankful for God's protection of my family that night in 1986. . . .