Thankful for Hot Water :)

So the past few days have been full of frustration and head shaking. We had a leak in our hot water tank, which we discovered Friday night, so we called Direct Energy since we are on a rental contract with them. They had a bunch of problems on their end saying that they could not find our contract, and that they have no record of us renting a hot water tank from them. Good thing I save and file every single bill we get -- I have 4 years of proof that we've been paying a rental fee to Direct Energy Home Services for the hot water tank. In the end, they said that they would send someone out on Sunday to have a look at it, and we'd have to show them our bill as proof that we are paying the rental fee.

Sunday rolls around, and in the 4-hour window that they said a technician would show up, one nice technician came to our door to look at the leak. We mentioned the issue we had with Direct Energy not having our contract, and with one look at the tank, he said "This is definitely one our ours". He cuts and caps off the pipes and says that we need a new water heater. Since we are on contract, we'll get one switched with no charges...and since it was Sunday, the department that deals with this is closed, so I was told that I would be getting a call after 8am on Monday, and they will have it switched out Monday evening.

Monday rolls around....I keep my phone with me all day in hopes of receiving the phone call. Unfortunately, my phone did not buzz once. I ended up calling Direct Energy when I got home from work, and I was told that there was nothing in their computer system saying that I had an appointment. They ask for some information, and then proceed to tell me that they cannot find a contract, and the water heater is not theirs. Are you kidding me? They sent out a technician just the day before, who did some paperwork and said it was theirs. Now, all of a sudden, we don't exist in their system? What kind of communication system does Direct Energy use? Where do they store all of their customer info? I was beyond mad, being transferred between people, who need to talk to their supervisors because they cannot find our contract. Not only did they not call back when I was told I would be called with an appointment time, I was also promised to have the replacement tank Monday evening. After talking to many people who kept telling me that the tank does not belong to Direct Energy, I decided to file a complaint. Am I really paying $14.99 a month for nothing? Do you as a company not keep track of your funds? Because if I am paying a monthly fee to not have your tank, then you should have an overage of 14.99 every month....since you are so adamant that the tank is not yours, then I should be reimbursed for 14.99 per month for 4 years, with interest, right? Long story short, and 4 hours later, I finally managed to get an appointment for Tuesday.

So Tuesday rolls around...and at 1030am, two nice guys come to my door all ready to switch out my hot water tank. About 20 minutes after they finish and leave, I hear a knock at my door. I opened it up to see a technician who is here to check on the leak of my hot water tank....because they always send out a technician to look at it before they do any switches. Great company. What kind of computer systems do they use? They seem to lose important customer information, and they also double book their appointments. Ugh. I hate dealing with these companies. Why do I have to rely on them so much???

I have to say though, I enjoyed a nice run in the beautiful weather, followed by a nice warm shower. I am very thankful for hot water.

No More White Rabbit Candy :(

So now there is yet another unsafe item to talk about. I am embarrassed for China for being so careless when it comes to the safety of their people. If you think about it, they are only hurting their own future, since a lot of these tainted food items are geared towards babies and kids. I just don't get it. They want to be the best in everything, yet they are hurting their own chances of growing by hurting the future generations. Also, all this bribery and such is not helping them one bit. Whoever is gaining from this is very greedy and selfish, and I hope that they will soon see the effects of their actions.

Frustrations of Moving

Since I love Danny so much, I agreed to marry him, and then I moved in with him. And here is where the stress starts. We ended up hiring movers to move all my stuff, since the piano would have been pretty difficult to do by ourselves (especially with only one muscle man to do it...).
So these movers that we hired came to pick up my belongings on the 13th of August, and I packed all the things that I could live without for a couple weeks in boxes for them to move. Now that it's August 28th, I'm still waiting for my things to come. My Wesley can only fit so much, and he did an excellent job at bringing up the computer, the printer, the Wii, my turtles with all their accessories, and everything else. But now, I just want my other things!!!!!! I've been living in the same 3 outfits for the past few weeks now, since all the clothes Danny brought up for me before are all winter clothes. So this shipping company called me last Friday to tell me that my things will be shipped on Monday, and that she will call me then to confirm payment. I was so excited that I waited at home all day Monday...and the only phone calls I received were annoying telemarketers. Then I waitied all day Tuesday..and the same thing! (I'll save my telemarketer rant for another day). So on Wednesday, I decided to email this company, and I received a reply saying that they are 'sorry, but they are very busy at the warehouse'. They finally called me today, and I just gave very short answers, and the lady askes me "is everything alright"? and to that, I answered her by telling her they should have notified me if there was a delay, and that I waited at home all day on Monday and Tuesday because they said they would contact me. Blah blah blah...long story short...she apologized again, saying that they were busy at the warehouse. Well you know what? I'm never going to go with them again. And if you are going to hire movers, contact me, and I will gladly tell you who NOT to go with.

Making a Comeback

I can't make up my mind between Xanga and Blogspot, so I guess I'll use this one for a little while and then link to the other one when I feel I need to.
I think the main reason I am back here is that I am about to enter into a new chapter in my life, so with the change, I needed to take a break from my Xanga days.

So to update, I'm getting married in 3 days. THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!! And, on top of that, I will be relocating to a new city; one that I have just visited a couple of months ago. So with all this wedding planning that has been going on the last 10 months of so, I think that I've been pretty laid back and relaxed [total opposite of the dreaded bridzilla!]. And I think that I just had my most freak out-ish moment...just now.

What is with people rsvp-ing a week before the wedding to say that they are sorry, but they would like to attend?? Ok, so I understand, people have tons of stuff to schedule, and there is always miscommunication between people. Ok, so I contact the venue, and we scratch our heads as to how we can add these seats. This is where I started getting a bit firmer, in that I wanted to certain tables to be in close proximity to other tables. So...there were tables I did not want to switch. Well finally, today, I figured it out with the venue, and the chairs will be back to back when people are sitting, but you know what, when you reply a week before, this is the best I can do. So that was settled. But, here's the kicker. I notified our guests to say that we have made arrangements for them, and then I get a reply saying that they cannot come afterall!! WHAT?? I really wanted to poke someone's eye out!!! It's not only the seating, but the making of extra favours, and name tags, and notifying people that are helping out with the seating and the venues, and then....they cannot come??? So now I have to contact these people all over again to let them know that they can just ignore all the changes that I painstakingly made..!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the funny thing is...I don't even know who these people are....I hope that I will be able to laugh about it sometime in the future, but not right now, and probably not tomorrow...or the day after that. UGH!

*update: I just realized that the joke is on me...I still need to pay for their meals now, because I have to put the final numbers in 72 hours in advance. Thank you, lovely guests.