Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 

the past few days

Nothing noteworthy has been going on recently, so that explains my lack of posts.

I did manage to do what no one thought could be done–fatten up Brian a little bit (enough to make him go buy an exercise bike this week and actually use the thing every day). Middle age=middle tire? Good thing we’re heading off the rest of the middle age crisis by buying his motorcycle this year.

Jacob had some excitement yesterday. I got a note from his friend Jake’s mom (Jake goes to daycare with Jacob). They wanted to invite him over for a playdate soon. So, I called her last night and the date has been set for next Saturday. Both boys are ecstatic. I have to assume they’re going to get along just fine seeing that they’ve been playing together at daycare for over two years now, so this could end up being a regular thing for the two of them.

Today, I’m just doing my usual Saturday work–washing clothes and straightening up around the house. Plus, I’m cooking like a fiend. Tomorrow is our annual “Dinner with the Parents” night. Every year at some point after the holidays, we have our parents over for dinner. This tradition started because Brian’s employer gives out a ridiculously large turkey every year at Thanksgiving, so we had everyone over in order to eat the turkey. This year, we had Christmas dinner at our place, so we ate the turkey then. But, the tradition lives on. This year, we’re having an Italian feast. More details to follow tomorrow…

vonage

We took the plunge and signed up for a VOIP (voice over IP) provider on December 11. Goodbye, landline! We went with Vonage. I read some good reviews about them and they seem to be the most popular provider, so that clinched our decision.

So far I’ve been happy with the quality of the connection. We’re paying half of what we had to pay with Verizon, but we get unlimited minutes. Of course, if your internet connection is down, you have no phone, but that’s what cell phones are for, right?

The one bad thing about the process was trying to transfer our current number to the new service. It was a major headache which involved at least four hours of my time (either on the phone or sending emails). If you factor in my bitching, my hours might be up to 24. Just ask Brian. Had I known it was going to be such a pain in the ass, I might have opted to just get a new number. But, after almost a week with no one being able to access our phone number, finally, our number got transferred last night. So everything is good in the world again. From reading a forum I found on the subject, I knew there was a good possibility that we were going to run into issues with the number transfer, so at least I was mentally prepared for it.

If anyone’s interested in this service, let me know and I’ll refer you. We would get two free months out of the deal and you’d get one month free. I definitely have some tips for you before you sign up, though. Email me for details.

I feel like such a techno-geek. Embracing the latest technologies and all…

just got lucky

The wonderful garage that works on my car (Deyarmin’s on Goucher Street) fixed my exhaust problem today. They made a new exhaust pipe for the one that fell off my car yesterday. Total cost: around $60. If they would’ve gotten the part from the Toyota garage, total cost: $585. This is why we don’t go to the dealership for service. Needless to say, I love those guys! Plus they squeezed us in today, so that was really nice of them. It is so convenient living two blocks from a reputable garage when you have a vehicle that has 100,000 miles on it.

exhausted

Not me, but my car. Brian took it to work today. On his way home, he heard someone with a loud exhaust and thought, “Boy, I’m glad that isn’t me.” Well, the sound persisted because it was him. Long story short, the exhaust fell off. I don’t know if all of the parts are still there or not. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. The garage we take our vehicles to was still open, so he dropped the car off there, but they’re not looking at it till the morning. Depending on what the problem is, I may be without a vehicle for a few days again. Damn. I had to take a loan from the Bank of Law to pay for our last repairs and I haven’t even replaced that money yet. Here’s to hoping this is something minor…

the worst day

Happy Anniversary to me. Today, I celebrated 11 years of working for the same company. It’s hard to believe it has been that long. Given that, this article really struck me as funny.