Health screenings

This afternoon I happened upon a Health Screening bus co-sponsored by Walgreens and the National Urban League. I got a few complimentary screenings: glucose, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, bone density and weight circumference. Wow, let's just say that my glucose was the only level that was normal. It's kind of frightening. The employees gave me some very great tips. I'm currently drinking a tall glass of water and pulling out my pedometer.

Speaking of health tips, readers, submit some of your own. Looks like I need them!

Mugshot

Richard sent me this link of a mugshot worth checking out.

The Maverick's sidekick is a bit vague, don't ya think?

This clip kind of makes me think Katie Couric would be a good VP.

Thanks to T for sharing.

Guess who likes to get up at 5:30 am?

Yep, Figaro is on vacation. He thinks his litter box is a sand box, and he likes to play very early in the morning. I think he's not used to scoopable litter and is perplexed that his poop seems to disappear, so he keeps searching for it.

Sassy

Here are some pictures of Richard's cousins' cat, Sassy. I guess that would make Sassy and Figaro first cousins.

A1Books "apologized"

After a lengthy round of e-mails and unreturned phone calls, A1Books heartily apologized. They've forwarded my concerns on to their "concerned department" who will "surely follow up on this case."

For the record, I do not think an apology for "any inconvenience caused to you" is the same thing as a sincere apology of accepting responsibility for the inconvenience. It's the nuance between "I'm sorry you feel bad" and "I'm sorry I stepped on your foot and broke your toe." What's the deal with not taking responsibility? I'm glad Amazon.com accepted responsibility on behalf of A1Books, but Amazon isn't at fault.

I'm hopeful the "concerned department" of A1Books can prevent the listing of books which are not in stock.

How to report seller incidents to Amazon.com

Since A1Books is unresponsive, I contacted Amazon.com directly. (I ordered a used book from A1Books through Amazon.com). I just talked to a helpful customer service representative, who guided me to this link for reporting feedback about sellers:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/reports/contact-us

Circuit City: It might be easier to catch a wild goose

It might be easier to catch a wild goose than to get Circuit City to have someone hook up the tv correctly.

The saga continues, and my patience wears thin.

Joe Gentry, his wife and grandchild

Wedding Dance

Roslyne sent me the link a video of a hysterical wedding dance. This couple cracks me up!

The CoverGirl lipgloss

Remember the CoverGirl lipgloss that leaked in my purse? I called them, and they're sending me a coupon for a replacement. And better than that, they're passing along my comments to the people in charge of packaging.
*****
Since I posted the above message, I received an e-mail that CoverGirl is sending me a check to cover the cost of my expense. I'll be honest, I like the product a lot. I just hope they'll fix it so it won't leak!

Out of Office: Figaro Weaver

The addition to Richard's house is moving right along. The rooms are built and the roof is in place. Next week the HVAC people are coming to install vents in the addition as well as parts of the first floor of the existing house. Figaro is coming to Alexandria for a vacation from all the noise.

The tv is here!

It's currently loading channels, so I haven't had a chance to play. It's a flat screen and flat panel, so it take up a lot less room than my previous tv.

*****
TiVo and cable work, but the DVD and VCR (and speakers) do not work yet.
*****

I'm thinking I should send Circuit City a bill for the amount of money I spent on cable and TiVo for the month + that I didn't have a working tv.

Free stuff

• Come to Smoothie King's morning Wake-Up Event on Thursday, Sept. 18th, anytime before 10:30am and get a FREE 20oz Coffee or Mo'cuccino smoothie! We hope to see you there.

• Free bag of 9 Lives cat food:
  

• Benefiber sample

Leeloo, alt view

My 2 hour window = 8-12

Circuit City called to give me my two hour window of time in which they will deliver the tv on Friday: between 8 and 12. Yes, they said two hour window. No, the math doesn't add up.

Asking for a friend

What are law schools looking for in letters of recomendation for applicants?



And FYI, this isn't one of those "for a friend" things that really means me, so don't go thinking I'm applying to law school. When I finish this Ph.D., I'm done.

LeeLoo, the Mt. Vernon cat

Richard, Pauline and I met this cat at the 18th Century Craft Fair at Mt. Vernon. The first thing I saw was the tail. I asked the owner if his animal was alive.

Yes, the animal was alive. I approached the animal, still unsure what sort of animal it was.
Dog, cat, minature lion?

She was a cat named LeeLoo. She was very friendly, despite the unfortunate haircut.
She liked to be petted. I suspect she doesn't get a great deal of attention.
I enjoyed petting her, despite my unfortunate facial expression.

Free Samples

Go to Greenies and order a snack for your pet:
http://www.greenies.com/en_US/FreeSample/?csid=632

Or click here and sign up for a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser:
http://mrclean.com/en_US/sharethelove/signup.do

Or sign up for a coupon for Totally Toddler nursery stain remover. (Fortunately, it removes stains. Unfortunately, it does not remove toddlers.)
http://www.totallytoddler.com/cantfind.html

Yearbook Yourself

Want to know what you'd look like in the 70s, 80s or 90s?
http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

Amazon music offer

Cake Wrecks

Two people sent me this link earlier this week:
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Circuit City

I'm on hold with unhelpful Kim of the Home Delivery Division. Now I know why people prefer to deal with small companies.

The new tv might appear next Friday.

Oct 16 = Free Night of Theater

From their website:

FREE NIGHT OF THEATER 2008Launches in Over 100 Cities Across the Country on October 16!Free Night of Theater is Theatre Communications Group's exciting national audience development program designed to attract new audiences to America's not-for-profit theatres. Since the pilot program, which debuted in three cities in 2005, Free Night has expanded across the country and will be presented in over 100 cities by more than 600 theatres in 2008.
As the Free Night program rolls out over an ever expanding national stage, we are thrilled to offer this unique opportunity to provide access to thousands of new audience members to experience the joy of theatre for the first time -- absolutely free of charge!
The 2008 campaign debuts on October 16, 2008 and will once again be produced in Atlanta, Austin, Boise, Cincinnati, Cleveland, the state of Connecticut, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Lexington, Los Angeles, the state of New Jersey, the state of North Carolina, Oregon (in Ashland and Eugene), Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle/Greater Puget Sound, South Carolina/Charleston, states represented by Southeastern Theatre Conference (including Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Virginia and West Virginia), Utah, Washington D.C. and the state of Wisconsin.
We are pleased to announce that the 2008 program will also be presented in Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas and New York City. Additional cities will be joining the program over the next few months, so be sure to check back often.

Television

Another snafu in the tv delivery process, so I won't be getting it on Friday. Grr.

[Snafu = corporate incompetence]

Free shipping on Shutterfly

Response from Dreyer's (Edy's ice cream) to my inquiry about them using larger size packaging but charging the same price

A few days ago I sent them a link to an article about companies downsizing product sizes and charging the same amount. I received the following response. It's a form letter response, but I'm glad to have some explanation.


My name is Tim Kahn and I'm the Chief Executive Officer (translation: head ice cream guy) of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. Thank you for taking the time to contact our company about our new 1.5 quart carton.

I can understand why you may not be pleased with us right now. Our new carton is smaller and no one wants less for the same money.

Since the buck stops with me, let me tell you why we made the difficult decision to change the size of our carton. The cost of all dairy products has increased enormously over the past few years, as have the costs of the sweeteners, nuts, fruits and energy used to make our ice cream. Our ingredient costs have risen by 30 to 60% over this time, but the average price of ice cream has not really changed much.

We looked at raising our prices to cover these costs, but at some point, it just doesn't make sense to raise prices too high. I suspect very few families would want to pay $7 or $8 for a carton of ice cream. So as you know, we opted to drop the size of our carton from 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts.

Dreyer's has been making ice cream since 1928. We hope we've earned your trust over the years. Thank you for being so passionate about our ice cream and for taking the time to contact us.

We hope you'll continue to invite our products into your home.

Sincerely,
Tim Kahn
Chief Executive Officer
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream

Free coffee for K-12 teachers

Free Starbucks on Mondays in Sept '08 For Teachers- Ends 9/29/08
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teacher Appreciation Mondays!Kick off the new school year at Starbucks. Stop by each Monday now through September 29 and receive a tall cup of Pike Place Roast™, on us. Just present a valid K-12 teaching credential and the coffee’s our treat. It’s a little recognition for everything you do. Offer expires 9/29/08. Offer good only at participating Starbucks stores. Not valid at Barnes & Noble cafes. Void where prohibited. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts. Pike Place is a trademark of the Pike Place Market PDA, used under license.

Free Sample of Fiber One cereal

Sign up here.

Old Creepy Ads

This comes from Weirdomatic's collection of Old Creepy Ads.

I am in love...

with Outlook 2007!

Cover Girl Wetslicks Amazemint lip gloss

I tried this new Cover Girl lip gloss, because it has peppermint oil. Great stuff! It reminds me of that fancy Elizabeth Arden minty lipstick. However, this Cover Girl lip gloss leaks out of its container. I thought I'd spilled something in my purse. If it weren't for the minty scent, I would never have suspected the lip gloss. I e-mailed Cover Girl about this. They've been making lip products for decades, so surely they know how to package a product so it doesn't leak. I'll let you know if they respond. In the meantime, if you buy this lip gloss, you should store it upright or in a sandwich bag.

Figaro meets a caterpillar

10 year anniversary

When I got my hair cut yesterday, I noted that I've been with my hair stylist for 10 years.

Napping in the rain

I'm watching the Panda Cam, and one of the furry fellas is curled up napping in the rain!

Free Ice Cream on Sept. 25 at Cold Stone Creamery

From their website:

Celebrate the 7th Annual World's Largest Ice Cream Social and Support the Make-A-Wish Foundation® with Cold Stone Creamery

To cap off this special month, don't miss the 7th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social at participating Cold Stone Creamery locations nationwide, a special night to join together and share the simple pleasures of life with a FREE ice cream and family fun. On September 25th from 5:00 - 8:00PM, guests will be treated to a 3 oz. serving of Jack or Emily's Creation. All donations will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Pooting bear

One of my blog readers asked my sister about this bear. She requested I post this on the blog. Click the photo of the bear for details on how to obtain your own gasseous bear.

This reminds me of that commercial with the line, "It's your son Rip on line Toot."

Yeas, I'm cynical.

If all goes as planned, I will get this replacement television next week. Again, things I need to see to believe.

Digital voicemail menus for local businesses

I hate them. You have to go through about 5 people to get to the person you need.

Television situation

Argh, Circuit City and their multiple levels of hassle! For them, extended warranty = extended grief!

Customer service travesties

Here are the companies I'm currently mad at, due to their lack of customer service:

• A1 Books
• Circuit City
• WMATA

Whiskey Hill addition

Here's a photo of the latest progress to the addition to Richard's house.

Sept. 18, free Mo'cuccino at Smoothie King

Print this coupon and take it too Smoothie King for a free Mo'cuccino.

Featured Affiliate = Shutterfly

A starvin' student shout-out goes to Shutterfly. They have some great deals right now, especially if you're a new member. Click on the banner below to launch shutterfly. Use the coupon codes listed below:

Coupon codes:

15% off Orders $25+ AF63-AG08 Exp. 9/9/08
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Bad hair does not compute!

Mae & Jim get married

This photo was taken around 20 years ago. I do not remember them cutting their cake with a sword. You think that would have stood out in my mind.