Preparing to fight Time Warner Cable

I have always appreciated our cable company, Time Warner. Here in the greater Cincinnati area we have always had the BEST cable service. We've been subscribers for 20 years, and happy with TW for 19.7 of those years. I can't think of 5 times in all those years our cable has been "out", and if I have had to call the service department for one reason or another, they have always come out promptly and on time -- unlike some of the horror stories you hear of people waiting for days for the cable company to show up. When TW approached us about six months ago to sign a two year contract with them to lock in the current price we pay, I thought it was a great idea. Cable rates, like everything else, go up consistently, and this would be a way to lock in our current rate. Before I go on with my story, do you know you can negotiate with your cable company? Every year our cable bill goes up, and every year my husband calls TW and asks them if they can do better on the rate, and every year we finagle a deal and save money on the monthly bill. Right now we're saving about $50 a month over what their standard billing is for the services we have! Back to my tale of woe. So we get the contract in (yes, I read it), sign it, send it back to them. Poof. We're all kinds of happy because we've locked into a good rate with a cable company we are extremely pleased with. Then everything goes crazy. Time Warner completely changes their service -- their program guide, their DVR supplier, even their remote controls. And it is A W F U L! We lost many services that we thought were standard -- being able to fast forward in 15 minute increments on recorded shows, being able to search the TV Guide by Keywords (ie, "quilts") to find shows to record, being able to set up a show to record weeks and even months in advance, being able to "prioritize" shows so if you have your DVR to record more than two shows at a time, you can tell it which is most important, so you don't record a silly Japanese game show instead of the last show of a cliff-hanger series you've been watching. It's all gone. Now we have a DVR service that hates us. It's completely non-user friendly, it hiccups and burps when you're trying to watch a recorded show. If I don't check the shows to be recorded every day, it will record shows I don't care so much about instead of the ones I do (not great for vacation), if you're watching a show you recorded it will suddenly jump to the end of the recording and won't let you watch the last 30 minutes of a show.... and more more more more. I can't tell you how frustrating this is! Last night Jeff and I wanted to watch Thursday night's Olympics. First, the DVR froze and had to be rebooted, which now takes a full 15 minutes instead of the old 2-3 minutes. When we finally got the DVR unfrozen, the show we wanted to fast forward through (the purpose of DVR's, afterall, is to skip through all those commercials!), and it wouldn't let us fast forward. So we sat through two hours of volley ball and beach volley ball (ugh) to finally get to the gymnastics we wanted to watch -- and the DVR jumped to the end of the recording and wouldn't let us watch it! Now there's 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back! So here I am, tied to a two year contract (with grave monetary penalties if you don't stay subscribed for the entire two years) for a service that I dislike, paying the same amount of money each month for a lot less quality and less services than I had just a few months ago! I'm not one to sit back and be taken advantage of, and I feel strongly that's just what Time Warner has done. (wiggling eyebrows) I have a plan of attack: First, I'm calling TW on Monday and explaining all the problems we're having, and give them a chance to fix it. They should at least be able to fix all the burping and jumping and blank recorded shows. Next, I'm getting the name of someone - someone big - at TW that I can write to. And I'm going to write and let them know just how unhappy I am and that I want OUT of this contract. I firmly believe they sold the contract as one thing (a way to avoid the increase in cable rates for two years), and gave me something else (locked me into a service that is poor quality with less services). That's not right, and I plan on letting them know. (The last time I did one of these plan of attacks was with Cincinnati Bell, who was offering services before they were ready and suddenly my phone was connected to someone else's number and voice mail! After I wrote my letter, I was asked to speak to the marketing department and was put on speakerphone to say what I had to say! And got six months of free service from the whole fiasco.) If Time Warner doesn't release me from my contract, I plan on contacting the State Attorney General's office and seeing if they can help me. I am paying big bucks for this service, and I firmly believe that what's going on is NOT right. They locked me in by waving a carrot in front of my nose, without telling me of the drastic change in quality of services that were coming up in the immediate future. I have never been hesitant about standing up for myself, especially when big corporations are abusing me as a customer. It's one thing to sit back and whine and complain about things, but it's pointless unless you follow through and actually do something about it!! And I plan on doing something about it. I'll keep you posted. You're on notice, Time Warner!

A picture is worth...

This is just such a fabulous picture of Brayden that I have to post it for the world to admire. How cute is this kid?!?

DeClutter Challenge Update

It's Friday (yay!) and time to report in on this week's declutter challenge. Days 9 and 10 (Saturday and Sunday): You can view photos here (posted before I knew the "rules" say you need to post all photos in one post on Friday). I decluttered my spice cabinet and the top of my bookcase in my office. Day 11 (Monday): - VHS movies we've watched as much as we're going to watch -- off to Goodwill. Day 12 (Tuesday): - Obvious garbage and broken things out of the kitchen junk drawer. Day 13 (Wednesday): - Reference books I no longer use - My daughter took them for her work. Day 14 - Thursday: - From my hutch - Paper cups, plates and napkins leftover from my daughter's baby shower 2+ years ago. Off to Goodwill. Day 15 - Friday: I have a 3-drawer organizer on my desk that I use to hold mailing labels, scratch pads and misc. small office supplies. I cleaned out what I didn't need or like, or what was trash. What I'm learning: I still insist I'm an organized person (stomping feet!).. lol As I decluttered, I was proud of the fact that all my spices were in the spice cabinet, all my VHS tapes were together in a drawer in the family room, all my scratch pads are in the stationary organizer, etc. But I've also learned that I do have a tendency to 1) let things into my home that I actually don't care for all that much (free mailing labels are a good example!) and 2) have a tendency to let little pieces of paper trash build up in drawers! I also have a tendency to "stash" things I think might be useful in the future (the baby shower cups and plates), but that actually just take up space until I get around to throwing them away. Lessons learned!

Conversations with a two year old

A story from my daughter. Mary was driving in the car yesterday with Brayden in his car seat in the back seat. Brayden was "screeching" -- not crying, just a high pitched yell he does in the car to aggravate the poop out of his mother. Mary said, "Brayden, do you know what Umma used to do to me when I made too much noise in the car?" (Uh-oh - amazing how this stuff comes back to haunt you.) Brayden stopped screeching and said, "Huh?" (translation: I'm listening...) Mary reached her hand back behind her seat and pinched his leg very lightly. (Yeah, I did that... just one more reason I never got a Mother-of-the-Year Award.) Shocked silence for a moment. Then, VERY loudly from the back seat: MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! MAMA PINCHED BRAYDEN! BRAYDEN HAS BOO-BOO! BRAYDEN NEEDS BAND-AID!!!! And on and on for the last 15 minutes of the drive home... Mary thought it was such a good idea at the time.... Another Conversation with Brayden: Jeff, Brayden and I were travelling on Friday in my car, which Jeff doesn't drive very often. We stopped at Walgreens so I could run in and use the ATM machine. As Jeff pulled out to leave, a car swooped in through the parking lot, and I mentioned a car was coming. Jeff said, "Wow - I didn't see him. There's a huge blindspot in this car." From the backseat: Umma! Brayden see blindspot? Me: No, sweetie - you can't SEE it -- it just means Umpa couldn't see to back up. Brayden: Umma! Umma's car broken and Umpa can't see blindspot? Me: No, the car's not broken. Umpa just couldn't see the other car coming. Brayden: Umpa has blindspot? Me: Yes. Brayden: Umma! Brayden see it! Brayden see blindspot! Me: Sweetie, there's nothing to see... Brayden: See blindspot! Me: No, sweetie, there's just nothing to see. You can't see a blindspot. Brayden: Umma! Umpa go in car. Umma go in Walgreens. Umma go in car. Umpa breaks Umma's car. Umpa has blindspot! Brayden see it? Me (frustrated): Brayden - ask Umpa. He's the one who said it. Brayden: Umpa! Brayden see blindspot? And on it went for another 15 minutes until we could distract him! Got to love it! DECLUTTER CHALLENGE UPDATE: I learned the hard way last week that I'm not expected to post photos of my decluttered items every day, but once a week on Friday. But don't think I'm not still decluttering every day! Here's what's gone out this week: Monday - VHS movies we've watched as much as we're going to watch -- off to Goodwill. Tuesday - Obvious garbage and broken things out of the kitchen junk drawer. Wednesday - Reference books I no longer use - off to Freecycle as these might be good for middle school and high school kids. If no takers, off to Goodwill. Thursday - From my hutch - Paper cups, plates and napkins leftover from my daughter's baby shower 2+ years ago. Off to Goodwill. If you want to join the DeClutter Challenge, you can find the info here. I stopped by the My Simpler Life blog today and once again found a great idea for those days I just don't know what to declutter next! It's a printable make-your-own declutter dice! Roll the dice and read what room or item you should declutter next. Don't you just love the way organizers' minds work?!

Back-to-School Essentials?

Admittedly, it's been awhile since I had to prepare my (now adult) kids for the beginning of the school year. But today, I was quite shocked to find a local retailer's ad for "Back to School Essentials" -- with photos of 1) an iPod, 2) a cell phone and 3) a personal Nintendo game player. Not 10 minutes later an ad ran on TV stating that amongst all countries, the United States is now number 25 in Math and 23 in Science... C'mon parents -- where are you?!? Times can't have changed all THAT much since the late 80's and early 90's. Are you actually allowing your child to take a cell phone to school? or an iPod? or a game player? Tell me it's not so... A neighborhood parent explained to me that her daughter had to have a cell phone to call home when she needed a ride after activities. Do schools no longer have pay phones??? And school administrators - where the heck are you? You sure were good at making rules when I was in school -- when and how did that change? Is education no longer your priority? Are you SO bent on being politically correct that you don't have rules against cell phones and iPod players? Shoot, we couldn't even chew gum in school without being threatened with expulsion... I can't imagine there's a whole lot of learning going on if the high school kids are sitting and texting each other or have earplugs clamped on their heads. This is all just getting too silly for words. I swear, common sense just doesn't come into play nearly as much as it used to. Don't want to go to jail? Don't do anything against the law! Want to have a good future? Get an education! Want to get a good education? Study! How hard is that to figure out?? For the very first time, I swear, I understand why so many people are homeschooling -- and Bravo to you who do. (OK, all of you except those who bought the book HOMESCHOOLING FOR DUMMIES -- if you had to read that book, you shouldn't be homeschooling.)

I'd like the gift of time

I think there used to be a commercial -- for a watch, I assume -- that said, "Give the gift of time." That's what I want. I want someone to give me the gift of time. June, July and August have been a bit bizarre -- a good kind of bizarre, because I got my house cleaned from top to bottom and a wonderful visit with my son and daughter-in-law -- but still, bizarre time-wise. I babysat 5 days a week for 3 weeks running in late June and July, then spent 10 days Spring Cleaning my house (more for me than for my guests, since I know they were coming to see us, not how clean our house is!), then more babysitting, some scheduled visits with friends, a weekend away, and now a bit extra babysitting while daughter Mary is recovering from having 4 wisdom teeth pulled. I don't know how women who work fulltime get everything done. Oh, I know I did it when I had to - worked from 6:30 am to 3:30 pm, took care of my kids, kept my house clean, got the shopping done and even had time to be a Brownie Leader and volunteer at the kids' school! I remember getting up at 4:30 every morning so I could get laundry in the washer before I left for work at 6am, packing lunches at night so I didn't have to do it in the morning, cleaning house on weekends. I know it can be done, but I did my time. That phase of my life is over and it's time to move on to bigger and better things! For me, "alone time" is a must-have. I treasure those days when I have nothing scheduled, a clean house, and no one asking me or expecting me to do a darn thing. Those are the days I spending quilting or sewing, or reading, or heck, I've spent entire days in front of the computer reading blogs or just playing games! And I love my "alone time". Aside from one or two days in the past six weeks, I haven't had much alone time -- and I'm craving it! I've got some new fabric in to start my Christmas projects, I've got unfinished projects I want to get done, I have audio books that are calling my name, and other books that want to nestle in my lap while I sit outside on the deck with a glass of iced tea. Hmmmmm....heaven. I wouldn't change any of my days in the past six weeks. I enjoyed every minute with my grandson, and most certainly loved every minute of visiting with my son and his wife. I don't regret spending almost two weeks Spring Cleaning my house, and I'm glad I could be there today for my daughter so she can rest and recoup from her oral surgery. No regrets.... just a bit of wistfulness. Jeff is going away on business the last week of this month, and I am declaring to the world that I am going on vacation -- right here, in my house, with no plans, no babysitting, no cooking, no cleaning and minimal blogging and computer time. I'm going to get up when I feel like it, go to bed when I feel like it, eat when I feel like it, go out when I feel like it, nap when I feel like it, answer the phone when I feel like it -- ahhh...doesn't that sound like heaven? I think all women need "alone time". Probably men too, but women definitely. We spend so much of our time taking care of others, helping others, doing for others, that time for ourselves is always on the back burner. Whether it's 15 minutes a day, or an entire week like I'm going to have -- it restores your soul and reminds you that there's more to life than caring for others and cleaning house and working. Do you get any time for yourself? And if YOU had a week alone, how would you spend it?

DeClutter Challenge Days 9 and 10

I didn't get a chance to declutter yesterday, as we were gone from early morning to late night (see post below), so made up my day today. This morning I decluttered my spices -- got rid of those that are old or that I never use. Oh, and for some weird reason a broken Halloween decoration was tucked in the back of my spice cabinet! So out that went as well! I also decluttered the top of the bookcase in my office. Besides dust, there wasn't much up there, except this CD box that my husband bought at a yard sale at least two years ago, and which has sat on top of the bookshelf since it first came into the house! Out, out, I say!

What I brought home from the World's Longest Yard Sale

My husband and I have been going to yard sales, auctions and estate sales for years and years. I'm guessing that close to 50% of what you see in my house has been acquired at such sales, especially decorative items. Yard sales are where I buy toys and clothes for my grandson. All great ways to save money on perfectly good "gently used" items at pennies on the dollar of original cost. On the other hand, I have a basement storage area packed with boxes of items that I bought at yard sales, auctions and estate sales -- buying them for "the deal" and not necessarily because they were items I truly loved or needed. Yard sales definitely contribute to the "clutter factor" around here. I approached our two-day trip along the Route 127 World's Longest Yard Sale with a new mindset. I went with a list! My list was 1) a vintage step stool for my quilt room, 2) a service for 6-8 of everyday dishes for the kitchen, 3)an antique bedroom suite for the master bedroom, 4) a treadle sewing machine and 5)anything quilt-related, not including fabric. I brought $100 cash with me and did not want to spend more than that unless I found a bedroom suite. We literally stopped at 200+ yard sales yesterday. I have to say, I was disappointed in the quality of the items we saw with a few exceptions. One man's junk is another man's junk in most of the sales we visited. So much of what we looked at was dirty, torn and broken! I did, however, have a few "finds": Two new iron-on transfer books (I do hand embroidery) and a pair of new dress shoes for Brayden. Total spent: $5.00. What else did I bring home? An eye infection! Despite using the anti-bacterial dry hand wash every time we got back in the car, somewhere along the line my hands came in contact with something they shouldn't have, then touched my eye. I'm prone to eye infections and luckily have medicine on hand. I did love travelling the side roads of Kentucky -- I'd forgotten what a truly beautiful state it is and I loved many of the small towns we drove through. The people were exceptionally friendly and for the most part, drivers were patient and considerate in backed-up traffic. We decided not to spend a third day at the sale, so we're home today with me catching up on laundry, ironing and Olympics-watching. I think while watching the Olympics I'll choose one of my new iron-on transfer patterns and work on embroidering some new pillowcases for the guest room. In the past, Jeff and I would have come home with the car loaded to the roof (and quite possibly some items actually ON the roof!), our bank accounts empty, and the family room full of boxes we needed to go through and sort. Instead, we enjoyed our trip together, came home with a few useful items, and I'm making a trip back to the bank to deposit the funds we didn't spend! Frugal yard-sale'ing -- who knew?!?