Just like you and me, but better.
Posted at 6:24 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
So Bloomberg rides the subway, just like everyone else, does he?
U-Haul. Ugh.
Posted at 12:18 pm | Filed Under Rants
Mama got a new place and last weekend was time to move. We had plenty of hands lined up, so it was off to rent a truck. U-Haul seemed the easy solution, as there’s a U-Haul shop very close to where I work. (Enterprise, Ryder, Penske, Budget — all either out of stock or prohibitively far away.) Stopped by the nearby U-Haul shop on Monday to make a reservation and there were no trucks available for the Saturday.
So I hopped on the Web and made a reservation. A $29.95 rental fee, plus a five-dollar service fee (why not just go ahead and advertise a $34.95 rental?), plus 69 cents per mile. Okay, seems easy enough. Until they call me back to confirm my reservation and tell me I’ll have to go to a town 45 miles away to get the truck. (I’ll end up returning it there as well.) Um, no! At 69c/mile it’ll cost more than the rental, and I’m looking at about five miles between old place and new place. No! Not gonna do it. So I called them back to cancel that reservation. No problem, I’m told. Then I got the third degree from the rep, asking how I’d be moving my goods.
Wednesday I stopped by a second local U-Haul shop (same town) and explained my situation. The fella there tells em to call up U-Haul and make the reservation, and to tell them that I want to pick it up at this location. I get home, call U-Haul, and make the reservation. That goes well enough, but when I told them the location where I wanted to pick up the truck, the reservation guy says “that location’s not in our system.” He offers to let me pick up the truck at the first location, which works out fine for me. So for $29.95, plus the $5 “service fee,” plus tax, I should be on my way. Nice! Until I get a call back to confirm, telling me that I’ll be going to a town 20 miles down the road for pickup and return. I don’t think so, folks, not at 69c/mile.
So on Thursday I stopped by the second in-town location again and made a reservation there, to be picked up there. The fella gave me a contract number and all was well. I told him I’d be there on Saturday at 9 to pick it up. That’s perfect, he says. Then I called to cancel the second (20-miles-away) reservation. No problem, I’m told.
Drove by on Friday evening and saw two trucks sitting there. Looks good, right? So we arrive at 9:15 on Saturday to pick up the truck. The fella who made my reservation isn’t there, and another (I’ll call him Joe, as I don’t remember his real name) offers to help. But he can’t find the reservation.
Now it sounds like a Seinfeld episode. “So you know how to make the reservation, but you don’t know how to keep the reservation!” Joe goes on to say that he’s got a reservation in the system, but under another name. A quick look outside shows two trucks. So we do the math: Joe’s got one reservation, and two trucks. “Rent me the other truck, please!”
It took an hour to get through the rental process, most of it spent watching Joe talk on the phone to someone else who was helping him walk through the process. (Clearly, U-Haul should spend some effort on training.) While we’re waiting, the shop 20 miles away calls. “Hey, buddy, you gonna come pick up this truck today?” “Um, no, I canceled that reservation by phone on Thursday.” “Oh, okay.”
So for $39.95 (bigger truck) I should be on my way, right? No! It’s $39.95, plus a minimum mileage charge (fifty miles) of $34.50, plus $7.45 in tax. Total: $81.90. I’m told the mileage will be pro-rated upon return of the truck. I can handle that.
Six hours later, as planned, I return the truck. And it takes 20 minutes to get it checked back in. Upon check-in, I receive the second part of the “Contract Receipt.” (The shop kept the first part.) This page shows they charged my credit card $105. Um, fellas? The fee we agreed upon at the time of pickup was $81.90. Where’s this other $23.10 come from? When it all boils down, I paid $59.13 (39.95 rent + 13.80 mileage + 5.38 in tax).
I can’t complain much on the final total, as it netted out correctly, but why was I charged the extra $23.10 to begin with? And what the heck happened to the reservation I made in person? And why does U-Haul still assert that I owe them two $5 service fees? (I’m hoping those will disappear before my credit card statement arrives, but not counting on it.)
Renting and returning the truck was more hassle than moving the goods.
Oh, and then there’s the little whiny blonde who was peeved at me for parking a moving truck in the parking lot where she wanted to drive. Look, chickadee, the space between this truck and the curb is about eight feet. If you can’t get your little convertible through that hole, then perhaps you should either give up driving or take up some lessons. And then she wanted to shout at me. “It would be nice if I didn’t have to carry all this $#it all this way to my apartment!” Well, sweetie, would you rather carry all the stuff we’re carrying? And gee, we’ve inconvenienced you so much by having you walk a whopping 25 yards from your car to your apartment. Crybaby.
(Why couldn’t she be more like the cutie who actually offered to help us with things?)
But Mama is moved now, and happy as a clam in her new place. That’s worth all the hassle.
Just when we thought the end was near
Posted at 5:56 pm | Filed Under Rants
The headline: “Sheehan considers challenge to Pelosi.” Link here.
That’s what we need: Cindy Sheehan in office.
To quote Al Borland, “I don’t think so, Tim.”
Smoking while riding a motorcycle
Posted at 9:38 pm | Filed Under Rants
I see this activity pretty frequently. As a non-smoker, I have to say this just looks weird. When you’re moving, does the increased air movement around the cig cause it to burn away faster? Is that somehow good for the smoker? Or is it wasteful? Does motion relieve the need to flick ashes away? Perhaps they fall off on their own. If so, do they end up in the smoker’s face? Or perhaps leave dirty smudges on the smoker’s cheeks as he rides?
One more thing on the list of things I don’t understand.
Weaning Oliver
Posted at 12:25 pm | Filed Under The other critters
Oliver is about six weeks old now, and it’s time to get him off the bottle. When Mrs asked Dr. Hernandez how to get him to stop expecting food from a bottle, Dr. H’s answer was simple: “stop giving him a bottle.”
So this afternoon Mrs put Oliver’s food in a dish, and then put a chunk of it on her finger to lure him toward the dish. Oliver’s evidently excited about eating real food — he goes in with both paws.
What a messy little critter!
R.I.P., Hobie
Posted at 12:14 pm | Filed Under The dogs
Today was Hobie’s last. We’re devastated, though we knew it was coming.
A crushing blow.
This day sucks. We’re going to miss you, Hobe Dogg.
“She’ll guard you for life” parts 3 and 4
Posted at 12:13 pm | Filed Under The dogs
Last week Hobie was sick, and Mama was in the house. Thing is, only Molly knew that Hobie was sick. So she spent a while running back and forth between Hobie and Mama, evidently trying to let her know that something was wrong. Good dog, Molly.
Today brought us another dose of it: Hobie had evidently had a stroke or something — he was quite debilitated. On her way out to work, Mrs noticed Molly running back and forth between her and Hobie, again letting us know something was wrong.
In Molly’s ten months with us, the dogs’ roles have changed a bit. At first, it was Hobie’s job to guide, teach, and protect Molly. In recent weeks it’s been hers to keep an eye on him.
Good job, Molly.
“She’ll guard you for life,” part 2
Posted at 7:39 am | Filed Under The dogs
As we mentioned earlier, Molly is learning to keep an eye on things. I was out of town for three days this week, and Hobie was at the vet’s for a very thorough checkup. Some of Mrs’ friends came over to the house for a few minutes while I was away. I’m told that Molly very clearly made her presence known, and let it be known that she was on guard. She wasn’t aggressive about it, but she clearly wanted the friends to know that she knew they were there.
Good job, Molly, good job.
Two days, two wheels, 300 miles
Posted at 8:47 pm | Filed Under The wheels
So the Honda Hoot was this past weekend. The VTX-riding friends and I met in Knoxville for the event. We spent Thursday morning at the Hoot, and then hit the road.
Thursday afternoon brought us a trip to Cades Cove, riding the Loop and seeing the sights. Deer and turkey were easily seen; no bears noticed.
Friday we hit the road to run the Tail of the Dragon, headed for Deals Gap. That’s a great ride, especially when the weather is as good as what we had. After beating the Dragon, we continued on to Robbinsville NC for lunch. After lunch it was on to the Cherohala Skyway and Tellico Plains, then back to Knoxville.
It’s good to get out of town for a few days, especially when the weather is beautiful and there’s a motorcycle available.
Planning to do this again in the fall, so as to get some more colorful photos.
Week in review, 10 June 2007
Posted at 7:09 pm | Filed Under Weekly reviews
Alrighty… it’s been a while. Been busy. Let’s see…
- Congratulations: Mike and Amanda. The very best wishes for both of you. May your new life together be ever blessed.
- Unnecessary lust item: 3/4-ton Suburban, black, with the diesel. Of course we don’t need it, but it would be pretty cool for a while. Even if only for irking Mr. Anti-SUV at work.
- Holy cow, does it ever stop? — Neighbor’s yappy dog, yapping. Goodness, he just doesn’t give up!
- A week has passed: Oliver Gray, the new kitten in our house. Four weeks old now; still no bigger than a rat. Suddenly has ears. Has yet to poop. Learning to walk, and quickly! Wasn’t crazed about him coming, but he is cute. For now. And he’s getting stronger.
- Why the heck am I thinking this? — Sudden urge for a tattoo. Odd.
- What the heck happened here? — Garage door spring broke. Doesn’t appear to have beat the $h!# out of the vehicles on its way to the floor. No clue why it broke. Not tough to replace, though… thankfully.
- Back in the U.S.: Doctor Jay.
- The week ahead: birthdays for Jeff and Gemini; Father’s Day; preparation for a trip to the Honda Hoot.
More to come. The list grows when I’m not in front of a computer, and then suddenly shrinks when I get ready to enter it.
