Post by UnderProtest on Dec 21, 2014 10:10:55 GMT -5
I have to pack our clothes and cold weather gear, wrap some presents, and then brave a 4+ hour car trip with the kids tomorrow morning. Hopefully it won't be bad, but its been awhile since we did a car trip. Then I don't have to do anything for 5 whole days. We are going to a hotel/resort where everything is taken care of. I have a spa appointment booked and there is an indoor swimming pool. They have a nature walk and boat cruise planned. I can't wait!
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 19, 2014 17:36:57 GMT -5
Oooh, get something savory/salty too. Nuts or some kind of chips/crackers. They have some rosemary/raisin ones (I think that is what they are) that are really good.
I managed to walk to the shopping center with 2 three year olds, go shopping, and carry everything back while holding munchkins hands.....and there were no meltdowns (by the kids or me).
This deserves a standing ovation. Seriously. Did you end up getting them a present because they were so good? Lol.
The best part was that I bought a pair of boots as a present and had to manage that.
They did get a piece of chocolate cake at the cafe while we were out. It was for all of us not having a meltdown, but the boy ate most of it.
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 19, 2014 15:00:43 GMT -5
I managed to walk to the shopping center with 2 three year olds, go shopping, and carry everything back while holding munchkins hands.....and there were no meltdowns (by the kids or me).
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 19, 2014 10:44:36 GMT -5
My MIL is BEC to me lately. So she is immediately to blame when I get a note from Customs saying I have to pay VAT in order to get a package. First, it was mailed to my husband, not me. He's not the one that is home all day or would have to pick it up. Second, she somehow didn't mark it as a gift (which it is) so now I have to pay money in order to collect the obnoxious presents she sent my kids.
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 19, 2014 10:39:45 GMT -5
I had a friend who was a waitress tell me this is also why they prefer cash tips. They only claim a small portion of their cash tips while the entire tip has to be reported on credit card transactions. From someone who was doing it while in college (and didn't need the money, mommy & daddy were providing plenty), I found it rather unsympathetic. Plus, I never seem to have cash so it isn't a possibility. It was rather forward of him to tell you that.
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 19, 2014 10:15:15 GMT -5
My twins have vastly different numbers. Now I'm going to have to look to see if they fit the chart. I never knew the first three digits corresponded to where the SSN was issued. That's kind of cool.
They are saying they gave me a special offer when I moved in almost two years ago and they need to get it back to market value. I can see an increase, but not that much of one!
Yeah, that's just nuts. Sorry though. I hate moving.
If you are still giving them, I could use hair pats and advice. Our (rental) house has had water leak issues for over 6 months now. I think they (yes, multiple issues/leaks) are finally fixed, but we are now in a fight with the property manager and landlord. They seem to think that this is all acceptable and there should be no compensation for my troubles (over 50 hours of appointments, plus no shows from the contractor, plus tons of time trying to manage it). I am so stressed about this that I my (stress-induced) eczema has popped up. I am so frustrated I don't even know what to do. No one does anything they say they will, communication and customer service don't exist in this country.
I am so glad that the problems are actually fixed and I get entirely how distressing it is to have to deal with all the hassle and misery of the the crappy workmen. I had one stiff me yesterday and I nearly cried. I don't think your landlord or property management co is responsible to you for damages in waiting around etc. if your actual property was damaged you might have a claim for that. I'm worried for you though because you sound so unhappy already with having to even be there that this dreadful situation w the leaks is just shoving you right over the limit. Do you think you're going to be able to be happy there now that this is over?
I don't think they owe me time, I mentioned it to illustrate how much time has been wasted on them. The contractor has been awful, not showing up to appointments, trying everything to get out of doing the work, including lying, breaking other things while he was here to fix something else, removing a skylight window and not replacing it for over two weeks. I think the aggravation of not being able to use one bathroom for over 6 months and another for 3 months is beyond normal circumstances.
But anyway, good question. While there are some things I really like about being here, everything is just so much more difficult. I just want things to calm down and not be so hard anymore. This move has been a lot harder than I expected and I'm not sure how to move forward now.
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 15, 2014 11:21:20 GMT -5
@cse1960
If you are still giving them, I could use hair pats and advice. Our (rental) house has had water leak issues for over 6 months now. I think they (yes, multiple issues/leaks) are finally fixed, but we are now in a fight with the property manager and landlord. They seem to think that this is all acceptable and there should be no compensation for my troubles (over 50 hours of appointments, plus no shows from the contractor, plus tons of time trying to manage it). I am so stressed about this that I my (stress-induced) eczema has popped up. I am so frustrated I don't even know what to do. No one does anything they say they will, communication and customer service don't exist in this country.
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 12, 2014 19:21:22 GMT -5
We send our normal card and just write Happy Holidays on it instead of Merry Christmas. I'm pretty sure their card this year had a picture of their kid with Santa (or Santa related something).
What's so exciting about Iceland? My husband and I were just talking about this tonight and we don't know what there is to do there and when is the best time to go.
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 12, 2014 6:49:08 GMT -5
Just the rule about Christmas jumpers would have anyone drunk in the first couple minutes. These crazy Brits love their ugly sweaters (and dressing themselves up like fools).
This has been an utterly, horribly, extremely crappy week for both DH and I. It's been reconfirmed that DH's current boss is a total raging asshole. Not that I had any doubt prior to this week. He's got DH wrapped into such a total stressball that apparently DH is going for an EKG tomorrow. This spooks me.
And I'm having the fun of being on the road for work with a laptop that is out of warranty and suffered a hard drive failure. I'm in Germany, so shipping me out a replacement from the main office would take longer than I'll be here. In the meantime, the only reason my work is not _totally_ screwed this week is purely because of some super-awesome folks at the company that helps us with logistics for this location. In the meantime, there are several projects I have going on that are all falling behind because instead of working on them, I am attempting to recover my laptop and make it work again... Such a waste of my time, all because work is too cheap-ass to replace laptops before they die.
Yuck on both accounts. My husband actually booked himself an appointment at a new doctor because he was having chest pains and hand numbness. Yep, anxiety.
Post by UnderProtest on Dec 10, 2014 6:22:11 GMT -5
We have the Ikea Ingolf bar stools and I think they are decent. They will need tightened some time soon (we have had them 9 months on a rough floor), but seem to hold up well against two toddlers and an extremely tough floor. One does have a dent in it from where it was knocked over. We have been able to easily remove marker, food, etc off the white finish. Ikea's wood furniture seems to be pretty good.