I enjoyed my visit to see dad and K. in NJ. Oh, and of course, I got plenty of playtime in with the newest addition to the household, Bailey the dachsund.



Bailey gets along well with the 2 cats in the house, but he is very jealous if you pay attention to anyone else! He's still just a puppy, but he has learned some impressive things, like when he needs to go pee or poop outside, he rings the bell on the front door knob. Very cool! He is a ball of energy.

My dad was getting the countertops in the kitchen replaced, so the whole time i was there 3 workmen were in there doing theier thing. The whole kitchen was in disarray, so we eat out breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was dad's treat, he'll never let me pay.

It was so bitterly cold there, and we wanted to make ourselves scarce while the work guys were there, so K. and I went to the mall to kill some time. We also went to her jeweler, where she is getting my grandmother's engagement ring put in a new setting. (My dad gave it to her.) My dad and i also did breakfast together, just the 2 of us, so i got some good quality time with both him and K., who i consider a good friend. She's not actually a step-mother, cus they're not married, but they've been together 12 years, so it's almost the same thing.

The ride there and back was traffic-free, something i always appreciate.

I still don't have my insulated tab curtains from Plow & Hearth, which i ordered back in November. They were out of stock at the time, but they indicated i'd have them at a certain date, well before Xmas. Well, Xmas came and went, and each time i called to find out what was going on, i got a new ship date. Each time, that ship date has passed. One rep actually told me that other customer service reps will assure you you'll have it by such and such a date becus they don't want to get berated by a customer, so they promise something that isn't true. Grrr. The latest ship date of January 1 has now been pushed back to January 15. By the time i get the curtains, it'll be spring. I wrote an angry letter to Plow & Hearth online.

I was supposed to get an oil delivery yesterday, and had spoken with a supplier who gave me a priceof $3.15 a gallon. Then he called me the day before and said the price had jumped to $3.25. I was not happy. I remember other suppliers i've bought from who honored the price they gave you, even if the price rose in the few days lapse between the time you ask for a delivery and the day you get it. I mean, how would i ever know if this guy was just trying to make an extra buck off me? So i told him I didn't want it anymore. He said, well, if you're gonna cop an attitude.... I was quite surprised he said that and i just said I'm not copping an atittude, i just don't want the oil at that price anymore.

So i called another supplier and got it at close to the same price that this one had originally quoted, $3.19 a gallon. I won't be getting it til Tuesday, so don't know if the same thing's gonna happen with this supplier, but at this point, i'll just have to suck it up and pay regardless.

When i returned from dad's, had a phone message from the accounting department of a freelance client i've been trying to get to pay me $270 for some very old projects i did in October. (Obviously, these are 2 jobs that fell thru the cracks there.) But i couldn't believe it when she said, umm, would you mind either faxing or emailing me the invoices for the jobs in question? I've emailed these to the sales managera total of 4 times and i don't think they should be putting this back on me becus of their own ineptness. Besides, she didn't leave me her email address and i don't have a fax machine. So i emailed the sales manager who gives me the work. Good riddance.

Just a few of my periodic frustrations. Trying to tie up loose ends this weekend.