Grievances

Part of this post was written a week ago when I was feeling particularly snarky and I had since decided against publishing it. After discussing it with a friend, they sanctioned for its publication citing that this was a fleeting glimpse of who I was at that particular time. I've cleaned up the language a bit (not that you'd notice), but it may still be offensive. You the reader, have the benefit of choosing not to continue, my friend did not have that luxury. So here's a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.

Abysmal Ignorance

People are so fucking stupid. We sold a house last week to a couple who through the course of their lives have ruined their credit. Trying to get back on track and out of the shoe box that they've been living in for the past 5 years, they made an offer on a house that we own. A nice house. 1800 square foot, four bedroom Victorian with two baths and a fenced yard, priced below appraised value.

I also have the advantage of supplying them with financing for the purchase. This couple, while making great strides, has not been able to save money for a down payment. Consequently, we offer to pay for their down payment and in return they make payments to us at 8% interest over the next five years. It does us no good to keep sitting on this house either. After much explanation, every one thinks it's a fine idea.

That is until this couple decided to talk to an appraiser who attends their Bible study. Of course, they don't quite get all the details themselves, and ultimately give the appraiser a load of misinformation. The appraiser tells them that what we are doing is illegal and it would be best for them to get out of the deal if they can.

Now, this is only illegal if you raise the price of the home first and if you don't tell the first mortgage holder about the second loan for the down payment. We did not violate either condition which I tried to explain to them. But the damage was done and now the appraiser is helping them look for a new house. They didn't even have the courtesy to tell me that they were backing away. They simply stopped all communication. Assholes!

Volunteering in the Name of Christ?

How can this be a grievance you're wondering? Well it is! My mother-in-law hosts Coffee Break at our church every Thursday morning for both members of the church and the community. She's been asking for some time if I would run the nursery for this group. I've continually said no, I don't have time, but finally about 6 weeks ago, I relented. (Hmmm, any correlation with the neck injury?)

The deal was that I was supposed to take care of two kids, a 3 year old and a 2 year old and I could bring Drew to play if I wanted. It was only for an hour every Thursday and I would get $20.

This week, I had a 4 1/2 year old, a 3 year old, two 2 year olds, a 6 month old and a 3 month old. Both of the babies shit, one required a full clothing change and the 2 year old screamed the entire time. I got scratched on the chest by the 3 month old with razor fingernails and spilled ice water on by one of the 2 year olds. An hour continually stretches to an hour and a half AND I found out I get paid $20 a month, not $20 a week.

It seems that since words out there's a babysitter in nursery again, the women are coming out of the wood work with these kids. It makes me wonder, since they weren't coming before, if they are interested in learning the Bible or if they just want a break from these little monsters for a couple hours out of the morning.

When my MIL gets back from Mexico, I'm telling her to look for someone else!

Restocking Racket

I used to be a Creative Memories consultant before I had Drew. I quit before he was born thinking that I wouldn't have time for the business, but didn't want to get rid of my product because I thought I might start up again in the near future.

When I did re-list as a consultant I found that I had understandably, lost most of my customer base to other consultants. After a few months, I realized that I didn't feel like working to build my business back up, so I quit for good.

Creative Memories has a "buy back" program where they take back all unopened merchandise from consultants minus a 10% restocking charge. Most consultants, if they want to have a successful run, have to keep a large stock of supplies on hand, and I was no exception. I've got five pages of merchandise to return totaling $1500 in retail.

The call from CM comes yesterday. "We're sorry, we only take back products that were purchased in the last year." Well whoop-ti-fucking-do. That's only about half my stuff. I can see not taking back product that discontinued or that was labeled a limited edition, but stuff that has not been changed or deleted from the product line or had packaging upgrades, why can't they take those back? It's stupid. So if anyone needs anything Creative Memories, I've got some stuff for sale. CHEAP!

Damn Leap Frog Anyway

We have this Dreamscapes Soother for the baby that attaches safely to the crib and with the push of one button by said baby, provides soothing music and a relaxing scene to coax him back to sleep. This thing works beautifully and Drew loves it! However, it sucks batteries life in vampire style. I'm not complaining for the cost. We've gone the rechargeable route now, so it's only a matter of changing the batteries.

You'd think if the company were going to make a toy that went through batteries so quickly, they'd make the battery compartment easily accessible. Oh no! Every time we have to rejuice, I have to get the whole tool box out and unscrew two different panels and pry them off to replace the batteries. Usually, I don't realize it's out of batteries until the middle of the night when I hear this distorted music in the monitor and then cries when he can't get it to play. By the time I get it working again, we're both wide awake.

There was more, but I'm stopping. It was a rough week. I feel better now!