Getting “taken” by “the man”

So moving is no fun – and we’re not even done yet.
Doh! I think we’ve got Laurie fully moved but we’ll be moving my stuff in over the next 18 days or so.
There are definitely some companies who are now on my “avoid at all possible” list.

  • U-Haul/Self-storage place on Highway 287 in Waxahachie
  • Planet Beach Tan in Waxahachie
  • AT&T

We’ve been “fighting” with AT&T since last Tuesday afternoon to get my phone service and DSL moved two miles down the road. I was tried doing the transfer online but they kept forcing me to accept an address with the wrong zip code. So finally after doing some Google searches (the numbers are not online) I was able to track down the proper number to call them with.
I got a hold of someone who assured me everything was inline for the move. My phone line (and DSL) would be cut off on Tuesday and the phone service would be re-established on Wednesday. The DSL was scheduled for installation on Monday (yesterday).
Wednesday afternoon I received a voice mail saying they couldn’t find my home in Cedar Hill.
I wonder why – we live in Waxahachie?!
I had to wait on the phone for 15-20 minutes so I could finally talk to someone and tell them I don’t live in Cedar Hill but in Waxahachie.
I finally thought everything was in line and they told me service should be connected later that day. Of course that didn’t happen.
I came to Laurie’s and the phone was still not working that evening.
I called again on Thursday and waited on hold again – and was assured someone would come to the apartment on Friday between 8 a.m. and 12 noon.
I waited. And waited. Big props to DirecTV though. They also said they’d be there between 8 and 12 and surprise – they were. The satellite service was up and running by 1 p.m.
By 1 p.m. AT&T still hadn’t shown up and I decided it was time to call them again.
I think I ended up talking with someone in India somehow before they gave me a number to “The former SBC, now the New AT&T.”
I waited on hold again and was then sent to their repair service. The repair service told me a ticket had never been filed.
Wonderful.
They promised they’d send someone out the following morning. Finally Saturday morning – four days after it was promised we had phone service at our new place.
Monday afternoon I showed back up at our new place to check the DSL (which we’ve been without since Tuesday evening) and surprise – nothing!
I was on the phone again for another 30-45 minutes trying to explain the situation and get something done.
Finally a manager guaranteed me the service would start on Wednesday (tomorrow) and we would receive a $25 credit on our phone bill for our troubles.
We’ll see tomorrow what happens.

As for Planet Beach Tan – This doesn’t really have anything to do with moving but it’s happened in the last week or so, so I feel like venting on it as well. I seriously felt like a woman in a mechanic shop. I got the great idea to get a tan before my wedding day and honeymoon. I don’t want to scare people at the resort when I walk around without a shirt on by the hot tubs.
I only wanted a few sessions but somehow ended up with a month membership and $35 lotion.
$35 for lotion?! They looked at me like I was the most backward, hick, cheap guy in the world because I only used $5 sun tan lotion from Walgreens in the past.
Somehow, if I didn’t buy their lotion I didn’t care about my body, my future wedding, marriage, future kids or grandkids. They would all be labeled by my poor decision.
I have to admit. I should have done some sort of research on tanning before I went or took Laurie with me, but I thought, “Heck, how hard can it be. You buy a few sessions and get tan.” But apparently they took me and somehow I ended up paying for way more than I ever expected or will probably ever use.

As for U-Haul – yeah I don’t even want to go there. But let me just say this, “They don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to renting trailers and such.”
We planned to rent a trailer and because we were told it would connect easily to my pickup truck and/or someone would be available to take care of it if it didn’t.
Well the light kit didn’t work and no one was there who knew anything about it.
I was told to go to Wal-Mart to get it hooked up.
Finally, frustrated after several other issues, I gave up and just spent three times what we had planned with a 22′ U-Haul trailer.
Granted that worked out OK but it was the most frustrating experience ever – well other than trying to move my AT&T service.
So there you have it. My venting over moving.
I think I’m going to do everything I can to just stay in the building we’re in for the next 10 years.

Great party fun

My favorite photo website, Photojojo has some great ideas on games and party projects to play with your snappy digital camera.
Jump for Joy
There are some fun ideas here to get everyone involved and maybe make some new friends. Using Flickr afterwards to share the photos can be even more fun. I think I’m going to recommend these ideas for our community 2.0 leaders to use as ice breakers.
Check the link for five great ideas.

Peyton gets some props

My good friends Dane and Marni and their daughter Peyton took part in a Spring Fashion show at Children’s Hospital in Dallas where Laurie works.
A number of celebrities, including Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith, the cast of Prison Break, and Stephen Baldwin were involved as well as local television news anchors.
Megan Henderson with Fox 4 in Dallas walked the runway with Peyton and blogged about it yesterday.
Check it out and listen to Dane and Marni’s story online from encounterthis.com.

Welcome to Casa de Blundell

Well Casa de Blundell has recently begun the relocation process for our brick and mortar location.
Along with the relocation, Casa de Blundell will officially merge with Casa de Turner on April 28 and both I and my beautiful wife-to-be Laurie figured it would be best if we followed tradition and relocated to the same place – together.

So despite the threat of rain and storms, we packed up her belongings in Forney, Texas and moved her things to our new place in Waxahachie.

I’d love to tell you the entire story behind this giant U-Haul Truck (but I don’t want to bad mouth anyone too bad) but we went from a 6×12 U-Haul trailer to a 22′ moving bus to load all of Laurie’s belongings…

We had help from Laurie’s brother Brian and her parents.

As soon as we shut the door on the truck the clouds opened and the biggest gully washer of them all came pouring down. I called my boss, Heath Sims, to see how the weather in Waxahachie was and he said Midlothian was getting 4″ of rain per hour. It was insane! It took us nearly an hour and a half to drive the 55 miles or so from Forney to Waxahachie.
And when we arrived we were soaking wet.

We waited the storm out and then woke up the next morning and went to work moving things into the new place.
Luckily Josh and Matt were more than willing to come help me unload the truck and bring everything inside while Laurie, Martha and Vicki arranged things inside.


We took a break later that evening for our first meal in the new place on our brand new plates and silverware. The Panda Expess dinners went great with a bottle of Pinot Noir. The spicy Chinese food and wine really made a great mix.

Sunday after church we went to lunch with Shari and Smiley and were pretty much pooped afterwards.

And after several other errands and a meeting for community 2.0 we came back and enjoyed a few quiet hours together without worrying about one of us driving an hour home.
I even finished installing the new cord for the dryer and finished a load of laundry I started earlier in the day.

So there you have it. Just a glimpse at our fun filled weekend.
Hope you enjoyed it. Give us a ring when you’re in the neighborhood and stop on by for a visit (just bring your own wine ;-)).

Laurie has her own thoughts on the weekend on her blog, as well as more pics on Flickr.

The washer is dead

I received an urgent message from my roommate Matt today:

The washer is dead…electrical smell and smoke are in the loft…and the washer is dead…FYI

I’m saddened by the loss of this great hand me down washing machine that I received from a friend nearly four years ago. It’s been a good washer. It’s been loyal and trustworthy even through 4 or 5 other dryers.
I’d love to say, “Oh well. Sucks for you” because I’m getting married in a month and my fiance already has a fairly new washer and dryer.
But I’d hate to leave my best man out to dry.
So I’m looking for someone who has a new (there’s always hope) or used washing machine that they would be willing to part with for a worthy cause.
There may be something you’d like to trade for that we can work out as well.
I do have a slightly used recliner that I might be willing to part with for the right washing machine.
Let me know if you’re interested.
Thanks