Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Big Apple Circus




Took the family to see the Big Apple Circus two weekends ago. It was the first time Erin and I had ever been to the BAC and Shannon's first time at the circus.

I got 30% off of the tickets through work and we ended up sitting 4 rows from the ring right by the entertainer entrance.

It was a really fun show. It didn't have all the glitz and glamour that Ringling Brothers has. It has more of an old school kind of feel to it. There were only three "clowns" (The Huesca Brothers and Grandma) and the only animals were poodles and horses.

There were all kind of different acts including juggling, tight rope walking, hula hoop artist, a gymnastics troop that did all kind of high flying flips, and a 3 person body support thing. That was really cool. 2 men and 1 woman. All climbing all over each other and doing different poses. They were also colored gold.

Shannon went through a whole range of emotions. She was curious, scared, happy, and terrified all at the same time. I think her favorite part of the whole experience was getting a pretzel.

She did enjoy the dancing that went on between acts. She spent the whole time with her hands balled up into fists or holding her very sweaty palms together. The whole time she couldn't take her eyes off the ring.

Pretty much what I had expected from her. She is afraid of toys that move by themselves so I was sure that she would be a little scared at times.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Worst Customer Service Ever?


It still blows my mind that an American company can send their customer service department overseas. I understand that it saves them tons of money but you'd think they would value their reputation in the marketplace over saving a few bucks.

I've dealt with overseas customer service before. Most often while setting up 4 XM radios for my family. This week I had to deal with Magellan and if I had any hair to pull it would have been all over the floor. Their customer service is in India and everyone I talked to was extremely hard to understand. Not only that but they lie to you off the bat. There is no way that I talked to a Nick, Steve, and Bob with those accents.

Both Erin and I have Magellan GPs units that we got for Christmas two years ago. The windshield mount on Erin's broke. I called them last November to ask for a new mount. They told me that it was on backorder and to check back in a few weeks.

I let 3 months go by without hearing from them so I decided to call them and check up on things. They told me they discontinued the model I have and they don’t have replacement parts anymore. On their website they have to exact piece I want for sale for 40 bucks. When I asked if they could just give me the one on their site they repeated that they didn't service my model anymore.

They did say that what they could do was replace my entire unit with a brand new one. So I agreed to that. They needed to put me on hold to get some info. Then I'd give them some info and they would put me back on hold. This went back and forth for an hour, 55 minutes of me being on hold.

They finally get all my info and say that a new unit will come in 2 to 3 weeks. Once I get it I have to Fed Ex or UPs my old unit back to them. So it takes 3 weeks to get me a replacement but I have to send back my unit in 3 days?? I actually have 30 days to send it back before they charge me for the new one.

Mind you I only wanted the windshield mount that I can get at any Best Buy for 10 bucks.

So in the end I get a newer model GPS. I told Erin that since I went through all this she is getting mine and I'm keeping the new one. I spent entirely way too much time on hold through this whole process and even had to call back at one point and regive all the info I had already given.

I just wish companies like this would think about the consumer for a change instead of the bottom line. Support the companies out there that are still keeping American jobs in America. Trust me. It will save you loads of time and aggravation.

Monday, February 11, 2008

No More Crib

Erin and I finally decided a few weeks back that is was time for Shannon to take the next big step in her life. We believed that it was time for Shannon to come out of her crib and into her first toddler bed.

Erin's sister Veronica had bought Shannon a Dora toddler bed for Christmas. We put it aside for a few weeks until all the Christmas madness calmed down. I finally put it together and we placed it right next to the crib.

Shannon was very excited and was even helping me put the bed together. She helped me take some of the polls out of the box and line them up. Then she handed me things as I went along.

She left to go play with mommy, but came back up as I finished putting the bed together. It actually came together pretty easily. We topped it off with a set of Dora sheets and a Dora pillow.
As soon as I was done I told Shannon that it was ready to go. She jumped right in and pulled the sheet over her. "Look, Dora. Dora!" She was very excited.

She didn't sleep during her nap time that day. I think she was too excited. She did sleep in it that night and the crib was forgotten about. I left it in her room for 5 days and took it apart while she was at Gymboree. When she came home all she could say was "Wow!"

A huge step for Shannon. The transition couldn't have gone any better. To this day she hasn't left her room at night and as soon as we put her to bed she stays there.

Right After The Bed Was Put Together


First Night In My New Bed

Monday, February 4, 2008

Super Bowl Champions!!!!






What a game!!! The Giants proved everyone wrong and pulled out what could possibily be the 2nd biggest upset in Super Bowl history. The Jets/Colts Super Bowl 3 considered the biggest.

The Giants really set the tone for the game with their opening drive. They took almost 10 minutes off the clock and got a field goal out of it. From there the Patriots really didn't have too much going. Their two scores came off of a Giants pass interference penalty and a fallen cover man.

Eli was solid when he needed to be. He threw one interception but it wasn't his fault. That one was all on the receiver. The Giants D played their best game of the year. They sacked Brady 5 times and for the most part shut down the Pats receivers.

The play you will see over and over again for months to come is when Eli somehow got his way out of a sack and threw the ball to David Tyree who caught the ball with the aid of his helmet. Everyone was going crazy at the party. What a catch.

The Pats had one last shot to win the game and I was on my knees praying the whole time. When Alford lite up Brady I knew it was over.

We partied all night. Once the game clock hit all zeros my phone started blowing up with phone calls and texts. Buck had a victory cigar and we all did some victory shots.

Shannon picked a few squares in the Super Bowl pool all by herself and she won the half and the 3rd quarter. Each box was a dollar so we ended up winning 35 bucks. Not to shabby.
This is the 3rd Giants Super Bowl Victory. They add XXLI to XXI and XXV.

The Super Bowl Champs T shirts have been ordered and the memories are gonna last a lifetime.