Heather's Blogpile

(Click to enlarge)
(Notice how the manufacturer's square hole for the pipes DOES line up once the legs
are properly installed - and how high and useless the hacked-up holes now are)

We were scheduled to meet "the owner" on Tuesday 12/20 at 3PM, but he'd emailed us late Monday - due to An Emergency he needed to reschedule from Tues Weds 3PM. He arrived at 3:40 ...

He was eager to sort out the bathroom problems, to have his guys come in and make it right, but after the last two fiascos, Emma and I had vowed to his laborers wouldn't work in our house ever again. We walked upstairs and looked at the bathroom, and pointed out some of our problems, all of which he tried to minimize or dismiss.

He said his main guy never did work like that, even as we sat in the living room with the the butchered vanity on display (see cat picture in previous post). He said that wasn't a problem, because the back wouldn't been seen once it was installed. We mentioned how his man even took a chop out of the back of the drawer, but he just wasn't dealing with the shoddy worksmanship.

We had sent him email explaining that we wanted half of our money back ($3k of the over $6 we have paid so far) to resolve the contract, he offered to give us $1500 of our money back, and we settled on a refund ($2500) ...

We agreed that the contract has ended and we want nothing more from him - and he left. Then I rushed off to cash the check immediately, just in case ...

I guess I'm going to have to learn how to do all this work myself now ... sigh ...

Posted by Heather at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click to enlarge the image

We are having our bathroom remodeled, so, I opened the carton for the recently delivered but not-yet-installed vanity in the living room, and our cat, Dolly Lama Diva, decided it was just perfect for her to explore.
I think she wants to be a show cat!

(Apologies for the title - we watched the Bob Fosse biopic "All That Jazz" again last weekend)

Posted by Heather at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yep - my poor car was stolen. The police found the car, its been recovered (and towed to a Honda dealer)... The thieves stripped it ...!

They stole the alloy wheels and tires, a bunch of body panels, the dashboard (!), the steering wheel airbag, even the seats!

All I can do now is wait for the insurance company to tell me what they plan to do next ...

Posted by Heather at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I originally bought the 2000 Civic SI car in May 2000 - we were still renters then - and I wanted a sporty small car to commute in. My commute was about 40 miles daily, and I wanted a car that got reasonable gas mileage, but had passing power at speed on the interstate (part of my commute is on 495, aka the Washington Beltway) . My previous car, a red 1990 Honda Civic SI, had over 120k miles at that time. The 1990 Civic SI was a hatchback model, a little sport-wagon, a very sensible car design I adore. (See my Car-buff page for more on sportswagons. ) The 2000 Civic SI was a 2door Coupe body, not the hatchback style I prefered. But we needed another car, and because the previous SI had been so solid and reliable, after a bit of comparision shopping, I bought it.

Within 4 months we had an unexpected opportunity to buy a house and suddenly become domesticated (grin) - then I needed a small wagon or truck for the more frequent trips to Home Despot. Although I considered a trade in, I knew I'd take a huge financial hit switching vehicles so soon after I bought the Civic, so I resigned myself to enjoying the gas mileage and just made the payments for the next 4 years.

Since Emma was ordained in 2004, she's looking into starting up an MCC church - perhaps 90 minutes away in Harrisonburg. If so, she'd be driving further than her current commute of 1-2 miles to work. With 150k miles on the old red '90 SI, I'm not comfortable with her driving it long distance or late at night on the interstate. Our tentative plan was to buy a small (used) truck - probably a Honda CR-V. - for me, and let her have the 2000 Civic (with just 70k miles, its got a lot of life left in it), and we'd just sell off the 1990 Civic.

But the theft of the newer blue Civic changed everything! I'm driving a rental car at $36 a day and Allstate only reimburses $20 a day. We have a trip to Richmond planned for Christmas and I need to get something before the end of the year.

I'm looking to get a used CRV for my use, and if the blue car turns up before the end of the year, we'll just get rid of the oldest (1990) car. If the blue car is gone for good, and Allstate sends a check early next year, we'll use the payout to get Emma a newer car ...and sell the oldest car then.

Posted by Heather at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click the graphic for more info

Sony's inspired attack on legitimate purchasers of their music discs has inspired me to stay away, even tho the spyware/malware installed by the rootkit discovered on some of their discs has no effect on MAC users like me, its odeous and offensive and needs to be STRONGLY discouraged..

Send a distintive message to Sony for this holiday Season ...don't buy ANY Sony "CDs"

Just say NO to the new Kate Bush album (her first in 12 years!) on Sony ...

Just say NO to the newly remastered Bruce Springsteen Born To Run 30th anniversary CD with 2 DVDs.

I was planning to buy both as Christmas gifts - but Sony won't get my money this Christmas!

Posted by Heather at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)