Coming Soon: Blog Entries!
At first glance, it may seem like I'm avoiding updates and the like. But the truth of the matter is, I don't have the internet capabilities to post. Really.
If I had the ability to post, I would tell you about life with a new Playstation 3 that Ellvin Kelvin gave us.
If I had access to the internet, I would write about how playing Metal Gear Solid 4 is hard as hell after being spoiled by the intuitive play mechanics of the Wii.
If I could log into blogger.com, I would report on how our beloved Famous Dave's restaurant has made it out to a location near us!
If only, I would discuss staying alone in a huge new house.
If, I'd... Wall-E is so awesome!
... Nestlé Tollhouse Café Twisters (two fresh baked cookies of choice surrounding a scoop of ice cream of choice) are fantastic.
... ceiling fans are a bitch to assemble.
... houses are expensive and even more expensive to fill.
... people have services for every stupid thing for new homes (meat delivery, water softening, etc.).
... running around the park.
... ghetto Corona.
... fireworks in the park and ashes in the eyes.
... buying 16 new chairs for $12 a piece.
... Angel Wing Jasmine's upcoming wedding!
There's so much to talk about, but internet is slow to come by. But patience Iago, patience! Soon.
Super Summarize Me,
Ricky
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Scat Ba Ba
Ya'll may have noticed that I ain't been bloggin' in a while. Honest to God, it ain't 'cos I been lazy or nothin'. That''d be just part 'o the reason, I reckon. It's 'cos, well, why don'tcha all just sit on back and I'll spin ya a tale.
It all started with a lawn that needed a mowin'.
There I stood, under the broodin' unrelenting harsh sun with my lawn mower chompin' away at the overgrown grass blades, when a portly Hawaiian feller waddled toward me. He asked of me, "I reckon, you the homeowner of this here property?" I tells him, "Sure are. My brother and I owns this dank lot the both of us."
The feller introduces himself as Whiskey Pete Jones, but I somehow thought the better o' that. Then he tries to offer me somefin' of a deal. He says, "I'm layin' down the cement of your neighbor's house and I's wonderin' if you'd be interested too? I got my men right here and figures we could do it fer a good price since they's already here and whatnot."
I tells him, "Gee mister, what kinda offer yous offerin' me?"
And off he went into our backyard, spray paintin' the ground, tellin' me about laying cement fer $7,000. Not knowin' what's a good deal or not a good deal, I calls my Pappy and he comes out.
Whiles thinking about the feller's offer, I comes to the mind that cement ain't really what I want and I tells my Paps to hear the feller's pitch and tell him no on account that I wasted some of his time already.
Well the next second my Pap is askin' the fat man about RV parking and after I's try to tell the man no as nicely as possible, Pap makes the deal, shakes the man's hand, and the man's crew starts demolishin' my wall, befere even a deal is inked in paper.
I's mad as hell at my Paps because I ain't wanted no RV parking. I wanted a yard fer plantin' and whatnot. And I's hated the fat man's guts fer the kinda dealings he partakes in. I really hope he gets a heartattack or sommat 'cos he's sommat of a crooked dealer jackoff asswipe.
Well we were stuck in this deal that my Paps made and so I made him pay fer it. We noticed rightaway that they's tryin' to cut corners; burryin' cement blocks, dumpin' the neighbor's dirt in our yard, flippin' grass over so as not to haul it themselves to the landheap. Worse thing's they din't cap off a sprinkler they cut off and when run, it would have leaked underneath the RV driveway which woulda been a disaster, I reckon.
So we's forced me Paps to take the next day off to make sure they's done a good job and not cut anymore corners. And he did and it came out pretty darn rootin'. But the asswipe fat ass still ain't come to give us the key to the darn gate. All I knows is I ain't never gonna do no more dealings with fat crooked pushy mother fuckers again, I swear it to God I do.
But this story ain't got nothin' to do wit why I's been bloggin' less lately. I ain't been blogging much 'cos I ain't got no internet 'cos I's moved into me new house! Finerally, after years of living under the rule of me Pappy and Mammy, I's finerally out into me own place. Down in Corona'sa fine place, I swear to God. But I reckon living here might be affectin' the ways I's talk. Is the way I's talkin' diff'rent or sommat? I ain't able to tells.
Rounding up Bessy and 'afeedin' the chicks,
Hicky
Ya'll may have noticed that I ain't been bloggin' in a while. Honest to God, it ain't 'cos I been lazy or nothin'. That''d be just part 'o the reason, I reckon. It's 'cos, well, why don'tcha all just sit on back and I'll spin ya a tale.
It all started with a lawn that needed a mowin'.
There I stood, under the broodin' unrelenting harsh sun with my lawn mower chompin' away at the overgrown grass blades, when a portly Hawaiian feller waddled toward me. He asked of me, "I reckon, you the homeowner of this here property?" I tells him, "Sure are. My brother and I owns this dank lot the both of us."
The feller introduces himself as Whiskey Pete Jones, but I somehow thought the better o' that. Then he tries to offer me somefin' of a deal. He says, "I'm layin' down the cement of your neighbor's house and I's wonderin' if you'd be interested too? I got my men right here and figures we could do it fer a good price since they's already here and whatnot."
I tells him, "Gee mister, what kinda offer yous offerin' me?"
And off he went into our backyard, spray paintin' the ground, tellin' me about laying cement fer $7,000. Not knowin' what's a good deal or not a good deal, I calls my Pappy and he comes out.
Whiles thinking about the feller's offer, I comes to the mind that cement ain't really what I want and I tells my Paps to hear the feller's pitch and tell him no on account that I wasted some of his time already.
Well the next second my Pap is askin' the fat man about RV parking and after I's try to tell the man no as nicely as possible, Pap makes the deal, shakes the man's hand, and the man's crew starts demolishin' my wall, befere even a deal is inked in paper.
I's mad as hell at my Paps because I ain't wanted no RV parking. I wanted a yard fer plantin' and whatnot. And I's hated the fat man's guts fer the kinda dealings he partakes in. I really hope he gets a heartattack or sommat 'cos he's sommat of a crooked dealer jackoff asswipe.
Well we were stuck in this deal that my Paps made and so I made him pay fer it. We noticed rightaway that they's tryin' to cut corners; burryin' cement blocks, dumpin' the neighbor's dirt in our yard, flippin' grass over so as not to haul it themselves to the landheap. Worse thing's they din't cap off a sprinkler they cut off and when run, it would have leaked underneath the RV driveway which woulda been a disaster, I reckon.
So we's forced me Paps to take the next day off to make sure they's done a good job and not cut anymore corners. And he did and it came out pretty darn rootin'. But the asswipe fat ass still ain't come to give us the key to the darn gate. All I knows is I ain't never gonna do no more dealings with fat crooked pushy mother fuckers again, I swear it to God I do.
But this story ain't got nothin' to do wit why I's been bloggin' less lately. I ain't been blogging much 'cos I ain't got no internet 'cos I's moved into me new house! Finerally, after years of living under the rule of me Pappy and Mammy, I's finerally out into me own place. Down in Corona'sa fine place, I swear to God. But I reckon living here might be affectin' the ways I's talk. Is the way I's talkin' diff'rent or sommat? I ain't able to tells.
Rounding up Bessy and 'afeedin' the chicks,
Hicky
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Red Eye Special
Well would you look at that?
I woke up Sunday morning with my eyeball bloodied. Don't know if it's related to the ASA procedure or not, but the doc says it's pretty standard fare for anyone. If you sneeze too hard, lift too heavy weights, or push too hard while constipated (which happens a lot), you could bust a blood vessel.
Gross right? What sucks is that it's going to take around 3 weeks to heal.
I personally think it gives me a fierce quality. I'm one red hot mo-fo.
Smokin',
Ricky
Well would you look at that?
I woke up Sunday morning with my eyeball bloodied. Don't know if it's related to the ASA procedure or not, but the doc says it's pretty standard fare for anyone. If you sneeze too hard, lift too heavy weights, or push too hard while constipated (which happens a lot), you could bust a blood vessel.
Gross right? What sucks is that it's going to take around 3 weeks to heal.
I personally think it gives me a fierce quality. I'm one red hot mo-fo.
Smokin',
Ricky
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Pain in the ASA
And so I survived. Not that my life was ever in danger or anything, but I lived to tell about my aweful (that's "awesome" and "awful" conjoined) experience.
Course, leading to the surgery, I was a slightly perturbed. But they gave me a nice Zanex to calm me down. After a quick test (which is better, 1 or 2?), I was led to the very sterile and very calming blue and futuristic laser room. They had me lay down on a bed thing and slide carefully underneath the laser. I was given a kewl football to keep my hands busy. Then the doc began the procedure, letting me know exactly what was happening as he proceeded.
First, after clamping my eye open, he installed tiny implants in my lid to help with tear production to combat dry eyes. Then he sat a tiny clear ball on my eye to numb it. Then came some wiping with a sponge. At this point, I can't feel a thing, so even though he said he was wiping the top of my eyeball, it felt like there was a sheet of glass over me and he was wiping the surface of the glass. Then came a metal instrument that scraped away the top layer of my eye. This was the weirdest moment because as I watched him sort of sweep away a layer of cells, my vision sharpened a bit. He scraped the layer into one section of my eye, as would happen when you sweep a room, and then he carried it off with a single swoop.
Then wiping occurred again. And finally, they were ready for the laser. I was told to look at a blinking red light (the laser had a solid red light and a blinking one). I was warned that the laser would begin tapping and when it does, that I'll want to breathe through my mouth. So I thought to myself, why would I want to breathe through my mouth? Then alluva sudden, I heard a pat-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat and could smell the scent of burning flesh. I realized, this is the laser portion reshaping my eye. I inhaled and exhaled through my mouth and tried to maintain focus on the blinking red light. But I was baffled because the light had become a giant red orby blur. Where was I supposed to look within this red fuzzy circle??? I just focused on one spot as the laser went on for what seemed like a minute.
The laser stopped tapping and the doc ran water across my eye and the world seemed a bit more in focus. He applied the bandage contact lens, unclamped my eye and my eyelids instinctively shut.
Then he repeated the same steps on my left eye.
In all, I think the whole process was extremely cool. I was way more alert than when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. The best thing is that I got to keep the football!
The recovery was hell though. Since ASA lasers the top surface of your eyeball, the cells recover like any other wound. LASIK has little to no downtime. ASA kicks your ass for 3 days after. I didn't face any dry eyes, but there was plenty of wet eyes. I guess because of the tear implants, my eyes were constantly watery, which made the 3 days extremely unpleasant. My eyes were so stingy that I could barely open them. Even when they were shut, they stung. The doc gave me a cool survival kit that consisted of Tears "A" (for discomfort), Xibrom (prescription Advil for the eye), Zymar (antibiotic), Pred Forte (steroid to promote healing), and Artificial Tears (eye lubricant). But using this kit only gave me about 2 hours of relief at a time. The Tears "A" was there if I needed it, but I was told to try not to use it much since it hinders the recovery process.
Also in these 3 days, I had to wear shields over my eyes while I slept to prevent myself from clawing at my peepers. I also had to wear goggles in the shower. It was not fun.
And to this day, after 3 follow up appointments, no longer wearing shields, down to just the Pred Forte and Artificial Tears, I'm still not seeing 100%. I believe it's due to the steroid. My eye is still healing, but it seems that whenever I use the steroid drops, my vision becomes very hazy.
ASA requires patience. I'm getting a big impatient actually. Work is a huge hassle because I can't stare at the screen for longer than 5 minutes without everything going blurry. But even still, I am glad to have shed my contacts and glasses! I'm still getting used to the fact that I don't have contacts on. Going to bed with clear vision is so weird.
I'll keep you updated. I should quit staring at this screen and get some rest.
Should I end this entry? Eye eye!
Ricky
And so I survived. Not that my life was ever in danger or anything, but I lived to tell about my aweful (that's "awesome" and "awful" conjoined) experience.
Course, leading to the surgery, I was a slightly perturbed. But they gave me a nice Zanex to calm me down. After a quick test (which is better, 1 or 2?), I was led to the very sterile and very calming blue and futuristic laser room. They had me lay down on a bed thing and slide carefully underneath the laser. I was given a kewl football to keep my hands busy. Then the doc began the procedure, letting me know exactly what was happening as he proceeded.
First, after clamping my eye open, he installed tiny implants in my lid to help with tear production to combat dry eyes. Then he sat a tiny clear ball on my eye to numb it. Then came some wiping with a sponge. At this point, I can't feel a thing, so even though he said he was wiping the top of my eyeball, it felt like there was a sheet of glass over me and he was wiping the surface of the glass. Then came a metal instrument that scraped away the top layer of my eye. This was the weirdest moment because as I watched him sort of sweep away a layer of cells, my vision sharpened a bit. He scraped the layer into one section of my eye, as would happen when you sweep a room, and then he carried it off with a single swoop.
Then wiping occurred again. And finally, they were ready for the laser. I was told to look at a blinking red light (the laser had a solid red light and a blinking one). I was warned that the laser would begin tapping and when it does, that I'll want to breathe through my mouth. So I thought to myself, why would I want to breathe through my mouth? Then alluva sudden, I heard a pat-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat and could smell the scent of burning flesh. I realized, this is the laser portion reshaping my eye. I inhaled and exhaled through my mouth and tried to maintain focus on the blinking red light. But I was baffled because the light had become a giant red orby blur. Where was I supposed to look within this red fuzzy circle??? I just focused on one spot as the laser went on for what seemed like a minute.
The laser stopped tapping and the doc ran water across my eye and the world seemed a bit more in focus. He applied the bandage contact lens, unclamped my eye and my eyelids instinctively shut.
Then he repeated the same steps on my left eye.
In all, I think the whole process was extremely cool. I was way more alert than when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. The best thing is that I got to keep the football!
The recovery was hell though. Since ASA lasers the top surface of your eyeball, the cells recover like any other wound. LASIK has little to no downtime. ASA kicks your ass for 3 days after. I didn't face any dry eyes, but there was plenty of wet eyes. I guess because of the tear implants, my eyes were constantly watery, which made the 3 days extremely unpleasant. My eyes were so stingy that I could barely open them. Even when they were shut, they stung. The doc gave me a cool survival kit that consisted of Tears "A" (for discomfort), Xibrom (prescription Advil for the eye), Zymar (antibiotic), Pred Forte (steroid to promote healing), and Artificial Tears (eye lubricant). But using this kit only gave me about 2 hours of relief at a time. The Tears "A" was there if I needed it, but I was told to try not to use it much since it hinders the recovery process.
Also in these 3 days, I had to wear shields over my eyes while I slept to prevent myself from clawing at my peepers. I also had to wear goggles in the shower. It was not fun.
And to this day, after 3 follow up appointments, no longer wearing shields, down to just the Pred Forte and Artificial Tears, I'm still not seeing 100%. I believe it's due to the steroid. My eye is still healing, but it seems that whenever I use the steroid drops, my vision becomes very hazy.
ASA requires patience. I'm getting a big impatient actually. Work is a huge hassle because I can't stare at the screen for longer than 5 minutes without everything going blurry. But even still, I am glad to have shed my contacts and glasses! I'm still getting used to the fact that I don't have contacts on. Going to bed with clear vision is so weird.
I'll keep you updated. I should quit staring at this screen and get some rest.
Should I end this entry? Eye eye!
Ricky
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
iLasered
The time has finally come.
This Friday, I will be watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Speaking of Forbidden Eyes, I will be having my eyes lasered this Friday (the Indiana Jones thing in the earlier sentence was a red herring. I'm actually hoping to see it Thursday).
But back to LASIK! On Friday afternoon, I will attempt to correct my vision via the Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) procedure. That, as I mentioned in an earlier blentry, is the "flapless" procedure on account of my thin corneas. But still, I don't really know what really to expect. Will it hurt when they "gently remove the surface layer of my eyes?" Will it hurt when I'm not allowed to blink for 2 minutes? Will it hurt when I'm staring up at a laser and it's zapping away my eye cells?
I will let you all know after I recover. I made the appointment this Friday so that I could have the long weekend to heal.
But in the meantime, I've used very sophisticated Mac software to render how I will look as a result of this surgery.
This is me before the procedure, as I am now, behind very thick -8.00 coke bottle glasses.
If I come back to this entry and have forgotten what it feels like to wear these, I want to remind myself how I hate these glasses. They make me breakout in acne and make it hard to drive. Plus, note to self, remember how I could not see people's faces unless I was right up next to them.
This is a artist conception of what I will look like the night after the surgery.
And one week later, the grand end result!
I think it will be well worth it!
Exciscared,
PRKy
The time has finally come.
This Friday, I will be watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Speaking of Forbidden Eyes, I will be having my eyes lasered this Friday (the Indiana Jones thing in the earlier sentence was a red herring. I'm actually hoping to see it Thursday).
But back to LASIK! On Friday afternoon, I will attempt to correct my vision via the Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) procedure. That, as I mentioned in an earlier blentry, is the "flapless" procedure on account of my thin corneas. But still, I don't really know what really to expect. Will it hurt when they "gently remove the surface layer of my eyes?" Will it hurt when I'm not allowed to blink for 2 minutes? Will it hurt when I'm staring up at a laser and it's zapping away my eye cells?
I will let you all know after I recover. I made the appointment this Friday so that I could have the long weekend to heal.
But in the meantime, I've used very sophisticated Mac software to render how I will look as a result of this surgery.
This is me before the procedure, as I am now, behind very thick -8.00 coke bottle glasses.
If I come back to this entry and have forgotten what it feels like to wear these, I want to remind myself how I hate these glasses. They make me breakout in acne and make it hard to drive. Plus, note to self, remember how I could not see people's faces unless I was right up next to them.
This is a artist conception of what I will look like the night after the surgery.
And one week later, the grand end result!
I think it will be well worth it!
Exciscared,
PRKy
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Paint Misbehavin'
It was supposed to be an easy weekend task: paint six rooms in our new house. Four hours on Saturday and then six hours on Sunday and only two rooms are complete! Why the hell isn't it like it is on TV; reveal the paint color, dab a little on the wall, fast-forward motion and the room is perfectly painted?
Painting is hard ass work. It really is. I went in naively thinking that since I actually cared about the place, I would enjoy it more. To a small degree, it does feel better doing something for something you will enjoy. But hard ass work is still hard ass. So things are moving a little slower than anticipated. This weekend we will continue our painting expedition, as we attempt to conquer the Family Room, Living Room, and Entry Plaza. It won't be an easy task, but hopefully a few minions will join us in our fight. We will also be moving in a few things too!
Take a gander at some of these shots of us goofing around.
Picassoing,
Ricky
It was supposed to be an easy weekend task: paint six rooms in our new house. Four hours on Saturday and then six hours on Sunday and only two rooms are complete! Why the hell isn't it like it is on TV; reveal the paint color, dab a little on the wall, fast-forward motion and the room is perfectly painted?
Painting is hard ass work. It really is. I went in naively thinking that since I actually cared about the place, I would enjoy it more. To a small degree, it does feel better doing something for something you will enjoy. But hard ass work is still hard ass. So things are moving a little slower than anticipated. This weekend we will continue our painting expedition, as we attempt to conquer the Family Room, Living Room, and Entry Plaza. It won't be an easy task, but hopefully a few minions will join us in our fight. We will also be moving in a few things too!
Take a gander at some of these shots of us goofing around.
Picassoing,
Ricky
Monday, May 05, 2008
Hard Work Ahead
And we thought the hard part was over.
We just spent the entire weekend working on the new house. But if you think we got a ton of things accomplished... think again. We took three days to seal the tile. And even so, we didn't finish. It's an arduous chore to spread the glue-like sealer in the grout and on the tile. It sucks!
But we'll get that done this Saturday, while at the same time prepping for paint! I finally settled on paint colors and I'm extremely excited to see how it turns out. I stayed pretty neutral with more muted greens and blues. We'll see how it goes. This Saturday, we have family coming down to help paint. And I guess we'll get pizza or something. Should be fun.
Speaking of fun, I am getting my eyes laser beamed! At last, I will be shedding my heavy coke-bottle glasses and suffocating contact lenses and getting my eyes reshaped PRK-style. A second opinion recommended that I do NOT do the flap procedure. That's fine by me. That is the part of the procedure that I am most afeared of.
So, by the end of the month, the plan is to have corrected vision. I hope everything goes swimmingly.
Keep you posted,
Ricky
And we thought the hard part was over.
We just spent the entire weekend working on the new house. But if you think we got a ton of things accomplished... think again. We took three days to seal the tile. And even so, we didn't finish. It's an arduous chore to spread the glue-like sealer in the grout and on the tile. It sucks!
But we'll get that done this Saturday, while at the same time prepping for paint! I finally settled on paint colors and I'm extremely excited to see how it turns out. I stayed pretty neutral with more muted greens and blues. We'll see how it goes. This Saturday, we have family coming down to help paint. And I guess we'll get pizza or something. Should be fun.
Speaking of fun, I am getting my eyes laser beamed! At last, I will be shedding my heavy coke-bottle glasses and suffocating contact lenses and getting my eyes reshaped PRK-style. A second opinion recommended that I do NOT do the flap procedure. That's fine by me. That is the part of the procedure that I am most afeared of.
So, by the end of the month, the plan is to have corrected vision. I hope everything goes swimmingly.
Keep you posted,
Ricky
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
SCORE!
I've recently been buying things from www.drugstore.com. It's like Amazon, but they sell drugs.
Prescription drugs! Jebus, what do you take me for?
But they sell other things too. Well, the great thing is that, like Amazon, they don't charge tax on your orders. And, like Amazon, they offer free shipping with orders $25 and over. The one drawback is that delivery takes about a week. But, unlike Amazon, drugstore.com gives you a percentage back from your order redeemable on a future purchase. And boy do they want you to spend that credit!
I received, just about every other day, a reminder email that my credit was expiring soon. Seriously. Like bugging me serious. So I went and browsed the site to see what I could buy in order to spend my $1.27 credit. I found a few items that could be useful: a Clorox Toilet Wand, deodorant, a lint remover roller, a toothbrush.
When they arrived today, I found a nice surprise! They had accidentally included a FURminator deShedding Tool! As the product page describes, it "reduces shedding up to 90 percent by removing the loose, dead undercoat without damaging the topcoat. This tool is recommended for medium dogs and cats."
I'm totally taking this as a sign. I've been waiting a very long time for this. I'm going to finally rid my back of that pesky back hair. It's so bad back there that it's entirely matted.
Plus, I think I'll get a dog to help me deShed those hard to reach aureolas.
I'll be back,
Ricky
I've recently been buying things from www.drugstore.com. It's like Amazon, but they sell drugs.
Prescription drugs! Jebus, what do you take me for?
But they sell other things too. Well, the great thing is that, like Amazon, they don't charge tax on your orders. And, like Amazon, they offer free shipping with orders $25 and over. The one drawback is that delivery takes about a week. But, unlike Amazon, drugstore.com gives you a percentage back from your order redeemable on a future purchase. And boy do they want you to spend that credit!
I received, just about every other day, a reminder email that my credit was expiring soon. Seriously. Like bugging me serious. So I went and browsed the site to see what I could buy in order to spend my $1.27 credit. I found a few items that could be useful: a Clorox Toilet Wand, deodorant, a lint remover roller, a toothbrush.
When they arrived today, I found a nice surprise! They had accidentally included a FURminator deShedding Tool! As the product page describes, it "reduces shedding up to 90 percent by removing the loose, dead undercoat without damaging the topcoat. This tool is recommended for medium dogs and cats."I'm totally taking this as a sign. I've been waiting a very long time for this. I'm going to finally rid my back of that pesky back hair. It's so bad back there that it's entirely matted.
Plus, I think I'll get a dog to help me deShed those hard to reach aureolas.
I'll be back,
Ricky
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Little Victories
All my life I've felt like a pushover. It never seemed like a personal thing; I honestly believed that it was a trait that came with being Asian. I know that sounds incredibly racist considering I know many Asians who aren't pushovers at all, but that's the way I generally feel.
I've told the following story so many times already, in a venting fashion, so I don't even really want to take the time and energy to type this out. But in order to historically document this event for the future race of living beings in the year 2362, I have to suck it up and put fingers to keyboard.
Leading up to the completion of our house, we found that our cabinet drawers (all of them save for one or two) were damaged. The upper right corner of each drawer face was dented in or pounded in or something; they didn't have a point as all the other corners did.
So we complained. And the following week, the drawers seemed to be fixed. However, upon closer inspection, we noticed that all they did was remove the wooden face, turn it around, and reattach it. So now the bottom left corner was the damaged one. Pretty brilliant lazinism. But it gets better. Knowing we would immediately see the damaged corner relocated, they tried to cover it up with some cheap wood putty; a nice gray-green wood putty creating a rounded point.
We cried foul. Unacceptable!, we submitted. And we waited another week till our initial "final" walkthrough.
During this walkthrough with the Field Manager, he pointed to the "fixed" drawers and said that they had spent a lot of time working on the corners to make them right. "They're not flawed," he claimed. Admittedly, the corners did look better, matching the stain of the original wood.
After raising issues twice, I could see that this was all he was going to do about them and we would have to live with it. Mother Routes agreed to accept them, but Timotei did not.
While talking over this entire story with co-workers, they agreed with Timotei. The claimed that the wood putty is a laughable solution; that we're paying for a brand new house and should get shiny new fixtures; that the wood putty has really nothing to adhere to and will fall off after a couple years of drawer slamming use.
Now convinced that the drawers were unacceptable, we were told that we have all the bargaining power to get what we want. The time was coming to sign our loan papers. So we held that hostage.
Timotei and I conference called the sales office and told them that the cabinets need to be replaced. "This is a deal breaker for us if they are not switched out," we threatened.
Later that day, the Field Manager called back and left me a voicemail. He said that he had his boss come out to take a look and that they were looking real good and so there's nothing they could do about it. And then that magical, horse-shitty excuse again: it's not like they're flawed.
But we weren't going to take that. We called back the next day to the sales office and told them, "The Field Manager and his boss say the drawers aren't flawed, but we obviously disagree. They would not need wood putty if they weren't flawed. Bottom line is, we will not sign any loan documents nor off on the house until these cabinet drawers are replaced."
The next day came and we received a call from our Loan Officer wondering about the status of the loan signing. We told her that we weren't signing anything until our cabinet drawers are resolved.
Here's what I believe happened. Our Loan Officer made a call out to our Sales Agent and told her the situation. Our Sales Agent then pressured the Field Manager or his boss to do as we demanded because they did not want to lose this sale.
Our Sales Agent had called me the following day and said that she went out to our house and saw what we were talking about and agreed with us that their fix "was crap." She was going to either demand that they be replaced or that we get some sort of compensation for the damages. But then she tried to bargain that a fix might take a while so can we sign the loan documents in the meantime. I told her I would think about it, but never intended to do anything of the sort. A couple hours later, she called back with good news.
Apparently the Field Manager's boss had a change of heart the previous day; inspected the drawers and agreed that they needed to be replaced. He counted twenty-seven (!) damaged and placed an order for replacements. The same day she gave me the good news, the Field Manager called me and said that they had been working on replacing the drawer facades all day. Apparently they took the stock from another worksite. Supposedly the ones ordered for our house would go to that worksite, but who knows.
But anyway, his real reason for calling was to say that they couldn't find two of the drawers that were identified to be replaced and to see if we could come out and locate them. Fuckin' lackadaisical bitches. We went out there and not only found two drawers that needed replacing, but a whole slew of stuff that needed to be patched up.
The moral of this story is to stand your ground; never back down; and never buy a new home. It's a pain in the arse. And also, enjoy those little victories that get you through your day. Ain't that quaint?
If all goes as planned, we sign off on the house soon and the loan docs and stuff and by the end of the week, we'll be homeowners! Broke homeowners! Is there any other?
No money : (
Ricky
All my life I've felt like a pushover. It never seemed like a personal thing; I honestly believed that it was a trait that came with being Asian. I know that sounds incredibly racist considering I know many Asians who aren't pushovers at all, but that's the way I generally feel.
I've told the following story so many times already, in a venting fashion, so I don't even really want to take the time and energy to type this out. But in order to historically document this event for the future race of living beings in the year 2362, I have to suck it up and put fingers to keyboard.
Leading up to the completion of our house, we found that our cabinet drawers (all of them save for one or two) were damaged. The upper right corner of each drawer face was dented in or pounded in or something; they didn't have a point as all the other corners did.
So we complained. And the following week, the drawers seemed to be fixed. However, upon closer inspection, we noticed that all they did was remove the wooden face, turn it around, and reattach it. So now the bottom left corner was the damaged one. Pretty brilliant lazinism. But it gets better. Knowing we would immediately see the damaged corner relocated, they tried to cover it up with some cheap wood putty; a nice gray-green wood putty creating a rounded point.
We cried foul. Unacceptable!, we submitted. And we waited another week till our initial "final" walkthrough.
During this walkthrough with the Field Manager, he pointed to the "fixed" drawers and said that they had spent a lot of time working on the corners to make them right. "They're not flawed," he claimed. Admittedly, the corners did look better, matching the stain of the original wood.
After raising issues twice, I could see that this was all he was going to do about them and we would have to live with it. Mother Routes agreed to accept them, but Timotei did not.
While talking over this entire story with co-workers, they agreed with Timotei. The claimed that the wood putty is a laughable solution; that we're paying for a brand new house and should get shiny new fixtures; that the wood putty has really nothing to adhere to and will fall off after a couple years of drawer slamming use.
Now convinced that the drawers were unacceptable, we were told that we have all the bargaining power to get what we want. The time was coming to sign our loan papers. So we held that hostage.
Timotei and I conference called the sales office and told them that the cabinets need to be replaced. "This is a deal breaker for us if they are not switched out," we threatened.
Later that day, the Field Manager called back and left me a voicemail. He said that he had his boss come out to take a look and that they were looking real good and so there's nothing they could do about it. And then that magical, horse-shitty excuse again: it's not like they're flawed.
But we weren't going to take that. We called back the next day to the sales office and told them, "The Field Manager and his boss say the drawers aren't flawed, but we obviously disagree. They would not need wood putty if they weren't flawed. Bottom line is, we will not sign any loan documents nor off on the house until these cabinet drawers are replaced."
The next day came and we received a call from our Loan Officer wondering about the status of the loan signing. We told her that we weren't signing anything until our cabinet drawers are resolved.
Here's what I believe happened. Our Loan Officer made a call out to our Sales Agent and told her the situation. Our Sales Agent then pressured the Field Manager or his boss to do as we demanded because they did not want to lose this sale.
Our Sales Agent had called me the following day and said that she went out to our house and saw what we were talking about and agreed with us that their fix "was crap." She was going to either demand that they be replaced or that we get some sort of compensation for the damages. But then she tried to bargain that a fix might take a while so can we sign the loan documents in the meantime. I told her I would think about it, but never intended to do anything of the sort. A couple hours later, she called back with good news.
Apparently the Field Manager's boss had a change of heart the previous day; inspected the drawers and agreed that they needed to be replaced. He counted twenty-seven (!) damaged and placed an order for replacements. The same day she gave me the good news, the Field Manager called me and said that they had been working on replacing the drawer facades all day. Apparently they took the stock from another worksite. Supposedly the ones ordered for our house would go to that worksite, but who knows.
But anyway, his real reason for calling was to say that they couldn't find two of the drawers that were identified to be replaced and to see if we could come out and locate them. Fuckin' lackadaisical bitches. We went out there and not only found two drawers that needed replacing, but a whole slew of stuff that needed to be patched up.
The moral of this story is to stand your ground; never back down; and never buy a new home. It's a pain in the arse. And also, enjoy those little victories that get you through your day. Ain't that quaint?
If all goes as planned, we sign off on the house soon and the loan docs and stuff and by the end of the week, we'll be homeowners! Broke homeowners! Is there any other?
No money : (
Ricky
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
I Can't Belieb I Did Dat
I can never show my face on the train again.
You think snoring or snorting loudly is the worst thing you can do on a train full of regular commuters? Try this on for size...
I was listening to the Jamie, Jack, and Stench podcast (I'm about 3 months behind) when I fell asleep with my head in my hand, propped up like a bicycle. I don't remember falling asleep or even nodding off. All I remember was the moment my arm flew out from under my head and my head hit the table in front of me.
My head went boom and made an owwie. God, it was embarrassing. I didn't make a big fuss about it really though because I knew that would only make me turn red. I laughed at myself with Mother Routes who was cracking up next to me. I buried my face in my arm for the rest of the way home. My head didn't really hurt; more just a bruised ego really. Mother Routes said that the guy next to me witnessed the entire incident and cracked up.
So. Fucking. Embarrassando.
In other more wonderful news, ANGEL WING JASMINE IS ENGAGED!!! I am so happy for her. She met a really cool guy who treats her great and makes her happy. I just realized that I don't have a nickname for her fiancé. I suppose Coxsmith will do. That's a Scrubs reference by the way. They're getting hitched in September which means... ROAD TRIP!
Made of honor,
Ricky
I can never show my face on the train again.
You think snoring or snorting loudly is the worst thing you can do on a train full of regular commuters? Try this on for size...
I was listening to the Jamie, Jack, and Stench podcast (I'm about 3 months behind) when I fell asleep with my head in my hand, propped up like a bicycle. I don't remember falling asleep or even nodding off. All I remember was the moment my arm flew out from under my head and my head hit the table in front of me.
My head went boom and made an owwie. God, it was embarrassing. I didn't make a big fuss about it really though because I knew that would only make me turn red. I laughed at myself with Mother Routes who was cracking up next to me. I buried my face in my arm for the rest of the way home. My head didn't really hurt; more just a bruised ego really. Mother Routes said that the guy next to me witnessed the entire incident and cracked up.
So. Fucking. Embarrassando.
In other more wonderful news, ANGEL WING JASMINE IS ENGAGED!!! I am so happy for her. She met a really cool guy who treats her great and makes her happy. I just realized that I don't have a nickname for her fiancé. I suppose Coxsmith will do. That's a Scrubs reference by the way. They're getting hitched in September which means... ROAD TRIP!
Made of honor,
Ricky
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