Making Updates

I seem to have acquired the ancient Chinese curse of having an interesting life so it's galling that there are not more updates.

I think the primary problem is that this is an anonymous blog. I change names, but too many details would still mean that - if anyone I knew stumbled across this - it could be traced back to me.

Missing My Connection

I have been friends with Peter* for about 15 years. We met during a 5K-charity walk. I was rounding down my walk and headed toward the finish line when this goofy, nerdy guy (and I say that with affection) that I had never seen before pops up at my left elbow.

I jumped about 5 feet off the ground, and he spent the next few minutes apologizing. Somehow the conversation segued into dating. He found out I was single and invited me to his place for a home-cooked meal. After finding out that we knew several of the same people, I promised to call to set a date.

I contacted our mutual friends to see make sure he was not married, on the down low, or a sociopath. Everyone liked him, so I gave him a call and made arrangements to come over.

It’s been a long time since that day. I remember that Peter prepared some weird dish that I did not care for but managed to choke down. I also remember him being a great conversationalist and an all-around nice guy. He was definitely someone my mother would love (in fact, she has met him and she does love him) and someone I would love to date.

Unfortunately, the timing was bad. I was set to leave for graduate school in a few months. We did, however, keep in touch. I remember feeling a twinge of regret when Peter announced his engagement and some relief when it was broken off.

Through the years, I’ve always made seeing Peter a priority whenever we are traveling in the same city. He’s hit on me a few times, but I am remarkably dense – I can never tell when a guy likes me unless he comes right out and says so - and Peter is really not that aggressive. I am still shocked that worked up the nerve to approach me that first time. This has made for several missed connections.

Last week, amidst growing romantic feelings, I sent Peter an email (yes, it’s cowardly, but it was the best I could do), letting him know once and for all how I felt. I invited him out for my birthday and said that I just wanted to see him. I never got a response.

He updated his Facebook page, his LinkedIn profile, and posted to Twitter. There was no response to my email message. After a day of great agitation I removed him as a connection from every single site we share in common and set up a rule on my email server that all messages from him were to be discarded before they hit my inbox.

It was bad for my state of mind – and my reputation at work – to spend the day in such a state of distraction. I was not able to get everything done because I was checking my Blackberry every other minute.

I am a bit sad because I will miss his friendship; Peter is a great and loyal friend. I feel like a fool for opening myself to someone with so little regard for my feelings that he can’t even spare 5 minutes to reply back, "Sorry, but I am not interested." One thing for sure, I will no longer be dating black men.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It's Been a While

What a difference a misstep makes. At the beginning of the year, I came back from my trip abroad with a resolution to post new entries at least 3 times a week.

Then, I injured myself while walking up the stairs - texting while climbing stairs is a bad idea - and then lost my job and then suffered another massive medical setback.

I start work at my new job soon, and I will make an effort to be much more faithful to my blog.

Two Weeks Later...It's Finally Done

My washer and dryer died one Sunday. I put a load in amd ran to the post office to mail some things. When I got back, both the dryer and the washer were through their cycles. They never ran again. Had I known my appliance would pass away while I was gone, I would have taken the time to say a fond farewell before running out to purchase more stamps.

The next day was Monday, and I said a small prayer as I traveled to the CompanyName Repair Center on my lunch break to purchase a replacement unit. The CompanyName Repair Center has a back room where slightly dented and dinged appliances are on sale for half price. Imagine my dismay when I arrived at CompanyName Repair Center to find there was hardly anything left.

You'd think with the economy being so horrid that fewer people would be purchasing appliances. Not so! There was barely anything left. My freshman year in college, we had an irritating classmate that managed to piss off the entire floor out first month there. We waited until she left for work one night and removed everything from her room. We even took the thumb tacks from the wall. The room was as bare as it was the day she moved in. That room had more stock than the CompanyName Repair Center.

Still, all I needed was one stacked washer and dryer and that is what was there. CompanyName Repair Center had one stacked washer and dryer for sale. I snapped it up with only a cursory examination, and went back to work aglow with the knowledge that my new machine would be delivered on that Wednesday and I could commence with my laundry.

Wednesday rolled around. I worked from home to wait on the delivery people. They never showed up. They did call 15 minutes before the end of my delivery window to say they good not make it; it's always nice to pass along information at the last possible minute. I made arrangements for them to come Friday.

I had the joy of working from home again on Friday - fewer interruptions - and my washer and dryer arrived, but I had to send it back. Why? What I purchased was gas, and my town home is entirely electric. For a brief second, when the delivery guys told me the problem, I tried to think of something marvelously witty to say to keep from looking like a complete idiot. I failled. I know stoves can be gas, but it never occured to me that a washer/dryer could run off gas too.

I paid the delivery fee and gave them money to take my new machine back to the store (there was a fee), and then drove over to CompanyName Repair Center to get my refund. I checked their storeroom on a whim, but the only washer/dryer in stock was the one I just returned.

I hoofed it over to a proper CompanyName store and purchased a machine for full price. Much to my dismay, there were no sales and no rebates. It was very disappointing. You'd think that with the economy tanking, CompanyName would be offering incentives. Nope! Apparently, they are still moving stock.

I discovered that when you pay out the nose for something, CompanyName is more than happy to deliver on a weekend. I scheduled a Sunday drop off.

Sunday rolled around. The guys from CompanyName arrived. They took the old machine out to the truck. They brought in my new washer/dryer, started to connect the new machine, and then all hell broke loose. The welding on the pipe gave away, and the pipe that fed water to the machine fell on the floor. The water was still on, so we all got a good spray, as did the rest of the room. I turned the water off, and made the obvious suggestion that a plumber would be in order before they could finish hooking up my new machine.

CompanyName called me to schedule a new time for the installation and suggested that, in the future, I should turn the water off. Thanks for the tip, guys! Too bad you did not tell me that before. I've done exactly one washer/dryer installation in my life. A little more upfront advice is always appreciated.

The plumber was not able to make it until the next day. I hauled my dirty clothing over to my parents' place - I was experiencing a severe shortage in clean everything - and spent the rest of the evening wash clothes and bemoaning my fate.

Fortunately, my plumber is both prompt and capable. He installed a new copper tubing, connected the washer/dryer, and called me over for a test run. We discovered that the outlet was not working. The old machine had been plugged into the 120-volt outlet. The new one used a 240-volt outlet, and this sucker looked like it had been dead for some time.

I called the electrician. He came out. It took about 3 hours for him to discover the problem and fix the issue. I was finally back in business.