Dishwasher Saga - First World Problem #1

Did I tell you about living without my dishwasher and garbage disposal for 5 weeks?

No?

I lived without my dishwasher and garbage disposal for 5 weeks, which included Thanksgiving.

Thank goodness we did not host this year.

The dishwasher started leaking in early November. The Husband called for service and it was scheduled for November 10th.

The service man could not fix it on-site. It needed to go to the shop. He couldn't remove the dishwasher the day he made that discovery.  He had to schedule another person for that job.  But wait, the service man forgot to schedule the removal/pick-up.  Days later someone finally came and took the dishwasher.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Dialing the phone:

"What's up with our dishwasher?"

"The part we ordered came in broken.  We have to order another one.  It will be another week."

We thought, "Thanks for not calling us and giving us an update."

Waiting.

My phone buzzes.  I read a text from The Husband that the dishwasher is being installed. Hip, Hip, Hurrah!

I arrive home from work and The Husband is standing in front of the dishwasher. The top drawer is full of water.  WHAT???!!!

The guy installed the machine, turned on cycles for both dish drawers and left!

The bottom drawer made a horrible noise and the top drawer wouldn't drain.

I grabbed the phone and called the service department. I was less than happy when they answered. There was run around about not being sure if they could schedule someone out the next day to fix the unit and I told them the service manager needed to phone us to discuss. I was very vocal regarding why the installer left without ensuring both drawers finished the wash cycle and performed correctly.

We received a phone call the next morning and The Husband told them they needed to send a technician out, not an installer.  A couple of hours later, a technician appeared.

Final result, a piece of plastic was caught in the works of the bottom dish drawer.  It was removed and it worked fine.  The problem with the top drawer was the plug from the drain line in the top drawer into the garbage disposal line had not been removed.

Basically, it was shoddy installation work.

I posted this comment on Facebook on December 12th

We finally have a working dishwasher again. We've been without (and without the garbage disposal) since Nov 10th. I am so glad it is fixed. I know those 2 things are not necessities because I grew up hand washing dishes and we didn't have a garbage disposal until I was a teenager. But I am THRILLED to have them again!

I realize this is a total First World Problem.

What was so frustrating was the lack of communication about the status of the repair and then the shoddy installation work. Customer service isn't what it used to be.

I'll have another customer service story for you in a few days.  That issue lasted months!

How do you handle poor customer service?

Christmas Eve Dinner & Christmas Morning Breakfast

We spent the night at The Sister's house on Christmas Eve, as is our long standing tradition.

The Sister, as always, had set a pretty dinner table for us.

The Brother-in-Law fixed us pretty Blue Christmas Martinis.

The Sister and The Brother-in-Law fixed a fabulous meal.

Pernil (Puerto Rican Roast Pork)

Arroz con Gandules (Rice and Pigeon Peas)

Steamed Broccoli (cheese optional)

I made Holiday Salad, which is a favorite of ours.

We all confessed it's a favorite in large part because 

of the prosciutto goat cheese packets on top!

Dessert was mini brownie bundt cakes.

Christmas morning started later than in years past. 

The girls slept until after 8:00am.  What?

Fun was had by all opening the gifts. 

There was the traditional "bow on the head" moment.

The Husband has been "under the weather" recently, but was feeling good this morning.

 

To quote the nieces, "This is the best Christmas ever!"

For breakfast we had a "new to us" casserole.

Crescent Rolls

Breakfast Sausage

Cream Cheese

Grated Colby Jack Cheese 

Cover the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan with a layer of Crescent Rolls 

Brown sausage; remove from hot skillet 

Place cream cheese in hot skillet to soften 

When the cream cheese is soft, stir in the sausage and mix well 

Pour mixture in the casserole pan 

Sprinkle grated cheese over the mixture 

Top with a layer of Crescent Rolls 

Bake according to Crescent Roll directions 

Thanks to my sister-in-law's sister, Margaret for the above recipe.

It was a BIG hit!

I'll end this post with my new favorite picture of myself with the older niece.

I hope your holidays were merry & bright!

Phase versus Faze #2

I just read a blog post that did not spell faze correctly, 

given the context in which the word was used.

I wrote about this issue here first. 

Come on, people!

Don't always rely on spell check. 

Think about the meaning and context of the words you are using.

P.S. If you EVER catch me using a word out of context, PLEASE correct me!

Thanksgiving Recap - 2014

We spent the day with The Sister and her family.

A lovely time was had by all.

The Sister with the beautiful table she put together for us. 

Another view of the table. 

The food was delicious and plentiful.

We started with my deviled eggs and 

a fruit and cheese selection prepared by our own Sweet Baby L.

We then progressed to the the standard Thanksgiving fare.

Turkey

(I don't know why I don't have a picture of the bird before carving?)

Tasty side dishes.

So many tasty side dishes, they all didn't fit on the small table.

During dinner we discussed what we were each thankful for this year.  

All the adults mentioned good healthcare. 

We are all fortunate to have it and have had to use it this year.

The kids were thankful for family and friends and food

I love The Sister, The Brother-in-Law and Niece 1 and Niece 2!

 And I love The Husband.

What were you thankful for yesterday?

What are you thankful for today and in the future?

This Week I'm Thankful for Paid Time Off (PTO) and Paid Holidays (among many other things)

I'm on PTO Monday-Wednesday this week.  Thursday and Friday are paid holidays.

{Happy dance!}

A trip to the grocery store is on the agenda today.

Laundry is on the agenda.

Cleaning out 2 dresser drawers is on the agenda also.

What's on your agenda for today?

Text to My Work Group This Morning

"Believe it or not...

The door to our detached garage will not open all the way.  Steve crawled in to disconnect the opener. See his feet?  

But he still can't get it open.

I'll be in as soon as this problem is solved :-)

LOL

{pause}

Now the door won't open at all.  My car and my husband are trapped.  Oh, nooooooooo! Stupid detached garage!

{pause}

He's out!

"

He phoned Tulsa Overhead Door and they said they would send someone out.

I Uber'ed to work. 

Text from The Husband at 12:49pm:

"Cars are out. I'll keep you updated.

{pause}

New springs and new rollers. $300.  Works like new.

"

Of course it does!

Pour versus Pore #2

I first wrote about this issue here.

I was reading a well written paper (I thought) 

on Generation Y in the workplace 

and came across a passage where it stated:

"we poured over the information..." 

instead of 

"we pored over the information..."

Little things like this bug me.

Do they bug you?

Life and Stuff

Life and stuff just happens. You know that is true, correct? Posts here at Cindy's Clipboard are now very random.  I'm trying to do better. We'll see how that works!

The Husband and I participated in the second "Dwell in the IDL" tour on Sunday, 11/09/2014.

We have worked the majority of our corporate careers in downtown Tulsa.  We are thrilled classic, Art Deco (and other) buildings in Tulsa are being converted to living spaces.  

We will probably end up in an apartment in one of these buildings when we decide to downsize and sell our 100 year old home...which is just one mile away from many of these places.

We are going to host a great "living estate sale" one day!   :-) 

How about you? Are you thinking about downsizing sometime in the near (3-5 years) future?

Where would you end up?  

An urban environment?

A retirement community?

In your home state? Or, a retirement state (Florida or Arizona)?

Smothered Steak

I made my sister-in-law's Smothered Steak tonight.

I served it to The Husband with mashed potatoes (real butter, sour cream, salt & pepper).

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Claudia's Smothered Steak

• 2 1/2 pounds of boneless round steak, cut in serving pieces 
• Season with salt and pepper
• Dredge in flour
• Heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a large skillet
• Brown meat on both sides

Combine and whisk until smooth:

• 3 Tablespoons of flour
• 1 Teaspoon of Garlic Salt
• 1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Dash of Hot Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons of Water

After the above mixture is smooth, add 2 cups of water and whisk until well blended.

Pour mixture over steak.  

Cover and cook over medium heat 50-60 minutes or until tender.

Serve with mashed potatoes. (Or, egg noodles!)

I'm planning to take the leftovers to Mom to see how they taste re-heated.

What are you cooking?

Meat and Potato Pie

I made this recipe recently.

If you look at the detail of the url, you see it was published in 2009.

Yes, it only took me FIVE years to try it.

Let me just say, this is an awesome, comfort food recipe.

I loved it.

Mom loved it.

No one else in our family has tried it, but they are not important.

The only important opinions are from Mom and me!

I'm looking for recipes like this that I can prepare for Mom and that are easy to portion out and freeze for later consumption.

I'll report back on the success of freezing a cooked slice of this pie, thawing it and re-heating it in the microwave.

Do you have any dishes that you cook, portion out, freeze and then thaw/reheat it later?

Impossibly Easy Mini Chicken Pot Pies

I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago for my Mom.

Did I tell you she had her second knee replacement on Monday, 9/22/2014?

No?

Well, she did.

Surgery went great.

Rehab was going great, until a blood clot developed in her leg.

Blood thinners began dissolving the clot, reducing the pain and swelling.

During this healing time, she tore her right rotator cuff using the walker.

Why, yes!  It IS the rotator cuff she had repaired last year!

Now, she is in pain trying to lift her arm or move her shoulder.

The Sister and I are alternating days to take care of her.

I'm planning to make this recipe again, putting the pot pies into cupcake liners.

We will see how they taste after they are mixed, baked, frozen, thawed, and re-heated.

More stories to come.

Déjà Vu

: the feeling that you have already experienced something that is actually happening for the first time

: something that has happened many times before : something that is very familiar

Source:   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/déjà%20vu

The Husband and I were working together in the kitchen on Monday evening, 10.13.2014, preparing my "famous" pork chop casserole.  The TV was turned to the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and, of course, the hot topic was Ebola in the United States.

As we performed mundane tasks to put together the casserole, I said to him, "This is Déjà Vu for me! How many movies have I watched where the opening scenes are innocent, routine family life and then by the end of the movie 90% of the population is dead?"

CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!

Outbreak

Contagion

The Last Ship
I Am Legend
The Walking Dead

There are many more shows/movies, but I can't remember the names.

Need I say more?

Are the "preppers" of the world feeling pretty smug now? 

The Kiss

 20 years ago we kissed in The Husband's backyard, 

in front of family and friends.

20 years later we kiss where ever the mood strikes us!

Social Security & Medicare

The Husband and I went to a dinner party last weekend 

with folks he has known since high school.

A good part of the conversation was focused on 

when to "take" social security and how much Medicare costs.

When did we get to be this old?

I'm pretty sure I'm only 33 or 34.

Wait.

Perhaps not!

Old Pics

We are scanning old pictures as we have time.

This is a picture of me in late 1980's. 

I thought I was fat.

How silly.

We really must stop the unhealthy perception of weight.

Haircut

I got a hair cut this week.

Sure is a lot cooler.

Shawnee Corn Pitcher

While I was vacationing last week, The Husband stopped at an estate sale and picked up a pitcher for my Shawnee Corn collection.

I love it!

I have previously written about my collection here.

Sister Trip

My Sister and I took a trip together last week.

No Husbands.

No Children.

Just Sisters.

Four days on the beach in Destin, FL.

The Sea Oats Motel. 

It was awesome.

Rose Table

Just wanted to pop in and say "Hi!"  {{waves}}

We are having friends over for dinner tonight.  The table is ready!

I hope you are having a great summer!

Racism in Oklahoma

We went to visit a friend in the hospital tonight.

A family was walking ahead of us in the lobby with 6 children of various ages...well behaved, nicely dressed, laughing children. 

Another family was walking toward us. A not so well dressed family of father, mother, teen age daughter.

As the family walking toward us passed the family walking ahead of us, the man turned to the woman and said hatefully, "Well, we know what she's done at least six times."

The family ahead of us was black. The family walking toward us was white.

I was speechless.

The Husband said to me (sarcastically), "Racism doesn't exist in America today."

I am so angry with myself that I did not say something to "THAT MAN".

I've decided my response to situations like this (that are more frequent than you may think) will be:

"Judge not, lest you be judged." Matthew 7:1-3
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7%3A1-3&version=KJV

Oklahoma Christians (or any Christians) can't argue with scripture, can they?

Fiori De Como by Dale Chihuly

I recently spent 4 days in Las Vegas attending 

a work related convention at the Bellagio. 

I was very impressed with the 

Fiori De Como by Dale Chihuly, 

which dominates the lobby of the hotel. 

I took the following photos with my iPhone.

It was impossible to get the entire piece in one photo.

I like this photo with the beautiful flower arrangement 

juxtaposed in front of the glass.

However, I love the composition of this photo with the flowers off center.

I also love the yellows and oranges in the upper left corner.

This may be the best picture I have ever taken with my iPhone.

I have not taken the time to see the 

Dale Chihuly exhibition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 

but it is most certainly on my "to do" list now.

Have you seen any of his works?

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Image(s) courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

Happy Snow Day, Ground Hog Day & Superbowl Sunday!

A beautiful snowfall started this morning. 

Big, fluffy, pretty flakes.

I hear we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter. 

I planned a big breakfast for this morning.  

Oatmeal, bacon and toast. 

 We were low on (out of date) bread and had less than a gallon of milk.  

We failed at advance preparation for the snow storm.

I was, however, able to fix a delicious breakfast. 

We gave The Husband the strength to clear the driveway.

 My fireplace mantle decor is appropriate today.

Three snow scenes collected by me and three gifted to me.

Part of my dead lady art collection. 

We have a new Nikon Coolpix S9500 camera. 

I'm not sure I like it.

The mantle pictures are yellowish, don't you think?

The other pics in the post were taken with my iPhone.

I'm going to start this book this afternoon:

S. by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

Oh, and I suppose I'll watch the Super Bowl this evening.

What are you doing today?

Orange is the New Green

Remember 4-5 years ago when green purses were all the rage?

Everywhere I looked...someone was carrying a green purse.

Most people I knew...owned a green purse.

A nephew-in-law is a sales person for the Ashley Furniture Company. 

I asked him what the trend is for 2014. 

His response?

Gray and orange. 

His preference is gray with a pop of orange.

However, they have done some special orders of orange couches. 

Really?

Back to purses...

We spent the weekend in Oklahoma City. 

During the day Saturday, we spent time with our extended family.

Saturday evening, we went to the Thunder game. 

After the game we went to Flint. 

We spent the night at Colcord. 

Sunday morning, we ate breakfast at #2027 Waffle House!

After breakfast, we shopped the OKC Outlet Mall.

Back to purses.

Everywhere I looked this weekend, women were carrying ORANGE purses.

Not GREEN.

ORANGE!

You heard it here first.

Orange is the New Green!

What color purse do you carry?

Decorations: Mission Accomplished

Christmas, 2013 is packed away. 

Except for the poinsettia tablecloth on the dining table.

I'll launder it tomorrow and pack it away.

I promise.

How about your decorations?

New Job (Yes, another one!)

January 2, 2014

I started a new job.

It is with the same company 

where I began a temporary position, 

 on September 23, 2013.

It's a good company.

My preference, 

at this age, 

would be 

to win the lottery, 

take the lump sum, 

and ride off into the sunset.

Unfortunately, 

The Husband says that is not going to happen.

What does HE know?

2014 HGTV Dream Home

Are you entering the giveaway for the 2014 HGTV dream home?

I am!

Happy 2014!!!

It's another New Year, all bright and shiny.  

I'm full of optimisim that good things are going to happen this year. 

How about you?

I hope your 2014 will be spectacular, because that is what I'm planning for mine!

I'm not going to promise that I'm will blog more in 2014. 

My total number of blog posts have declined over the years.

Severely!

2013 = 51

2012 = 114

2011 = 163

2010 = 235

2009 = 237

I still have stories to tell you, some are even in draft status waiting to be finished.

Maybe I should focus on finishing the drafts?  What do you think?

My five year blog anniversary will be February 16, 2014.

I'll try to write a better post on that day than my very first post!

I hope you stick with me in 2014!