Lake Season!

Today, Mal and I walked down to the lake for the first non-post-storytime visit in a while.

Lesson 1: If the sun's out, wear a tank top, no matter what the temp feels like at the house.

We didn't stay long, but were there for enough time for me to notice a few things.

Mal played with a little girl who had probably just recently turned 2. When we first got there, the dad was with her. A few minutes later, the mom came (back?) with a drink for both of them. The mom had backed their SUV into the parking space nearest the playground, which is a space reserved for the handicapped. It's entirely possible that they had a tag; I have no idea. But when they left, the dad is the one who drove. He cut to the right too quickly and rubbed an orange wood pylon all down the passenger side back door. Oh, I hated that sound for them. I've done the same with a borrowed truck in a parking garage! And their SUV looked flawless otherwise. Hope they do what I'd do and just ignore it. Poor kids.

When Mal and I were getting ready to leave, there was a couple getting ready for the boat launch. The guy was climbing into the boat and the lady was getting into the truck to back down the ramp. The guy asked her if she had her fishing license. She responded irritably, "I don't know. I'll check when I get into the boat, and if I don't get to fish, it won't be the worst thing that's ever happened."

Once she started easing backward, he was hollering directions to her: "Straight. A little left." She had both windows up and I wouldn't be surprised if she was blasting the radio and the air. I don't know why she was so miffed, but she was. Then he yelled really loudly because they hadn't unhooked the boat from the trailer and he wanted to do that before they got into the water. She did stop for the yelling. I hope they had a great time once they got out on the water.

Finally, we left via the exercise stations they have near the walking trail. Unlike some trails that have the exercises spaced out, these are all just scattered in the same area. Mal calls it the "grown-up playground" and he loves to see what he can do. While he was doing them, I noticed, again, a truck idling in the boat parking. I'd been aware of it, on and off, since we'd gotten to the park.

I mentally put the pieces together: When we'd arrived at the park, there was a guy sitting in a docked boat. A few moments later, a woman wearing (carrying) a baby and walking a preschooler went down and put the older child into the boat. The guy and older kid took off, down the arm of the lake, and the mom and baby disappeared. They had apparently been sitting in the truck the whole almost hour we'd been there and I presume were just waiting for the others to come back.

I HATE noise pollution in places like this. I get that it was borderline hot today (low 80s), but in the shade, it wasn't bad. I can't imagine sitting in an idling diesel for more than an hour. It wastes gas, plus it means everyone else around has to listen to your truck running the whole time they're trying to enjoy nature! It might not be as bad as when people rent pavilions and they think it means they get to blast the whole park with their music and/or public addresses, but it still detracts from the whole "we're outside getting closer to our host planet" vibe.

Anyway, we also saw these. which was nice. And Mal got to taste his first drop of honeysuckle nectar, which he liked.

I neglected to mention in the last post that we'd acquired an inflatable kayak. Now that it's heating up, I'm super excited to get down to the lake to try it out! Hopefully soon!

This Week in Review

So, hey. How's your week been? (Pretends to listen intently for about four seconds.) Really? Great. Mine's had some ridiculous ups and downs, plus womanly hormones, and... well, I'm just ready for a new week, frankly. Here's a roughly chronological review.

We started the week with the SUV we'd just bought in the shop for a repair. We knew it needed an EGR valve replacement, but found out when we took it in Saturday that it actually needed the valve AND a whole new fuel tank. Since salvage yards aren't open over the weekend, and the repair shop really wanted to save us some money, they asked if we could wait until Monday when they could call around. (Shout out to Klingeman Car Care on this front. We used them in Oak Hill, and are fortunate that there's one even closer to where we live now over in Cedar Park.)

Sunday morning, Mal and I were going to visit a different church than we usually attend. It starts a half hour earlier than our home church, and since Mal is such a late riser, we pretty much had to throw his pants on and get him immediately in the car. The old, boring car, because our new (to us) car was in the shop. Do you remember that part? Yeah.

We drove way out into Leander, which isn't too far, but feels like another planet because we rarely go that way (we need to; there's a Bahama Bucks pretty close by!) and found the school where the services are held. But the only vehicles there were 3 cars and the trailer ubiquitous to haul-in churches. It was right at 10, so the only options were that they'd changed their service time and hadn't updated their website, or that only three cars' worth of people go to that church, which means their website is misleading and we're not interested because I'll explain why we were even visiting a different church in a minute.

A less introverted person would have gone in to see what was going on, but instead, I sat in my car and sent an email. I have not heard back from anyone. Thanks for making us feel welcome, church!

We ended up going to our church, and for the second week in a row, Mal was the only kid there. We love our church. We love the kids who go to our church. But none of them come regularly. Ever since school started back in the fall, it's like if there's a special thing, everyone shows up. Otherwise, it's Mal and maybe one or two other kids, but 3 weeks out of 5, it's just him.

The past two weeks, he's declined to go to childcare alone, and so the week before, we just left after the children's message. This week, he was interested enough in some magnets that we stayed. But he was so happy to go to McDonald's after and play with some kids.

In case you're wondering, I went through the drive-through at Taco Bell first and got two orders of nacho fries with two sides of cheese.

Do you realize we're only at lunch on Sunday so far?

Anyway, after we got home, I researched some churches around here, and that got really depressing. Here's the thing: I know exactly what I want in a church. Obviously, the very first and most important thing is what they teach, and what they believe about the Bible, and how that informs how their church works. I can tell from about 90% of the websites I look at that it's not for us.

Another way I can tell it's a big, fat "no" is when they have 40 staff. I have done megachurches. I'm over them. I want a smaller church. But smaller churches usually mean there isn't a lot of programming. And apparently if there isn't programming, busy-busy stuff, parents aren't super motivated to bring their kids. Especially since we homeschool, I need my kids to be able to make connections anywhere we spend a chunk of our time.

Monday, we had fun. Mal and I went to Jump Street and he played for a while with some rando kids who were there, then his friend Alexei met him and they had a good time. While we were there, Mal asked if we could use the photo booth. We usually do that at Chuck E. Cheese, but it's only 2 credits, or about $.50. It was $5 at Jump Street, but he was so excited. And here's what he had in mind.

He picked the frame, too.

On Monday, the car people told me that they'd found a fuel tank at a salvage yard, $400 cheaper than buying a new one from the dealership. They still needed several new parts, but we were grateful for the break. Also, we'd actually paid enough less than the couple was asking for the car that even with the more major repair, we were only out $100 more than we had initially thought we'd be paying for the car itself.

Also, we're getting quite a bit of money back from the IRS, mostly because James's old office withheld at a ridiculously high rate when they paid him out for his PTO. When we asked them about it, they said that was normal and it had to be done that way. It made that payment less than two-thirds what we were expecting, but I guess it all worked out because we will be able to use the money to pay off that repair. And some others, but we'll get to that. We're still just on Monday!

Incidentally, I'd had to contact the person who sold us our SUV because I needed her to sign the Texas title transfer. She was really weird about it, saying she'd signed over the (out of state) title and that meant she didn't own the car anymore. I further explained that we could not title the car without her signature, so she agreed to come over and sign it, which she did Monday morning. Then after Jump Street, Mal and I saw her again; she's a cashier at a dollar store. It was weird. Maybe I've seen her there before. She left a CD in the player of the SUV. It's labeled "Travel Music." The first song is "Margaritaville," and the second song is country, which Mal demanded I stop and turn on "the real music." That's my kid!

We got some Orbeez I'd ordered in the mail, and on Tuesday, we played most of the day with those. Mal even took a bath with them, and I have to tell you that it was a lot harder getting them out than I'd anticipated.

Even Carol is intrigued. 

Tuesday, I spent most of the day on standby mode, waiting to hear from the auto shop. I downloaded Lyft (which I've never tried; we did Uber a few times before they left Austin several years ago, though I suppose they're back now) and saw that it'd only be $8 to get a ride to pick up the car and save James that trip after commuting like he does.

I stress eat a lot when I'm restless, so that was the theme of Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, I called to check on the car. They said it was going well, but they hadn't gotten all of the parts in until Wednesday, and that they'd be done with the car that day.

Oh, hey, it was also Valentine's Day. We got the kids a couple of little treats, but James and I didn't do anything for each other. I got all sentimental about how fortunate I am to have James, and was going to write a thing about it, but have realized that I don't love writing as much as I used to at this moment. I will say this: I've been in several relationships where things similar to what have happened this week were sources of stress and blame and punishing. It's so nice to be able to be frustrated about a circumstance, but not have to worry about the reaction if I am to be the bearer of unexpected inconveniencing news.

At 5:14, 15 minutes before the garage closed, they called and said they were done with the repairs. Mehh. I told them I'd get it the following day.

Thursday, I was taking D and Mal to the Austin RV Expo. I figured we'd just get a Lyft to the garage, then go on from there. But James was home pretty late Thursday morning, so as soon as Mal and I got up, we got him to take us in to get it. I noticed from the street that the hood was released, and mentioned that I didn't want to forget that when I was driving home.

After James dropped us off and left, I found out why the hood wasn't secure: They were having to jump start the car every time they needed to run it. Apparently, he'd called to tell me about it, but 1) I never have my ringer on and 2) in this case, my phone was all the way off and I hadn't looked at it since the day before. He suggested we take it in and have it warrantied out because the battery was pretty new. I explained that we'd gotten it from a private party, and he shot out a couple of things it could be, one of which was a "phantom drain."

That reminded me that James and I had both noticed a green light on the tow wiring glowing all of the time at the back of the car. Although the gentleman offered to try to diagnose the battery problem, I wasn't in the mood to deal with it, and said we'd try to figure it out later.

Outside, though, while the guys were jumping the car for me, I mentioned the tow wiring again. One of the guys brought me a fuse and said he'd unplugged it. That was apparently all it was. It's started for us every time we've tried.

Oh, but it looks like they disconnected the gas gauge. I called to let them know, but I'm not emotionally able to take it back in for a few days. I told James I should take the bill from the rather hefty auto repair and write on it with a Sharpie, "Here's your CD," then wrap the CD in the bill and mail it to the lady who sold us the car. I have many passive-aggressive ideas I do not act on. You're welcome.

Thursday, I woke up early and bought airline tickets for a trip we have planned for the fall. Southwest just released the tickets yesterday, and I'm hoping that having bought them the day they went on sale AND purchasing the auto-check-in will mean we can at least have some choice in where we sit. After that, I went back to sleep for a bit.

Later, we woke D up and drove downtown to the RV show. It was fun. The trends I noticed (since I bought my RV 7 years ago) were: Outside kitchens pretty standard, fold-down patios as an option, and electric fireplaces. D is thinking about purchasing an RV in a few years, so we scoped out some possibilities and got some budgeting ideas. It was nice, but I could tell that after about an hour, we'd reached D's limit.

We passed the AAAS annual meeting setup on the way in and out, and really wished we were signed up for that! It looked super cool. We also passed this, just sitting in the middle of the big lobby of the Austin Convention Center.

It's a breast-feeding/pumping hut.

Interesting. There are two bench seats and one little table area, and a tiny mirror. Mal and I both fit in there, and it was cheery enough for such an apparently claustrophobic pod.

When we got home, it was gorgeous out, so Mal and I spent a couple of hours in the yard, and I totally forgot about fixing dinner until James got home. Fortunately, we had some tasty left-overs.

It was too pretty to stay inside

This morning, I woke up earlier than Mal again. It's interesting. He's been sleeping 6-8 hours straight the past 3 nights. He starts waking asking for "nursies" between 5:30 and 6:30, but then will usually sleep until 9ish.

Today, while I was eating breakfast and waking up, D came into the kitchen to report an apparent roof leak. There was water pouring out of the light fixture. Fortunately, our electric system worked. As soon as the water started pooling, the breaker had tripped, shutting off D's noise-maker fan. That woke D up, and revealed the leak.

I was about to call my friend Jacob (at Birdcreek Roofing) and decided to see if I could tell what was going on first. I climbed up into the attic -- which was dark because the power was off to that part of the house -- and could first hear and then see that it was the water heater. Steam was shooting out from the top of the unit.

Here's my scientific way of choosing a service provider: Open Yelp! and look up the category. Pick the first one near me with mostly all-5-stars. If they answer, they win. If it goes to voice mail, hang up and call the next person.

I ended up speaking with Blue Dragon Plumbing. When I described what was happening, he pretty much nailed what was wrong. He was on the south side of Austin but said he'd make his way up and call me after an appointment he had.

It's interesting, I was too distracted to be icked out by the attic, and then later James advised that I not try to shut off the water to the house (which I'd done hours before) because our inspector said we had black widows in the box. Fortunately, I didn't remember that particular bit of information at all, nor did I see any spiders.

The dripping slowed once I'd shut the water off and emptied (I thought) the water heater. I called ServiceMaster to get them out and drying everything, but it went to voice mail. They were our first pick because James used to work for them, and they're recognized nationally as experts.

But I moved on because I needed speed! Tetris Cleaning Service answered and was at my house within the hour. He had a neat water-vision camera (I don't know what it's called, but it's so cool). He was able to see that we had some water at the seams of our bathroom walls/ceiling, and then D's whole ceiling was just a wet mess.

I don't know if you can see, but pretty much the whole ceiling is damp. But the water was only dripping through at the light fixture, and that one big bubble at the drywall tape.

He was able to verify that the water was clean, and that the stuff in the middle was still HOT. It had absorbed into the fancy new insulation we just had blown in a few months ago, and was holding heat. He removed all of the wet insulation (which we're still paying for, because 2 years was zero interest, so why not?), put two fans in our bathroom, and put 3 fans and a dehumidifier in D's room.

D's room is shut off now, and so D will have to find somewhere else in the house to crash. But the fact that it is closed off means that the rest of the house isn't too loud; it just sounds like when the dishwasher is running. The fans in the bathroom aren't any louder than a box fan, either.

The cats are kind of freaked out. They won't use the two litter boxes in the main bathroom because it's so close to D's loud mystery room, and because the dehumidifier drain hose runs through there and into one of the sinks. The litter boxes are surrounded. But hopefully they'll get over it and get used to it soon. We should have the fans until Monday or Tuesday, and they have to run constantly. He said "24/7," but he meant "24/4."

We filed a claim on our homeowners insurance (shout out there to my agent, Moses), but will probably end up closing it out, since it's likely we'll spend just under our deductible, anyway. I need to remember to call the adjuster tomorrow.

The water heater guy got here while the water damage mitigation guy was still here, and they both left around 4. When James got home, we were trying to decide what to do about food, and I couldn't help him decide anything. He kept talking about going somewhere, but I was so gross. I'd gone to sleep with Mal last night, deciding I needed sleep more than a shower, but then missing out all day when I couldn't catch one this morning.

James would suggest going out, I'd blanch at that, he'd say he'd go into town and get something, and I didn't like the idea of his leaving again, or of his having to drive more after his commute.

Finally, I realized I was being a giant poop and just put on some different clothes and a baseball hat, and we went to this place that has an outdoor playground for Mal... Only to find that they are permanently closed. So we ended up having dinner at Freebirds, and I felt tons better after getting some veggies and cheese into myself.

We went to Walmart after dinner and finally found Mal the only 3 color-change Hot Wheels they had left. They were only $3.50, which is anywhere from 1/5 to 1/10 the price I've found for the color-changing Cars cars he's wanted. When we go home, he played with those for a good hour, going back and forth between between the colors.

Now I'm ready to go to bed. I've done 3 loads of laundry and a dish-washing load since the water came back on. Mal's been asleep for almost 2 hours, which is an early bedtime for him. James is on the phone with his brother. D is in our room enjoying the big brown recliner. I'm tired. I'm glad James has 3 days off, and hopefully when he goes back to work on Tuesday, our house will be back to "normal." And our car will stay fixed. And things can go back to being normal.

Have a good weekend, friends!

Oh, and here's a tip: WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR HOUSE FOR A FEW DAYS, TURN OFF THE WATER AND DRAIN THE WATER HEATER. You might never have needed it, but you do NOT want to come home to a week's worth of what we had 12 hours' worth of today.

Wacom, We're Breaking Up With You; It's Not Us, It's You. You Suck.

My teenager is an artist. I used to post links to some stuff, but that's not acceptable anymore. You're just going to have to trust me. It's amazing.

D has been pursuing drawing as a passion for about five years. The drive to improve and create is incredible. After filling up dozens upon dozens of art pads (fortunately, we lived across the street from Asel Art Supply for a couple of years), D did a bunch of research and bought a Bamboo tablet. It's like a digital sketch pad, except the drawing shows up on your computer and not on the tablet. I'm sure that takes a little getting used to.

Once it was time to move it to the next level, D did more research and decided to get the Cintiq 13HD, which is like a monitor you can draw on.

Both of these products are from Wacom. Pretty much any digital artists we know use Wacom products; they're an industry leader. We would learn, however, that although they make products that, when they work, are fabulous... There are quirks (like power supplies overheating and bursting into flames, or chargers just stopping, things like that), and if you have a genuine problem... well, you're kind of screwed.

Here's an excerpt from my blog back in October 2016, when, ten months after we'd purchased the Cintiq, we noticed several "hot spots" on the screen. If you read this whole saga back then and want to skip it, scroll down to the asterisks and I'll get you back to where we are now.

From: support@wacom.com
Subject: RE: Your Case #CAS-355923-N8W0Y2 | WACOM
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2016 20:13:52
Dear Laura,
Thank you for contacting Wacom customer support, I am sorry to hear about your issue, I will do my best to assist you Please email me a picture of the tablet with a blue, red and yellow background Along with the proof of purchase, shipping information and your phone number,
Anthony
Customer Support Team

Well, shipping and the phone number were included in the information I'd sent through their webpage, and, in fact, was below his message in the body of the email he sent, which contained everything I'd already written.

But I did what they said.

Tue 8/16, 12:17 PM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, I was checking with our repair team and the repair would be out of warranty and the cost would be between $360 and $428 depending in your location, If you want to proceed please provide me with your billing information and your phone number.
Anthony
Customer Support Team

First of all, OMG, YOU HAVE MY PHONE NUMBER. Secondly, the tablet costs $800, so we're looking at half the original cost to repair it?! Thirdly, I am 100% sure my child did nothing to damage it (all the same, we bought a lap desk, just in case using it on an actual human lap could cause any damage, which seems would be more knee-shaped than fingertip-shaped, but whatever). But we agreed to that and I asked what the next step would be.

They emailed me back and asked for: shipping/billing info, verification of model and serial number, and my phone number. ALL OF WHICH THEY ALREADY HAD MULTIPLE TIMES.

But I returned the information. AGAIN. Even though we'd been emailing as quickly as texting, it took several days before I received an RMA number and instructions. I followed those, mailing the tablet Priority Mail with $800 insurance, so it cost more than thirty bucks to send to them.

I watched in horror as the USPS routed this package from Texas to Washington state via Hawaii. Not Wacom's fault. But I was nervous and wanted to make sure the package wasn't damaged or anything. I received shipping notice that it had been received at the "front desk," but didn't get anything from Wacom. I expected something, even automated, to the tune of: "We have received your tablet and will be in contact regarding blah blah blah."

Since I didn't get that, I emailed them.

Laura Gatannah
Fri 8/26, 9:59 PM
Due to the USPS routing the tablet through Hawaii first, you received it Thursday. Can you please let me know the status of the repair, or at least acknowledge that it was received? The only thing I've gotten is the USPS's notification that it was delivered. RMA Zxxxxx3. Thanks. Laura

Mon, Aug 29, 2016 8:39
Dear Laura, Thank you for your reply, Please provide me with the tracking number of the tablet you sent to us. Thank you,
Anthony
Customer Support Team

So I did.

8/29/2016 7:03 AM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, Checking the delivery date I need to remind you that the repair will take 10-15 days depending on our repair queue. I would recommend you to check again by the end of the week in case the tablet was repaired and released before that time frame you will be notified and you will receive an email with a tracking number. If you need any further assistance, please let me know Have a nice day!
Anthony
Customer Support Team

No duh. I know how long it's supposed to take. All I wanted was a "yep, we got it." But nope, they couldn't even do that.

On September 9, I'd still heard nothing, so I asked for a status update. I didn't think that was unreasonable, even though in the back of my mind, I felt like no one had even cracked open the package and it was just sitting in a corner somewhere.

Fri, Sep 9, 2016 4:07 PM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, It will take 10-15 days to get the tablet repaired and we are on our second week due to the previous holidays. You should be receiving an email with the shipping information within next week. If you need any further assistance, please let me know Have a nice day!
Anthony
Customer Support Team

In my brain, I throttled him. In real life, I waited until the fifteenth day, and:

Laura Gatannah
Thu 9/15, 7:29 AM
It's been 15 business days now, so I can expect the shipping info today, right? Thanks.

Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 8:19 AM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, Have you received any updates on this case? Did you receive your shipping information?
Anthony
Customer Support Team

I'm going to be honest with you here. I thought a LOT of cuss words. OF COURSE I HADN'T GOTTEN ANY UPDATES OR SHIPPING INFORMATION. Did he mean ever? Or in the hour since I'd messaged him? Instead, I opted for brevity and just said, "No. I have heard nothing since I sent it in, in terms repair status or shipping."

Later in the day, I sent this:
Since sending this in and learning that you have received it, I have not gotten any notification of anything at all. At the very minimum, it would have been professional to get an automatically-generated "we have received your tablet" email, but that did not happen. No updates, nothing unless I've contacted you, and you have given me no information other than that it's 10-15 days, which I understand. It's been 15 days now, and clearly I have NOT received any shipping information or I would not have contacted you. I believe that this tablet hasn't been seen by anyone, frankly, and I'm very disappointed by the lack of communication by way of receipt notifications and status updates. I need to know for sure where the tablet is, if the repairs have been made, and when I can expect it back. Thank you for getting this information to me as soon as possible. Laura

From: support@wacom.com
Subject: RE: Your Case
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, You will be emailed as soon as we ship it, from ups with the tracking number Right now we are on the 14th business day. We are a bit behind than normal due to the repair center move and holiday. but within our quote. If you need any further assistance, please let me know Have a nice day!
Anthony
Customer Support Team

Laura Gatannah
Sat 9/17, 1:33 PM
 ...And now you're out of the quote. I would like a detailed update, including the status of the repair and when we can expect the tablet's return. Anything less than this, and I will file a complaint with the BBB. I have read through past cases and it seems that this level of non-communication is pretty much par for the course for Wacom. My child draws for hours per day, and it's been over a month now since the tablet has been fully functional. Thank you for understanding and responding. Laura

From: support@wacom.com
Mon, Sep 19, 2016 9:53 AM
Subject: RE: Your Case
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, I apologize for the inconvenience, I wanted to let you know the package is being prepared now and it should ship today or tomorrow.
Anthony
Customer Support Team

Well, the joke was on him, and you want to know why?

Because we'd already received a tablet before we got this email. Problem was, it wasn't a Cintiq13HD. It was a Companion. Now, understand, the Companion is a "nicer" tablet, with more features. It runs Windows and costs about 3 times what D's tablet cost. But it's not the same. It's not what D wanted, having researched and picked a tablet; they sent us something that wasn't what we sent them.

The Companion has a processor, so it heats up when in use, like a computer. That was a negative. Plus, the first generation Companion has a known power supply issue, in that sometimes it just permanently stopped charging, resulting in the same kind of run-around we had with people sending their units in for refurbishment and having these long, drawn-out issues. Also, the power supply was known to overhead. I think they fixed that in the second generation, but, again... not what the customer chose.

I asked for an explanation of what happened.

Mon, Sep 19, 2016, 3:21 PM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, I apologize for the inconvenience, Could you send me a picture of the tablet you received and the RMA number please?
Anthony
Customer Support Team

No. No, I can't. I responded that the RMA was in the body of the email and we got a Companion. I was done doing busy work so they could put off doing stuff while they waited for me to respond.

Laura Gatannah
Tue 9/20, 3:26 PM
Since it has been 24 hours since our last communication and you have offered no explanation or remedy, I'm going to tell you what needs to happen to make this right. 1) You will send us a fully-functional 13HD. This can be a new unit or refurbished, as long as it looks new and is in perfect working order. 2) You will send me a prepaid shipping label so that I can return the Companion you sent me. My child researched long and hard before purchasing the 13HD, and that's the model selected. We do not want a Companion. I will not send the Companion in until I receive the 13HD. This all needs to be handled and I need shipping confirmation no later than 9/21/16 by 5:00 PM CDT or I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Please do not respond with an apology or request for more information from me. The ball is in YOUR court, and you need to make this right.
Laura

I gave them two days. Then I filed a report. Within four hours, a guy from their main HQ in Portland was on the phone with me. He apologized profusely, and thanked me for filing the report because he said otherwise, he'd not have known what was going on. He reminded me that the tablet we had was considerably more expensive than the one we sent in, and I assured him that mattered not one iota to my child. He said he'd send me an RMA for the Companion, and they'd send me the Cintiq as soon as they received it.

I explained to him that I had trust issues with them, and I intended to hold the Companion until I received a functional Cintiq. He said he understood, thanked me for not yelling at him, and released the tablet for shipping.

The good news is that we didn't have to pay the $400ish to get it fixed/get a refurbished one. Also, D had only sent in the tablet, but they sent us a full set, which includes a pen worth about $100. So we were $40 ahead, including the shipping we paid, except for the frustration.

********************************
NEW STUFF FOLLOWS!
********************************

Okay, well... Back in April (yeah, two months ago), the 3-in-1 cable, which connects both the USB to the computer and the HDMI to the monitor, stopped working. This, of course, means that the tablet is unusable. At the time, the cable was out of stock on the site, so we looked around. The only place I could find it was eBay, and the reviews indicated that this isn't a Wacom product, and that the tablet doesn't recognize the HDMI. So no go. Plus, it was $100 instead of $35.

After a week or so, I emailed the customer service and was told that they were doing their best to get it back in stock. When I finally asked for an estimated time, they told me they didn't know for sure, so I contacted the guy from the BBB incident above. He told me that they were trying to get them back in stock by June.

TWO MONTHS! That is two months that an $800 piece of hardware is unusable. HOW CAN A TECH COMPANY GET AWAY WITH THIS?! It'd be like Apple not having their dang $80 chargers, and not only that, you can't even get a cruddy $25 knock-off to tide you over for a few weeks.

We waited until June, and the stock status didn't change. I emailed the guy again, and he told me he was being informed it'd be June 15-20. I'd actually emailed their general customer service many times from the webpage, just to bug them because they're getting on my nerves. I got an email from them yesterday, and it said, "Later this month or in July."

Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope.

D and I had actually talked about taking money out of the child support savings fund to purchase another freaking tablet, just to get that dang cord. We were going to wait until June 20 to make a decision, and then after I got that email yesterday with the "or in July," I started researching more.

I hadn't heard of the Artisul D13 before, but after looking at the reviews, everyone seems to consider it comparable to, and the first tablet to be so, Wacom's Cintiq 13HD. Also, it starts at $200 cheaper... but it's on sale $150 off right now. So guess what? I bought one. It should be here within the week.

We're done with Wacom.

I get that tech items are going to have periodic issues, but I feel like Wacom's been the industry standard for so long, they're either victims of their own popularity and can't keep up, or they just don't give a flying crap.

So I'm excited to get this thing and not have to check that 3-in-1 cable status page every day.

And if you're considering purchasing an art tablet, seriously, don't just read the reviews of the products. Really look at the customer service aspect of it. I would never recommend anything from Wacom to anyone. Thumbs down. No, thanks.

If you think the "new" Beauty is any kind of revolution from the canon, you weren't paying attention

We saw "Beauty and the Beast" last night. I'd seen the headline to this earlier in the day, but didn't read it until my husband mentioned it last night.

Oh my goodness, what the heck?? Why do people want to be mad?

First of all, I'm "just" a domestic woman. I don't have a job. I am a dreamer. I haven't done anything remarkable. And I feel like a feminist, anyway. This movie didn't make me ashamed for who I am. Oh, and I use my words, as the article mentions, but I don't always use "soft" "kind" "vulnerable" words, nor do I spend an inordinate amount of time sobbing into my sheets. Still consider myself pretty much full on lady girl type person.

Second of all, I do not think that Emma Watson is an amazing actor as much as I think she's a capable enough actor, and an amazing person. So some of the "vulnerability" or "feelings" they might miss from the cartoon might be a function of her just not having the range to express those things.

But, anyway, the gist of the article is that "Emma Watson" (meaning, collectively, this movie and all involved in developing the character of Belle) has ruined Belle, and Olivia Friedman is going to tell you why.

So here are some excerpts from the article, and the issues I have with her hypothesis:

"To that end, Belle does not follow the path of the original Disney movie." How? The exact same things happen. There's not a real departure.

"She is thoughtful, sweet-natured and touchingly vulnerable." Really?

"In the original film, Belle wants more than her provincial life, but she is a dreamer." Yeah, true. Have you listened to the words of the opening song, "This Provincial Life"? Belle is haughty and elitist. Even in the original film, she talks (sings) about how she has "more" than those tedious province-dwellers have in store. She's destined for more. She sees herself as not like them, even as she seems to blanche at being seen as strange. She herself feels she's "other," and, one gets the impression, somehow better than they are, bless 'em.

"In contrast, the Belle of 2017 does not vow. When the Beast won’t come into the light, she swings a candlestick at him, catching him in its glow so as to reveal him against his will. Similarly, she forces her father from his prison, locking herself into his cage after whispering into his ear that she is not afraid and that she will find a way to escape. When Lumiere unlocks her cell door, she hits him with her dungeon stool. As soon as she is in her room, rather than sobbing on her bed, as the Belle of the original film does, she starts tying sheets and ribbons together in an effort to escape from the castle. At first, she has only disdain and hatred for the beast, spitting defiant words at him through her locked bedroom door and standing up to him rather than retreating into herself."

Ugh. Where to start with that one. So what, she wants to see her captor? So what, she knows her father would never let her trade him places? She does what she does out of FEELINGS (which they go on to pontificate she does not have and this is what makes her an offensive uber-feminist butch-y ass-kicker instead of "vulnerable") for her father, knowing him and that he, too, would sacrifice himself for her.

Also, she spat defiant words at him through her locked bedroom door in the cartoon, too. Here's a clip that's been over-dubbed by a fan, but Disney is super protective of their products and it's not easily/legally available online in its original iteration. But anyway, here she refuses him multiple times. She doesn't say, "I'll never have dinner with you," but she says "I'm not hungry," a tense, forced, "No, thanks," and then finally, "NO!" So she doesn't just "retreat into herself." She refuses. Strongly.





"The message is that the original Belle is not sufficiently heroic. She reads Jack and the Beanstalk, loving magical tales, instead of being familiar with Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet. She blows dandelion spores into the wind. She uses words, not violence, to save her father."

OH MY GOSH. STOP. "She blows dandelion spores"??? That's so important to the feminine ideal, what brutes they were to cut that! And, honest to God, I don't see the difference in Jack and the Beanstalk and Romeo and Juliet. Even Beast kind of mocks her for loving romances. Sounds fairly dreamy to me.

And who says the message is that the original Belle wasn't sufficiently heroic? Any time a movie is remade, there will be some additions and changes. I personally liked the tying-fabric-together scene, because... well, she's not using VIOLENCE or "stereotypical masculine" behavior; she's not using words, but she's using her freaking brain. So that makes it offensive? To whom??

The article talks a lot about how the original Belle "sobs" onto her bed, and, again, feels all the sad lady feels... but I'm guessing the person who wrote this never saw the Broadway musical? Because if they're mad she's so defiant to the Beast, then they can't have heard the TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD lyrics, "Yes, I've made the choice: for Papa I will stay, but I don't deserve to lose my freedom in this way, you monster. If you think that what you've done is right, well then you're a fool; think again... Build higher walls around me; change every lock and key. Nothing lasts; nothing holds all of me." (And then I feel all the sad lady feels.)

The article talks a lot about how Belle has to be "fearless." "To be a 21st century heroine means that it is not enough to be afraid and still choose to be brave — no, one must be fearless." When her father encourages this of her, I don't think he's saying, "Don't be scared" like, "Don't be a little baby scaredy cat." I think he means, "You might be scared, but do it, anyway, because you're awesome." I think it's semantics and lots of splitting hairs to argue that bravery in the face of danger and being fearless are hugely different. If someone truly has no fear, they're probably psychotic.

"And it is that vulnerability that the 21st century heroine version of Belle — Emma Watson’s Belle — does away with. To be a 21st century heroine, we are taught, means to stand up for oneself, always choosing to be active rather than reflective, to be defiant rather than vulnerable, privileging logic over emotion."

I think that might be the second most offensive part of the article. I don't think we're "taught" this, but I also don't think there's anything wrong with it. If I were locked in a castle by a scary monster, I might cry a little bit at first, but I'd also be spinning my wheels, trying to figure something out. And women SHOULD stand up for themselves in times of oppression, if they can. Everyone should. If I am unjustly arrested and jailed, should I take the time to parse it out in my thoughtful mind wanderings, blowing dandelions (or whatever they have in jail), or is my time better served calling a lawyer and figuring out what to do about the injustice?

"And in the iconic scene after the dance where the Beast lets her go, we loved the fact that she told him she was happy with him but wished to see her father again because she missed him so much. This allows the Beast to do the right thing on his own. This, as opposed to the 2017 version where, when asked if she is happy, Belle prompts the Beast, asking, “Can anybody be happy if they aren’t free?”"

HOW CAN YOU LEVY THIS AS A CRITICISM?? I have nothing to add to that.

"Yes, she wanted more than her provincial life, but living happily with a man she loved, respected and who understood her was sufficient." I don't see how that's any different in this movie.

"She was an idealist, someone lost in books and fairytales — not an inventor, or someone logically sorting through how to break the curse, or consistently fearless. She valued the Beast’s being gentle and kind because that’s who she was."

I'm going to go out on a limb and say she valued the Beast's being gentle and kind because people don't like it when others are mean to them. I can't believe I'm having to point that out.

And I can't believe a woman wrote this article. "Someone lost in books and fairytales..." Okay? So, how is that better than being logical? I think those are moral-neutral things to be. Why are we having this conversation?

"The Belle of 2017, with her strong, defiant, stoic attitude — choosing anger over sadness — sets us back. It says that a woman of today is not impressive if she does not do something, such as become an inventor, or if she feels too much — crying rather than creating escape routes. It takes much of the Boy Code that makes our culture of masculinity so toxic and applies it to women, arguing that heroism is linked to toughness and stoicism."

This is the most offensive paragraph, along with the bit later about how Belle acts in "stereotypically masculine" ways.

I don't think the movie said any of these things, first of all. But secondly, DID YOU WATCH THE FIRST MOVIE?! Belle wasn't just a doe-eyed dingdong crying and floating through the story.

After Gaston's marriage proposal, she said (sang): "He asked me to marry him. Me, the wife of that boorish, brainless..."

That sounds pretty angry and not really "kind."

Anyway, I thought the movie was beautiful and, armed with reasonable expectations, I enjoyed it. Of course, it's the first movie I've seen in a theater in 2 years, so that was something.

Conservative corners are mad about the "big gay storyline" (which wasn't, actually; even though LaFou did have every LOL line in the film); LGBT corners aren't thrilled that the first portrayal of an openly gay character in a Disney film is someone literally named "fool;" and now this. Man, they're just supposed to be fun flights of fancy, and I enjoyed mine.

As a bonus, this is my favorite song from the Broadway show. That was one slight disappointment I had: they added some mini songs to string together the new scenes, but I would have loved to see some of the music from the play in the new movie. They did hint at "Home" a couple of times when Belle was in her room.

But overall, a pretty non-controversial, sentimental retelling of a Disney classic. Can I get an "amen"?

How Not to Teach a Kid ANYTHING

James said the other day that a younger version of him would have been horrified that any kid of his would ever associate himself with Mr. Rogers. However, Mal's recent obsession with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is kind of sweet. It's a nice show with really repetitive themes that are nice tools to have in our pockets when needed: "When you can't get something you like, stomp three times *stomp stomp stomp* to make yourself feel better." Sung, of course.

But. There is a segment from the inagural show that makes me vibrate with frustration. Do I need to get a life? Maybe. But, oh my goodness, this is insane.

By the way, yes, we've watched all six seasons, many episodes multiple times, since I realized it's on Amazon. It saved my life because we were watching it on PBS Kids, where there are only 4 or 5 episodes. If we've repeated already given that we have 3 dozen or so to choose from, you can imagine how awful it was having only 5.

Now when Mal says, "Tiger?" we're happy to oblige.

But this segment.

A kid goes to the bakery to "help" bake a cake. It's cute. All of the "neighbor" kids wear a red trolley sweater for their segments. There's one where this boy goes to the bathroom and washes his hands, and he's wearing chipped black fingernail polish. Edgy!

This kid isn't edgy. He's just adorable. But, God bless him, he's about to be really frustrated.

After the baker shows him all of the ingredients that he's going to use to make a cake, she tells him the order and he goes to make the first addition.

I guess she's trying to guide him so he doesn't spill any sugar, but her hands are smashing his hands against the glass bowl.

Next, they need to add eggs to the sugar.

"Here. 'You' crack the egg."

Why is she not just doing this herself?

Okay, I kind of get not wanting egg shells in the mixture (my kid throws the shells in and I just fish them out, but I'm pretty laid back, apparently), but why can't he dump the eggs into the sugar, lady?!

Next, they combine the dry ingredients. He would probably just muck that up, too, so good thing this lady is all up in it, patting the cocoa out. He'd probably try to blow it out using his nose or something. Stupid kids.

THIS POOR CHILD CANNOT EVEN WATCH THE MIXER WITHOUT HER HAVING HER PAWS ALL OVER HIM.

But, seriously, I or my older child would seriously have lost it by now and either run out crying or yelled or punched a cake-makin' wench.

Next, "he" gets to spread the cake batter out in the pan. He's like barely touching it because she's all business, speeding it along.

Why is he even here?!

Now it's time for the frosting. Okay, even if she was worried about the cake not turning out, at least icing, though messy, can't ruin a cake. Surely she's going to let him ice it, right?

Well, he gets his own offset spatula, but once again, she's icing the crap out of that cake.

He eventually gives up and starts eyeing the decorations.

"She doesn't even notice I stopped helping. She doesn't need me for this. I am redundant. I question all of my life choices."

The good news is that her hands don't show up in the final decorating bit AT ALL. However, look at this spread.

Now, if a little kid had been given free reign of the cake, is this the kind of restraint you think he would have shown?

Um. No. Every piece of candy would have ended up smashed onto that cake. Someone was "guiding" him even if she learned to keep her grown-up phalanges out of the shot.

Now, the only saving grace is this part. This is where the kid gets his due.

Bless him.

Actually, she cuts the cake and puts it on a plate. And in my mind, this is his saying, "Screw you. I eat how I want to eat."

Here's something I had to teach myself with D when she was little (and we made a three-day-long-project gingerbread train): When you cook with kids, it's messy. It takes forever. And it won't turn out Pinterest-worthy, especially not at first. But the point isn't to make a beautiful thing that you can send to some slick magazine. The point is to connect, to bond, and to eat yummy things and laugh.

This kid was smiling when he walked in and didn't crack a grin again until he got to eat cake. So this is how you teach kids not to mess with grown-up stuff and just to wait until we handle it for them.

I'd love to see them redo this bit, letting the kid take control. In fact, it would go a lot better with the actual episode if they did. This way, it seriously raises my blood pressure.

"You have to take care of yourself first"

I get that moms need a break now and then. I mean, I understand it AND I feel it. The bathroom is not a place of solace, so breaks usually involve getting out of the house (because when you have a
"still-nurse-to-sleep"er, even nap and bed times aren't "get out of jail free" cards). Today, I ran to the grocery store while James played with Mal. It wasn't exactly the spa or a night out with the ladies, but it was a lot easier than trying to get the stuff I needed to get while also trying to make sure Mal doesn't stand in the cart, or doesn't wander off in the .78 seconds it takes me to decide between the colby jack cheese or the mozzarella, or doesn't put anything in his mouth, or doesn't meander into the path of an oncoming cart, or doesn't try to commandeer a cash register.

Before that, though, Mal and I had gotten out to meet with a group of over-40 moms, exactly one of whom (besides myself) showed up. Her little was in school, so it was just us. And Mal. We got to talk, but it feels weird being the one with the kid, and she might have felt weird being the one without the kid at a park where there were a lot of parents and kids.

Anyway, while we chatted, she mentioned that it'd be neat to do a non-play-date get-together, and this is where I start drifting off mentally to some other place, because, frankly, the idea of organizing a bunch of people to meet at a place where you're going to eat or hang out over wine or whatever... That thought is EXHAUSTING to me.

I have limited "free" time. I don't have a babysitter. Mal will only stay with select family members, and I try not to overuse that. And if I'm calling in any favors, honestly, just going somewhere with my husband or my sister and hanging out and talking in actual full sentences is preferable to me at this stage in my life than trying to get to know other people.

Plus, I don't think this is just in Austin, but I think it's maybe worse in Austin than some other places, there's this whole, "We should TOTALLY do something!" excitement that happens in the early planning stages of get-togethers, that, by the end, turns out to be only 1 or 2 people actually following through.

Or no one. That happened about a year ago, when I tried to host this same group in my home, after we'd met at Central Market and I hadn't really gotten to chat with anyone because my then-not-quite-1-year-old would not play on the playground like all of the other kids did. He ran all over the patio, and kept going inside. Finally, I just gave up and went shopping. 

Wasn't he a bald little dude?

Thus, we decided to have it at my house the next time. Lots of people were excited, but in the end, I think only 1 said for sure she'd be there. And then she wasn't. She never contacted me, just flaked. About half an hour after it was supposed to start, Mal and I went somewhere else. I was just kind of waiting for someone to message me with, "I'm here, but you're not answering your door." No one did. Nothing. Like ever. No one followed up.

So now, a year later, the group tries to get together again, and it's just the two of us. She is a lovely person. She thinks we should meet without the kids since "especially during the school year, all of the kids are in school." Well, mine's not. And he probably won't ever be. And the truth is that I don't want to spend my precious "no kid" time just hanging out with random other older moms. Maybe if we got to know each other well enough that we became friends. But we're not. We're barely socially thoughtful of each other, at this point. And it's been two years since I've been in this very loose group.

Maybe some day. Maybe when it's easier. For now, I think we're doing okay the way we're doing it.

Time Travel Day, Hormonal Parent Version

Hey, I forgot to tell you about something I saw yesterday. For real. In a person's house. This is a button on a real microwave. Maybe you have one, but I'd never seen this before.

"Is it done?" "Nope." "How much longer?" "I don't know. I just need to cook it a bit more." Beep.

Okay, so we "fell back" in the wee hours of this morning. It meant nothing, of course, to my younger child, who was up at 6:10 AM. I'm just glad it wasn't earlier. Last week, he was waking up that early on Daylight Saving Time, so I was scared today would be a 5 AM start. Grateful we dodged that bullet.

We had some breakfast and I was trying to make sure James got to sleep in, so we took off pretty early. We usually go to the later church service, but we were too early even for early service, so I stopped by the office to get something out of the mail hold, and Mal played in the on-demand yoga room. (Yeah, I know. Fancy.)

Then we went to early church, and I got to look through the left-overs from the holiday bazaar I missed yesterday becasue we were out having adventures. We made it through about 2/3 of the service before Mal was walking out the door (literally), so we got to the gym just as it was opening.

By the way, until you've lived with this kid for, oh, two years or so, let's not talk to me about "What do you mean, he just left church? You make him stay. You're the parent." Tell you what, YOU make him stay, and I'll be super grateful.

Anyhoo, he played at the gym for an hour and a half, and I had to keep forcing him to take breaks because he was crazy tired, wearing himself out, and having an absolute ball, but I was afraid he was going to hurt himself.

When we got home, I was tired and I had some chores I needed to get done (vacuuming up, cleaning out the litter boxes, and getting the trash ready for pick-up). Also, I was exhausted. So I did what any sane person would do and pulled out of the closet the four legs and giant, heavy, solid wood top of the amazing Crate and Barrell dining room table someone gave us several months ago. Hyper toddler and a chance of rain? Seemed like a perfect time to spray-paint stuff out on the patio, right?

My sweet husband jumped right in, trading spray-painting with kid-wrangling, and we got two coats on that puppy, then brought it in, put the legs on, and I got one coat of the chalkboard paint put on the top of it. It's supposed to dry for 4 hours before I put a second (and final) coat of the chalkboard paint, but I just read that that time is based on 50% humidity, and it's 95% humidity here now, so I have to wait until tomorrow. When James isn't here.

Oh, and we have a giant dining room table (leaf inserted, because we have to paint the whole thing, of course) in our entry way. Like, we have to crawl under it to get out of the apartment. I'll probably move it into the dining area (we don't use as a dining area) when I'm confident it's dry, after moving Mal's slide out onto the patio with the Sit-and-Spin, the sand box, and the water table.

Ugh.

But did I mention that the table was free?

Okay, so here's the deal. I need some inspiration or something. I've been doing this "monitoring caloric intake" since my birthday week, or just over 2 months. I know I've lost weight because my clothes fit better and some other personal stuff I'm not telling you. I don't have a scale. I don't care about that.

What I'm finding, though, is that I'm bored with counting the calories, and I'm eating very weird because of it. Like I typically have all of my calories taken by about 4 PM (which was 3 PM today). It's stupid. Once I can't have any more food, I can tell myself, "Sorry, you're done," and not eat. Mostly. But when I think, "I only have 350 calories left? But I'm hungry and that's not a lot of food! What can I eat? Oh. I'll eat this thing. Ugh. I'm just going to eat it now and get it over with so I can stop thinking about it."

That sounds ridiculous, but it's what I'm doing. I hate this whole thing, but I don't want to lose the progress I've made, and I wouldn't mind losing a bit more. But I am slowly eating more because I feel like I have to or I'm just grumpy and blehh. And I don't like how I'm obsessing over when I can eat next, and what I can fit in. I hate this being an on and off companion in my life, big time.

Finally, here's another thing. Most of today's mania was brought on by hormones. I forgot to mention that I did vacuum, including putting on the pet attachment and going after a bunch of chairs. And the cat condo. Plus the trash, litter box, sweeping, etc. Also my lethargy about and resentment of the calorie-counting. I really hope I'm about to go through menopause because this is getting exhausting. I have this thing now where I kind of start my "girl time" three days before I *really* start it, but that results in ten days of... dealing with this garbage. And this time, it's like I did the "get ready" start, then the real thing, then it tapered off, and now today it's a second real start, so who knows how long it will last (today makes it a week so far). Ugh.

Um. Hope you all had a great Sunday.

Tales of Customer UnService

Dispense with introduction, start with the easiest:

ME: (via "contact" link) There isn't anywhere overt to sign in with the app. Where is the login?

THEM: Thank you for contacting us! For information on how to join, please visit http://xxxxx. I’d be happy to send you a one-month no-obligation free trial. If you’re interested, please let me know if you’ll be using it at home or in a classroom, so I can send the correct level to try.

ME: We have joined. I can't figure out how to log into the app on our phone.

THEM: You can download the Free app through the App Store. There's a link on our website. Do you have an Android or Apple tablet? I can send you a direct link to your app store.

ME: I have the app! I do not see where to log in, so we cannot access the whole thing.

THEM: At the top of the main app page (which is green) you should see the "Authorize Device" option. If you do not see that, please send me a screenshot of your app homepage so I can help point you in the right direction.

...And there was a name and phone number with that one. FINALLY! Why couldn't we have just started there?!

That was an easy one. Here are two more.

I love Lenny & Larry's. LOVE their stuff. So as I was ordering on their website, I noticed you can sign up as an ambassador and get 10% when people order from your page. "Why not?" I thought. I wanted to make sure everything was as good as the stuff I'd tried first, though, so I ordered a bit of everything and when it came time to check out, clicked on the "Paypal" link. It ended up clearing out my cart and going back to the home page. When I tried a second time, my new customer discount code wouldn't work as it said it had already been used.

I emailed them and received this:
Thu 9/29, 11:03 AM
Hi Laura, Welcome to the team! Sorry you’re having trouble completing your order. Please click on this link to complete your payment: https://www.lennylarry.com/account/orderxxxxx. It should take you to your My Account page where you can view your order and complete payment. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks.

I tried that, and the same thing happened. I let them know.

Thu 9/29, 11:21 AM
Hi Laura, We’re looking into this issue right now with our technical team. Will get back to you asap. Thanks for your patience!! Thanks, xxxxx Making the world a better place, one cookie at a time.

Then:

Thu 9/29, 1:17 PM
Hi Laura, Can you confirm that this is what you would like to order: ORDER AND TOTAL. Please confirm and we can try to process this a different way for you. Best, Lenny & Larry’s Team

THEN:

Thu 9/29, 4:41 PM Hi Laura, The issue had to do with not having a Phone Number listed in your account that PayPal needs for verification. Please try to complete your payment once again and you will be directed to input your phone number. Please let us know if you have any other issues. J Thanks, xxxxx Making the world a better place, one cookie at a time.

So I did. Guess what? This time, it didn't even give me an option to pay, only to cancel my order. So I took a screenshot and sent it to them.

Fri 9/30, 2:36 PM Hi Laura, We’ve sent a PayPal request for the total of $xx. Upon payment, we will manually process your order for you to get you your goodies! Thanks, xxxxx Making the world a better place, one cookie at a time.

Well, okay, great. I paid that day.

Then on October 10, I started wondering where my stuff was. I couldn't find a way to contact them that would include the order number except though filing a Paypal dispute. I did and apologized, but asked if they knew the status of my order.

Tue 10/11, 2:37 PM Hi Laura, Sorry for any confusion. We didn’t receive any notice from PayPal that you submitted payment until this morning. We have put in your order (#49242) and you should receive a confirmation email shortly. Enjoy, xxxxx Making the world a better place, one cookie at a time.

OH. MY. GOSH. I was leaving for Dallas two days later, so told her that unless she could have the product to me the next day, I didn't want it shipped until we got back. I told her I'd planned to take it on our road trip and was pretty disappointed, plus there was no way I was going to be able to recommend people buy off of their website given my experience.

But guess what?

Tue 10/11, 4:39 PM Shipment Notification Hello Laura Gatannah, Good news! Your order has been shipped!

Grrr.

Well. We went on vacation and got back and there was nothing from them anywhere (mailbox, office Parcel Pending wall, or at our apartment itself). I looked online and they'd dropped it on our porch the Friday we were gone, so someone had stolen it before we got back on Monday. This is super shady, because we don't have a next-door neighbor, so no one has any business being up on our landing except to be a jerk.

I informed them of this, and they refunded my money, which was pretty stand-up of them. So I guess I'll never try the muffins, as I've never seen them in stores. My closest H-E-B only sells the cookies, but another one fairly nearby also sells the brownies.

I'll tell you this: This stuff is awesome, vegan, gluten free, and will keep you full a long time! But even if this whole thing hadn't happened, I still wouldn't ask you to buy through my site, because the cookies are over $2 a piece online, and they're only $1.50 at H-E-B. I wouldn't buy them online, and you shouldn't, either.

Final one, and the most potentially expensive and frustrating!

My daughter has the Cintiq13HD drawing tablet from Wacom. Pretty much any digital artists we know use Wacom products; they're an industry leader. We'd only had her Cintiq since October 15, 2015, when, on August 11, I emailed Wacom to tell them that there were several pencil-eraser-sized "hot spots" on the screen, and the corner was fading a bit.

From: support@wacom.com
Subject: RE: Your Case #CAS-355923-N8W0Y2 | WACOM
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2016 20:13:52
Dear Laura,
Thank you for contacting Wacom customer support, I am sorry to hear about your issue, I will do my best to assist you Please email me a picture of the tablet with a blue, red and yellow background Along with the proof of purchase, shipping information and your phone number,
Anthony
Customer Support Team

Well, shipping and the phone number were included in the information I'd sent through their webpage, and, in fact, was below his message in the body of the email he sent, which contained everything I'd already written.

But I did what they said.

Tue 8/16, 12:17 PM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, I was checking with our repair team and the repair would be out of warranty and the cost would be between $360 and $428 depending in your location, If you want to proceed please provide me with your billing information and your phone number.
Anthony
Customer Support Team

First of all, OMG, YOU HAVE MY PHONE NUMBER. Secondly, the tablet costs $800, so we're looking at half the original cost to repair it?! Thirdly, I am 100% sure my daughter did nothing to damage it (all the same, we bought a lap desk, just in case her using it on her lap could cause any damage, which seems would be more knee-shaped than fingertip-shaped, but whatever). But she needs it for her life, so we agreed to that and I asked what the next step would be.

They emailed me back and asked for: shipping/billing info, verification of model and serial number, and my phone number. ALL OF WHICH THEY ALREADY HAD MULTIPLE TIMES.

But I returned the information. AGAIN. Even though we'd been emailing as quickly as texting, it took several days before I received an RMA number and instructions. I followed those, mailing the tablet Priority Mail with $800 insurance, so it cost more than thirty bucks to send to them.

I watched in horror as the USPS routed this package from Texas to Washington state via Hawaii. Not Wacom's fault. But I was nervous and wanted to make sure the package wasn't damaged or anything. I received shipping notice that it had been received at the "front desk," but didn't get anything from Wacom. I expected something, even automated, to the tune of: "We have received your tablet and will be in contact regarding blah blah blah."

Since I didn't get that, I emailed them.

Laura Gatannah
Fri 8/26, 9:59 PM
Due to the USPS routing the tablet through Hawaii first, you received it Thursday. Can you please let me know the status of the repair, or at least acknowledge that it was received? The only thing I've gotten is the USPS's notification that it was delivered. RMA Zxxxxx3. Thanks. Laura

Mon, Aug 29, 2016 8:39
Dear Laura, Thank you for your reply, Please provide me with the tracking number of the tablet you sent to us. Thank you,
Anthony
Customer Support Team

So I did.

8/29/2016 7:03 AM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, Checking the delivery date I need to remind you that the repair will take 10-15 days depending on our repair queue. I would recommend you to check again by the end of the week in case the tablet was repaired and released before that time frame you will be notified and you will receive an email with a tracking number. If you need any further assistance, please let me know Have a nice day!
Anthony
Customer Support Team

No duh. I know how long it's supposed to take. All I wanted was a "yep, we got it." But nope, they couldn't even do that.

On September 9, I'd still heard nothing, so I asked for a status update. I didn't think that was unreasonable, even though in the back of my mind, I felt like no one had even cracked open the package and it was just sitting in a corner somewhere.

Fri, Sep 9, 2016 4:07 PM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, It will take 10-15 days to get the tablet repaired and we are on our second week due to the previous holidays. You should be receiving an email with the shipping information within next week. If you need any further assistance, please let me know Have a nice day!
Anthony
Customer Support Team

In my brain, I throttled him. In real life, I waited until the fifteenth day, and:

Laura Gatannah
Thu 9/15, 7:29 AM
It's been 15 business days now, so I can expect the shipping info today, right? Thanks.

Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 8:19 AM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, Have you received any updates on this case? Did you receive your shipping information?
Anthony
Customer Support Team

I'm going to be honest with you here. I thought a LOT of cuss words. OF COURSE I HADN'T GOTTEN ANY UPDATES OR SHIPPING INFORMATION. Did he mean ever? Or in the hour since I'd messaged him? Instead, I opted for brevity and just said, "No. I have heard nothing since I sent it in, in terms repair status or shipping."

Later in the day, I sent this:
Since sending this in and learning that you have received it, I have not gotten any notification of anything at all. At the very minimum, it would have been professional to get an automatically-generated "we have received your tablet" email, but that did not happen. No updates, nothing unless I've contacted you, and you have given me no information other than that it's 10-15 days, which I understand. It's been 15 days now, and clearly I have NOT received any shipping information or I would not have contacted you. I believe that my daughter's tablet hasn't been seen by anyone, frankly, and I'm very disappointed by the lack of communication by way of receipt notifications and status updates. I need to know for sure where her tablet is, if the repairs have been made, and when I can expect it back. Thank you for getting this information to me as soon as possible. Laura

From: support@wacom.com
Subject: RE: Your Case
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, You will be emailed as soon as we ship it, from ups with the tracking number Right now we are on the 14th business day. We are a bit behind than normal due to the repair center move and holiday. but within our quote. If you need any further assistance, please let me know Have a nice day!
Anthony
Customer Support Team

Laura Gatannah
Sat 9/17, 1:33 PM
 ...And now you're out of the quote. I would like a detailed update, including the status of the repair and when we can expect the tablet's return. Anything less than this, and I will file a complaint with the BBB. I have read through past cases and it seems that this level of non-communication is pretty much par for the course for Wacom. My daughter draws for hours per day, and it's been over a month now that she has been unable to use her tablet fully. Thank you for understanding and responding. Laura

From: support@wacom.com
Mon, Sep 19, 2016 9:53 AM
Subject: RE: Your Case
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, I apologize for the inconvenience, I wanted to let you know the package is being prepared now and it should ship today or tomorrow.
Anthony
Customer Support Team

Well, the joke was on him, and you want to know why?

Because we'd already received a tablet before we got this email. Problem was, it wasn't a Cintiq13HD. It was a Companion. Now, understand, the Companion is a "nicer" tablet, with more features. It runs Windows and costs about 3 times what D's tablet cost. But it's not hers. It's not what she wanted. She researched and picked the tablet she wanted, and they sent us something that wasn't what we sent them.

The Companion has a processor, so it heats up when in use, like a computer. That did not appeal to her. Plus, the first generaion Companion has a known power supply issue, in that sometimes it just permanently stopped charging, resulting in the same kind of run-around we had with people sending their units in for refurbishment and having these long, drawn-out issues. Also, the power supply was known to overhead. I think they fixed that in the second generation, but, again... not what the customer chose.

I asked for an explanation of what happened.

Mon, Sep 19, 2016, 3:21 PM
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your reply, I apologize for the inconvenience, Could you send me a picture of the tablet you received and the RMA number please?
Anthony
Customer Support Team

No. No, I can't. I responded that the RMA was in the body of the email and she got a Companion. I was done doing busy work so they could put off doing stuff while they waited for me to respond.

Laura Gatannah
Tue 9/20, 3:26 PM
Since it has been 24 hours since our last communication and you have offered no explanation or remedy, I'm going to tell you what needs to happen to make this right. 1) You will send us a fully-functional 13HD. This can be a new unit or refurbished, as long as it looks new and is in perfect working order. 2) You will send me a pre-paid shipping label so that I can return the Companion you sent me. My daughter researched long and hard before purchasing the 13HD, and that's the model she wants. She does not want a Companion. I will not send the Companion in until I receive the 13HD. This all needs to be handled and I need shipping confirmation no later than 9/21/16 by 5:00 PM CDT or I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Please do not respond with an apology or request for more information from me. The ball is in YOUR court, and you need to make this right.
Laura

I gave them two days. Then I filed a report. Within four hours, a guy from their main HQ in Portland was on the phone with me. He apologized profusely, and thanked me for filing the report because he said otherwise, he'd not have known what was going on. He reminded me that the tablet we had was considerably more expensive than the one we sent in, and I assured him that mattered not one iota to my child. He said he'd send me an RMA for the Companion, and they'd send me the Cintiq as soon as they received it.

I explained to him that I had trust issues with them, and I intended to hold the Companion until I received a functional Cintiq. He said he understood, thanked me for not yelling at him, and released the tablet for shipping.

The good news is that we didn't have to pay the $400ish to get it fixed/get a refurbished one. Also, D had only sent in her tablet, but they sent us a full set, which includes a pen worth about $100. So we were $40 ahead, including the shipping we paid, except for the frustration.

We really hope this tablet works forever.

A Thing I Thought

For my own mental health and yours, I've been trying to avoid all political stuff on social media. I have read so many articles that I've really loved, and haven't shared any of them, because I don't define my life by politics, and I don't want to cause stress between friends. So hopefully you'll see this more as I mean it, which is a couple of comments on the human condition.

I'm not endorsing a candidate. I think that the choice for whom to vote, or whether to vote at all, is deeply personal, and I respect it for every individual. I have friends who feel like voting supports tyranny (explained here). I have friends who will be voting for third party candidates for President in 2016. And I have friends who will be voting for either of the "major" party candidates. No one needs my opinion or instructions.

So please don't message me to try to pull me to a specific side, because I make my decisions with the same autonomy you do, and I hope we can all joyfully and lovingly respect that.

That said: There was only one point in the first Presidential Debate last night that felt "sacred" to me. I loved it. It was when Lester Holt asked Hillary Clinton, "Do you believe that police are implicitly biased against black people?" Her answer: "Lester, I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just the police. I think, unfortunately, too many of us in our great country jump to conclusions about each other...."

My jaw literally dropped and I looked at my husband and said, "That was brilliant."

She then went on to explain that we need to slow down and ask why we're feeling certain ways, but that the repercussions of this in relationship to police force are huge and need to be addressed. She described "support" and "training" and "assistance" for police.

I felt the answer showed realism, empathy, and basically positivity in an otherwise loud, brash, difficult debate. I fully expected to wake up to lavish praise of Secretary Clinton for this eloquent response.

Instead, it was: "Hillary Clinton calls the whole US racist!"

What? She didn't say that at all. She said we all have implicit biases, and anyone who would say, "No I don't" is either in denial or is Jesus. Just today, I made a mental judgment about a person in a situation at a store that was based on nothing but what I guessed to be their socio-economic situation. It was a snap thought, and I'm embarrassed by it, AND I was wrong, but we do this.

She said nothing that was accusatory or mean-spirited, and I am just shocked that anyone could see her addressing of this extremely difficult, tragic situation as anything other than well-stated.

Okay, we're half way through.

The second thing is that apparently Donald Trump mentioned after the debate at some point that he hadn't brought up Monica Lewinsky because Chelsea Clinton, whom he admires, was in the room. Well, I guess it's good that she doesn't have the internet, because now she'll never know.

First of all, if you haven't watched Lewinsky's TED Talk, it's completely worth your time. I'll even embed it, so you don't have to click through.




We could go on for hours about how many stupid things I and my friends did in our 20s and we can all thank God none of these involved the President and therefore became public fodder. Holy cow.

But, anyway, she's not the point here.

The point here is that I guess he was going to bring Lewinsky up to talk about Hillary Clinton's feminist take on the world, and how did this situation fit into that, since the President took advantage of his power (and, if you listen to her, she doesn't seem to feel victimized by anything other than her own naivety). Regardless, Hillary Clinton didn't, you know, actually DO anything to Lewinsky, besides maybe calling her crazy, and I think she'd agree she was acting like someone in limerence, and that's basically crazy. If someone were trying to make time with my husband, I'd probably have even choicer words. Even if he were complicit. Your tendency is to be mad at the person you don't love and live with first.

And that's not the point, either.

My point is that I'm going to tell you what I'd like to see Hillary Clinton say if the former President's past "indiscretions" do come up in the future...

"Mr. Trump has repeatedly brought up my husband's activities as President, as though these define me and my future Presidency. I hope we all recognize that, as dear as the former President Clinton is to me, we are not the same person.

"It is an interesting choice to bring up a situation that is devastating to families who experience it in private, and much more so when it is played out in front of the entire world. It is interesting to me because it happened twenty years ago, and because I did not perpetrate anything on anyone in respect to it.

"My guess is that the only thought you've ever given to this situation is either, as many people did, as a joke worthy of every SNL skit it generated, or, in this immediate case, how to leverage it to your political advantage.

"In my opinion, leveraging a family's pain to your own advantage is deplorable, but since you insist, let me tell you what I hope everyone will take away from this about me.

"First: I keep my promises. When I say I'll do something, I will. Not just when it's easy or fun. I will do it. When trouble rears up, and when things look hopeless, I won't throw my hands up, call 'bankruptcy!' and run away to start over. I will do what I say I will do.

"Second: I am willing to make decisions that are for the good of the people I love, my family, and this country, and stay with it. I am not afraid to do the work. I do not shrink back from something that is hard, but will doggedly pursue an end once I have committed to it.

"As a wife, I had some heavy decisions to make twenty years ago. I knew the world was watching, and I knew I'd be vilified by one group or another regardless of what I chose. But I didn't need people praising me and telling me how amazing I was; I just needed to do what was best for our family. Now, I can tell you that we are a better, stronger family than we ever were before.

"I believe that these things can translate on a national and global stage. When faced with difficulties, I make decisions, I navigate, I work, and I want to see us better down the road that we nave ever been before. I have hope and faith in us and what we can become.

"So thank you, for whatever reason you brought this up, for reminding me and for reminding all of us."

.

.

.

.

P.S. This isn't divorce-shaming Trump; I have been married and divorced exactly as many times as he has. And it's one reason I feel so much respect for what this "I'm not sitting here, some little woman just standing by her man" lady ended up doing.

P.P.S. Also, like Trump, I married a devastatingly sexy super-model-type this time around, and had a kid when I was just a little past my prime.

Guhh

After all that I posted yesterday, I had a "moment" today, which unfortunately fell during my birthday dinner, and which ended up making my husband feel like he'd not properly feted me, which isn't the case at all. I guess that's what he gets for having married a woman?

Anyway, I wanted to follow up because I want to be honest and real, and I sincerely felt and meant what all I said yesterday, but today... Well, today was another day. Fiddle dee dee.

Please excuse this admission: I got something for my birthday that I didn't want. It's something I get every single month, if you catch my drift. So that's not helping. Today, we received the copy of "All the World" that I ordered for Mal last week, and I wept reading it three different times. So that's where we are.

Another thing you should know is that last week, I installed sparkpeople on my phone because I need to track my calories. When I was pregnant, of course my appetite grew and I ate more. After I had Mal, that kind of continued; you burn lots of calories breastfeeding, so no biggie. But as he gets bigger, it's more and more difficult for me to lug him around, so I try not to as much. I encourage him to walk, so my exercise level is going down. He still nurses a lot, but I'm not sure how much he actually drinks, and he'll wean at some point... so we have to reign this in.

So I'm still in the two-week "calorie modulation" period where I'm just hungry a lot of the time. I really hate that. And I feel stupid for lining this up the week I'm on my period, too, because what kind of crazy person does that? Oh well. We're almost a week into it now, so we're plugging on...

Tonight, James got home and wanted to show me the Prisma app he'd downloaded. Unfortunately, the picture he snapped was of me turning around after having cut D a piece of my birthday cake. It was a very unflattering picture, and I told him, "That's revolting. I don't want to look at it." He was trying to show me the filters, but I said, "Seriously. I'll look when you take a different picture."

Because I'm nice.

Anyway, that was bad enough.

Soon after, I hounded D into letting me take a picture with her FOR MY BIRTHDAY. We squeezed into the chair in my bedroom, and James took a picture with my camera. I didn't look at it until a bit later, but, lort, it was awful. I just wanted our faces, in general, but the picture was at a weird angle like your shadow looks when it's late evening: giant freaking feet, big legs, smaller torso, itty bitty heads. I barely glanced at the pictures before deleting them, saying aloud that they wouldn't work.

At that exact moment, I'd been cutting a piece of cake for myself. Instead, I teared up and had to leave the room. My self-talk was seriously, "When you're this disgusting, you don't get to eat cake."

And I couldn't. Like it didn't sound good, and I knew it'd be dry in my mouth, and I just could not.

But James can't read my mind, and all he knows is that I've bitched at him for two different pictures, and now I'm not eating the cake he picked out for me.

It was on that note that he and Mal both went to bed super early tonight. So when my mom asked me if I'd enjoyed my birthday evening, I wasn't sure how to respond.

*sigh*

I did talk to James before he went to sleep. He said he feels like he never gets it "right" on days he tries to make me feel special. But he did everything right! He did stuff in advance. He got me what I asked for (See's Candy). He even picked out a cake and some cake pops (one of which I did have for breakfast this morning). AND he got me the awesome tablet on which I am writing this blog post right now. He would have done any of these things any day of the year, too, just because he loves me. This was actually kind of over the top for him.

But it's not about what he got me. It's that despite my ugliness, physical or emotional, actual or perceived, he loves me. He loves me and wants to be with me and wants to make me happy. And he does. But sometimes, it's just hard, you know? So I thought I'd share that with you.

Good night.