Take THAT, Geek Squad!

(Post being entered by Jay)

May I share with you how I saved $167 by NOT listening to Geek Squad? (And you can too!)

It all started a couple of months ago with a new notebook computer for Joann's school. I made an error in judgment: I told Joann it might be a nice computer for the kids to use too. On their first night of use, the kids managed to do one of these:

"No problem!" I frantically assured everyone as I grabbed Q-tips and rubbing alcohol. Thankfully, I managed to clean out every key and the keyboard was working fine again. Bliss!

The following week, the kids were on the computer again. Although they were told to be VERY careful this time, they quickly managed to do one of these:



This time our home cleaning remedies were not so lucky. Half of the keyboard was acting as if something were on top of it. Like perhaps a 600-pound anvil.

I took it to Best Buy's Geek Squad, thinking this would be a 24-hour repair. But they told me it will be shipped to Kentucky and then I will get a call. ONE WEEK LATER I finally get a call from a Geek Squad representative in Kentucky. He told me that this repair will cost $191.00. ONE HUNDRED NINETY-ONE DOLLARS!!!!!!!!! I kindly asked him if he could explain what part of that cost was labor vs. for parts. He got very defensive and said "Either you want it done or you don't." I told him to cancel the repair.

Having NO IDEA how I was going to fix things, I stumbled across this very helpful website.

Then I searched online for replacement keyboards. Found one for $24, shipped. It arrived before our computer made it back to our local Best Buy, which must have used a shipping route that passed through the rings of Saturn because it felt like forever.

The keyboard snapped in place like a dream. The repair was easier than changing one's socks. Total cost: $24. Total saved: $167. Fight the power!

Some pictures that make me smile.

Becky's pup
Taking my own picture in the hotel I was at for my first business trip, a conference. I feel so grown up! I should. I am almost.... 40. Gosh, that sounds old.

Bonfire at Becky's

Family

The room is dusty but I love this picture of Emily being her happy self at my dad's house.

say what?

Emily came out and wondered why her feet have calculus. That's callouses Emily.

Tara was mad that more people didn't put on their porch light to give out candy. "Why didn't more people parpissapate?" Um. Uh.

Have you already had Halloween?

We just got home from it. The girls actually made the full trek this time without any complaints of headache, backache, neck ache, arm ache, stomachache, leg pain or foot pain. :)
They actually smiled a lot and seemed to get into it. They even helped dress up the dog for the first time, who went as a banana.

When they returned home, they wanted to stay by the door and pass out candy to any remaining trick-or-treaters and asked us to sit back & watch. Not a problem for Jay & me!

I guess sometimes they do grow up quickly

Today felt like a big race to get clothing and shoes to keep up with Tara. She is growing like a weed, right into that hard-to-fit zone between child and adult. Some days you definitely know when your kid is running the show.

Her royal majesty

You know those motivational sayings like "live each day like it's your last!" ? Ummm, yeah that's not really possible as a parent because some of your days will have to be lived in total sacrifice to the needs of your child.

I think today we finally got caught up with all of the kids' clothing needs. Although it is possible Emily is planning to thwart this calmness. She has stayed the same height and size as she was a year ago - remaining in a holding pattern, if you will. What will likely happen is just when we get all the winter outerwear she needs, her body will rise up in defiance against it all by growing a foot taller. Then the entire merry-go-round repeats itself.

But of course this is all said in a spirit of gratitude. Well, actually it's being said in a spirit of exhaustion. but gratitude should be there once we all have adequate sleep.

Real actual websites I visited today.

(Post being entered by Jay)

Fun on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Time to review websites I visited today. Try 'em!

ODDCAST
I had endless fun typing phrases in this and watching
virtual humans say it back to me. Changing the language
won't actually convert what you type but it makes the
person say it with an accent from that country!

CELEBRITY SOUNDBOARDS
Celebrity Soundboards is old but fun. The idea of a
soundboard is to call your friend and press the buttons
so it sounds like the celebrity is talking to them. Make sure
to check all five pages to find someone you like. My favorite
was Napoleon Dynamite at the bottom of page 1.

CUTE OVERLOAD
Nothing but cute animal pictures! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

JACKSON POLLOCK
Make your own Jackson Pollock painting! Clicking your mouse
will change the color of your paint.

FALLING SAND
Falling Sand Game. Wait for it to load then go ahead and draw
things to divert the falling sound. Very pretty. I still don't understand
what the options at the bottom do (wall/fire/water/oil) but it looks fun.

WORD FIND
Free word find! Click 'New Game' and everything is done with your mouse.

CHURCH SIGN GENERATOR
Oldie but goodie. Put any words you want on a church sign! After you select the
style, you have to type in what you want it to say using the boxes on the left.

Danse avec les étoiles

(Post being entered by Jay)

Joann is watching Dancing With The Stars. I am not.

What more proof would you ever need that she is female and I am male?

Anyway, in playing with translators to write the title of this post, I thought it would be fun to do the old trick of viewing the blog in different languages. So for our massive international audience out there, here you go:

This page in French

This page in German

This page in Italian

This page in Polish

This page in Arabic

This page in Hebrew

This page in Japanese