I went to the movies and…

I sat in front of some of the most obnoxious people ever.

 

I have this track record at movie theaters of getting in front of the most idiotic people on the face of the planet. I swear. I must have a “IDIOTS SIT HERE!!” sign over my head pointing either in front of or behind me at almost every movie I go to. I don’t know what it is.  My knack for sitting in front of the idiots dates back long before movies were extremely expensive to go to. Doug and I still joke about the one time that we went to a movie and we sat in front of this group of ADULTS and they yakked through the previews (not a problem) and then continued their yakking into the first 10 minutes of the movie, where the final straw was when the one woman blurted out, extremely loudly, “I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THOSE LAMPS!!!’

That was when I lost my snot. I turned around and let her have it.

 

so, this trend has never stopped.

 

Saturday, Doug and I went to the theater to see Super 8. I needed to have a bit of a day off from a lot of things that have been swirling around here. From work to summer plans for Isaac to my conference plans for the summer, it’s been a whirlwind of intense activity. I was already on low tolerance, and I figured that Super 8 in all of its retro-ness, would be a fairly easy going audience.

Therefore, I was not in any way worried about the two teens and their adult guardian plunking down behind me.

Yeah, I should have been.

 

Now, the teens were teens. I was expecting their adult guardian to keep them in line. Yeah. No such luck. She was just as bad as the two of them. She spent time having conversations with both boys and then when she was asked nicely by the gentleman sitting one seat over from me to please pipe down, she got nasty, but got quiet.

10 minutes later, she decided it was high time to hand out the snacks she had brought with her to the theater.

Now, I’m all for bringing your own snacks, because theater snacks are massively overpriced. BUT, please do so in a quiet, non intrusive manner! SERIOUSLY!!

What I heard behind me was the sound of a TRIPLE BAGGED load of snacks from Hannaford being unleashed on the two teens. The sound of crinkling plastic in my ear almost overshadowed one of the key moments of the film.

It was then I lost my snot on this woman. I whipped around in my chair (and since you couldn’t see my glare in the darkened theater) I said to her:

 

“I didn’t pay to hear crinkling plastic bags. Stop it now.”

She stopped dead in her tracks, and got all snotty and put the bags down. One of the teens had the nerve to start talking to her and I whipped around again and shushed them.

Not even 3 minutes later, the gentleman one seat down whips around and says, loudly to one of the teens,

“SIT STILL.”

Yeah.

 

So, after that, we didn’t hear a peep or a movement out of any of them. I think they were afraid that we’d get the theater personnel to kick them out.  One more thing, and I honestly would have gone and gotten someone.

 

See? My bright arrow shines down again. I hope it doesn’t do it the next time I’m at the movies.

 

But seriously-Super 8 -all I can say is  OH MY. Very well done, awesome film! Go see it!

Good customer service is alive and well!

It’s not a secret that I love The Consumerist. Seriously. I was the first one of my good buddies to know about the good ol’ local snake in the broccoli at Friday’s incident. No, I’m not linking. It was disgusting and I’ll spare you all the photos.  So, when I basically killed my favorite pair of dress shoes and really desperately needed a new pair of sneakers, I went trolling around online. It was then I went and visited the Consumerist for one of my daily reads. The top article was about how Zappos.com had gone above and beyond and even sent flowers to the customer.

I decided it was time to visit their site.  If this was the kind of customer service that they gave, then maybe it was time to patronize the company.

I found two pairs of shoes, even a pair of my beloved Sketchers that I ordered. Plus a pair of Nike sneakers that looked really, really good.

They came quickly, but that’s not the point. That kind of service is easy to provide.

It was what happened next that blew my mind.

The Nike sneakers were awful. With all of the damage I have done to the bones in my feet, I can’t have any sort of tethered tongue on my shoes.  Most ones with laces don’t have tethered tongues! Well, this one did. Yikes.

I got it on my foot and instant pain! Yikes! Horrible!

So, taking a deep breath and bracing myself for impact, I called the company to inquire about their return policy. It was a Saturday. I was braced for long hold times and generally surly staff because it was a Saturday morning.

No such thing happened. I was put on the line with a sweet, wonderful human being , without a bunch of “press..” options.

I explained the situation with my shoes. Explained that I needed a new pair of sneakers, because mine were rapidly biting the dust.

Normally, I would expect a canned response..but instead, I got

“So…rapid death, huh? Well, we best get you sneakers that are more alive than what you currently have!”

The CSR then noted my address, and asked me about the weather and the evil snow we were getting. We got to chatting and we chatted forever. She had no quotas, it was all about the human interaction that makes their customers tick.

She then emailed me a label for FREE SHIPPING back! Yay! and then upgraded my account to VIP status. So, now, I get free overnight shipping. On top of all of that, she overnighted my new shoes to me.

I thought that was awesome, but the crowning glory was what cropped up the other day in my mailbox.

A hand written, decorated thank you note with stickers in it from the M&M store in Las Vegas! (sidenote-the Zappos headquarters is in Vegas…) It not only referenced the conversation we had-but the little gift was so totally perfect-and blew me away. We had chatted about the M&M store and the Coke store, and how I wished I had grabbed some stickers or something when I was passing through all those years ago.

 

Now, I have my stickers, a new friend at Zappos and a new place to get my shoes.

Visit Zappos. It’s nice when a company not only empowers their employees to be HUMAN but encourages it.

Dutch Treat

Isaac has been back in the hockey groove for about 3-ish weeks now. We moved him out of Intro to Hockey into Mini-mites. With that, came an increase in time on the ice (2 days instead of 1) and one of those days is at Union, the local college that we’re affiliated with.

As it is, the mini mites are all thrilled to be on college ice. It’s big, it’s all sorts of seats (not just the bleachers), it’s warmer than our home rink and for the parents, there’s CELL PHONE RECEPTION in this one! There’s one other big draw-the kids get to walk the tunnel from the visitor’s locker room to the ice.

So, a typical Sunday at Mini Mites involves skill and drills. Lots of moving from station to station and even getting some instruction on the ice from coaches.

But today…well, the end of practice was anything but typical. We saw a few of the college players milling around in their Under Armor and that’s not a really common sight, but we’re at a college rink, with two VERY good teams (both men AND women!) and it’s to be expected. What wasn’t expected was what followed….

First the coach of the Men’s team came skating onto the ice-warm ups, whistle, stick and gloves…and began playing freeze tag with the kids. Then, a few of the players came out and began joining in the games and when the usual cross ice games began, the players joined in.

As the next few minutes wore on, more and more players came onto the ice, including the goalies. The fact that they were using mini-nets produced my favorite photo of all time. It’s a bit dark, but I call it “Big goalie in a little net.” (Sing it to the tune of the Chris Farley “Fat Man in a little coat” song.)

Then, Coach called them to gather up and paired off the college team with the kids. They not only got to shoot, but pass to a big guy.

Isaac decided he’d show off his “body stopping” skills…much to the giggle of the player he was working with.

Then, after a few minutes of one on ones, the coach called them to gather up again

and they did a all of the big guys passing (gently) to the little guys (and girls) and then the kids firing at the real goalies in the real nets! I know some pucks went in, but who knows which ones. All of the kids were celebrating with sticks in the air and laughing.

Then, after an extra 20 minutes, Coach Leaman gathered up all of the players, small and large and had the big guys give the kids a proper send off…

High fives from the entire team! For each kid! AND because they have their names on their helmets, they were congratulated by name. What a rush!

Thank you to the Dutchmen and Coach Leaman for a Dutch Treat that neither the kids or the parents are soon to forget!

The Chipotle Incident

Today was a big day, to say the least. We had park day for incoming first graders, which was awesome. I met Isaac’s new teacher, Mrs. J, and the other two first grade teachers (Mr. M and Miss A.) I promised Isaac a possible (if they were open) stop at the Chipotle on the way to see Wacky Neuro if he could follow directions and keep it together.

I’m so not above bribery.

So, we left park day and began the drive over to Wacky Neuro’s office and made a turn into where the new Chipotle is. I saw the sign that said “grand opening 8/31, but I saw people going in and out. Hrm. Open, or not?

Then, I saw people coming out with bags…presumably filled with burrit0-y goodness.

So, I took Isaac and brought him in, or started to. It was then that we were informed that the store didn’t open until tomorrow. You had to have the proper family and friends invite to go in today. I told Isaac that we would go back tomorrow…but he broke into tears.

That’s when the manager went above and beyond. He signaled to the door people to let us in, and warned us that it was a training day and to go gently. Then, he told us our money was no good today. What? really?

I’m always gentle! Especially to people making my food!

So, Isaac got a chicken burrito (with the works) and I got my usual steak and black bean burrito with half of the works. Toss on drinks and chips and it was LUNCH!

Even for a training day, this crew was sharp, well oiled and wonderful. I can’t say enough about how awesome this was today. They didn’t have to let us in. We saw them turn away other people without the required invites.

Thank you to Chipotle for making our afternoon, and having the compassion and family sense that is sorely lacking in a lot of businesses today.

We’ll be back in the next week or so for more. You can count on it.

Sure! I’ll drop everything and run to Chicago!

Note the extreme sarcasm.

Doug’s cousin is getting married. Yes, he was in our wedding, BUT, with me teaching (Please?) and Doug working in health care…it’s hard to really get time off. AND to boot, the wedding is in Chicago, during the MARATHON. Yeah. Not one place to stay under 275/night. NOT in my budget. Especially with 3 people needing accomodations-We wouldn’t leave Isaac home!

So, imagine my shock and awe when a BRIDAL SHOWER invite arrived in my mailbox yesterday.

Sure! I’ll drop everything and run to Chicago for a luncheon event! I’ll just put all of my plans for the summer aside and run out there. No matter that Isaac and I have one trillion things to do.

color me unamused.

Now…how to decline graciously without laughing hysterically at the suggestion that I could be there if I really wanted to…

So, I joined a gym…

I swear, it sounds like a good set up line, doesn’t it? Well, for me, it probably is.

Planet Fitness ran a deal this week where it was 1.00 down and 10.00/month with no contract, ect. I can get behind that. I’ve been looking for a place to go ever since we parted ways with the local Y for reasons that were totally personal.

So, I went for my first workout the other day, and this guy asked me for the time. Ok, fine. I’ll bite. Gave him the time, although I noticed about 3 very large clocks in eyeline, but I know how much of a space cadet I can be, so I humored him.

I zipped upstairs and grabbed a treadmill and started a decent paced walk. I see this guy come up the stairs and hop on the eliptical next to my treadmill. He starts up a conversation with me. Oh, my. Save me.

WELL, the long and short of it was he tried to PICK ME UP. Best pick up line ever?

“So, do you live with your parents?”

ARGH!

I asked him what time he usually came to the gym for no other reason than the times I know to avoid…so I don’t run into him. Then, I went downstairs and proceeded to go and stretch.

seriously. What am I? An oddball magnet?

Things you don’t see every day…

We got to see a movie stunt being done!!
It’s for a movie called The Other Guys that’s been filming in the area for the past few weeks. They’ve decided to use our area as a double for New York City. The only thing that’s the same is the plates on the car…

But here’s the stunt being set up. I wonder if you can guess where that car will land…because I’m not going to show you…

Defeating the purpose

Yesterday, we went to GE kids day downtown-a free event where they had music, ect. I’ll blog about the whole day later…

One of the things they were doing there was making Safe Child ID cards-the kind if your kid ever goes missing, it’s got their photo, stats, ect. All sorts of personal information, including fingerprints are on this card.

Well, we’re waiting for the big musical act to begin and I notice a child, with a Radio Disney lanyard on. The plastic pouch at the end of it has their SAFE CHILD ID card in it, and he’s bouncing around, dancing.

Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of having one of these cards? really? Put it around your child’s neck so everyone knows your child’s name and vital information in a large crowd. Really.

that so defeats the purpose of this thing. Seriously.

Holy cow-the Supreme Court got it right!

I was parusing through the local paper this morning online and came across an article about how the supreme court ruled in favor of a set of parents who wanted reimbursement for a private education for their special education son.

I’m elated.

First off, the supreme court got it right-this is not for parents who deem the program that their child is pegged for to be inapropriate. For that, you still need to take the course of action described in the parent rights literature. This is for parents who are completely ignored by the school district, have not received a free, appropriate education for their child and have had to take their child elsewhere.

This is for the parents who have had the crap school psychs, teachers who ignore them and a system that is so broken that they had to pull their child to fix it.

In this specific case, the student was tested and the conclusion was that the child did not have a disability. Upon using their second opinion clause from the parent rights, the testing that the school had done was proven wrong, and the student was pulled to a private school for their education.

So, the parents sued for the cost of their child’s education, and who can blame them?

When a school district fails so miserably, they should reimburse the parents for the cost of educating their child. Private schools and therapies are NOT cheap, and can drain a parent’s income faster than anything out there.

Will the majority of parents need to use this recourse? I highly doubt it. This is an extreme step, albeit a needed one to keep the school districts in check and doing their job. I will say it’s nice to see that for once, the courts are considering the student and not the bottom line.

Special needs and Kindergarten, take 5.2

Another installment of “where does Isaac go to Kindergarten??” is here! 

This was an unexpected installment, because I thought I had it all figured out until Wednesday, when the IEP meeting hits. Yeah. Notice the word thought. 

So, here goes…

We had pretty much ruled out the private kindergarten because of cost. It was astronomical, enough to make everyone and anyone choke. So, after crunching some numbers, we decided that we couldn’t swing $850/month for one year of kindergarten, as wonderful and super as this place may be. 

Yesterday, I was home, getting Doug all recovered from some oral surgery (he was SOOOO looped out!), when I got a phone call. It was the director of private kindergarten. Umm..I thought we had said no….

WELL, she was calling to do something that she’s never done before…offer a scholarship to a child-and that would be MY child for kindergarten next year. We’re looking at tuition that would be on par with the private school I work at, the aftercare programs that I would need for Isaac next year and pretty much everything else under the sun. 

Hrm. 

So, now, my perfectly honed plan has gone into tizzy fits and screams. And I have to make a choice by Friday. 

BLAH!

 

Oh, and you think the school district has given me any sort of heads up on what their recommendations are for Isaac?

Nope. Not a clue. 

So, I’m getting ready to call the school psychologist and find out what their ideas are for next year, as I have to know by tomorrow. Plus, it’s disgustingly unacceptable that I have no idea what their idea of the plan is right now, and meeting is on WEDNESDAY. 

Save me.

 

So, anyone got any good ideas? Anyone want to make the choice for me, because I just don’t know what to do.

 

Like I keep saying-getting into Kindergarten should NOT be this hard. It really shouldn’t.