Archive for Arizona

A Need to Vent

// by jimmeh // February 2nd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Arizona

I finished up an application for a refinance through Wells Fargo about 3 weeks ago.  The man I was working with would never return phone calls, and rarely return emails.  I didn’t receive paperwork confirming my rate lock, so I asked in email if he could write me back to confirm my rate is locked and the refinance is in progress.  The one word response email, was “Yes.”  He told me on the phone that I should expect to get a packet in the mail from the headquarters in Tempe, AZ in about 10 days.  When I didn’t receive it by the second week I called him.

He told me that the reason I did not receive a packet from Tempe, was because he did not lock my rate nor send in my paperwork.  He had gotten too busy.

Silence.  I had no idea what to say, but am extremely glad the conversation happened over the phone and not in person.

The best part is that the branch manager says “Yes” is not enough proof that the rate was locked at the discussed rate on the day it was discussed.

Orthodontia Dilemma

// by jimmeh // January 27th, 2009 // 8 Comments » // Arizona

So my permanent retainer on my top front teeth broke off a while ago and I never did anything about it.  I have a couple teeth that started going crazy again, so I looked up in my insurance and saw that some orthodontic work was covered.  So I went in and was given the following 2 options:

A)  Have the retainer replaced for $275 (not covered by insurance because it was a previous doctor’s work).

B)  Start a 4-6 month metal braces treatment which would re-straighten the teeth and include a new retainer at the end of the treatment.  With insurance, a short length of treatment, and a January coupon from the new orthodontist, this route would be a total out of pocket cost of $5 (not including the cost of daily life looking like a middle schooler).

What’s your vote?

My new friend

// by jimmeh // January 9th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Arizona

So me and Cori were flying to Chicago from Tucson and had a layover in Dallas.  Cori sat on the window, me in the middle and another lady, maybe a couple years older than me, on the aisle.

We start taking off, get maybe 20 yards down the runway and the captain slams on the brakes and pulls off the runway.  The lady next to me starts telling me different things that it could or that they could be  testing.  I asked how she knew about flying and she said she is about to get her instructor’s certificate for light aircraft out of Rodeo, NM.  She also owns a runway and airport there, a natural food store, a coffee shop and 3 light aircrafts (had 9 but sold 6 recently).  I ended up talking with her the entire trip, trying to gain insight into the world of the wealthier than myself.

She informed me that her husband was retired and had made a good chunk of the money with some software he had written in the 80s.  “Probably one of those programs you could download for free now and convert a .wav file or something but he got in while the getting was good,” I thought to myself.  I tried to ask questions, but avoided prying.  She was flying to Belize for a month to spend in her house down there, and said it wasn’t too late for us to change our plans and spend Christmas in Belize.  :)

Anyways, she told me her name was Jennifer and she left for her flight.

The other day I saw an article in the Tucson paper about things to do around Tucson.  One of the things was taking a light aircraft flying lesson out of Rodeo, NM a couple hours away.  I thought “no way” and read on. 

She said her name was Jennifer, but didn’t mention her last name was McAfee.  As in wife of Jon McAfee, antivirus extraodinaire.

The Smell of Burning

// by jimmeh // October 16th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Arizona

We finally had a cold front come through Tucson, and someone was burning a bonfire or leaves or something.  The smell made me think of and miss Illinois.  :(  Never underestimate your legal ability (in my opinion, obligation) to start a backyard fire for no reason but enjoyment. 

If I start a fire here, I get fined.  And then fined for using extra water to put it out.

Desert Frog

// by jimmeh // July 21st, 2008 // 9 Comments » // Arizona

Arizona has frogs.  I was outside and a bush was shaking and I thought I was going to finally see some crazy poisoness snake.  And out jumps the biggest frog I’ve ever seen in the wild.  Illinois has some good size frogs, but I would expect that.  To have a frog bigger than my fist jump out in the middle of the desert was somewhat surprising.  So I ate him.

Carrie Underwood has some pipes

// by jimmeh // May 5th, 2008 // No Comments » // Arizona

So I went to a Carrie Underwood concert last friday, and her opening act was Josh Turner (who I recommend to anyone who hasn’t heard him and likes to hear a bass take centerstage).  Josh sounded good, but Carrie was amped up soooo loud that the old man came out in me, and I found my way to the bathroom, the nearest stall, and shoved toilet paper into my ears.  I’m pretty sure the TP balls were fairly concealed, but it still felt quite stupid.  But I’ve only been to one other concert in my life that required shoving toilet paper in my ears, and that was in high school when I saw heavy metal band Jackyl, who brings a chainsaw on stage and destroys a bunch of equipment with the amps at full blast – a performance to which one goes with the understanding they will lose hearing.  But Carrie Underwood? 

So if you’re going to see Jackyl or Carrie Underwood anytime soon, bring your toilet paper.

C’mon

// by jimmeh // October 12th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Arizona

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Alright, c’mon. C’mon. Let’s define trash here, because I’m pretty sure trash is trash. I think of little pieces of paper rolling around on an empty street. And that’s no man’s treasure. Unless one of those pieces is a winning lotto ticket. But in that case, it wasn’t the first man’s trash anyways, it’s a lost treasure. Which makes the treasure finding man, the assumer of another’s trash to be trash, a no good stinkin’ thief.

200 years

// by jimmeh // October 1st, 2007 // 1 Comment » // Arizona

I was asked a rhetorical question yesterday, to which I gave an answer immediately because I think rhetorical questions are stupid.

I was asked if I wished I could live 200 years? 

Are you friggin’ nuts?!  That means my IRA withdrawal would be like age 140 and 1/2.  So if your question is do I want to work for 140 years, then my answer is no.  I proceeded to rant for several minutes, which I’ll exclude here.  But it was enough to end rhetorical questioning for the day.

So, would you like to live 200 years?

Just in: Garbagemen hate garbage

// by jimmeh // September 28th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Arizona

New house, new neighborhood. I put my garbage out for the first time. I get a call from my wife the next morning telling me that the garbagemen didn’t pick up my garbage. I ask her to give me the phone number off of the can (we have to use a common city can here).

The garbagemen did not pick up my garbage due to “an accumulation of garbage.”

“Yes, it says here ‘Garbage was not picked up due to an accumulation of garbage.’”

“An accumulation of garbage?”

“Yes, that’s what it says.” After a brief silence I reply, “The garbagemen didn’t pick up my garbage because there was an accumulation of garbage.” She says, “That’s what it says here in the system.” They have a system (?).

“Let me think here for a minute,” I tell her, “and by all means go ahead and think along with me. I have an accumulation of garbage…” Interrupting, “which is why they didn’t pick it up.”

“Oh I heard you, but you see, this is where you come in. This is where my job ends and yours begins. An accumulation of garbage becomes a disbursement of garbage during garbage collection, at least it does in Illinois.”

Later that day a manager called me back, at which point I was told that an accumulation of garbage is having garbage outside of the can.

“The men won’t get out of the trunk. If they can’t grab the can with the claw then they can’t take the garabge.”

“But, but they could grab the can with the claw, the bag on the ground had nothing to do with them not being able to grab the can with the…..claw.” Whatever the claw is, in my mind I was pretty sure that anyone could pick anything up they wanted if they have a claw.

“The men don’t get out of the truck for an accumulation of garbage. If there’s extra garbage, there’s a problem.”

“Well they just increased their problem for next week then.”

In short, I had to pay for multiple trips. Because garbagemen don’t get out of their truck, because they hate garbage.