We had a Seder supper with Shauna’s parents to celebrate Passover last week. Still haven’t seen Elijah. Every year I make the same joke, referring to Mom’s delicious Charoses (pronounced ho-ra-sis) as “psoriasis”. She’s probably pretty tired of that joke by now, but it’s all I’ve got. The day after the Seder, Shauna headed back up north to deal with the never-ending house project, and I drove down to Buffalo to be with Mom and Dad, where I am at present.
The new house up north is amazing, and it will be even more so when we can say farewell to the last of the workers. Much finish work remains to be done, so that may be a while. Jasper is in her glory because, having lived in a very cramped 1200 sq. ft. bungalow for the past fifteen months, and an even more cramped trailer for six or seven months before that, she doesn’t know what to do with all the extra room. Now, instead of barking at pedestrians and cars, she has huge picture windows, out of which she can bark at deer, groundhogs, raccoons, squirrels, foxes, and birds. Last week, she figured out how to go up the half log stairs. We were sure she’d be afraid of the stairs, but now she fearlessly ventures up to the second floor to assist the workers. I’m never quite sure where I’ll find her, but can usually tell where she’s been by what is stuck in her beard.
We no longer have high speed internet access because our new home is in a dead zone for high speed. Keep that in mind if you decide to send us any photos in the near future. We will likely move to some higher speed satellite service if and when we can afford that luxury. For now we are reduced to dial up service and it is SLOW. When I got down to Toronto, I downloaded all our messages, and I have noticed a new form of junk email. I am getting a lot of promotional offers from obscure towns in places like Missouri, Arizona, and Iowa. I don’t think I’ll be spending my (non-existent) vacation dollars on a trip to Cow Plop, Iowa, but someone thinks I might. The funny thing is, a lot of these ads are targeting time share prospects, and time share ownership is a concept I am even less likely to embrace. Many of these promotions are handled by the same organization, and I was amused by a little note I saw at the bottom of the email ads. It says that if I want to be removed from their mailing list I should go to (and I don’t have the ad in front of me for the exact website) http://www.kibblespecials.com/. Of course! It makes perfect sense that, in these troubled times, when real estate investment is in large part the cause of the economic Armageddon we now find ourselves in, I am going to invest in one of the least secure forms of real estate ownership, from a company that promotes DOG FOOD! Just click on http://www.snakeoilinvestments.com/. Jeesh.
Perhaps next week, I will regale you with stories of Shauna’s fourteen hours on the phone dealing with Bell. We have our internet service, our satellite T.V., AND two phone lines bundled in some allegedly cost saving package with Bell. Between the outsourcing of their customer service to places like India and Pakistan, and the complete lack of accountability in almost every department Shauna spoke with, it is no wonder that one of Bell’s most active departments is their “Customer Retention” department. Let it suffice to say that we are less than satisfied customers.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The new house up north is amazing, and it will be even more so when we can say farewell to the last of the workers. Much finish work remains to be done, so that may be a while. Jasper is in her glory because, having lived in a very cramped 1200 sq. ft. bungalow for the past fifteen months, and an even more cramped trailer for six or seven months before that, she doesn’t know what to do with all the extra room. Now, instead of barking at pedestrians and cars, she has huge picture windows, out of which she can bark at deer, groundhogs, raccoons, squirrels, foxes, and birds. Last week, she figured out how to go up the half log stairs. We were sure she’d be afraid of the stairs, but now she fearlessly ventures up to the second floor to assist the workers. I’m never quite sure where I’ll find her, but can usually tell where she’s been by what is stuck in her beard.
We no longer have high speed internet access because our new home is in a dead zone for high speed. Keep that in mind if you decide to send us any photos in the near future. We will likely move to some higher speed satellite service if and when we can afford that luxury. For now we are reduced to dial up service and it is SLOW. When I got down to Toronto, I downloaded all our messages, and I have noticed a new form of junk email. I am getting a lot of promotional offers from obscure towns in places like Missouri, Arizona, and Iowa. I don’t think I’ll be spending my (non-existent) vacation dollars on a trip to Cow Plop, Iowa, but someone thinks I might. The funny thing is, a lot of these ads are targeting time share prospects, and time share ownership is a concept I am even less likely to embrace. Many of these promotions are handled by the same organization, and I was amused by a little note I saw at the bottom of the email ads. It says that if I want to be removed from their mailing list I should go to (and I don’t have the ad in front of me for the exact website) http://www.kibblespecials.com/. Of course! It makes perfect sense that, in these troubled times, when real estate investment is in large part the cause of the economic Armageddon we now find ourselves in, I am going to invest in one of the least secure forms of real estate ownership, from a company that promotes DOG FOOD! Just click on http://www.snakeoilinvestments.com/. Jeesh.
Perhaps next week, I will regale you with stories of Shauna’s fourteen hours on the phone dealing with Bell. We have our internet service, our satellite T.V., AND two phone lines bundled in some allegedly cost saving package with Bell. Between the outsourcing of their customer service to places like India and Pakistan, and the complete lack of accountability in almost every department Shauna spoke with, it is no wonder that one of Bell’s most active departments is their “Customer Retention” department. Let it suffice to say that we are less than satisfied customers.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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