In My Bag

After I got my contacts, I went out and picked up a bottle of Opti-Free Replenish Rewetting Drops, as I figured that I would have need of the drops at some point. While I haven’t needed them as often as I thought I would - my mom told me horror stories of the contact lenses of twenty years ago, when the slightest breeze would dry out her eyes - I have needed them when I’ve accidentally fallen asleep in them, or when I’ve had them in for more than twelve hours and my eyes begin to get a little dry.

The rewetting drops are great. They don’t burn or irritate my eyes, and they work instantly. I highly recommend them for those who wear contact lenses!

I have been a constant wearer of glasses since I was seven or eight years old, until last week, when I made the hopefully permanent switch to contact lenses. My optometrist recommended Bausch & Lomb PureVision contact lenses, and after wearing them for a week and a half, only taking them out at night, I have to say that I really like them.

Really, I am very glad that I made the switch to contacts, and I’m also glad that I lucked out with contacts that have worked really well for me from the get-go. The contacts are tinted slightly, which makes them easy to see. They’re also very soft and flexible, but they also hold their shape. Once I got accustomed to touching my eyes, putting in the contacts and taking them out has been a breeze.

On a normal day, my contacts are in for 15 - 19 hours. They are very comfortable, though I do begin to experience dryness issues (the insides of my eyelids start sticking to my contacts) after twelve or so hours. But a few rewetting drops (I use Opti-Free Rewetting Drops), and I’m good to go!

Thanks to living in a rural area and Comcast’s monopolizing practices, we are stuck with using Comcast as our cable television provider (unless we want to pay out the ass for satellite) and as our internet service provider (unless we want to use dial-up). I resent being stuck with one particular company, especially since they seem to realize that and thus don’t go out of their way to provide any kind of prompt help or information when something goes wrong.

Every little bit some ugly issue with Comcast rears its head. The most recent one happened last week. On Friday, November 2nd, I called Comcast to find out how much my bill was. I was quoted with X amount by two different representatives, as I was accidentally disconnected during the first phone call and had to call back. Once I confirmed that X amount was indeed the amount owed, I made a payment online. By Monday morning, that payment had cleared out of my account.

So, going on the assumption that our bill was paid, imagine my surprise when, on Wednesday morning, I discovered that we had no cable television service or internet service. And without internet service, we have no phone, since we use Vonage. More than a little annoyed, I went over to my mother’s house to use her phone (we do not get good cell phone reception where we live). I called Comcast, and was told that our service was suspended because there was still money owed on the bill. I was told that while I paid X amount, I really owed Z amount. The phone monkey had no answer as to why I was quoted the same, incorrect amount by not one but TWO other phone monkeys. I was very annoyed, but agreed to pay the difference owed between Z amount and X amount.

Now we move on to payment fun. Comcast has a policy where checks are accepted, but if service is suspended, that check must clear before service will be restored. As I’m sure you know, it can take three to five business days (remember, I was calling on a Friday!) for a check to clear. Now I was pissed, because as I informed the rep, I did not have a credit/debit card for my checking account, because it was a new account and the card had not yet been sent out. I told the rep this, and he blew me off as if I never said anything, yapping on about paying with a credit/debit card. I told him AGAIN, after reprimanding him for not listening, that I did not HAVE a credit/debit card, and would be paying with a check. I also informed the phone monkey that I should NOT have to wait for a check to clear in order for my services to be restored, because it was not my fault in any way, shape or form that I was quoted the same, incorrect amount by TWO different Comcast representatives.

After speaking to a brick wall, excuse me, the Comcast representative, for another five minutes, and getting nowhere, I demanded a supervisor. It was like talking to another brick wall with a different voice. By now I was through being nice, and told her straight out that I was disgusted with her inability to LISTEN, and beyond disgusted with the incompetency of the apparent idiots Comcast hires to man the phones. She finally agreed to take a check and restore our cable services immediately, but would be unable to do anything about the internet service. Go figure. The one service I really want and NEED (for our phone, and also so I can work!), she can’t do anything with. I asked her how she can work at a job that does nothing but infuriate and inconvenience customers, but surprisingly, I didn’t get an answer.

In the end, I got nowhere, except to vent my frustration to two fucking idiots, and had to drive twenty miles each way to the bank and Comcast service center to pay the remainder amount in order to have our services turned back on.

TELL me you wouldn’t be pissed if you had the situation I had to deal with.

In September I sold my Nikon D40 body (you may remember the Nikon D40 review). Well, last Monday I went out and purchased the Nikon D40x body.
Needless to say, I am in heaven. It is an EXCELLENT camera body, and if you have the money to spend, I highly suggest you treat yourself to the Nikon D40x.

Until now I had never heard of the term fire glass. Apparently, fire glass is is a special type of glass that has been tempered for long term heat consumption. Fire glass can be used in place of regular gas logs. That’s right, fire glass BURNS like regular gas logs do. Only, unlike regular glass, fire glass does not melt, degrade or let off any toxic fumes. And, as a bonus, there is none of the soot or mess associated with regular burning materials. That’s pretty cool.

I doubt my husband and I would ever have the money to even think about looking at Las Vegas homes for sale, but we’re entitled to dream, aren’t we? Of course, our dream home would probably be here on the east coast. Warm climates that are year round, scorpions, sand, dry heat and extremely high gas prices hold no interest for me. But on the other hand, Las Vegas would be a very exciting area to live in! I’m sure my husband would love having all of the casinos around, lol.

I have always wanted to have one of those fancy lion head fountatins. Too bad I don’t have the type of home that is typically graced by those fountains, and I definitely don’t have a yard large enough to accommodate a lion head fountain.
Alyssa saw a lion head fountain at the zoo last year, and excitedly told us about the lion that was spitting water.