Babies, Babies, Miss Those Babies

Two of  our friends from back home had babies in the last couple of days.  I miss the babies.  Including Caitlyn there would have been at least 11 babies born in one year between the two wards.  I miss that.  Here there is another baby a little older than her and one in the nursery.  There were 2 babies born in the last couple of months, but I think they are both with the Amish group.  So it gets kind of lonely.  I miss my friends and I miss those babies....now to test my knowledge, let's see if I can name them all in order. ;)  There was the Anderson Baby, Caitlyn, the Murray baby, the Cutler Baby, the Kramer Baby, The Wright Baby, The Lloyd Baby, the new family's baby, Jamie Graham's baby, and now the Strong baby.  And the Amaton's are due.  Whew!  Yeah, I miss the babies.

Life is a Funny Thing

I am not going to lie....leaving Texas was very difficult for me.  We had lived there 9 1/2 years.  8 of that in the same small house in the middle of Ellis County.  It had become home to me.  I figured we would add on to the house if we stayed there and if we ever did move it would be to Midlothian. 

Well, the funny thing is, when we found this house, we heard the owners were moving to Arlington.  I went by today and turns out, they are building a home in Midlothian.  It is really funny the way things work.  I hope that they love it there as much as we did and would have.

Verizon vs AT&T vs Me

One of the decisions I have had to make since moving to Ohio was how badly I wanted to keep AT&T as my cell phone provider.  You see, I do not get coverage at the house or even in the surrounding 5-10 miles.  It is sketchy at best.  Verizon, however, offers good coverage. 

It would seem that given that little information, the decision would be an easy one to make.  However, there were a few factors to consider.  1)  I had been with AT&T for several years.  2) I was due for an upgrade in a month or two. 3) I had a plan that allowed for unlimited data usage.....Overall, I REALLY wanted to stick with AT&T.  But, I had to have reliable coverage.  A phone wasn't much use if I was missing calls or unable to use that unlimited data. 

So we decided to find out what my options were.  Basically, there were none.  I was stuck.  So I decided that *if* I could have the early termination fee waived then I would get out of AT&T and purchase a very nice phone from Verizon.  I called them again.   I talked to a retention specialist.  They reviewed my options.  They assured me the fee would be waived.

I was ecstatic, well, at least felt better about leaving.  I still lamented and complained.  And said how good they were on facebook.  But I knew it was for the best.  So I left. 

Here it is a week later.  I have my new phone.  I am loving it.  I have accepted the decision and am adjusting.  Then I looked at the final AT&T bill.  There was the early termination fee.  Now the retention specialist had said it might show up, but to just call and tell them it had been waived and we would get it refunded.  So we called.  They said there was no record of it.  They said we had to pay.  They said they never negotiate that fee. 

I am now pissed.  The thrill of a new phone is gone and my happiness is over.  I will be calling them every day for the next couple of weeks and possibly going to court.  I will be recording my phone calls.  I am *not* a happy camper.  At the very least I will be notifying consumer affairs and the BBB. 

Ugh.  Just one big stain on the road to happiness and adjustment in Ohio.

A FOLLOW UP........I called AT&T again the next morning, hoping I could better reason with a new shift....turns out I didn't even have to reason or beg or plead or anything.....I just mentioned the charge to the lady and she said let me look, looked,  and refunded the charge.  No fighting, no talking to a manager.  I decided the day shift was better trained.

Snow

It is snowing here.  A pretty light snow with fat flakes.  They aren't sticking, but will when the temperature drops, I am sure.  It is something to get used to, that's for sure.  I can think of only afew snowfalls in Texas that meant anything.  For two or three Christmas Eve's/Christmases in a row we had snow.  Then of course there was the time we got 12 inches overnight. 

There was snow on the ground when we got here and then about a week later we had snow for several days in a row.  That is all melted now, but we are getting snow again.  I wonder how long it will last.

New Home, New Blog

I need a new blog.  A blog to help me adjust to my new home.  A blog to help me improve my writing/blogging.  A blog to help me look at life a little differently.  A blog so others can get to know me.  A new blog just got me and just for fun.

I hope to write a few times a week.  It may be less.  It may be more.  I plan on continueing my other blog, The Van Slyke Voice, at least once a month (preferrably once a week) for thinks pertaining to the family.  But this blog will be all mine.

So.  I hope you will follow me and enjoy this adventure I am beginning.  I hope you will add to it with your comments.  I want to hear from you. 

This is my blog.