Today's high was 30 degrees, with windchill it was 17.
It's cold when you try to unlock your door and the lock is frozen, and the door is frozen shut. It takes skill to get it open. It's not even December yet!
I'm ready for the whole thing with the apartment to be over. I assume I will move, but I'm still working on not having to pay transfer fees. Either way I will be in the new apartment before Christmas and Walter will be here with me after Christmas.
Maybe it's not so great to post how I REALLY feel about my apartment complex, because it would just be my luck that if I were in a legal case this might come back to haunt me. So let me summarize how I feel by the following:
1. My apartment complex makes up rules not stated to or agreed upon by the tenant (i.e. not in the lease)
2. My apartment complex thinks they have the right to not let a tenant speak to a manager.
3. My apartment complex thinks they have the right to brush me off - and that's not going to happen.
An unhappy person spreads word a LOT faster than a happy one, especially me.
Gosh I miss Walter so much.
It snowed here today, hard. After lunch it just came down, like the Donkey Kong level where you can't see it's snowing so hard. It stayed on the ground for a little while then turned to slush. It's so weird seeing this in November.
I talked to someone about the whole dog situation. She seemed receptive and said she'd have to talk to the manager tomorrow morning and the manager would give me a call. Hopefully we can end it tomorrow, I don't want to have to escalate it any further. She did say "gosh you're a good tenant, I would have just brought the dog back and not said anything". Well, I'm trying to do the right thing so don't punish me please.
What else, what else. Work was pretty dull today, not much going on. Many people are still out on vacation. There is only 4 more weeks until Christmas break. I need to go ahead and start Christmas shopping here so I don't have to do it right before Christmas. What do you want?
I tried to charge my camera battery and it would just "flash" in the charger, and never charge. I called Casio about it and she [Ms. Casio] said my camera came with what they consider to be a defective battery, and they are replacing them. Casio is going to mail me a new battery to replace this one. It's a good thing too, it was only a few months old!
Katey and I rode to church together today. She had to substitute the K5 Sunday school class. She asked me to help her so after church we met another person, and started. They actually put all children K5 - 5th grade in a huge room and do an hour worth of skits, Bible verses, and songs and we basically "watch" the children, ask them to be quiet, help them find Bible verses, and escort them around. It was fun. I was in charge of signing kids in and out. We had 15 children, all around the age of 5 so it was a zoo. After being with Walter for a week (he's like a baby) and then all these kids, it makes me realize it will be a LONG time before I have my own children. Walter is my child.
After church Katey came back to my apartment and we had lunch before she went to work. I changed into warm pajamas and watched a movie, played a video game, and now I'm cooking dinner. It was relaxing. It's way to cold to do anything outside. The high today was 40 and there was snow and ice everywhere so I wanted to stay indoors.
Tomorrow I'm going to go talk with the apartment attendants about the whole pet thing. Hopefully they can help me out with the transfer fees and be understanding of the situation. I'll let you know after tomorrow how it turns out.
I got back earlier this evening from South Carolina. I came back to it being very cold (it's 30 degrees now) with ice and snow all over my car and my porch and steps. The roads were salted too. I had a nice flight back. I sat next to a lady who was a Six Sigma/Lean expert so it was fun talking to her. It made the flight go by really fast.
A lady I work with picked me up from the airport. She is really nice and has let me leave my car at her house before so her kindness is really appreciated.
I also read through my lease when I got back to check on the pet policy. I looked carefully, and I don't see any wording on "pet free" buildings anywhere. I was never told about it, and never signed anything that stated it. So, Monday I'm going to talk to the lady who I worked with with I signed my lease. I'm going to be very nice, and just ask if she can waive/help me out with the transfer fee, because I just don't think it's fair. I'm a good tenant and I think the least they can do is help me with this since I will have to extend my lease until November 2008 to do this. I'll be praying about it (it would be nice if you would too).
I went grocery shopping tonight. Nana made some really good cookies that I have already eaten. Not all of them, but a few. They're good. I had a good time at home and miss everyone (including Walter). I have an outstanding family.
I didn't take part in Black Friday, other than staying home and taking care of Walter. Walter is going to have to stay in South Carolina until Christmas because of some misunderstandings regarding the pet policy at my apartment. My building is reserved as "pet free" while the rest of the complex is not. Since I took the last 1 bedroom they had when I moved in last May, that's where I was put...in the pet free building. I did not know this, so I will have to switch buildings so I can have Walter in the building.
All the more reason renting is a waste of time and money. When it's all said and done, what do you have when you're done? Nothing. Ownership of a house is the way to go, and the way I want to go when I have enough for a decent down payment.
I'm sad I won't see 4 weeks of Walter's puppyhood. I am glad though that he will be able to be around 2 other dogs and different people in those 4 weeks though so he can become well socialized. Socialization with many different people and other dogs is very important for a Shar Pei, more than most other breeds. They are very loving but become attached easily to a close group of people and become protective. I want Walter to be protective of me, but open to other people also. So far he's doing a really great job at letting others hold him and he likes seeing other people.
Bear and Walter are already best friends...
Last night I went over to Paul's apartment in Greenville after he got home from work. We went to dinner with Scott, a guy he works with and a guy I know from school. Then we went over to another person's house to play Smash Bros on a giant 52" TV. It was really fun. The trash talk while we played was just as fun. It felt nice sleeping a solid night without having to let Walter go out. But I love Walter so I make sacrifices.
It's weird not having a car. I'm at the mercy of whoever will take me places.
Walter had a big day today. I stayed outside with him keeping him active for a good part of the day. We went for a walk, and played in the yard. He wants to sleep a lot, and I try to keep him awake so he'll sleep more at night.
He went to the vet today and got his shots and a checkup and everything was fine, even his eyes. We went to Petsmart to get a collar, treats, and small tennis balls. Bear came with us and everyone stopped and wanted to hold Walter and they loved him. He's such a good boy. He still hasn't used the bathroom in the house at all and is good about going outside. Bear and him are becoming good friends too. Below are some pictures I have of him so far.
Yesterday I got my own little Shar Pei: Walter Matthau Smith
He is so cute and when I saw him I knew he was the one. There were 2 litters available, and I had originally wanted to see a blue male she had in the 1st litter. I liked him, but I saw Walter looking at me and he was SO wrinkled his little butt cheeks were folded down. I thought he was just the best. I've already taken a lot of pictures, but I forgot to bring my battery charger home for my camera so I am taking pictures with my mom's camera and my dad'd camera, so I will have to wait to get the pictures uploaded.
He really likes to sleep, and he likes me to hold him and cuddle him. He likes Bear so far, Bear likes him even more. He also likes tennis balls so far, like Fuji did.
More information to come!
First of all, my posts have been lacking because my internet/cable was down yesterday. Internet is so essential for me. I even woke up in the middle of the night last night, just thinking "gosh I don't even have internet right now" and it just bothered me for some reason. Like when you can't sleep because something just isn't right.
A technician came out today to fix my cable and said the problem was someone opened up the cable boxes on the side of my apartment building and cut my cable. He said it looked intentional, and that he thought Comcast might have done it because I just switched from Comcast to AT&T. I don't care, as long as it's working now.
Now..what's harder than babies is choosing a dog! Atleast when you have a child you just get one, and whatever it looks like you have to love it. Dogs are so hard to choose from. I'm sure I'd love them all. I have decided on a Shar Pei as a breed...that is set. I want a male, that is 90% set unless I see a female that just takes my breath away. I have been contacting breeders for about 2 weeks now asking around. I have 2 breeders narrowed down: one in Canton, OH and another one in Tennessee. I'm going to look at the puppies in TN when I come home for Thanksgiving. If I do like one, I will be taking it back on the airplane with me as a carry on pet. It's $80 to do that, but I might have to. The flight from GSP to Detroit is only 1.5 hrs and it's nonstop, so I think the puppy would be just fine. The ones in OH I could drive to, but it's about 3.5 hrs away. It's such a hard decision. The one I really like in TN is a "blue" Shar Pei. Blue Shar Pei's are a rarer color, but it's a really pretty blue/gray color. The ones in OH are fawn with black masks.
Names for males I like (for a Shar Pei): Walter or Henry. I think I have to pick and old man's name for one. If I did get a female (highly unlikely) I would name her Chikorita.
I'll be flying back on Saturday. Tomorrow is the last day of work before vacation!
I didn't talk too much about Japan in my last post. I was really tired and jetlagged. I'm still recovering from jetlag. It really is weird because you're technically up for 28 hours straight, but you haven't seen night time, so it's like a REALLY long day. Well, when you time travel too, like I did, that happens.
You should try to time travel some time, it's very interesting.
I've still been thinking a lot about a dog, and I think I will go for a Shar Pei instead of the Pug. I still like Pugs, but I think I like the Shar Pei a little better now that we've had two in our family. I have been looking online at breeders and have found some that brag theirs are $2000 and worth every bit of it. They're crazy. I have found some breeders too are are reasonable and actual people who realize they're selling an animal, not gold so they're a little more realistic with their prices (although still really expensive).
Today I woke up late. I woke up at 7:38 am so that left me 5 minutes to get ready and leave. I think I got to work around 8:05 am so that's not too late.
On Japan: FOOD:
Food was interesting (nasty). I don't eat seafood because of Captain D's abuse every week as a child after story hour at the library, so when I saw seafood, and in some cases raw seafood...I didn't like it. Sashimi was served a lot, and sashimi is raw pieces of fish...with nothing else. Sushi atleast has rice and seaweed to cover it up a little. So I didn't like that. I was also served an entire fish with the head and tail and scales still on it. This one was cooked, but gross. They also served small steak and chicken pieces. That sounded good, but the steak was raw and bloody. Soy sauce covered that up though. I had to get some food since I couldn't eat seafood. The nastiest of all was rice with eel on it. Linda I said you think you LIKE eel? You're weird. Eel is not meant to be eaten. It's two of the worst things in the world MIXED: seafood (yuck) and snake (evil). Terrible.
I come back to South Carolina on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. I really do need a break from work right about now. I feel like it's wearing on me a little, over the past 2 weeks or so. I'm ready for a break.
I'm finally back from Japan. It was such a good experience. I really enjoyed the country and the people there are some of the most welcoming and respectful people I have ever met. Japan was extremely clean and safe as well. I also got to time travel today. I left Japan at 1:30 PM Sunday and returned to Michigan at 11:30 AM the same day.
I got to ride all kinds of trains (subway, bullet), fly on a Japan Airlines plane to Hiroshima, go to Tokyo, Ota, Hiroshima, and Osaka. Hiroshima was my favorite city though by far because of all the shopping and the A-bomb memorial.
I took over 100 pictures, but below are a few: our plane this morning in Osaka, a Wii display at a bookstore, Tokyo from my hotel, a dish of oconomi-yaki, and Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
I had a great time in Japan and overall I think it's a great country.
Well I will not be taking my personal computer to Japan with me, because I don't need to take two computers and I'll have a work laptop. And I'm not going to post on my blog from a work laptop for safety reasons. So, Life in the Mitten will be on hiatus for a week while I'm in Japan.
Linda, I know this week at work is going to be dull, especially in the mornings for you and your friend. But hang in there, I'll be back, I promise.
Also I have been thinking a lot about getting a dog. I miss having a dog so much since I've always grown up (always) with atleast one dog. I know living in an apartment isn't the best place to have a dog, but waiting until I get a house or something else will be a while and I don't want to wait much longer. I also travel for work some, but my friend Katey said she'd be happy to housesit/dogsit while I'm gone and if worst came to worst I could always arrange a kennel stay. I'm usually only gone for a few days when I do travel. I just really want a dog so much, they have always brought such happiness because of their unconditional love. After Thanksgiving I am seriously going to begin the process. I will drive to South Carolina for Christmas, so if I got one before then I could take it with me. I used to want a pug but now I'm leaning more towards a Shar Pei. I just love them so much and they're a perfect size.
I'll be back next Sunday, with lots of pictures and a story or two.
Writing $700 worth of checks to pay my bills is always fun. Car insurance bills came the other day...
Did anyone know that "Goosebumps" still comes on Cartoon Network!? Gosh it brings back memories from 4th grade at Roebuck Elementary. I used to love Goosebumps. I would read all the books, then when I found out there would be a television series I loved that too. I've been watching it for the past few nights on TV. It's kind of like watching Full House where you think to yourself "Oh, I liked this stuff???". It's fun though. I like all the cheesy names for the books too, and the illustrations for the covers.
Today my grandpa turned 87 years old. That doesn't seem all that old when you think about it at once, but when you think about it in terms of what age you are, it seems so advanced. I'm 23 for example, and I remember probably 19 years or so pretty solidly and I feel like I've been alive for a long time. I can't imagine what memories I'll have after 87 years.
I have been working on this Powerpoint presentation at work that I'm going to present to Subaru in Japan. It is the longest powerpoint I have done, ever. It's 94 slides. It's not like any of those are "fluff" slides either, they all have information. I think the file size today when I checked was close to 38 Mb. My job feels like one giant ME 402 class, but instead of 1 semester it's 3 years per project. Looooooooooooong but fun. It's fun because today people brought left over Halloween candy in and I ate a lot of it. The good stuff too, Reeses, Hershey, and Nestle mmmm.
