New Job??

So unfortunately, I find myself on the prowl once again for new career. 

I really do enjoy the job that I have right now, it's just the way that things are run that is driving me bonkers.  I get that this company is new and all, only about 6 years old, but you are nationwide, so why is it you haven't figured this out yet. 

The clients we assist with finding people are limited.  We have three basic clients in Michigan and to be honest we only staff for one of those clients on a regular basis.  I mean the guy I work with has messed up so many times with the one client that they have actually come close to dropping our company all together.  If it wasn't for my smoothing things over they wouldn't have this client anymore.  And do I get any thing in return for this feat?  Of course not.  A minor nod and thank you but nothing more.  I know that I should be appreciative of the thank you, but it wasn't exactly the best thank you.

So today, I find myself being possibly offered a new position with another staffing firm and I told them I would take it if they offered it to me.  So hopefully they do.  This firm is double, if not triple, in size of the current place I work and they have several more clients.  And by several I mean they have at least 20-30 more clients than that of my current company, who is obviously well too afraid to take on more clients because this is getting ridiculous.  They have nothing in order here.  NOTHING!

I have tried to have a conversation with the "Boss Man" but it seems it just goes in one ear and out the other most the time.  I have made them aware as well that I am looking for other positions, so it should come as no surprise to them when I up and leave. The best part is, my "Co-worker" if you can call him that, since he doesn't do a lot of work, has admitted to me on several occasions that when I am out of the office he doesn't know what to do.  I don't like to toot my own horn, but that's saying something!

Anyway, I just wanted to vent a bit about this because I know that it's soon coming to an end here for me, but I am going to be moving on to BIGGER and Better things!

Lamb...Friend or Foe?

Anyone got any good Lamb recipes?

Customer Satisfaction... A thing of the past?

We went out to dinner this past weekend, much as we do many weekends, hoping to have a good time, good dinner and good service.  Apparently this is getting too much to ask for. 

We hit up Fridays, over by the Woodland Mall since we happened to have been out that way already, and couldn't wait to get our food even before we got in the door.  We love the food here.  Maybe not at this location inparticular, but at Fridays.  We almost always get the same thing for an appetizer, their JD Sampler.  (For those that don't know, JD = Jack Daniel's).  And like usual we ordered this up.  Now the last couple times we have ordered this item, the ribs haven't really been prepared very well, however this time they were done well and tasted fantastic.  The shrimp and chicken were great as well.  With this start we were really hoping for some great dinner. Especially since the waitress was on top of everything, she was filling our drinks right as they were going empty and always asking how things were.  She wasn't ever too far if we needed something else.

Dave ordered the JD Flat Iron, Medium.  I of course splurged and got the three course meal they have going for 16.99.  This included Green Bean Fries, Angus Flat Iron and Oreo Madness.  The green beans came out pretty quickly as expected and tasted like old fry oil for the most part, but I didn't say anything.  Just went on with life and picked at them a little until our main courses arrived.  Once the steaks arrived at the table it only took one look for me to see they were going to be undercooked.  I asked for medium as well on mine and both our steaks were oozing red juices.  After cutting open the steak, sure enough Dave's was underdone quite a bit, but mine was borderline mooing.

Don't get me wrong, I like a pink tender steak, but it needs to be pink, not red, and I even ordered according to their menu, Medium like I said, because that states in writing Warm Pink Center.  This was not what I got.  Instead I got this.

To me this is maybe a medium rare but you are pushing it a little.  This isn't what I ordered at all and this was according to their description of how the steak would look cooked they way I ordered.  Of course, when you get food not prepared the manager comes out and tries to make everything ok.  This manager was a froot loop of a lady let me tell you.  She immediately offered to take the steak back and re-heat it.  Because we all know that makes everything better, when you re-cook a steak in which all the juices have already leaked out all over the plate.  Even if they were able to achieve the look of a medium steak, by the time it does it's all dried out now and the tenderness is dramatically gone.  So just as I suspected she brought it back out and it was over done and dry.  She then offered to immediately get me a new steak.  I told her I didn't want it but she insisted that the kitchen manager do so himself and this would ensure that I get the steak the way I ordered.

Of course!  That's what needed to happen, the Kitchen Manager needed to prepare it.  Wait!!  If the KM was going to prepare it to make sure that it was cooked to order, why isn't he cooking all the steaks?  That makes it seem pretty apparent that she didn't feel her kitchen staff could pull it off.  You would think to save money they would just make the KM do it all, I mean according to her that was the only way to make sure it was right.  Right?

This is what I hoped for.

(I couldn't include a picture of what it looked like
when they finally got it right, because they never did.)

So come to find out, even the KM can't cook a steak Medium because it came out red as rare can get again.  Go figure.  At this point I am ready to leave.  I can't take any more.  I'm full from the Fries that came with my steak and the extras she brought me with the next one, and of course I did eat half the appetizer and some of the green beans, so it's not like I am starving and desperate for the steak.  I am about to make the decision to leave, when I recalled that I ordered the "Oreo Madness". 

So the manager brings this out to me and I couldn't believe that they actually labeled this dessert, Oreo "Madness".  Who were they trying to kid?  Have you seen this dessert?  If you took an oreo, and stretched it to about double it's size and same thickness on the actual cookie part, you would have the size of this dessert with about an inch thick of so called cream filling, which is really bad tasting ice cream or frozen actual oreo cream.  Either way, if it wasn't for the chocolate and caramel they smeared on the plate to make it look "pretty" with a strawberry, it would have been horrible.

(Shown actual size.)

Needless to say, Fridays is slowly making their way on to my list.  I just don't know when or if I will ever go back.

What are you thinking?

How stupid can people really be?

I received an email this morning.  Yes that's not that abnormal, however the contents of this email surprised me.  It was email telling me that I have won a prize for just listing an item on Craigslist.  Granted I haven't even touched this item for nearly two months and completely forgot about it,so someone went through a lot of trouble to get me a message about winning this prize.

At first glance, the email appeared to be from the CEO of Craigslist...or at least that was what she was claiming to be.  She was offering to give me completely free, an Apple MacBook with a $1300 value.  Claiming that Craigslist was teaming up with The Apple Company to give away many prizes and because I have placed an ad on the site I was a winner.

Here is the email.

Attention Megan Verburg,


My name is Angel Thomas, Chief executive officer of Craigslist. We have recently joined up with The apple company for a one-time promotional event today, we are giving away complimentary Apple MacBooks to randomly selected folks who have submitted an advert on C-list. You have been selected as one of our latest winners for today. We randomly choose numbers to match up with ads on Craigslist and your advertisement matched with our latest drawing.

We have nowNow we have joined up with Apple inc to market their hottest product yet, the Apple MacBook. Once yet again, we have been running this campaign for one-day only. All you need to do is CLICK HERE to visit our website created for this promotion and key in your email to get yours for free. Simply be sure to enter your email so we may locate our records to ensure that we have reserved one for you. That's it!


Congrats on winning a free Apple MacBook (valued at $1399). If you've any question or issues, feel free to email me back. However, you should claim your free MacBook first to ensure one will be set-aside for you personally before the deadline ends. We do understand that you may possibly not receive this email until after the deadline, however, we advise you check the web site and enter your email to see if we still have got yours on hold, which we often-times do because others haven't claimed theirs on time.

Angel Thomas
CEO, Craig's list

Now, this email got my attention for another reason.  If this is indeed a scam, how did they get my information such as my direct email and my name?  I don't respond to any of the ad responses from my email that is used for the ad itself and I never include my name.  This email included my name, first and last, and was sent to the email I used to sign up for Craigslist.  An email which is selected to remain blocked when posting on this site. 

A couple things have me worried.  One is that my information has some how been stolen from a group that says they will protect my information for using their site.  The second is that this person could easily have hacked in to my information had I been stupid enough to actually click the link she placed in the email.

Needless to say this email was reported to Craigslist and to the IC3.

Please let me hear your opinion on this.

Rain? Really?

Apparently today's teens are afraid of a litte water and hard work. Either that or their parents, teachers and coaches have coddled them in to submission.

My 13 year old daughter was supposed to have a track meet today and they cancelled it, all because of a little sprinkle of rain. Last I knew they only cancelled outdoor sporting events for Lightning. But this was back when I was in school almost 15 years ago, so what do I know now. When I called the school to find out if it was on at 2:15pm they said yes. Then at about 2:40 my daughter called me and said they cancelled it. So I called the school back just to double check and sure enough was told that they cancelled it for weather. And she didn't even know if they would have practice. I was quite surprised when I asked about why it was cancelled and she actually told me that the track could get wet. Wait a minute! You mean that it rains and the track gets wet? No way, that couldn't ever happen!

I can recall all through school running in rain for practice, meets and invitationals. I only recall one track meet ever being rescheduled for weather and it was down right storming out. Lighting and thunder in full force. This school doesn't even know if they will reschedule their meet. I get it's not high school and all, but what does this teach our children? To mine, I think she feels like it doesn't matter that it got cancelled because no one made a big deal about it. Not even the coach. So much so that she didn't even know if practice was on because the coach didn't tell her. I had to call the school and find out that way. How pathetic.

Well to say the least, I am not impressed by the current public schools athletics department. And I am not sure the future holds any promise.

Advanced Technology

Advances in Gaming.
(This is a blog I wroter several years ago and I completely forgot to post it then.  I jut found it and thought I would share.  Keeping this in mind, note that the Kinect has released)

How funny that you can do everything from your phone now a days. It really puts in to prospective how things have changed. I'm only 30 and it seems like in just my lifetime the advances in technology have been astonishing. When I was 8 years old we weren't playing games like, Need for Speed, I was playing Pole Position. We had an Atari game system, which when compared to the Xbox 360, looks like a spinning top or marbles.


It wasn't until I was 12 that the Nintendo game system came out and that blew our minds. Super Mario Bros was amazing, with the jumping up on blocks and over creatures and monsters and the coin collecting. It was great. This made Atari games look like a game of jump rope. And the upgrades just kept coming.

Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega and Sega Genesis all come out with in a five year span. My brain racked with excitement when my homework was done. Then it was which game to play. After High School I let gaming go and didn't touch another system until I was 22. This was thanks to my husband.

Introducing me to the Microsoft manufactured Original Xbox, I became what u would call an avid gamer. With its dynamic for the moment visuals and it’s more than complex controller when compared to the 5 button controls for the Nintendo and Sega systems, it became something to fill times of boredom quite fast. It didn't consume my life, but it was time consuming. I found myself attracted to the shooter games which most girls that play video games, don’t venture to. These were games such as Halo and Halo 2. There were nights when my husband would get home from work at 3am and he and a bunch of co-workers/friends would play Halo until all hours of the morning. At times I even found myself up with them to play mini tournaments.

Sony made its way to the gaming scene as well with the Playstation. Somewhat like the Xbox, you played games on CD and the controller was also more complex. The PS2 soon followed its predecessor and the graphics and controls were also upgraded.

As the PS2 made its way in to many homes and introduced free online gaming (which didn’t meet many owners standards), it was only a short time until Microsoft realized they needed to keep the playing fields even. They upgraded the Xbox to the Xbox 360. One word described the system: WOW! The games improved like hell fire and blew me away. But it wasn't until we bought an HD TV that we really reaped the benefits of our purchase. The system was expensive, nearing 500 dollars compared to the 99 we paid for our 1980's systems. But as we soon found out, well worth it.

Now with games such as Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 I found myself liking games even more. The HD TV brought the games to a new height. Xbox Live gave the feeling of being right in the action, it was hard to believe that so long ago I was afraid to die on Centipede and Super Mario Bros. It was ten times more intense. Walking around corners in Halo not knowing if something was going to jump out and shoot you or stab you was exhilarating and the adrenaline rush was like that of riding a roller coaster for the first time.

With the release of the 360 Sony upped the ante one more time releasing their PS3. Not only was it an incredible gaming platform for graphics but it introduced the Blue Ray player installed right within itself. But the game play online just couldn’t compete with Microsoft’s Xbox Live. Again this online play was free, which Microsoft has yet to introduce, but the quality of free is known over and over again. You get what you pay for.

I soon found myself enthralled with the guitar and band games. These games putting me right in to make believe land of being a rock star. You could now return to the feeling of being a kid or fulfill a long time fantasy of actually starting a band. What makes it more realistic is how they make contests for your Rock Band or Guitar Hero Band that allows you to show your talents as a gamer by making videos and playing challenges online against other bands.

With gaming expanding more and more everyday, Nintendo felt they needed to catch up. They tried the Game Cube and the DS and presented us with the Wii. Which brought what was supposed to be body full action to the gaming world with bowling, tennis, baseball, golf, boxing, yoga; the list is endless. Using the Wii-motes you use your arms like the racket, the bat, etc. It’s a great addition to the gaming family with kids that want to game. The Wii makes it much easier for them to play than trying to learn the complex controllers of the Xbox and the PS systems.

So, as I look back on my time in the gaming world I wish that I could have had the games that my kids now have and the ones they will soon have with the release coming soon from Xbox 360, the Kinect.  You will no longer need a controller.  The controller will be your body and there will be no more cheating the gaming system as there is with the Wii.  They attempted to make it a healthy gaming option to only have kids and adults the same finding ways to play without being active.  The Kinect will put the Wii out of existence.

Accomplishment....

Belle Tire...

So, last time I was on I told you about a situation with a Belle Tire employee who represented the company extremely poorly while visiting a Hooters establishment near his place of work.  While I understood why he was behaving in some of the ways that he did, I don't think other ways he bahaved was really called for in a place like Hooters.  I am not going to rehash everything that I have already said, so I will just get to the point fo this blog.

I received a response from Don Barnes, Marketing Director.  I was relieved to see that he had taken action based on my email.  I have never gotten a response for a complaint in the past of quite this magnitude.  This is the email I received.

Dear Megan,



First I would like to apologize for the way our employee was behaving. We coach and teach our employees that they represent Belle Tire even when they aren't at work. Yesterday I was able to identify the employee and disciplinary measures were taken. Along with that an entire company wide email was sent to every single employee reitterating Belle Tire's policy.


Don Barnes
Marketing Director

I am not sure what exactly the form of discipline was taken for sure, but I can say that I haven't seen him back in Hooters.

Hooters Rocks!

Representation and respect

Belle Tire
3773 28th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids - Next door to Hooters

I recently submitted a contact request to Belle Tire for a situation I couldn't believe.  Now I understand that when people go to an establishment, such as Hooters, they are there for the food, fun and sexuality of it. I know I am.  Now, this being said, having a husband who works for a multi-billion dollar company, I can't believe that he would ever wear their Logo so large and out there and act the way this guy did.  Here is the comment I sent directly to Belle Tire.

"I recently visited my favorite Hooters restaurant and was seated across from a guy who was wearing a Belle Tire shirt and Hat.  I didn't really think much of it until he started to behave in a way you would find a guy behaving in a strip bar.  Now this restaurant of course is known for being a place men go to look at hot women and drool over the ones they can't take home with them and enjoy some great food.  However this guy wearing the Belle Tire attire was a complete and utter bafoon.  I can't even call him a man at this point because a true man wouldn't treat anyone this way, even if he was in a strip bar.  He started by smacking the waitress on the ass a few times more than I would find appropriate and the way he spoke to her was like he was a possessive husband.  Now for all I know the Hooters Girl he was disrespecting was someone he knew and that's fine.  The point is, he was wearing the Belle Tire name all over and acting this way.  I once worked for a large insurance company and as a part I volunteered for them at a Golf Outing and also wore their shirts elsewhere.  While wearing anything with their Company Name on it I wouldn't have acted out of sorts like this in any way.  that's just not the way you represent someone like that. And this guy had no regard for the fact he was in company clothing. This all being said... I will continue to use Discount and I will not have my work done at Belle Tire even if your company is able to beat their pricing because all I can see when I see your sign is this jerk acting like just that.  Oh and his name is Drew and he is a windshield repair man from what I understand."

Maybe what I say won't matter to anyone and maybe it will change the client base for the smaller.  Who knows.  All I know is that I won't and either will my rather large family. 

Belle Tire - 3773 28th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids - (616) 954-8000

Over all - 0 stars out of 5 stars

Sprint...not another phone call...

Here I go again.  The round and round with Sprint customer service. 

The short of it...  I bought the new Evo Shift.  Was told one price and got my bill today with the entire cost of the phone plus some.

The long of it... I don't have that kind of space!

Advice???

A little off base....


Normally I just like blogging and letting out my frustrations on businesses but today I have something else I want to blog about.

When I put something somewhere because I know that I don't want anyone else to see it and I know that it's none of their business to be looking at it, I can't stand when they nose around until they find it.  If I wanted them to know what it was or if I wanted them to see it I would have pulled it out and put it with the stuff they need to look at.  I wouldn't have went thru the trouble of keeping it from you in the first place. 

And it's not like I was putting it there because it was something I wanted to hide from them, it was mearly because it was something very personal and I don't need them looking in to it.  I respect everyone's privacy.  No matter where it is.  Whether it's out and about or it's in my home or theirs.  This is in my house.  It's hidden in my drawer, with my private things.  It's not labeled open me and read the stuff inside. 

Anyway I had to get that out before I went crazy and yelled at this person.  I really want to actually yell at them but our friendship is way more important than this information.  My only real concern is that I can't trust them alone in my home now.  And that makes me uncomfortable and I don't know what to do.

Any advice?

Ahhh, Breakfast for Dinner

Denny's.....

I was having one of those days.  You know the one.  When everything is going wrong and all you want to do is go crawl in bed and sleep for the rest of it.  Well, instead I said I wanted to have breakfast.  Yes, breakfast for dinner.  It's something we do often.  So the choice was Denny's.  I know that a lot of people think that Denny's is nasty or a waste of time, but I was in the mood for their breakfast.  Eggs, french toast, smothered fries....it all sounded so good to me.

So we made our way up the street from where we were on 28th St and found the nearest and apparently only Denny's this way.  Walking in I could already smell the food that I wanted so badly.  The place was packed, it was Sunday afterall.  They quickly seated us back in a corner booth.  After finding out who the waitress was going to be I could already tell she wasn't going to get tipped well.  She took over 5 minutes just to come to our table.  I of course being the person I am, when she wanted to take my order I told her I didn't know what I wanted yet for my main course but a Strawberry shake and Smothered fries would get me started.

I was so looking forward to the smothered fries.  For those of you who haven't had them before, they are basically Potato wedges with cheese sauce and shredded melted cheese and bacon with ranch to dip them in.  They are so good.  Typically when I order these I get them at the table in about 5 minutes after ordering.  Not the case today.  Hell, I didn't even get my shake for 10 minutes and when the waitress brought that out she claimed the restaurant has the "hardest ice cream in the world" so that is what took so long.

Are you kidding me?  Hard ice cream?  What did she have to do? Mix it by hand because their shake mixer broke down.  Come on really?  Just admit that you hate your job and the last place you want to be is working at Denny's where everyone that comes in thinks they are better than you.  Or they are so drunk and stupid you can't stand dealing with them.  But blame it on the ice cream.  The very same ice cream the other Denny's I have no problems getting shakes in a shake (haha) from. 

After the shake came out I only assumed that the fries would be shortly behind.  But nope.  Not a chance.  It took yet another 17 minutes.  This puts me seated and waiting for 31 minutes.  This was about the time that I decided that I wasn't going to wait 20 minutes for fries let alone, another however long for the eggs, toast and pancakes I ordered and Dave's Superbird.  I was gone.  I stood up, collected my coat and had Dave get the car. 

Now this is how what I did differentiates from a Dine and Dash situation.  I walked up to the manager at the counter, told her I was disgusted with the service and couldn't believe I waited more than 20 minutes for fries that still haven't came and a shake.  I was leaving.  She just said good bye and headed in the direction of our waitress.  I am wondering if she still works there?...

Still being in the mood for the breakfast I was so strongly craving, Dave, like a good husband does, drove me all the way over to 44th and Clyde Park to the other GR Denny's so I could get the food I wanted.  This time it was good...or at least better than 28th St.

The waitress was definitely on top of things.  Our drinks came out immediately, the fries with in 5 minutes of seated and our food within 10 minutes of that.  Just as it should, once our fries were gone.  However, not the fault of the waitress, my eggs were underdone and they did need to go back.  And the waitress even knew enough that when she went to get the replacements that were still underdone, she took it upon herself to get me new ones before even attempting to bring it out.

Needless to say after all of this I didn't pay for my breakfast because this waitress heard my story about 28th St and then with my food not being done properly she asked that her manager took my meal off the bill.  I greatly appreciated this and tipped well of course.

Denny's 28th St. GR, 1 out 5 Stars
Denny's 44th St. Wyoming, 3 out of 5 stars.

Hilton Garden Inn, Detroit

Hotel Stay




First impressions are most important in life. At least that is usually the advice we all get. Always make a good first impression my mom would say, that is what people remember most. So all my life I always tried making a very good first impression. I smiled and greeted people, all people with that smile and happiness that my family gets to see everyday. This same happiness appeared to be what we would get when arriving to the hotel.

We pulled in to the uncovered parking lot outside the hotel and were quickly greeted by a very energetic and smiling valet attendant. So far so good. OF course was his happiness true or just the fact that he would get to drive our fast car? One will never know. I knew I should have taken pictures and recorded the mileage. LOL.

Upon entrance to the hotel, you walk thru a large, very well designed lobby to the guest services area. Behind the front desk stood two people. Both black and well dressed, one woman and one man. Neither of them appeared to be well educated, although I think that appearances can be deceiving. Greeting them discovered I was probably right this time.

First issue; Their computers weren't working properly at the moment. Or at least the woman was complaining about issues on her pc. The middle aged man greeted us and checked us in and we were on our way in no time. Top floor unavailable even though that's what I asked for. And the main reason I made my reservations months ago. To make sure I got the room I wanted. He politely told us that he didn't have the very top but had the next level to the top floor. That was fine, we took that floor.

Took elevator up the floor and quickly found our room just to the left of the elevator shafts. Not completely ideal, but if it's the room I asked for I am ok. Entering the room you are welcomed by a small living area, chair, couch and small 36" flat screen HDTV. Small hallway leads to the bathroom and the bedroom. Well i wouldn't call it a bedroom really. More like a small box with a bed. Ok. This is starting to look more like a shanty than a suite. I am displeased by the price of the room and the quality. Spoke with front desk and found that this was the largest room they had and I wasn't going to complain. I didn't want something like this to ruin what was supposed to be a great weekend. After all we are here to sleep and....uh sleep.

After getting settled in we decided that we would go down and find the pool. Easily found on the Lower Level, just next to the work out facility. It was designed like the pictures but it wasn't nearly as white as the pictures. The edges of the pool were slightly discolored, and the hot tub was loaded so much so with chemical that your eyes burned before you even got in the water. While sitting in the hot tub, we actually started coughing because of the amount of the chemical in it. We had to leave. I will make a visit to the front desk.

They ended up giving me a small discount for all my displeasures. It will do.

Overall; Staying at the HIlton Garden Inn...I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Tony's I-75 Restaurant

Tony's I-75 Restaurant


Our First stop on our trip out to Detroit was a pit stop in Birch Run, MI. Not for what you are thinking though...we stopped at a restaurant that was shown on Travel Channels top 30 restaurants you must eat at for Super food.

By the look of the place I thought I had transported right back in to the past and this was a hole in the wall dump that I was going to be completely turned off by. It is positioned right by a gas station; one of which gets a lot of trucker business from the looks of things and just across the street from the Birch Run Outlet Mall.

Upon entry to the restaurant, you are first welcomed with an empty hall way and makes you feel like they are trying to hide what's in from the outside world. However, when you make your way inside the next set of doors, you are greeted with, how do I put this lightly, redneck servers? I know that sounds bad but it's the south trapped in the north in this place. So much so that they actually offer you the option of the Deer Hunter Special. This includes gallon servings of two soups and a huge log of salami. All for about 65 bucks.

After being seated, the menu is placed on the table already and comes in the form of a local newspaper. The front cover shows a couple of local articles and then you open to find the entire menu on the next few pages. OF course the whole reason for our visit was to try the BLT that premiered on the Travel Channels Top 30 restaurants you have to visit for Super food. This sandwich is unlike any other BLT. It is served on large italian slices of bread and unlike the normal thin 3-4 slices of bacon you get when you order BLT in most restaurants, you get an entire pound of thick sliced bacon. This bacon is not just flat iron slices, it's curled and thick. Taste is amazing The bacon has just the right amount of salt and by no means is it overly greasy like most bacon is. First bite I was unsure I would get the sandwich in my mouth. But once I did, it was the best BLT I had ever eaten.
 

All I have to say is if you decide to take a trip anywhere in Michigan, you have to make time to visit this Hole in the Wall restaurant in BIrch Run. It was well worth the 9 bucks.


Overall; I give Tony's 4 out of 5 stars.

Judes

Judes.




On the road by 9am this morning, we stopped for what was supposed to be a brief moment to pick up our cake and get Dave a haircut. This moment turned in to almost two hours. The cake, although completed and ready to go, the lady in the bakery forgot to put a label on the bottom, so when I got to the check out it delayed me about 15 mins while I waited for the cashier to call the bakery and get the upc number.
That done,
 ,
 headed off to Jude's Barbershop.

Dave has never been here before, so about a month ago I bought him a gift cerificate in which he was to use prior to going on our trip. So as we pulled out of the Meijer parking lot he called them using their call ahead system. Told the lady that answered we would be there in 20 minutes and that he wanted a hair cut and straight shave. She said that would be fine and we could get in about 9:30am. We got there and waited until about 9:45am before he was seated by one of the barbers for his so called appt.

When you walk in to the barber shop, it isn't what your daddy had. There are naked women, covering their private parts on the walls, man movie posters among many other types of posters plastering the walls. A mans garages is the feel, with Craftsman Tool boxes holding all the barbers tools. The barbers aren't your daddy's barbers either. These are women. Pretty good looking. One sports a baseball cap, tee shirt and jeans with holes. Skinny, attractive. The other typical blondie.

Now, the haircut was great and looked really good....she asked dave if that was it and he said no. OF course not. As he told the lady on the phone he wanted a straight shave. While sitting there another gentleman, Bob, a regular apparently was waiting...so when Dave told her he wanted the shave he had to tell her regular he would have to wait or come back because there was obviously a mix up. Obviously. Try the lady on the phone today doesn't know how to do her job.

So the shave went well, although Dave was a little nervous at first because he has never had one before. It was good. All shaved and smooth and trimmed up. Ready to roll.

Overall; I give Jude's Barbershop 3 out of 5 Stars

The world of Auto Mechanics.....

I went out to the car the other day to listen to the noise that I had been hearing for a while. I described the noise to my father and he told me it was probably something to do with the exhaust. While he was at my home for a visit he took the time to listen to the car and determined that it was indeed the Catalytic Converter, which would need to be replaced and could not be repaired on my vehicle.

Now keep in mind that my father is someone who has spent the better part of his years, close to 55 of them under a hood of a car or under it's chasis. He knows a lot about them and taught my brother a lot as well...so much so that he now owns his own shop and can fix just about anything you can drive.

I'm rambling... I called a local muffler shop, to try and avoid the higher charges of a dealer, and a nice young man answered the phone, very proudly I might add. I was speaking to Chad, when he asked what I needed I informed him that my Catalytic Converter was completely junk and i needed him to provide me with just a rough estimate of what the shop would charge to do these types of repairs. After quickly supplying him with all the information of my vehicle, he stated to me that I should bring it in and have the techs take a look, free of charge of course, and that they would then determine what was wrong. I corrected "Chad", stating I knew what was wrong, it was the Catalytic Converter.

Now at this point "Chad" was getting irritated because I wouldn't agree to bring the car in to him. I tried to explain that I already knew what was wrong and I just wanted a rough estimate, nothing written in blood and he cut me off again and told me that I should take advantage of his Free Inspection service to find out what is wrong. I was getting frustrated at this point because I already knew. I didn't need a FREE INSPECTION, I needed a monetary amount that would provoke me to bring my vehicle to their shop. But apparently, because I have a vagina and also boobs, I was not qualified to make this decision and a young burly man such as "Chad" should make that determination. Not I.

For those of you who know me well, this didn't go down as smooth as one might think. I politely told him that he was crazy for thinking that I didn't know what was wrong and he was in the wrong for telling me that I wouldn't know what it could be. Now, I know that my dad was the one who told me for sure what was wrong, but I made the assumption to begin with that it had to be something in the exhause and I thought it might by the Converter, so Dad just confirmed what I assumed already.

I told "Chad" that I wouldn't be bringing my car in to him and that he should really think about what he says and how he says it to women he talks to because we aren't all stupid.

End of call, as I hung up before even giving him the chance to apologize for being a complete moron!