I'm trying to remember exactly when I agreed it would be a good idea to move to this state. While I admit I do like it more during the let's say....4 months out of the year when the sun actually shines, something is really wrong here. I've been trying to understand the high price of gas here for months. (At least 20 cents higher than in most places). Then there is the real estate market. (How in the hell did we end up in a place where real estate prices seem to be worse than in our beloved northern VA?) Now I have discovered the worst thing possible. Food prices.
Husband and I go out for dinner every week when I pick him up from the airport. He travels weekly and we try to go to a different place each week. Yesterday I was thinking where we could go this week. I got a sudden craving for a spicy shrimp appetizer dish served at B*nefish Grill. I decided to check their website to find out the exact address of the location here and get the directions. What a great website! I could check out the menus at every one of their locations. Hmmm....I did not remember the shrimp appetizer I was craving cost $9.90. WTF? Was I losing my mind? What about that chicken dish I always used to get? Huh? It was $17?? I started doing the math here. Even though I was making a large sum of money at my job in VA, I never would have paid $17 for chicken. Never. There must be a mistake. I began pulling up menus from the locations I have visited: Alexandria VA, Alpharetta GA, Clearwater FL and Montgomery AL. All had the same prices. Exact same. The shrimp is $7.90 and the chicken is $12.90. That's what I thought. Can someone please explain to me why on earth I would pay almost $5 more to eat chicken in this state?? The answer is simple. I just won't. And don't even get me started on the almost 9% sales tax. I told Husband about this and he said, "what??? they don't have chickens in this state?" Seriously. Can this restaurant not use a local chicken? Why the almost $5 surcharge? It makes no sense. So now I have to add this to the "places we boycott" list. I hate when that happens.
Maybe I'm missing something here. Like money trees. I should get out more. Take more hikes in the woods and go looking for these trees.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Trip Diary: Part 5
When is this ever going to end? I'm bored with it already. In fact, I have a new trip coming up and by the time I finish the details of India it will be time to talk about Hawaii. Husband and I are taking a cruise of the Hawaiian islands next month. I'm getting my cruise shoes ready already. (haha that one's for Carol wherever she may be). I couldn't decide on which island to go to so the cruise seemed to be the best option. That way we get to visit 3 islands. Then if we really enjoy ourselves we'll know which place to go back to next time. The cruise will take us to the big island, Maui and Kauai. If you've ever been to any of those places and think there is a "must see" let me know about it. We'll be renting a car in all 3 places so we can do our own activities.
Back to India.
So here is a funny story. Everyone in India says "oh shit" in English. Even small children. I was shocked when I heard it the first time. I had given nephew a new watch and he doesn't really know how to tell time, being only 7. This one time he looked at me and was dead serious. He said "Oh shit! It's 6 o'clock!!" I was like....did I just hear him correctly? It wasn't until I heard him say it many other times that I realized it wasn't a mistake. I also heard it from Husband's small cousins many times. They might not speak much English, but that seems to be the one phrase everyone understands.
Back to India.
So here is a funny story. Everyone in India says "oh shit" in English. Even small children. I was shocked when I heard it the first time. I had given nephew a new watch and he doesn't really know how to tell time, being only 7. This one time he looked at me and was dead serious. He said "Oh shit! It's 6 o'clock!!" I was like....did I just hear him correctly? It wasn't until I heard him say it many other times that I realized it wasn't a mistake. I also heard it from Husband's small cousins many times. They might not speak much English, but that seems to be the one phrase everyone understands.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Screwed, Blued and Tattooed, That's Me
I'm trying to sell my car. I didn't think it would be very difficult for 2 reasons. The car is an Acura with extremely low miles for its age. This model isn't made anymore. Not only those reasons but also, it's in very good condition and all maintenance was always done at the dealer.
The dealer.
The trouble started within a month of leasing the car back in the day. I won't get into all the boring details but it involves the dealer refusing to issue me real license plates because the leasing company decided after a month that they were not approving my lease. This led to me finding a great lawyer who sued the dealership and we won. I got to keep the car and a sum of money too. After the lawyer fees it really wasn't that much money.
The dealer was very close to my house. The next closest Acura dealer was in a neighboring state. Why would I want to waste time going to a dealer in a nearby state when I was less than 10 minutes from the place I sued? So I didn't. I always went close. Even though I wanted to stand in the middle of the service department and scream "don't fuck with me, I already sued your ass," I never did due to a privacy clause in our "agreement."
Perhaps I just should have. I received bad, horrible, rude service almost every time I went there. Sometimes work would even be "forgotten" and I'd learn when I went to pick up the car that certain requests were ignored. Then I would have to wait while the car was hauled back into the "service bay" for the completion. It was through all this and more that I realized, there must be something in my "file" and when they pulled me up on the computers there had to be a flashing "code red" alert. She's the one who sued us! Treat her like a piece of shit no matter what. There were times I was almost crying on my way home because I'd been treated so badly. I've already explained why I continued to go there. I was happy to be moving out of that state so I'd never have to deal with those people ever again.
Or so I thought. I happen to be missing records of a major service and major antenna repair which took place right before I moved out of that state. I thought it would be a good idea since I'm trying to sell the car, to be able to provide proof of those things to a prospective new owner. I called the dealer last week to ask how I go about getting my records, explaining that I now live 3,000 miles and 2 time zones away. The "kind" manager explained that I'd have to come there. I thought he was joking. I kindly explained that I had no plans to be visiting that area any time soon and wasn't a plane ride across the entire country a little bit much to ask? Nope. No way he could help me unless I came there in person, due to "privacy issues". Ok fine. I'm all about privacy. But come on. I was willing to give any information just to get the records. I have all other records dating back to 1999. Every service record except the most recent, which seems to have been misplaced since I had moved twice in a year. At this point I was really pleading for anything he could give me. He agreed to send a copy of my receipt showing I paid. Not even by email or fax. He is snail mailing it to me. Do I really believe this will come in the mail? Hell no because I'm blacklisted.
Do you really think this story ends there? Of course not. Last weekend Husband replaced the battery in the car because it died while we were in India. I've never had a battery replaced by anyone except the blacklisted dealer. Why would this be a problem? According to my father, even I could change my own battery it was so easy. Yeah right. I never gave the factory installed radio a second thought during this process. Until I went to drive the car and the radio wants a special code to be entered or it won't work. Fuck.
There is also a Maintenance Required light which is on because the car thinks it needs a 60,000 mile service, which it had before it even had 60,000 miles on it. The light is programmed to come on no matter what.
I decide I will just call a local auto repair shop for an oil change and see if they can also turn this stupid light off. I make the appointment and then ask about turning the light off. I was told they would only turn it off if I could provide proof that I'd had the service done. WTF??! Why should they care? They are not an Acura dealer! Since I already know that I don't have the proof because it's "in the mail", I cancel the appointment.
Then I say fuck it. I'm just going to make an appointment with the local dealer and they can turn off the light, change the oil and reset my radio code.
Things are looking good when I enter the service area. They will change the oil. They will turn off the light. Snap. They have to call the original dealer to get the radio code or I will have to pay $59 to have them pull out the radio, look for the code and then put it back and reset it. At this point I know I'm totally screwed. I know as soon as they pull up my records at the original dealer that the screen will flash the "code red" and suddenly the call will be disconnected or some shit like that. I remained hopeful, nevertheless. My new local service manager was transferred twice while on the call. He even had to ask to speak with The Service Dept. Manager. I listened while he gave all the information, only to be told that they were "purging their records system and he'd have to call back if he could find my records." I knew this call would never come. And it did not. New local service manager assured me that if he did receive a call back he'd give me the code over the phone. This is where I broke down and informed him that the call would never come because I sued that former dealership and I'm certain their computer shows it. I also verified that due to "privacy issues" there was no way for me to get the code myself.
What to do? Hope that some teenager will be interested in buying it with the intention of tricking it out and replacing the lame factory installed stereo? Knock the price down by $100? Say fuck it again, and pay the dealer? This whole experience is proof enough for me that all future cars will be leased. I don't want to bother with selling or trading in. When I'm done with it after 2 or 3 years, just take it back.
The dealer.
The trouble started within a month of leasing the car back in the day. I won't get into all the boring details but it involves the dealer refusing to issue me real license plates because the leasing company decided after a month that they were not approving my lease. This led to me finding a great lawyer who sued the dealership and we won. I got to keep the car and a sum of money too. After the lawyer fees it really wasn't that much money.
The dealer was very close to my house. The next closest Acura dealer was in a neighboring state. Why would I want to waste time going to a dealer in a nearby state when I was less than 10 minutes from the place I sued? So I didn't. I always went close. Even though I wanted to stand in the middle of the service department and scream "don't fuck with me, I already sued your ass," I never did due to a privacy clause in our "agreement."
Perhaps I just should have. I received bad, horrible, rude service almost every time I went there. Sometimes work would even be "forgotten" and I'd learn when I went to pick up the car that certain requests were ignored. Then I would have to wait while the car was hauled back into the "service bay" for the completion. It was through all this and more that I realized, there must be something in my "file" and when they pulled me up on the computers there had to be a flashing "code red" alert. She's the one who sued us! Treat her like a piece of shit no matter what. There were times I was almost crying on my way home because I'd been treated so badly. I've already explained why I continued to go there. I was happy to be moving out of that state so I'd never have to deal with those people ever again.
Or so I thought. I happen to be missing records of a major service and major antenna repair which took place right before I moved out of that state. I thought it would be a good idea since I'm trying to sell the car, to be able to provide proof of those things to a prospective new owner. I called the dealer last week to ask how I go about getting my records, explaining that I now live 3,000 miles and 2 time zones away. The "kind" manager explained that I'd have to come there. I thought he was joking. I kindly explained that I had no plans to be visiting that area any time soon and wasn't a plane ride across the entire country a little bit much to ask? Nope. No way he could help me unless I came there in person, due to "privacy issues". Ok fine. I'm all about privacy. But come on. I was willing to give any information just to get the records. I have all other records dating back to 1999. Every service record except the most recent, which seems to have been misplaced since I had moved twice in a year. At this point I was really pleading for anything he could give me. He agreed to send a copy of my receipt showing I paid. Not even by email or fax. He is snail mailing it to me. Do I really believe this will come in the mail? Hell no because I'm blacklisted.
Do you really think this story ends there? Of course not. Last weekend Husband replaced the battery in the car because it died while we were in India. I've never had a battery replaced by anyone except the blacklisted dealer. Why would this be a problem? According to my father, even I could change my own battery it was so easy. Yeah right. I never gave the factory installed radio a second thought during this process. Until I went to drive the car and the radio wants a special code to be entered or it won't work. Fuck.
There is also a Maintenance Required light which is on because the car thinks it needs a 60,000 mile service, which it had before it even had 60,000 miles on it. The light is programmed to come on no matter what.
I decide I will just call a local auto repair shop for an oil change and see if they can also turn this stupid light off. I make the appointment and then ask about turning the light off. I was told they would only turn it off if I could provide proof that I'd had the service done. WTF??! Why should they care? They are not an Acura dealer! Since I already know that I don't have the proof because it's "in the mail", I cancel the appointment.
Then I say fuck it. I'm just going to make an appointment with the local dealer and they can turn off the light, change the oil and reset my radio code.
Things are looking good when I enter the service area. They will change the oil. They will turn off the light. Snap. They have to call the original dealer to get the radio code or I will have to pay $59 to have them pull out the radio, look for the code and then put it back and reset it. At this point I know I'm totally screwed. I know as soon as they pull up my records at the original dealer that the screen will flash the "code red" and suddenly the call will be disconnected or some shit like that. I remained hopeful, nevertheless. My new local service manager was transferred twice while on the call. He even had to ask to speak with The Service Dept. Manager. I listened while he gave all the information, only to be told that they were "purging their records system and he'd have to call back if he could find my records." I knew this call would never come. And it did not. New local service manager assured me that if he did receive a call back he'd give me the code over the phone. This is where I broke down and informed him that the call would never come because I sued that former dealership and I'm certain their computer shows it. I also verified that due to "privacy issues" there was no way for me to get the code myself.
What to do? Hope that some teenager will be interested in buying it with the intention of tricking it out and replacing the lame factory installed stereo? Knock the price down by $100? Say fuck it again, and pay the dealer? This whole experience is proof enough for me that all future cars will be leased. I don't want to bother with selling or trading in. When I'm done with it after 2 or 3 years, just take it back.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Trip Diary: Part 4
Is anyone wondering why these trip details are taking me so long? Anyone? Anyone?
Today I will discuss children and schools.
My first experience in an Indian school happened on day 2 of the trip. Husband, SIL, me and Husband's nephew (age 7) went to his school for an awards presentation. As usual, it was very hot since not even the school has a/c. From what I understand, most children attend private schools. Nephew included. Schools are not cheap. I'm not sure how much money Husband pays for Nephew's school, but I believe it is several thousand US $ per year.
The children at this school are taught in English. They not only learn in English, but Hindi is also taught. This is interesting to me because most, if not all of the children at this school don't speak either of those languages at home. Nephew just finished the US equivalent of 1st grade and he can write in Hindi, Marathi and cursive English.
Attending the awards presentation was a neat experience. There was also an art show. I saw some fantastic artwork done by the children. There were handmade clay pots and small oil paintings. Some of the paintings were fantastic. I wanted one of the paintings to frame for my house. Husband and I located the artist. She was about 10 years old. I wasn't sure of her command of English so I had Husband ask her if she would be interested in selling the painting to us. He offered her 100 rupees (about US $2.50). He could have offered her 1000 rupees and she still would have declined. She was very proud of the painting and wanted to show it off in her own home. I wish we would have had a camera with us that day.
The next day we went back to the school for results day. It was then that I realized just how much pressure is on children in school in India. From the very first day of school the pressure is on to be the best. To be number 1. Because if you don't maintain number 1 until you actually graduate, there is little chance you'll get into a college. This is the challenge that faces Nephew due to the caste system. In the past few years there has been an uprising in the country's education system, brought about by the lower caste people, who are the majority. There is a quota system at the college level now and most open slots are for them. At the best colleges in the country there may be only a few openings for upper caste. This is why Nephew must work as hard as he can.
The morning of results day, Nephew was a nervous wreck. He couldn't eat and barely slept the night before. We went to his classroom and met his teacher and she gave us all his work to review. I was surprised at how difficult some of it was. Written on the chalkboard were the names of the "toppers" in the class and their percents. Nephew tied for number 2 at 93%. Upon reviewing some his work we found many careless mistakes. He could have been number 1. Still we were very proud. We went home and presented him with many gifts. For the next 2 weeks, everyone who came over or talked to him asked about his results. It is a very big deal. The whole experience left me feeling that schoolchildren in this country have no idea just how lucky they are and perhaps, they aren't learning enough.
Today I will discuss children and schools.
My first experience in an Indian school happened on day 2 of the trip. Husband, SIL, me and Husband's nephew (age 7) went to his school for an awards presentation. As usual, it was very hot since not even the school has a/c. From what I understand, most children attend private schools. Nephew included. Schools are not cheap. I'm not sure how much money Husband pays for Nephew's school, but I believe it is several thousand US $ per year.
The children at this school are taught in English. They not only learn in English, but Hindi is also taught. This is interesting to me because most, if not all of the children at this school don't speak either of those languages at home. Nephew just finished the US equivalent of 1st grade and he can write in Hindi, Marathi and cursive English.
Attending the awards presentation was a neat experience. There was also an art show. I saw some fantastic artwork done by the children. There were handmade clay pots and small oil paintings. Some of the paintings were fantastic. I wanted one of the paintings to frame for my house. Husband and I located the artist. She was about 10 years old. I wasn't sure of her command of English so I had Husband ask her if she would be interested in selling the painting to us. He offered her 100 rupees (about US $2.50). He could have offered her 1000 rupees and she still would have declined. She was very proud of the painting and wanted to show it off in her own home. I wish we would have had a camera with us that day.
The next day we went back to the school for results day. It was then that I realized just how much pressure is on children in school in India. From the very first day of school the pressure is on to be the best. To be number 1. Because if you don't maintain number 1 until you actually graduate, there is little chance you'll get into a college. This is the challenge that faces Nephew due to the caste system. In the past few years there has been an uprising in the country's education system, brought about by the lower caste people, who are the majority. There is a quota system at the college level now and most open slots are for them. At the best colleges in the country there may be only a few openings for upper caste. This is why Nephew must work as hard as he can.
The morning of results day, Nephew was a nervous wreck. He couldn't eat and barely slept the night before. We went to his classroom and met his teacher and she gave us all his work to review. I was surprised at how difficult some of it was. Written on the chalkboard were the names of the "toppers" in the class and their percents. Nephew tied for number 2 at 93%. Upon reviewing some his work we found many careless mistakes. He could have been number 1. Still we were very proud. We went home and presented him with many gifts. For the next 2 weeks, everyone who came over or talked to him asked about his results. It is a very big deal. The whole experience left me feeling that schoolchildren in this country have no idea just how lucky they are and perhaps, they aren't learning enough.
