Kitty, kids and a moral dilemma

A big entry just went up in smoke. Not OD’s fault! Little One walked on the keyboard.

She is recovering nicely from her surgery. I found the dog kennel from when Moodie was a pup and have it set up for her – a little blanket, a litter box and a spot to put her food and water. She was feeling pretty rough on Thursday but each day is more energetic! As long as she is wearing her cone, she is allowed to run around the house now. But, she obviously sees the kennel as a safe zone and his in there now even though the door is open.

My biggest worry about this surgery was the risk of ‘fecal incontinence’ so I’m sure you will appreciate my joy at finding a big messy poop in her kitty littler yesterday when I got home from work!

She’s going to be fine!

Hopefully my bank account will be as well ..

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Lara told me the other night that she plans to propose to her boyfriend. She said he’ll never do it and since she was the one who asked him out in the first place, she figures this is the way to do it! She has designed complimentary engagement rings and hopes they will be ready within a month.

I’m not sure if I mentioned that she got a job on another ‘camp’. She is really enjoying this one! She is the head baker (well, the only baker) so she has a lot of freedom and gets to plan what to make and does her own ordering of supplies. She still works nights, but has a 10 hours shift instead of 12 and that is proving to be a lifesaver! She’s finished her first rotation and is home this week.

… anyway … now that she’s back to making the big bucks, she can afford things like engagement rings.

I’m hoping that she remembers she has committed to sending me money towards Little One’s surgery.

I’ll remind her if it seems that she has forgotten …

She plans to pop the question next time she’s home.

Exciting! I’ll keep you posted as this adventure unfolds!

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Erin and her boyfriend are supposed to be going on a trip this weekend. Driving 4 hours, into the US.

I have a few concerns …

1) we are having a snowstorm. There is no way I am venturing out in this …

2) her boyfriend is not an experienced driver

3) they are renting a car. Rental cars do not have snow tires

4) they don’t have any travel insurance. If she had actually submitted the paperwork for her health benefits, she would … but she, like her mother and sister, is a procrastinator so benefits she has earned are not yet available to her

The fact that I am snowed in doesn’t mean they are. Honestly, when I drive the 1 1/2 hours to visit her, I can go from snow to rain to beautiful summer-type weather. For my own peace of mind, I will not be looking at any weather reports until I hear from her on Monday that they are back safe and sound.

Besides that, I’m just trying to forget about it.

Outta sight, outta mind.

I haven’t heard from her yet that they’ve left … perhaps if the weather is bad there they will decide not to go.

… moving on …

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I had a bit of a moral dilemma yesterday …

My new computer crapped out after about 3 weeks. I sent it back to Lenovo for repair.

After a month, I contacted them to see when I could expect it back. Especially since they said I’d have it back within 5 – 10 days.

My call was escalated and a week later I got a call back (the delay was due to Christmas and ice storms. I wasn’t upset).

My case manager looked into it and told me that they were having trouble sourcing the part that was needed so since it was taking so long they were just going to send me a new replacement computer.

A newer, fancier model. I looked on line and saw it on sale for $900. I paid $350 for mine. Not a bad compromise!

On Tuesday I got an e-mail that the computer would be delivered in the next day or two.

When I got home on Wednesday, I had a notice waiting from UPS telling me I could pick up a parcel the next day. I was very excited! I was a bit surprised that it had come home since I asked the case manager to deliver it to my office to make sure someone would be there to sign for it, but since all the other correspondence had been to my home address I didn’t really think much of it.

On Thursday, since I had taken the day off to be home with Little One, I went to the UPS store to get my new computer! Exciting!!

Imagine my confused surprise when I opened the box and found a computer with a note ‘here is your repaired computer. This is what we did …’.

A couple hours later, a coworker texted me to tell me my computer had been delivered there!

So, here I am with TWO computers!

The replacement model is REALLY nice! I like it way better than the one I originally bought.

But, I don’t think I should keep it. Because it was to replace the other one – not as well as the other one.

I asked people at work what to do. Some of them told me to just keep them both and not say anything.

A couple agreed with me that I needed to alert the case manager and ask if they wanted one back. (This was definitely the less popular option).

So, I sent her an e-mail and told her they had both arrived and said I wouldn’t do anything with either of them until I heard back from her advising if they wanted either of them back.

In my opinion, good customer service would say “Thanks for letting us know … most people wouldn’t! Please keep both computers!” That’s what we do (unless it is a huge error). In the grand scheme of things, the computer probably represents a handful of change to them and processing my return would represent more of a cost than the value of the computer. Plus … since it actually shipped from China, that shows they don’t actually have any inventory on hand, so they wouldn’t have anywhere to put it!

I figure I’ll give her until Tuesday or Wednesday before I accept the gift of the new computer. Because that will have been ample time for her to reply and, as they say, no news is good news.

The worst that will happen is she says “Thanks for letting me know. Please send the replacement computer back” and I will not be out anything.

What would you have done??

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Guess that’s it for now!

* I WISH YOU WELL! *