The World According To Kate » rants

Welcome Back, February!

Kate Czlapinski — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 12:17:17 +0000

Oh, hello February, welcome back! I almost didn’t see you there – you came in so quietly. I see you’ve brought with you my normal month-long head cold. Thank you! How thoughtful, what a positively delightful birthday gift!

You know, February, nobody is a bigger fan of yours than I am. I like to celebrate with you from the 1st through the 28th. Once every four years, we even get an extra day of celebration. How cool is that? No other month has that awesome feature. I even love Valentine’s Day, and always have – even when I was perennially single! What’s not to love? It’s Katesmas Eve! It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Oh Dear February, as much as I do adore you, perhaps we can rethink this whole head cold thing next year. I mean it’s a lovely gift and all, but it kind of cramps my style… I mean, we celebrate pretty hard, and I would prefer to not have to do it through a cough suppressant induced haze and a sea of phlegm. As wonderful as it all is, it makes it a bit difficult for me to really enjoy all the awesome food and adult beverages I plan to consume. And should one really be mixing cold meds with copious amounts of alcohol? Silly question, of course they should if it’s their birthday (month…)!

So I was just thinking, maybe next year, the head cold can be like a going away gift that you present to me on the 29th (yay, a leap year!). I mean, I don’t really need to be Kate at a Ten for March. March sucks. It’s crazy busy at work, and while it claims to be “in like a lion and out like a lamb”, it is normally far too leonine for me even at months end! Really, I think I would rather be a little groggy for it…

Anyway, welcome back February! You’ve been missed – even with your stupid head cold!

Bond Dinettes : Final Update

Kate Czlapinski — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:56:36 +0000

As you may recall from past updates, I was having a bit of an issue with a local business, Bond Dinettes, that sold us a dining room set last Fall. After several months of excuses, we finally got out dining room table back in March – about 4 months after we originally placed our order, when we were given an estimated delivery time of between 4 and 8 weeks.

The table was beautiful and all we had hoped for, but we were still waiting on the chairs that we had ordered. They gave us some loaner chairs while they worked on getting us the ones we’d ordered. The chairs did not match the table at all, but that was fine – eventually we would get our chairs. Weeks passed… still no word on our chairs. Weeks turned into months and we still could not get a straight answer from the company about what was going on with our order. Eventually we found out that we may not be able to get these chairs and may actually have to select new ones from them.

I had put my father on the task of calling them, because I had already lost all patience with this process. He called regularly, but often couldn’t get a hold of a person to speak with. He also sent e-mails, which always went unanswered. Eventually, in August, it was determined that we would in fact have to order some new chairs from them.

At this point, we really didn’t want to have to do business with them any longer and wanted to just get our money back for the chairs, but were told that this was impossible. They just didn’t do that. We would have to order new chairs. My mother was going to go through her credit card company and rescind payment, but first we wanted to get a price of the table to find out how much these chairs were, because the invoice wasn’t itemized and we didn’t really know how much these chairs cost. I know, amateur mistake – we’ll know next time to get things right, but we’ve really never had a problem like this before.

So one night, while I was of course busy working a billion hours a day (bet you didn’t know you could work a billion hours a day in the standard 24 hour day – it’s called multi-tasking, people), my parents went down to the store to see what they could find out, and the strangest thing happened…. They found someone helpful to talk to! They spoke with a gentleman named Steven who was super helpful and accommodating and told us he could get us some other chairs within 2 to 3 weeks and that we could have something in writing specifying a delivery date and if that date is not met then we would get our money back.

And this is just what we did. We found some lovely chairs that actually match our table and they were delivered to us in just a matter of days! Days! We also got a check from them because these chairs were cheaper than the ones we originally ordered. So it only took about 11 months, but I finally have a complete matching dining room set – and I love it.

I obviously cannot at all recommend doing business with Bond Dinettes after my ordeal, but if for some reason, you local folks feel you MUST buy something from them (and why would you?), I would only do business with Steven.

What Recession?

Kate Czlapinski — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:23:52 +0000

So, because I don’t live completely under a rock I have heard that we are in bit of a recession…

I occasionally climb out from under my rock and go somewhere outside of work or home (or the home office) and I socialize and shop and dine out. In fact, lately I think I’ve perhaps done a little too much of all three of them. This recession, my friends, is no fault of mine. I have been working very hard to fuel the economy with lots and lots of consumer spending You think things look bad now? They would be far worse without my valiant efforts. You’re welcome.

Anyway… in my adventures in economic rescue, I have noticed something peculiar. I’m not the only one who is out fighting the good fight. In fact, some people may actually be doing a better job than I am. They’re making me look bad!

Recently, we’ve been spending some time drinking and dining out and having grand times in West Hartford Center – a mecca in CT for trendy, somewhat upscale, and fairly expensive shops and restaurants. And folks, it is hopping in The Center! There are lots and lots of people - young and old – spending a good deal of money on food and entertainment. It’s actually quite nice to see an area that’s really thriving in these economic conditions, but it does make you wonder… how hard are these people working their credit cards? Maybe they’ve just said “screw it, I’m having a great time while I can” – which is a sentiment I can somewhat relate to.

Now, people aren’t just dining out – they’re shopping too! I thought I was doing a great job keeping the economy afloat with recent purchases of a laptop, a Blackberry with a shiny new data plan… and my ever growing collection of running shoes! Sunday, however, my mother and I took a trip down to the outlets and we of course made a stop at the Coach store. I have never seen anything so ridiculous. It was like Black Friday in there. The sales were good, but they weren’t that good. People were pushing and shoving and definitely not saying excuse me while they grabbed these expensive hand bags off the shelves. Some of these women already had six purses in their arms… and they were actually buying them – all of them! Now these women were really making me look bad. I am just not that frivolous…what do they even NEED six purses for??? I don’t know if I’m cut out for these kind of sacrifices.

I guess I am just clearly not working hard enough… I need to go buy more running shoes. Or six BMW’s.

Bond Dinettes: 6 Month Update

Kate Czlapinski — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:58:15 +0000

So I thought it was time to update everyone on my battle with Bond Dinettes in Newington, CT…

As of yesterday, it has been 6 months since I placed the order with them for my dining set… We ordered it on November 25th. As you may recall, I received the table (after constantly pressuring their customer service department) back in March – about 4 months after the order was placed. Per their original estimates, the full set should have arrived 4 – 8 weeks after the order was initially placed, so… sometime in January?

Well, we still have no chairs… and they are still NOT helpful. We’ve handed the project of daily calling over to my father who is home all day anyway these days. His luck has so far been no better than mine or my mother’s was (when I handed the project over to her back in February, thinking she’d be much better at laying on the pressure than I am).

While I have no chairs yet (just the non-matching loaner ones provided with the table), we DO have some new excuses! These chairs that I was told have been made and are sitting somewhere in Kentucky since January cannot be delivered because the truck is not full… or at least that’s what we were told several months ago. Wouldn’t you think they would have just had them delivered once the estimated delivery time had been reached? We’ve most recently been informed that there have been difficulties because the manufacturer was sold to another company? Also, they won’t tell us any information about this company… We’ve offered to just go down and pick up the damn chairs ourselves, but no… they can’t do that.

Again, I cannot stress how much I cannot advise doing business with this company. SIX MONTHS! SIX MONTHS! Absolutely unacceptable.

Mom Demands Recall of Yearbook

Kate Czlapinski — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:44:44 +0000

So basically, this high school girl didn’t wear underwear on club picture day… because she didn’t want to show her panty lines. Instead, however, she didn’t sit like a lady in the photo and showed a whole lot more!

OK, I understand that this is very embarrassing for the young girl, but according to some it’s just a shadow, so how bad can it really be? And stuff always seems to get through in the yearbook editing process… and yearbook recalls are not the norm in this sort of situation.

So not having seen an unedited version of the photo, I can’t really say how I feel about the subject. But I can tell you this: watch the video. This girl gets in trouble for not sitting like a lady in a yearbook photo, okay… but she clearly still has not learned her lesson, because here she in on CNN and… surprise surprise, still not sitting like a lady! You’d think she would have learned her lesson! I say brush yourself off, move on, and call this a learning experience.

And next time you don’t want to show your panty lines, wear a thong for chrissake!

http://news.aol.com/article/exposure-in-yearbook/485345

EDIT 5/17/2009: So I’ve seen the unedited pictures (just Google it – they’re all over the place), and yeah… there’s no getting around it – it really does look a lot more like crotch than shadow. I don’t know… still doesn’t change my opinion that this girl needs to sit like a damn lady!

American Idol Top 3: Who’s Going Home?

Kate Czlapinski — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:36:43 +0000

Awww shit! It’s that time again!

So we’re down to 3… and someone’s going home tonight. This is where it really gets exciting. I won’t lie, I really am excited – even though, overall, American Idol causes me ridiculous amounts of hate and rage every damn season. But I am excited.

Who do we have left? These guys:

So yeah, America, if Adam ends up going home tonight you’ll have disappointed me almost as badly as that time you re-elected Bush back in 2004. Don’t make me consider moving to Canada twice in less than a five year period.

We Want Torre

Kate Czlapinski — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:33:26 +0000

Chants of “We Want Torre” could be heard in the 9th inning of Tuesday night’s game versus the Red Sox, as the Yankees lost their 5th consecutive game (and every game so far this season) to our division rivals. It was pretty painful. I don’t know that we necessarily want Joe Torre back managing the Yankees, but thing sure were looking a lot better when he was around. One thing is for sure, the new Joe – Girardi this time – certainly hasn’t been all we had hoped that he would be We expected him to infuse new life and energy into the team and that unfortunately has just not happened. Torre, however, has had some great success with the managing the Dodgers since . Sigh. The Yankees have now dropped below .500. The season is still young, but it’s just not looking too pretty.

Muahahaha! Human Cloning???

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:55:26 +0000

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fertility-expert-i-can-clone-a-human-being-1672095.html

Dr Zavos, a controversial fertility doctor claims to have cloned 14 human embryos and planted 11 of them into the wombs of 4 women. None of the transfers led to a viable pregnancy, but the doctor fully believes that with intensified efforts the world could see it’s first healthy cloned baby within the next year or two.

What?

Ummm… anyone see anything wrong with this? While I’m thrilled that it CAN be done (it’s awesome that the technology is out there), I’m not so sure it should be done… Weird.

Hey, on a brighter note we could one day have our own clone army! The future is here.

Case of 13 year old Strip-Searched in School Goes to Supreme Court

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:18:23 +0000

13 year old Savana Redding was strip searched in school, because it was believed that she may be in possession of prescription strength Ibuprofen.

- Strip-Searched? Isn’t that taking it a little far???
- She was 13… I remember when I was 13. It would be really uncomfortable as an adult. At 13, it would be pretty traumatizing.
- She was an honor student…with no record of misbehavior. How did they treat the bad kids?
- All that for prescription strength Ibuprofen (the equivalent of 2 Advil)? What if it were something a little more serious?
- Oh yeah, and she was clean… no Ibuprofen.

IBUPROFEN??? Really??? Really???

It just all seems pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. The case was heard in the Supreme Court today… If you want more details (my rants weren’t enough?), you can check it out here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103326158

Bond Dinettes: I’m Not The Only One…

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:27:03 +0000

So apparently I’m not the only one who has had some trouble with this furniture retailer. Many people have had very similar issues with the store throughout the years and the store even has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau! This story was run in the Hartford Courant today:

http://blogs.courant.com/george_gombossy/2009/04/for-a-smallbusiness-man-stephe.html

April Fool’s Day

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:42:51 +0000

I hate April Fool’s Day. I’m sorry, but it’s just plain obnoxious. People, you’re not funny – you’re annoying, and practical jokes are neither funny nor practical. Think about it.

Also, I am so glad I wasn’t in the office today, because what’s worse than April Fool’s Day? April Fool’s Day at work and your coworkers are trying (and failing) at being funny. They fail every day… but today? Today they fail with purpose.

Random Thought of The Day

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:10:30 +0000

Who the hell decided that the Osbournes needed to have another show? Haven’t we already been down this road? Who really wanted to see these people on television again? And when did Ozzy become such a whore?

Bond Dinettes: Update

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:31:52 +0000

So it has now been over 4 months, yes 4 months, since the order for my dining room table and six chairs was initially placed, and guess what? STILL NO CHAIRS! The approximate 4 to 8 week time frame given has now turned into 4 months – double the maximum time given. How is this OK? I can safely say that I will not be doing business with Bond Dinettes again in the future.

Bond Dinettes

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:14:20 +0000

So this weekend we got a brand spanking new dining room table… it’s beautiful and all I’d hoped for. It was a Christmas gift from my parents. That’s right… a Christmas gift… that I JUST got. Now, this isn’t really a belated Christmas gift as it was ordered shortly before Thanksgiving from Bond Dinettes in Newington and were told to expect it within 4-8 weeks, which was longer than I had really wanted to wait, but then I’d already gone so long without a proper dining set that I thought ‘really, what was a few extra weeks?’.

Around week 6, we started making regular phone calls to the store inquiring about the status of our order and we were repeatedly fed 6 lines of total BS regarding storms in Kentucky and the poor economy and blah blah blah.

I have now, at week 14 (or is it 15? I’ve lost count), finally received my table… but NO CHAIRS. The chairs have STILL not arrived. They have given us six loaner chairs… six chairs that do not match the set. They are lovely chairs, but they do not match the table. Fine. However, we still really do not know when the chairs will be received. We will be making more calls to the store.

While the furniture seems to be nice enough and well made, I cannot recommend doing business with Bond Dinettes… unless you don’t mind making repeated phone calls, getting little to no information, and having to wait months and months to receive your furniture. If you’re into that sort of thing, go for it.

Anyhow… here is a picture of our brand new dining room table with 6 non-matching chairs: