Storm clouds

Posted on July 16, 2007 by Suzanne

I’m really angry about something. I’m angry about a situation with an online community that I used to belong to. I’m angry because a very dear friend has been slandered, I’m angry because I suspect that because of my association with my very dear friend that my reputation is also being stained, and I’m angry because I’m powerless to do anything about any of it.

I’m a former member: my opinion of what’s going on means nothing and I have no way to express it.

I can only hope that a good night’s sleep will chase away the storm clouds that are troubling me.
Suzanne

photo: DH came in this evening and said that there was a really strange cloud formation to the northeast. Hard to get a good picture of it, a tripod would have helped. Very eerie. Thankfully, the strong storms stayed to our north and while we got thunder, lightning, and rain, nothing severe came our way.

Load Tray 2 Plain Letter

Posted on June 21, 2007 by Suzanne

My laser printer doesn’t think there is any paper in the paper tray. “Load Tray 2 Plain Letter” it keeps saying. I keep telling it that there is plenty of paper in the tray, but it doesn’t want to listen.

I tried to get help online, but the online tech informed me that my warranty was expired and if I wanted to pay $25 I could. I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been a year yet, but when I questioned him, he didn’t respond. So, I gave up.

Then I got mad.

I got out my receipt (I’m so glad I knew where it was…) and determined that it has not yet been 1 year, and I called the 800 number. I was hot. I was ready to give someone a really hard time.

And then I got the wind knocked out of my sails because both the initial person I spoke to and the actual tech were EXTREMELY helpful and couldn’t have been more wonderful to deal with.

Honestly. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that both were women. And both sounded to be American. I hate to say this, but I’ve had terrible luck any time I’ve had to talk to someone from a call center that is clearly located in a different country.

I do have to e-mail a copy of my sales receipt to prove my purchase date, but they were willing to let me talk to the tech before that took place. And the tech, after asking me a few questions and going away for awhile, is overnighting a new tray to me. Overnighting!

So while I was happy about the response, I’m now frustrated because: the scanner/printer is attached to one of our older computers. This older computer doesn’t want to boot up today. Grr.

We didn’t do any more papier mache today: I suspect that the boys might have gotten over it already. I’m not entirely sure it was as fun as they were expecting. I’m determined to do something with my project, though, and maybe we’ll try again tomorrow.

I’ve got absolutely nothing in the way of quilt or art related content today. Oh wait: I can send you to some places that might have something interesting: one is my friend Carla who has been showing tutorials about eraser carving for the last few days. Not something I’ve ever thought about doing, but after seeing her pictures, I might just have to try it. I’ll put it on the list: I think that makes idea number 1685 that I’ll probably never get to.

The other place you might go is the new blog of Ronda Beyer, a very talented machine quilter. I’ve “known” Ronda from online for awhile, but only met her in person at Machine Quilter’s Showcase in Overland Park, Kansas two weeks ago. Take particular note of her blog header: her quilts are just gorgeous.

I hit a particularly momentous milestone in book sales today, so I’ve informed my husband that we are going out for supper tonight. I’d better go get ready (Ha! Do you think the people at the bowling alley will care? LOL!)

TTFN-

Suzanne

Book garage sale

Posted on May 3, 2007 by Suzanne

I’m trying to clean out my studio. I’ve put together a list of books that I’d like to get rid of. You can click on the tab at the top of the page that says Quilt Book Garage Sale to see what I’ve got. There are a few machine quilting books, mostly it’s quilt piecing books, though. I don’t suspect anybody else will want them either, but I thought I’d try to get something out of them before I take them to the library to their used book sale.

I have not had a very productive day. Feel like I’m going in circles. Feeling a little blech again. Plus, I spent the morning baby-sitting my washing machine while trying to get laundry done. We have a Kenmore He4t (a front loader like the Whirlpool Duet). We used to love it. Now we hate it. We rarely get through a full cycle without some sort of error code. It’s out of warranty (of course), and even if we get it fixed (~$300 for the extended warranty), we are worried that it will only work for a few more years and then have the same problem….

I’m trying to avoid making my blog a place of ranting and negativity, so I think I’ll quit for the night and see if tomorrow is a brighter day.

TTFN-

Suzanne

Bad words, bad words, BAD WORDS

Posted on March 14, 2007 by Suzanne

I’ve mentioned before that I’m having trouble with my HP Notebook computer. During the first year I had it, I adored it. Huge screen, tons of memory, worked great. Starting in December, though, I started having problems and they have gotten progressively worse. It randomly shuts down without warning. It’s over a year old, and I did not purchase an extended warranty. I’ve been e-mailing with HP tech support, but it is taking them nearly a WEEK to respond to e-mails due to increased message volume (I’m assuming they are swamped with calls about problems with Vista??). I tried to do online chat with them today, but after waiting 10 minutes for an online technician gave up. I’m actually growing more and more concerned that I’m experiencing hardware failure, and am worried that it is only a matter of time before this stupid thing shuts down for good.

Bad words, bad words, BAD WORDS.

I’ve lost count of how many times it is shut down today. 10? 15? At one point the POWER went off. I very nearly threw the computer out the window at that point. (Yes it’s a notebook, but the battery isn’t working…).

I can’t even contemplate how much time I’m losing as I sit and watch my computer reboot.

Bad words, bad words, BAD WORDS.

I’m actually considering running up to Sam’s Club tonight and buying a new computer. I do have other computers in the house, but none are fast enough (with enough RAM), or have a big enough monitor for me to comfortably work on them for long periods of time.

And unfortunately, even though you’ve had to listen to me rant, this hasn’t actually made me feel any better, and I bet you are wishing you hadn’t bothered coming to visit my blog today.

Bad words, bad words, BAD WORDS.