Looking for a LOSER!

Well, I’ll say it, I have my moments of stupidity…or something just gets the best of me, that I’m so exited, everything I should have done ends up by the waste side.

My attempt to save money (I mean 100’s of dollars, if all went as planned) got the best of me, this time!!!  I’d come across a dude (“Jay” he said) from online, who seemed like a cool dude.  He said his grandfather had passed about a year ago, and he’d inherited a number of properties, spanning from Bowling Green, KY, to Middle Tennessee.  I had mentioned how I was having car problems, and he said the best option would be to actually just get a whole new engine, for my head gasket problem.  He said he could get me a great deal, because he knew a buddy who owned (or managed) a parts company, on an engine for me, and that he knew another guy who just wanted to earn a little extra money, and swap them out for me for $300.  Well, that was going to equal a total of $795, in all, which was MUCH better than the minimum of $1,200 I’d been quoted.  I’d met the dude, after we’d talked, gave him $495 for the engine and fan assembly (right around Labor Day), but still haven’t seen my parts!

I did have a phone number for him, of which, apparently, is no longer his.  Story of my life! 

I’d emailed him, he says the guy who has my parts supposedly called me at least 10 times, during business hours…yet, if a local number called me that many times, I would’ve responded, ESPECIALLY, if they’d dared to leave me a message (which they never did).  He then told me to leave my car, with the keys in it, in a Walmart parking lot, and to wire the guy who was going to fix it half of the $300…I may be foolish, at times, but I am no idiot!  Obviously, I wasn’t falling for that, so he then told me the guy who has the parts will deliver them to me.  Nope, never got them.  He said he was there at a time when my roommate says she was home (I was out of town on Christmas Eve, when he said dude was going to deliver them), but no attempts were made.

Now, my emails are undeliverable!!

What I do know about him (or what he told me):

Name: Jay (Scott, possibly – he said his father is Nick Scott, Jr. from Scott Enterprises.  Looking at their website, he looks far too young to be his father.  When I asked about it, he said the web page was 10 years old.  Then, when I did further research, there was a biography about how this guy has 4 kids…”Jay” said he was an only child.  RED FLAG, I know!)

Occupation:  Has a number of properties he owns around the area, but that he was going to be working for HCA, as a Radiologist of sorts, I think.  When I did email him once, a “Sam Coles” responded back saying she/he was from Century 21, yet I can’t seem to find anything on them, either.

Origins:  “Jay” says he was born and raised in the Erie, PA area.

Health:  Did I mention he happened to say he has lung cancer?  Oh yes, he apparently had a gallbladder removal, which ended up saying he had spots on his lungs, which he said turned out to be cancerous.  He said he would be relocating back to Erie, to stay with his family, because he didn’t know anyone here, for treatments.  Honestly, his text messaging and knowledge about the rental business and things seem to corroborate his stories.  He did show me fresh scars from his procedure.

Smoker

Here’s a couple of pictures I have:

IF YOU KNOW HIM, OR HOW TO GET AHOLD OF HIM, PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!!

Hotel Room Booking Tips

As a hotel reservationist, I’ve realized I have a love/hate relationship with people, mostly love, but sometimes hate.  It’s not nearly as bad as my Priceline days, but here are some tips to keep in mind when booking a reservation:

• The hotels we represent DO NOT want you to call them directly to book a reservation, that’s why they’ve hired us and only put OUR NUMBER on the website!
• If you are already looking online at rates for a hotel stay, please just save you and I the time it takes you to argue with me about rates, and JUST BOOK IT ONLINE! It’s the same price.
• Call the hotel directly if you are trying to modify reservations…we don’t make any m0ney canceling or modifying reservations…that’s why we give you the hotel phone # when you make a reservation!
• Please do your research online when it comes to checking rates. Again, we don’t make any money when you are just “checking rates”!
• Please don’t get upset with us when we tell you the hotels’ offices are closed.  We don’t make the rules, nor do we have the powers to magically reopen them just for you!
• If you don’t know how to google a hotel phone number, I’ll be happy to assist, but please do have pen and paper handy when calling.
• 90% of the time, you need a credit card to reserve a room, so please ask us up front if one is required to reserve a room…saves everyone time.
• When you have more than 2 adults in a room, the price will go up!  In some cases, it only takes more than one adult to increase the price.  Children 18 and up are no longer considered children either.
• If you are trying to reserve a room for a holiday weekend, don’t be surprised when the prices are much higher, or if the hotel is sold out.  If you are booking for a holiday night, and there happens to be availability,  the night of, the price will still be high.

Just thought this could be of use to anyone looking to book hotel reservations over the phone.  I, as a reservations agent, would certainly appreciate any compliance 🙂

Thank you for reading my blog, and have a great day!

Choose To Be A Leader!

“The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘we.’ The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says ‘go’; the leader says ‘let’s go!'”

–H. Gordon Selfridge,
American-British retail magnate

Isn’t that the truth?

Better Late Than Never

I know it seems like forever since my last posting, so it’s always better to follow me on Twitter because I don’t always have the time to update my blog, and it’s not going to get any easier for me to post anytime soon.   Since my last post, Christmas, my 27th birthday, and, now, Easter has come and gone.   Also, I got TWO jobs since Christmas, and am almost done with training in my most recent job, which I’m oh so excited about!

The first job was working for a kitchenware company that tries to get people to attend, or host in their home, an event where they can sell their cookware and stuff.  My job was calling (a lot of times cold calling) people and “pitching” the event to them.  The problem was the pitch seemed all too good to be true.  And this is how they and all their competitors did things too (which I never would’ve thought there’d be that many companies doing the same type of thing).  And, of course, we are giving them a 3 day/2 night all inclusive accommodation package, of which we tell them there are no strings really, but, if I were called, I’d hang up on me too!  Nothing is for free anymore, and, really, we wanted you to spend the big bucks on their UBER expensive stuff.  For instance, I happened to see a 2007 price chart, and a cookie sheet was $85!!!!!  Who knows what it is now, but that better be gold-plated…and self-cleaning!  The hardest part of the job, for me, was trying to pitch to people, and getting shot down constantly.  I’ve never been much of a sales person, so I’m not good and overcoming objections.  I needed to make the appointments, AND for the people to show up to receive a bonus (which wasn’t all that much to begin with, on top of my minimum wage base pay), so I was quite often discouraged, which I’m sure didn’t help the situation.  I had to drive 30 miles each way to Smyrna, so the drive was just another reason I hated the job.  I originally took the job because I was told most agents make 4 appointments an hour, and about half of them show up, so it could be quite profitable.  I was also told the people we’d be calling had already shown interest in the company, but I quickly learned that’s not the case, either!  A lot of people we called just attended a bridal show, and had signed up for something at the door, and we bought the list.  I made some appointments this way, but I wonder, on average, how many of the people off the lists we buy actually show up to the events…not many, I’m guessing.  I met some cool girls that I worked with, but other than that, it just wasn’t the job for me.

Then, I went and interviewed for a company as a Reservationist, and I was offered the job on the spot!  I was ecstatic!  The only cons of the job are that it’s all the way in Hendersonville, and it’s not the pay range I’d like, but they do offer overtime quite a bit, so I definitely plan on taking advantage of it when I can.  This job is definitely more up my alley, I love hotels and resorts, and people, so I’m excited for training to finish up and hit the floor taking calls.  this company appears to have low turnover, which is a great sign of a good company culture.  The break room is really nice as well, and it’s the nicest call center I’ve been in.  They give incentives for punctuality, which means I’ll be on time EVERY day!

My birthday was a lot of fun, we went to a Thai restaurant, the food was WONDERFUL!  Love me some Thai food!  Some of my bunco babes came, as well as some chicas from small group, and another friend.  Everyone, I think, had a great time.  We were going to go see “Dear John”, but we would’ve been too rushed.  Instead, we just went and hung out at Starbucks for a little while, and had great conversation.  It was a great birthday, but man, 27 sure seems a whole heck of a lot closer to 30 than 26!

In other great news, my dad has moved back to this side of the Atlantic, which means I will hopefully get to see him more often.  He’s living in Canada, not far from Niagara, and I’m happy he’s closer to home.

My mind has gone blank being so late at night, but I’ll try to write again soon!

Burning Water

Most, if not all, would agree with me when I tell you I cannot cook. I really do try, I just am not all that domestic.  I seriously have a 6 ingredient maximum for any recipe, which includes salt and pepper (and count as 2/6 of the recipe).  I found a recipe on another blogger’s website and thought I’d give it a whirl…just throw some chicken and a few ingredients in a crockpot and let it go!  Oh. I let it go alright…like 2 hours longer than I was supposed to (accidentally napped for far too long), so the chicken was a little dry, and it just didn’t look or taste I thought it would!  WHO screws up a flippin’ crockpot recipe??? I can’t even manage to make the packaged dough cookies look pretty when they come out…all turned into one big cookie (the pan was to blame, but you’d think I would have noticed the funky bend in the middle, of course not).

I would love to be able to cook more than macaroni and cheese and Knorr side dishes (you just add milk and water…haven’t managed to screw them up yet), but I’m really a lost cause!  The only other thing I can do well is sauerkraut and polish suasage (4 ingredients), so I really hope my future hubby doesn’t mind it every other day, or he’ll have to take up the cooking.

Oh, and there is my sausage dip.  It’s 3 ingredients, and everyone loves it (non vegetarians, that is).  If you’ve noticed, I either bring that or buy something if I have to bring something.  Last time I tried to be different, it just didn’t work out.  I tried making salsa rolls…slather cream cheese on tortillas and put salsa, and roll up.  I got that part down.  Then, cut. This is where it went downhill.  It looked AWFUL, and was embarrassing, but I didn’t have anything else to take.  I told everyone it tastes better than it looks, but I’m sure people thought otherwise.  I can make Thai fried rice, but it’s not consistent…some days it’sbetter than others.  There’s a pork dish I’ve made. I saw it on Food Network, and the fact that kids were helping Giada cook it was the only thing that gave me hope…and it turned out good, but it’s rare if I make
it. There’s a slight glimmer of hope for me in the kitchen, I guess, but I feel like I should be so much better.  My mother and her mother are fabulous cooks. Guess I got my dad’s genes in that area 😦  My little brother even cooks better than I do!

Any tips you can offer me?  If you think your kids could do it, then that’s my kind of recipe!

Backtracking

I’ve been incredibly neglectful of my blog lately, and quite a bit has happened.  If you’ve followed me on twitter, you probably know the majority of my past few months. If you haven’t followed me on Twitter, here’s the gist:

• A kiitten fell into my lap!  No, really, it did.  A friend of mine had a litter of kittens, and needed a home, so Mike, the stray roommate we took in, said he’d take one.  When I moved, he came with, because Mike wasn’t around the apartment with Utt and Futt all that much to care for him.  Originally, his name was Gabriel (not my choice, and he isn’t that much of an angel), but I’ve since changed his name to Bolt.  He tries to bolt out doors, and is VERY quick.  Isn’t he precious?  He LOVES this laundry basket!

• June 27th – Went to see Legally Blonde, the musical, with my friend, Jennifer, who had 2 tickets, and her hubby isn’t so much of a fan of musicals, she thought to invite me.  It was hilarious, I really enjoyed it!  I had no idea musicals could be so good, or funny even.
• June 28th – Jeremy and I got into an argument, over the ratio of dirty dishes to clean dishes in the kitchen…the kitchen was ALWAYS a mess, and hardly had any clean dishes, and were lucky if we could even use the faucet, they’d be piled so high.  If they were mine, they’d been cleaned, but I didn’t cook in that kitchen much because it was always in a disarray.  Basically, I asked if the kitchen was ever going to be clean, and he said he was “fixin’ to do it”….he’s ALWAYS “fixin'” to do something, but never gets done.  He then told me he wanted me out by the end of the month, and I calmly said “no” which ticked him off, and so he called the cops telling them I was trespassing!  At this point, I’d already lived there over 2 months, and it’s not like I just snuck in the house and have lived there undetected.  I went in my room, waiting for the county sherrif to show up, and prove that I’d established residency.  He then comes in my room, yelling at me, telling me that if I’d asked nicely, maybe he’d do the dishes.  I asked him if he, at the age of 23, really needed to be told to clean up after himself.  He then proceded to grab my duffel bag of dirty clothes, and throw them out the front door.  I, of course, went running after it.  As I was picking up my clothes, I made the comment to Chris, Jeremy’s boyfriend about how he’s got a real winner, which set Jeremy off, and he then began shoving me out the door.  My buddy, James, was outside the door as well, and he and Chris told him to stop, as I’m yelling.  Jeremy stopped, then ran back to my room, and smashed my floor lamp in his rage.  I, then, feeling unsafe, called the cops, myself.  Cops came, and asked me if I wanted them to arrest him.  I felt, ONLY because he didn’t actually hit me, that it wasn’t necessary, but the officers advised I leave for the night, which I did.  Jeremy, being the liar he is, told the cops my lamp was broken from the door swinging open, which was never the case.  Jeremy tried changing the locks previously, and I asked the officers tell him not to change them on me, and they warned him.  The officers stayed until I left, which I was grateful for.  I stayed the night at my good friend, Jennifer’s house, and was grateful she took me in.
• June 29th – As if I hadn’t already had a rough weekend, it only got worst when i was pulled over by a cop, for expired tags…I passed him only because he was on his cell phone, and figured a man can’t multi-task, and pay attention to my tags at the same time!  He’s an exception, I suppose.  He got me, and decided to mark me down for 2 infractions, instead of just expired tags, which cost me an additional $12.
• June 30th – found me a new place to move, thought it would be great, living with a couple of girls, back in Bellevue, and pretty cheap.  Put down first months rent that day, needing to get away from the messy living situation I was in.  I was grateful for her taking me in.  The downside was it was only 3 months, because the one girl was getting married, and her and her husband were going to live there.  I didn’t care, just needed to feel safe.
• July 2nd – MOVING DAY!  Was SO glad to be done with the drama.  Didn’t unpack half of my stuff, knowing it was only a short term lease.  The first weekend there, I thought I was in heaven…the sink was void of any dirty dishes, AND I could hear the vacuum being used!  NEVER would’ve happened at the old place!

Diction IS Everything

I know I may not always word things in the best of ways, but luckily, I don’t have the world watching me!

“I think that the film Clueless was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it’s true lightness.” – Alicia Silverstone

“I would like to live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were ever supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever.” – Ms. Alabama 1994

“Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.” -Oprah Winfrey

“When you’re looking for something, vision is important.” -America’s Next Top Model Contestant (Amanda) on finding a store in Tokyo.

“I’ve never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.” – Keith Richards

“I loved Jordan. He was one of the greatest athletes of our time” -Mariah Carey on hearing of the death of King of Jordan

“If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.” – Terry Venables

“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.” -Yogi Berra

“Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer.” – David Acfield

“Chemistry is a class you take in high school or college, where you figure out two plus two is ten, or something.” – Dennis Rodman

“You can put wings on a pig, but you don’t make it an eagle.” – Bill Clinton

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or another.” – George Bush Sr.

“If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very low crime rate.” – Mayor Marion Barry

Mark Your Calendars – April

April is . . . . International Guitar Month, Keep America Beautiful Month, National Anxiety Month, National Humor Month, National Welding Month, National Garden Month, and Uh-Huh Month

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April 1 is . . . . . One Cent Day

April 2 is . . . . . National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day

April 3 is . . . . . Tweed Day and Don’t Go To Work Unless It’s Fun Day

April 4 is . . . . . Tell-A-Lie Day

April 5 is . . . . . Go For Broke Day

April 6 is . . . . . Sorry Charlie Day – honors those who have been rejected and lived through it.

April 7 is . . . . . No Housework Day

April 8 is . . . . . All Is Ours Day

April 9 is . . . . . Winston Churchill Day and Name Yourself Day

April 10 is . . . . Golfers Day

April 11 is . . . . Eight-Track Tape Day

April 12 is . . . . Look Up At The Sky Day

April 13 is . . . . Blame Somebody Else Day

April 14 is . . . . National Pecan Day

April 15 is . . . . Rubber Eraser Day

April 16 is . . . . National Stress Awareness Day and National Eggs Benedict Day

April 17 is . . . . National Cheeseball Day

April 18 is . . . . International Jugglers Day

April 19 is . . . . Garlic Day

April 20 is . . . . Look Alike Day

April 21 is . . . . Kindergarten Day

April 22 is . . . . National Jelly Bean Day

April 23 is . . . . Read Me Day and World Laboratory Animal Day

April 24 is . . . . National Pigs In A Blanket Day

April 25 is . . . . National Zucchini Bread Day

April 26 is . . . . Richter Scale Day and National Pretzel Day

April 27 is . . . . Tell A Story Day

April 28 is . . . . Great Poetry Reading Day and Kiss-Your-Mate Day

April 29 is . . . . National Shrimp Scampi Day

April 30 is . . . . National Honesty Day

WHA?????

That’s all I can think of when I heard one of my karaoke buddies was shot and killed last night! His name was Ben Goeser, one of the nicest people you could ever meet!  He was always optimistic and just happy to hang out, have a beer, and sing with friends!  I was there when he asked his wife to marry him, and what an event that was!  He was SO excited, as was everyone else.  Here’s a picture of me and the happy couple, not too long after they’d gotten hitched, from my birthday last year:

Ben was a hugger, like a big teddy bear, and always happy to see everyone!  I just can’t believe that an (apparently) unstable man could just walk into a bar and shoot someone.  He apparently was obsessed with Nikki (his wife, the woman in the picture), and even posted this on his myspace blog a day before the murder:

FOREVER UNFORGIVEN! I know who you are,,,! RUN…

When I catch up with you I’m going to write the FN book on cruel…
You haven’t seen my bad side yet MFR but your going to….
Its going to be EXTREAMLY painful!!! where are you going to work that I won’t find you,,,lunch, dinner, supper,, sleep,, every FN waking moment..
I will be on the hunt..Predator and Prey.. Now You Pissed Me Off!!!
You’re FOREVER UNFORGIVEN !

What Kind of life do you have now!

I just hope this man gets the help he so desperately needs!  I just wish it hadn’t taken someone dying to realize he had problems.  Nikki’s a tough woman, but she needs all the prayers and support she can get!  So please say a prayer for her and Ben has (I want to say 4) children, and grand babies too!  Just a very tragic event that shouldn’t have happened!

Here’s a clip from the last time I saw him, with the dance they created!

RIP Ben!!!!  You will be missed a great deal!

Going Bananas!

Back to our series of How To Irritate Your Roommate, she’s done it again! I honestly don’t think I’m a bad roommate, not perfect, but I could be SO much worse.  In case you’re new here, click here to catch up

117 – Throw their food away

I had bought a hand (or so it’s called) of bananas…there were 7.  I ate 2-3, so simple math would conclude I had at least 4 remaining.  I came home one day last week, and there were 2 bananas. I didn’t remember seeing a chaquite sticker on the ones I bought, so I assumed they were her’s. I still wondered what happened to mine, but hadn’t seen the roommate to ask her (she drives me nuts, so I try to stay clear for the most part).   A couple days later, she tells me she threw them away because she just can’t stand to see bananas go bad, and something about how she used to grow them.  She did offer to replace them, which I appreciated, but with as much stuff she has in the fridge that I’m sure has something growing on it, you’d think she would’ve just left it.  Don’t mess with my bananas, or fruit, or food, or ANYTHING!  I know it sounds VERY possessive, but she’s the same way.  I wouldn’t dare throw her food away (because there’s really no telling what it is), that’s her stuff, I leave it alone.  I think it’s because it’s her house that she feels entitlement, and I can understand that to a point, but there are quite a few cases where she’s crossed the line.