I have a Thief!

It's summer here in Indiana and my tomatoes and cucumbers are almost ready to start harvesting.  I have been waiting for the fresh, heirloom tomatoes all summer.  The ones on the vines are just about perfect, big, round and with all the rain we have received here they should be especially juicy.

 I have had a few tomatoes get ripe, or almost ripe, and I have picked them to finish ripening on my kitchen counter.  But the big, juicy ones are not quite ready yet.

Last night I was watering plants and working in the flower beds and saw this under the pine tree in my back yard.

At first I thought it was one of the Granny Smith apples which have fallen off the tree in our yard.  I find half, or mostly eaten apples all over the yard, including up in the trees!

Then as I looked closer I realized it was one of my beautiful, big heirloom tomatoes (yes a green one) that had been picked and stashed under the pine tree.  It was most likely one of my four legged, bushy tailed thieves!  There was a big bite out of the tomato so I could not take it back.  This morning when I woke up and looked out the window it was almost completely gone.  That darn little thief!  It's not enough to steal all the sunflower seeds out of the bird feeder and stash apples all over my yard.  Now he is hitting my tomatoes!  

I don't mind sharing my produce with the local squirrel but if he takes too many tomatoes I will not be happy!  This squirrel has the best set up ever in squirrel-dom.  He lives in my neighbor's maple tree all year and then comes over to my yard for his (or possibly her) selection of tasty items.

It looks like I will have to become more vigilant about my tomatoes.  I don't mind sharing but I want the best ones for me since I did the work to grow them.  Darn little thief! 

Live Life Like Sadie - The Beagle Way!

Sadie is our nine-year-old beagle.  We adopted her from the Humane Society of Hamilton County last year.  She is considered a "senior" dog.  From what we were told her owner surrendered her because the owner was in end stage cancer and wanted to make sure her beloved pet was taken care of. 

So Sadie has lived with us for a little over a year now.  We have never had a Beagle before and it has been a learning experience for us.  Over the last year I have learned Sadie's rules for life:

1.  Everything is better with a dog cookie(or any other food).

Sadie loves her treats.  The people at the humane society said she is extremely food oriented.  She knows after walk she will get a treat, when I come into the house she gets a treat, and the day ends with "pills" which is usually a small piece of cheese to hold her latest prescription medication.  She lets me know when I forget or somehow get off the acceptable cycle of treat distribution.  Sadie always stays close when I am cooking just in case something hits the floor.  No need to clean up food from the floor when she is around, she will take care of just about anything that drops. 

2.  Life is best observed from the couch

Sadie is a couch potato.  Once she is done with morning walk and breakfast she takes her spot on the couch and does not move until it's time for walk or food.  Sometimes I can see her with one eye partially open just to make sure she does not miss anything but overall she watches life from her favorite blanket on the couch.  I have to practically shove her off the couch when it is walk time in the afternoon.  I just tell her both of us need the exercise. 

3. When in doubt let your voice be heard

Nobody told me beagles were so vocal.  Sadie is a talker.  She will howl and groan and murmur to my husband and I when something does not meet with her desires.  I have never had a dog "talk" to me as much as Sadie does.   The only one who comes close is her friend Harley, who is a Siberian Husky.  

This last year has been a learning experience.  Sadie is an important part of our family and has acclimated well to our routine.  Well, maybe she has taught us her routine and we have acclimated.  Whichever way it happened I am glad she is part of our pack and I am learning the "Beagle Way." 

24PetWatch - Waiting for someone to answer the phone

So today I am trying to contact the company that has my dog's pet insurance (24PetWatch).  I had submitted a claim for quite a few medical procedures and treatments for my beagle, Sadie.  I followed the lengthy directions on submitting a claim.  That included attaching the medical bills, getting a statement of treatment and signature from my vet, including only things which were on the allowed list and sending in the claim. 

I received a very nice letter saying they received my claim but I needed to send them my pet's complete medical history.  I did not see that on the checklist on the claim form.  Then the letter said that if I did not respond to the letter within 25 days of the date on the letter they would consider the matter closed.  I looked all over the letter and did not see a date when it was sent.  

Right now I have been on the phone for ten minutes getting the following message,

"All of our agents are currently busy with other customers.  Thank you for your patience.  If you would like to maintain your position in the queue and have us return your call Press 1.  Your position in the queue is 4" 

I have been number 4 in the queue for 10 minutes.  They must have only one person working on the "queue" today.  Oh, now I just moved up to number 3 in the queue. 

It will be interesting to see if this is resolved and they pay any of the claim.  It seems like their business model is to place as many barriers as possible between the customer and them fulfilling their agreement to provide pet insurance to my dog. 

It does not sound promising because one line in the letter I received says, "Upon receipt of all required information and completion of our review,  you will receive a written response from our Claims Department."  Just a response, no mention of a check.    

Hopefully they do a better job if a dog is lost.  This company also has the microchip information for my dog. 

I just moved up to number 2 in the queue.  It has been almost 20 minutes on the phone.  It was amazing that when I purchased the insurance I did not have to wait this long on the phone. 

Don't You Just Love Talented People?

One of the shows that my husband and I watch sometimes (usually on Saturday afternoon) is Music City Roots, Live from the Loveless Cafe, on PBS.  They have such a great assortment of traditional music, country, bluegrass, Americana and a wide spectrum of talent.  Recently we were watching a show that was filmed in March during the horrible ice storm they had in Nashville.  We were commenting that everyone in the audience was wearing heavy coats, hats and gloves. 

On this show they were showcasing talent from nearby Belmont University.  Belmont is known for its musical programs and the graduates who populate the country music scene in Nashville.  One such as was a duo with a young man and woman called "Striking Matches"  This duo (Sarah Zimmermann and Justin Davis) met in guitar class their freshman year at Belmont.  The story goes that the professor was pairing up the students in the class to work on throughout the semester.  Sarah was the only girl in the class and Justin said all the boys were secretly saying "Don't pair me with the girl." 

Well the professor paired Sarah and Justin.  He asked her if she could play the blues.  Sarah said that she pulled our her slide and played a few riffs.  The duo has since become songwriting and performance partners and have a new album out called, "Nothing but the Silence."  (On I. R. S. Nashville, produced by T. Bone Burnett). 

I love seeing talented people, especially those who can write songs and perform them.  Sarah's guitar work reminds me of Bonnie Raitt or Melissa Ethridge.  Their songs have been featured on the TV show "Nashville" which has broadened their American as well as their international audience. 

I am a writer of words and stories and would love to be able to tell stories with music.  That is just not my gift so I thoroughly enjoy seeing singer/songwriters perform their work. 

So what is the moral of this story.  First of all when watching Music City Roots you may never know what you will find.  I found a young talented duo who I will continue to follow as their careers blossom.  The other moral is don't be afraid to be paired with the only girl in guitar class.  She may just pull out her slide and blow your socks off with her grasp and interpretation of the blues. 

Check them out (www.strikingmatches.com).  I hope to be able to see them perform in person sometime. 

Visiting my "Boys"

For almost 10 years my husband and I were a host family (and housing coordinators) for the Indiana Ice hockey team.  That team was part of the USHL(United States Hockey League) which is the only Tier 1 hockey league in the US which prepares elite hockey players for transition to Division 1 college hockey or for professional hockey. 

Since these players wish to maintain their amateur status (and NCAA eligibility) they are not paid for their participation in this league.  They also live with host families who open their homes to these young men and receive a small stipend for housing and feeding them.  (Check out their website: www.ushl.com for more information on the league and the housing program). 

Over the years we have housed and developed relationships with many players and their families.  Some have now completed college and are playing professionally.  Some have gone on to business or coaching careers.  One graduated from West Point and is serving in the Army.  We have two players who lived with us who are seniors at Miami University in Oxford Ohio. 

My husband and I are both alums of Miami and we have maintained football and hockey season tickets for their teams.  The last three years have been very special to see our "boys" play for Miami.  This is the final year for us to have players who have lived with us playing for the Miami hockey team. 

So over the summer we take a trip to Oxford, Ohio and spend some time (usually dinner) with whichever boys are there taking summer classes.  This week we spent some time with three players who are very special to us.  It was so much fun!  We talked and laughed and caught up on the news about players who have graduated or who we all know.  It was at this dinner that we found out that Jeff Blashill (former Miami and Indiana Ice coach) was named head coach for the Detroit Red Wings. 

This will be a bittersweet year for us.  It is a year when we will see some outstanding young men complete their college hockey careers (and complete college).  We have enjoyed knowing these young men since they were in their teens.  Now they are adults and getting ready to move on into life after college.  We will stay in touch but the chances of meeting up will become fewer as they move on in life. 

Yet I would not change this for anything.  Having this opportunity to be part of the life of some outstanding young people has made my life richer.  I will treasure every opportunity to spend time with them as they finish their college careers and move on to their life goals (professional hockey, coaching, business or whatever life brings to them).  I also look forward to the invitations to weddings, announcements about babies in the future, and possibly an invitation to a Stanley Cup party! 

OK, do I just drive to work or launch a rocket with this technology?

So this week I purchased a new 2015 Ford Escape.  This is the first new car I have had in probably 20 years.  In the past I have purchased used cars.  I got this car because Ford was having a great sale and I was able to "upgrade" for the same payment - these are the words of my salesman, Jay.

It is a pretty slick car with Microsoft's "Sync" (who in my opinion sounds like Apple's "Suri" - could they be sisters? ).  I can use voice commands to call people with the Bluetooth connection to my phone.  Of course my son, James, always tells me he hates people who use the speaker on their phones when they call him.  I tell him he should be happy his mom is still around to call him, even if she uses Bluetooth. 

I have a camera and navigation and enough electronics to probably launch a rocket to the moon or somewhere else in space.  The climate control has two zones, so my husband Bob can put his side of the car on subzero (or the meat locker number as I call it).

It also has lots of safety features, even knee air bags!  For someone of my age the thought of keeping my knees safe in a possible collision is pretty attractive!  This car also does not have keys!  It has one of those electronic ignition systems.  I just push the button to start it and turn it off.  I have the turning on part of it down pretty well.   I wonder how long it will be before I stop reaching for the keys to turn the car off? 

It has been fun driving this new car but I find there are so many distractions.  I'm going to have to park it and just play with all the controls.  Or I can call the "Sync Specialist" at the car dealership (who looks like he is about 12-years-old) and he will give me another lesson.  For someone like me who is easily distracted I just have to focus on keeping my eyes on the road when I am driving.  I will leave all the fun stuff for the times I am parked and want to explore. 

Lessons from Comcast (Part 2)

Sometimes I wonder am I an idiot or just a glutton for punishment?  A few months ago I wrote about my experience with Comcast and the decision to leave that provider after many years.  We moved to AT&T Uverse  after they gave us an offer we could not refuse.  Then I learned the following:

Lesson #1 from Comcast - when you want to try and re-negotiate your Comcast package don't call customer service.  Call the cancellation department (or what they call the customer retention department).  They will make you some great offers to stay!  

Unfortunately I had already had Uverse installed and thought I would live happily ever after with AT&T.  Well I was wrong.  My husband hated the channel line up we got.  We could not get CBS "on demand" - it was not available in our area.  Then we could not get a stable WIFI connection in our house.  I really did not want to be in my house and using my data plan for my phone! 

So I called AT &T and we parted ways.  A Comcast sales person had left a flyer and a card in our door.  It was some great offers and since we had moved to AT&T we were now a NEW CUSTOMER just what Comcast (and most other providers love!!!) 

So after the salesperson visited us and made us some great offers we settled on a plan which included home security for less than we were paying AT&T.  I had to sign a two year agreement to get the pricing I wanted.  So I signed the agreement and thought all is well!

WRONG!!!

Comcast installed our new system with all the new bells and whistles.  Fine, Fine, Fine.  My husband was happy, he had his channels back.  I was happy because I really do prefer Comcast - at least the WIFI worked. 

Then I got my bill.  WHAT!!!  It was significantly higher than what was on my 2 year agreement.  They charged me for things that should have been free (installation, digital receivers).  Then they charged me for the installation of 4 new jacks in my house on a day there was no technician in my house. 

I called customer service (talked to Candace).  She was unable to help and told me her "superior, Al" would be calling me back to sort through the problem.  No call, no change on my bill.  So I was able to get to a vice president of Comcast locally.  He was very helpful but I still had to send him a copy of the agreement so they could correct my bill. 

The other problem was our phone (xfinity Voice) would not stay on.  It would work for a few days and then we would get the message "No Line"  That issue is still not fixed but the vice president has got several people involved and we think we are on the right track.  In talking to customer service people they have asked me "who was the technician who came to your house"  I don't know!!  Don't you have that in your system.  Unfortunately once a service ticket has been cleared all records are eliminated from the system.  So they don't know who came to my house and did not fix our phone problem and also charged me for service not done.  No wonder as a company they have a culture of blame. 

So here is Comcast lesson #2:  Get the name and customer service number of everyone you talk to on the phone and every technician who comes to your house.  Evidently Comcast does not keep track of those things!!! 

Now I have to admit that in the midst of this journey with Comcast I have talked to some wonderful people who seem to be great employees focused on making my experience as a customer the best.  They are working to resolve my issues with the phone and with my bill.  I am sure it will be worked out sometime soon.  When all is done Comcast does have the best stuff (equipment, technology and offerings) so once this is all worked out I will be very happy.  Of course in two years my agreement will be done and I will be calling them again to negotiate a better price.

Although in two years who knows what the technology will be for home internet and entertainment?