I'm on a Mission...

I must have a lot of free time on my hands. I decided recently that I am going to prey on the telemarketers who deign to try to get me to lower my interest rate with them. I have been on the "Do Not Call" list for some time, and I re-registered once the list went permanent. I registered my home phone, my cell phone and Matt's cell phone. Our cell phones have not been called since our registration, but our home phone rings at least three times a week with calls to "upgrade our warranty" or "lower our interest rate" or "provide some financial stability by donating hundreds of dollars to needy children in Bel Air." Okay, so I made up the last one, but you get what I am trying to say.

When I get a call that could be a telemarketer and I have time, I like to play along. "Why yes, I have an older car, a 1998 Toyota Corolla. And yes, my warranty has expired. You could give me a new warranty for that car for the low, low price of more than the car is worth? Wow, that is so generous of you!" I keep them on the phone long enough to get the person's name and the offending company that would be offering me such a bogus deal. Then, I proceed to tell the helpless sales technician that I am on the Do Not Call list and that they are busted. But first, I tell them to take my name off their call list, and I do not have a 1998 Toyota Corolla. Then, I hang up, if they haven't already!

Here's the kicker. After the fun has ensued, and I am smiling from ear to ear, I get on the http://www.donotcall.gov and I lodge a complaint with all the information that I procured during the phone call. I try to do it right away, so that I don't lose any of the humorous information that I can pass on to the person reading the emails. Try it some time. You might find yourself addicted...

The Bathroom is Complete

It was exciting weekend. Not only did we get to move back to our house, but we got to go to a birthday party. Thursday night was our first night back after our bathroom had been "renovated." It sounds like such a bigger deal than it was. Our shower door was leaking, which lead to a moldy, rotten wall. Add to that the bright idea of putting vinyl wallpaper in the bathroom in the 1970s which was peeling now after years of steam, and it needed some work. It only took two days, and I am glad that I did not have to stay in Lodging over the weekend.

The bathroom looks okay. It is not spectacular, as you can see the patch jobs. If I had paid for the work, I would be upset. You could see where they put in the new sheet rock and some of the texturizing was shoddy. But since it was free, I am fine with it. And the fact that we don't have to sell the place when we move makes me okay with the work that has been completed. One nugget of information that was surprising was that the crew that worked on our house has done this job a lot over the last few weeks. It makes me wonder how bad their first job was if this is the best they can do!

On Saturday, Jax, Maisie and I went to a birthday party at our Chaplain's house. Their son, Theron, turned 5 this week. It was a "Kung Fu Panda" birthday party. On the drive to their house, Jax kept talking about playing with "Fryann and Reagan." Over and over, I got to hear about how he wanted to play with the two daughters. And for some reason, Jax puts an 'F' in front of Ryann's name. As we pull up to the house, Jax gets scared and wants to "play in the car a little." That is his way to do something he knows, play in the car, before going to a situation that he is not comfortable. I decided that we needed to go in, and so Jax cautiously walked into their house and then realized where we were. He ran into Theron's room and pulled out all the toys so that he could play. No need for me to be there because there were three kids in which to play. So Maisie and I hung out, because all she can do is roll across the floor. It was a great evening with dinner and dessert, not to mention some adult time for me. I got to spend some time with great friends (both the Stauffers and the Powells) and not have to be the center of Jax's playing. One thing I did learn about Jax is that he can take a plastic serving spoon and a baseball and pretend to play golf. I think that boy needs a set of plastic clubs!

Government Lodging

Matt, Jax, Maisie and I woke up this morning a little earlier than usual to get out of the house. Today is the magical day in which work to fix the bathroom begins. I love being able to call one number to get all the ails of my housing fixed, but I don't like being at the mercy of those same people. "We can come fix the house, but someone has to be there between 6:30am to 7:30pm to let them into the house." That means a lot of sitting around, because you know they won't come until the evening, that is unless you decide to run an errand for 15 minutes. Luckily, the men were there right when they said they would be there (8am) and we only had to make one trip back to the house to pick up stuff (Jax's pillow and blanket, to provide a little bit of home). Then, we went to one of my favorite places to go, The Beans and Briar, a little coffee/cigar shop in Lawton in which we know the owners. It was a truly unique experience for me today, as I got there before it opened. Usually, they have been open for hours before I think about leaving my home. So Jax, Maisie and I waited for about 5 minutes until the manager showed. We spent about 2 hours and Jax only had three or four timeouts and one major meltdown. He did get to smell all the cigars, which always makes his day. Then we were off to search for lunch.

I say search for lunch, but we have one of our favorites. It's not necessarily the healthiest place to eat, but we like the company and the values for which it stands. We drove across town, because I wanted to go through the drive-thru instead of loading and unloading at the mall. We got Chick-Fil-A nuggets for Jax and a chicken sandwich wrap for me. Not to mention the sweet tea, one of the best that we have found. After procuring our lunch, we headed back to our home away from home, the Lodging, and ate lunch. To add to the specialness, we watched "Cars" during lunch. That boy is definitely my son with his uncanny ability to watch the same thing over and over and over and over. My brothers can attest to my love of certain movies. I would watch Footloose, Six Pack, The Last Dragon, and to a lesser extent The Gambler. I watched them so much that the top of the tape in the VHS cassette would be warped. Thankfully for Jax, he gets to watch DVDs which really don't show the wear and tear. I just hope that he expands he repertoire soon. We have watched Finding Nemo but he doesn't get into that one as much. I guess I have to put on The Little Mermaid or Toy Story soon. Then, we can have four movies that he asks to watch constantly, to add to Cash Cab, Ninja Warrior or Gilmore Girls. (I think he is going to marry Rory.)

How Sweet It Is In Government Housing

I am sitting in my government housing, enjoying our tax dollars at work. Then I realize that I have to move out of my house for at least two days, possibly a week because of the holiday. The shower door in our master bathroom has been leaking and has totally rotted the wall. Then, some mold started to grow. The garrison Sergeant Major called in the work order for us in the beginning of July. Fast forward to early September, and the work was still not completed. Talking to our friend, the Sergeant Major, he asks how our new shower is. "What new shower?" is our reply. He had thought that the work would have been completed, since it was a Status 4 - to be completed in 30 days. Sixty days into the process and nothing had happened. No one had looked at it or even inquired about it. This is where it is nice to have friends in high places. He gets on the phone and contacts the Directorate of Public Works (DPW) to raise some holy hell. Within an hour, I have two men at my door requesting access to the aforementioned shower. They spend about 30 minutes evaluating the situation, then leave to drink some coffee or something. (Okay, I am generalizing that last statement...they could have been drinking Dr. Pepper, tea, or mineral water.) Then, the Sergeant Major for DPW shows up. I proceed to explain what happened to him, and then he calls someone else. In two days, I had eight men come look at my bathroom and tell me that every thing was going to be alright.

Two weeks pass and nothing happens. We have been relegated to one bathroom, although we still use the sink and toilet in the master bathroom. Thankfully, no one has come to stay with us or we would be having more people showering in the same bathroom. Then, out of the blue, two gentlemen, knock on the door and ask to take pictures of the bathroom. They are planning on showing the pictures to their boss so he can determine how to go about fixing it. "Great," I think. The following day, the boss, Wayne, shows up. Now, he wants to see the bathroom. Maybe he should have come in the first place. Do you think that we were making up the problem? He tells us that things will get fixed sometime next week (which would be this week). No confirmed date though.

Yesterday, I get a call from Phyllis, informing me I need to move to Lodging on post. "HUH?" Yes, while the crew is fixing my bathroom, they can't have small children in the house. It makes sense since Jax is so inquisitive these days, that I think the men might spackle him to the wall. So, they are going to set us up in a hotel room for possibly a week, while the work is being completed. We can come back and get things if we need to, but no hanging out at home. I asked if we could get a kitchenette, as I know how small the regular hotel rooms are and I don't want to be confined in there with two kids. She will see what she can do.

A few hours later, Phyllis calls with some good news. We are confirmed for the apartment style room, which means kitchenette and a separate bedroom, but there is no guarantee. Basically, if someone comes in who outranks us and wants that room, we are out of luck. So here's hoping that no one is trying to visit Southwest Oklahoma!

My First Blog

I am not one for writing a lot, but I thought it might be time for me to expand my horizons. We will see how it goes.