Random talk thread!

[audball]

Got in earlier than our appointment time. About a quarter to 9am. They did diagnostics for an hourish on the things we brought to their attention and 3 of the 5 things had been evaluated. All three are covered in full with our warranty but will take time to replace she had me in a rental car (free for 7 days) and on my way home by 10:30. She called my DH (his car) with confirmation that the 4th thing will also be covered in full. The last thing they haven't yet heard themselves so haven't identified it yet so we're waiting to hear on that one.

I did go in prepared to sit there all day. There are no restaurants within walking distance and it's not in a super great area of town. I brought my laptop and charger, phone charge, 3 dvds, and packed a lunch. They had free wifi so I read on PS until she called me and was about to start a movie when she called to say she was sending me home with a rental car.

Glad to be home.

 

[wakingdreams53]

You ladies are a lot better than me re: dishes. I don't like when they pile up, but they take me so long to do that i just procrastinate them until FI passive-aggressively does them.

Audball, what luck, our car was in the shop today too! What was wrong with yours? I'd actually like to talk to you about eloping, but idk if I should just post a thread or if you have an etsy/loupetroup/diamondbistro account because all of this is completely driving me crazy. If you have time, of course I'm wakingdreams53 on etsy as well https://www.etsy.com/people/wakingdreams53?ref=si_pr

 

[audball]

Audball, what luck, our car was in the shop today too! What was wrong with yours? I'd actually like to talk to you about eloping, but idk if I should just post a thread or if you have an etsy/loupetroup/diamondbistro account because all of this is completely driving me crazy. If you have time, of course I'm wakingdreams53 on etsy as well https://www.etsy.com/people/wakingdreams53?ref=si_pr

Nothing huge, just little things that piled up. There some clicking sound in the AC blower motor, the seatbelts in the front aren't retracting themselves well, a speaker went out, that kind of thing. We bought the car at Carmax and purchased their warranty option, everything is covered and we pay nothing. We also have a rental car for 7 days while they work on it free of charge.

I'd be happy to chat elopement. I just sent you a message on Etsy.

 

[star sparkle]

Aud, I'm glad the car thing worked out well for you! I hate sitting anywhere for extended periods of time, so it's awesome that you were in and out of there quicker than you'd planned on!

TP, my DH and I were up near your neck of the woods this weekend! DH grew up in Olympia so we used the long weekend to head up there to ski (there's like no snow in Tahoe, lame!) and see family. It was a quick trip (Fri night to Mon night), but we squeezed a lot in and had a blast!

 

[audball]

Aud, I'm glad the car thing worked out well for you! I hate sitting anywhere for extended periods of time, so it's awesome that you were in and out of there quicker than you'd planned on!

Definitely! They called this morning and said as of now they expect it'll be ready on Thursday. At least we have a free rental in the mean time!

 

[antiquesparkler]

Okay, I am crossing over to this side (gasp!) for one post....

Aud, Did you have your underarms and legs waxed for the wedding? I think I remember saying you were going to...

How was it? Did it hurt? Be honest....

 

[audball]

Okay, I am crossing over to this side (gasp!) for one post....

Aud, Did you have your underarms and legs waxed for the wedding? I think I remember saying you were going to...

How was it? Did it hurt? Be honest....

You're always welcome! I did have my underarms and lower legs (knee down) waxed for the wedding. It wasn't pleasant at all, but I am glad I did it. The lower legs stung but was very tolerable (and I'm a wimp!). The underarms hurt so so much. Thankfully it's only about two pulls to get that area covered but it hurt a lot. I loved having zero stubble for my short dress and underarms for the day of and our whole stay on the trip. I paid $15 for the underarm wax and $39 for the lower leg wax (includes knee and below). Tipped 20%. I'd say one of the worst parts (for me) though was the phase of not shaving. They said a minimum of 2 weeks without shaving but the longer the better. I set up my appointment 6 weeks out and stopped shaving then. I had events that required dresses, etc in between so I had to wear opaque tights to wear a dress and a 3/4 sleeve cardigan over my sleeveless dress to hide everything. It wasn't even cold out either so I was hot and felt ridiculous. That being said, even after having not shaved for 6 weeks, they couldn't get absolutely everything which was disappointing. Even having gone that long, there were still teeny baby hairs that just couldn't be pulled by the wax. I had to shave once before we left for Savannah but then the little hairs stayed away for the whole trip. Overall, I'd recommend it. But do prepare yourself, the underarms were the pits (<---haha!). I had mine done all in one appointment on the morning of Saturday 10/26 for our afternoon Wednesday 10/30 wedding. I had a few days to have the swelling go down (only took ~1 day) and had time to exfoliate as they recommended and shave the stuff the couldn't get off before leaving. I'd give yourself at least the 4 days if not closer to a week prior to the day. The underarm wax left red dots under my skin that took a full 3 days to go away. They weren't red bumps, but looked like little dots of blood at each follicle under the skin. It went away and didn't hurt, but that wouldn't be pretty to look at. Hopefully I haven't scared you off or shared too much information. If you have any other specific questions, let me know!

 

[antiquesparkler]

Okay, I am crossing over to this side (gasp!) for one post....

Aud, Did you have your underarms and legs waxed for the wedding? I think I remember saying you were going to...

How was it? Did it hurt? Be honest....

You're always welcome! I did have my underarms and lower legs (knee down) waxed for the wedding. It wasn't pleasant at all, but I am glad I did it. The lower legs stung but was very tolerable (and I'm a wimp!). The underarms hurt so so much. Thankfully it's only about two pulls to get that area covered but it hurt a lot. I loved having zero stubble for my short dress and underarms for the day of and our whole stay on the trip. I paid $15 for the underarm wax and $39 for the lower leg wax (includes knee and below). Tipped 20%. I'd say one of the worst parts (for me) though was the phase of not shaving. They said a minimum of 2 weeks without shaving but the longer the better. I set up my appointment 6 weeks out and stopped shaving then. I had events that required dresses, etc in between so I had to wear opaque tights to wear a dress and a 3/4 sleeve cardigan over my sleeveless dress to hide everything. It wasn't even cold out either so I was hot and felt ridiculous. That being said, even after having not shaved for 6 weeks, they couldn't get absolutely everything which was disappointing. Even having gone that long, there were still teeny baby hairs that just couldn't be pulled by the wax. I had to shave once before we left for Savannah but then the little hairs stayed away for the whole trip. Overall, I'd recommend it. But do prepare yourself, the underarms were the pits (<---haha!). I had mine done all in one appointment on the morning of Saturday 10/26 for our afternoon Wednesday 10/30 wedding. I had a few days to have the swelling go down (only took ~1 day) and had time to exfoliate as they recommended and shave the stuff the couldn't get off before leaving. I'd give yourself at least the 4 days if not closer to a week prior to the day. The underarm wax left red dots under my skin that took a full 3 days to go away. They weren't red bumps, but looked like little dots of blood at each follicle under the skin. It went away and didn't hurt, but that wouldn't be pretty to look at. Hopefully I haven't scared you off or shared too much information. If you have any other specific questions, let me know!

Eeeeps! Thanks Aud!

I was worried thats what you were going to say. I think I will look into other options for my underarms- like Nair or Veet or something similar. The problem is my 2 weeks of grow out will be in August and I can't imagine wearing a sweater during the nicest time of the summer- plus my bachelorette dinner will be during that time too. Good to know about the little red dots! I appreciate your help and advice!!

 

[audball]

Eeeeps! Thanks Aud!

I was worried thats what you were going to say. I think I will look into other options for my underarms- like Nair or Veet or something similar. The problem is my 2 weeks of grow out will be in August and I can't imagine wearing a sweater during the nicest time of the summer- plus my bachelorette dinner will be during that time too. Good to know about the little red dots! I appreciate your help and advice!!

You're welcome, AS! I hope it was helpful! I live in FL so even in September-October not shaving was tough. I've always had skin reactions with Nair and Veet so I knew I couldn't do that route. If you haven't used them before, make sure to try some in advance so you don't have any adverse reactions! Also test how long they last so you know when to do it for the big day. Good luck!

 

[TooPatient]

Aud, I'm glad the car thing worked out well for you! I hate sitting anywhere for extended periods of time, so it's awesome that you were in and out of there quicker than you'd planned on!

TP, my DH and I were up near your neck of the woods this weekend! DH grew up in Olympia so we used the long weekend to head up there to ski (there's like no snow in Tahoe, lame!) and see family. It was a quick trip (Fri night to Mon night), but we squeezed a lot in and had a blast!

Fun!

The snow just happened so I'm glad it was here in time for you to enjoy

 

[TooPatient]

Aud, I'm glad the car thing worked out well for you! I hate sitting anywhere for extended periods of time, so it's awesome that you were in and out of there quicker than you'd planned on!

Definitely! They called this morning and said as of now they expect it'll be ready on Thursday. At least we have a free rental in the mean time!

Quick work!
Car stuff always feels like it takes forever.

I actually didn't mind too much sitting at the dealership for an hour the last oil change. It was too noisy to focus on school stuff so I got a chance to relax and catch up around PS.... and sip a hot chocolate or two

We LOVE our warranty through the dealership. Same warranty and dealer as the old car (traded in 18 months ago) and other than basic maintenance stuff, everything is covered. They even include a free rental car for any appointment expected to take over 3 hours and we get to keep the rental for as long as it takes them to finish. Last time I got to spend a few days driving around in a Corvette (? Or was it that other sports car that looks similar.... Eh. Fun change but glad I don't drive it every day!)

 

[audball]

Quick work!
Car stuff always feels like it takes forever.

I actually didn't mind too much sitting at the dealership for an hour the last oil change. It was too noisy to focus on school stuff so I got a chance to relax and catch up around PS.... and sip a hot chocolate or two

We LOVE our warranty through the dealership. Same warranty and dealer as the old car (traded in 18 months ago) and other than basic maintenance stuff, everything is covered. They even include a free rental car for any appointment expected to take over 3 hours and we get to keep the rental for as long as it takes them to finish. Last time I got to spend a few days driving around in a Corvette (? Or was it that other sports car that looks similar.... Eh. Fun change but glad I don't drive it every day!)

We didn't have a large budget for car buying (around 12-15k) so we had to go used to get something okay. We'd heard good things about Carmax so we decided to give them a try and the buying experience was so wonderful they probably made us customers for life.

The car we purchased was 5 years old and had 36k miles on it. Obviously outside of the standard manufacturer's warranty, but Carmax offers a warranty for purchase on all of their cars and we opted in since our research indicated that the car we went with rarely had large mechanical problems, but little things that add up (like sensors and speakers!). The lady who called with an update yesterday said our tally was up to close to 1,300 for the repairs and we owe nothing since we bought the warranty. It's already paying for itself, woot.

We'll someday get nice, newer cars, but at this point our priority is paying off our student loan debt so we didn't want to take on a large car payment.

 

[TooPatient]

Quick work!
Car stuff always feels like it takes forever.

I actually didn't mind too much sitting at the dealership for an hour the last oil change. It was too noisy to focus on school stuff so I got a chance to relax and catch up around PS.... and sip a hot chocolate or two

We LOVE our warranty through the dealership. Same warranty and dealer as the old car (traded in 18 months ago) and other than basic maintenance stuff, everything is covered. They even include a free rental car for any appointment expected to take over 3 hours and we get to keep the rental for as long as it takes them to finish. Last time I got to spend a few days driving around in a Corvette (? Or was it that other sports car that looks similar.... Eh. Fun change but glad I don't drive it every day!)

We didn't have a large budget for car buying (around 12-15k) so we had to go used to get something okay. We'd heard good things about Carmax so we decided to give them a try and the buying experience was so wonderful they probably made us customers for life.

The car we purchased was 5 years old and had 36k miles on it. Obviously outside of the standard manufacturer's warranty, but Carmax offers a warranty for purchase on all of their cars and we opted in since our research indicated that the car we went with rarely had large mechanical problems, but little things that add up (like sensors and speakers!). The lady who called with an update yesterday said our tally was up to close to 1,300 for the repairs and we owe nothing since we bought the warranty. It's already paying for itself, woot.

We'll someday get nice, newer cars, but at this point our priority is paying off our student loan debt so we didn't want to take on a large car payment.

Great plan!

Great to know about CarMax! We may have need of them in another couple of years.

We had two used cars and just kept repairing until major stuff went wrong. Had one in need of massive repair sitting and waiting for us to have money and then the other had a massive issue come up. Ended up with no working cars so looked all over at used and then new. Turned out we couldn't get financing on a used car for whatever reason, but we could get on a new one. So -- our first ever new car!
Drove that until the warranty was just about over (just shy of 90,000 miles) and traded in for this one. The trade in value of the "old" car plus $1000 down left us with pretty small payments (400/month instead of the 600/month of the old car) -- the BIG savings for us are in the fuel expenses. The old one could only take the expensive grade (or void the warranty) and got 17 mpg. The new one can take the cheapest grade and gets more like 28-30 mpg. We're saving 300-500/month in gas!

I took my brother out to look at cars last year too. He'd been buying used and ending up with bad expensive problems. When his third used car (I told him to never buy from friends of my mother's ex husband! ) died while he was still paying for the last two that had died (new engine, new transmission, new engine, new...) I convinced him that a NEW car would cost him less than all the repairs he was paying for. Found him a brand new Mazda 3 for something like 12,000 -- monthly payments right about 200! (and that included all the extended warranties!)

Some of my family's best cars were the well-loved used. Last forever!

My biggest thing is having some sort of warranty so there isn't a huge out of pocket if something goes wrong. We've got enough other stuff that has sudden big out of pocket stuff

 

[TooPatient]

Dishwasher!!!!!!

Fixed yesterday. Cost over $300 but we've got an all new control panel, knobs, housing...

DH was so happy to get coffee in a real cup this morning!

 

[audball]

Yeah, we had a great experience with Carmax. I drive a 14 year old car that I bought 5 years old in 2005. It's got ~150k miles on it and I will drive it until it dies despite wanting a new car. Neither DH or I are big car people so if it looks decent, is reliable, I have no real desire to trade it in for something newer. I bought this car for $3500 cash when it was 5 years old and have fixed anything that came up since. I have yet to average out to paying a car payment in repairs in a year so I'll just keep fixing it!

DH had an even older car than I had (a 1996) and has the same mentality. Unfortunately in June 2012 when tropical storm Debby came through FL, the streets flooded so bad that his engine got completely flooded and the repair cost was too much (a whole new engine on a 16 year old car? No thanks). We used that money as a down payment on something new to us instead. We'd have just bought outright like we both did the previously, but used car prices were super high at the time since there were less available (not through dealers) since more people were holding onto their cars for longer.

We bought a 2008 with 36k miles on it for $12k, payments less than 200/mo. I can't imagine every paying $400/mo for a car, let alone $600/mo! Our rent is only $690/mo! We also have student loan payments though that add up. The minimum on mine is $160/mo and Andrew's is $300/mo so once those are gone, I guess spending $400/mo on a car payment is less than we're spending on student loans at the moment! Can't wait for those to be GONE!

 

[audball]

Dishwasher!!!!!!

Fixed yesterday. Cost over $300 but we've got an all new control panel, knobs, housing...

DH was so happy to get coffee in a real cup this morning!

Woot!

 

[TooPatient]

I think the car payments weren't too horrible of a shock for us because the new car (in 2007) got better gas mileage and didn't have the out of pocket repairs going on. We'd been having to do new tires, new wheels, new brakes, new transmission, new.... on both old cars so it had gotten pretty expensive. Seemed like about the time one thing got repaired, something else broke.

Our aim is to drive this car (new in June 2012) until just near the end of the warranty again (so about 90,000 miles) and trade it in when the trade in value is still pretty high. We will (hopefully) have no car payments for a bit and will save the cash to pay the difference. Ideally we'll be able to get the next new car and not have any payments.

The "good" news is that the dealership offers loyalty rewards so we can time it to where we get discounted price + loyalty cash (as down/deposit) + super low interest (I think this one started as 0% for the first bit and then went to something like 1%). DH also gets an employee discount because he works for a mega company in the area that gets discounts at a lot of places.


Oh --- If you decide to buy new, check around and see if you get a discount through your employer. My brother sells car parts for a local store and discovered that he gets 6% discount from certain dealerships.

 

[TooPatient]

I'm quick with a picture for week 4!

Okay.... I only have two pictures of my shoes so it wasn't hard to pick

Can't wait to see what you pick! Your shoes were beautiful!

 

[TooPatient]

"A" has long hair and wants to get it cut to a bit past shoulder length. I had the idea while reading over in Hangout that she can wait a month or two and then we can go in and have it cut to donate. She's anxious to get her hair cut (it has gotten pretty long) but excited to help too.

I measured and she's got about 15 inches past the base of her neck. I've got about 17
I just may have them do my hair too!

 

[audball]

That's a nice reason to wait! I cut my hair a few weeks after the wedding. I normally keep it around shoulder length, maybe a little longer. I had cut it last in November 2012 and when we got engaged a few weeks later, I didn't cut it again until after the wedding so I had plenty of hair to work with for my updo. It felt very refreshing to have all the extra length gone and it's definitely faster to fix it without the extra inches. I look back at pictures from our honeymoon though and sometimes wish I hadn't cut it!

This shot is the best showing how long it had gotten. It was wedding morning breakfast in our room before all the getting ready started. And then, because I love it so much, one my favorite shots from our honeymoon. You can see it's long, but not as clearly as the other shot. We got this cookie that was the size of my head at a local sweet shop on River Street. It was so freaking delicious.

Just for size, one other photo of it (mostly) whole. We'd started eating it Lady and the Tramp style each taking a bite.

ETA: and a now picture! This was 2-3 weeks after I got it cut when we were out to dinner for DH's birthday.

 

[TooPatient]

I love your hair cut shorter! It has such a fun feel and frames your face so well. Love the pics!!
OMG that cookie

 

[TooPatient]

Audball -- Are you still trying to lose more weight or maintain?

I haven't gotten on the scale for a few weeks and need to. I've been eating so-so but get very little exercise.

I do have a super long walk from the parking lot to my first class (1/2 mile? 3/4 mile?) and then across campus and up stairs to my next class (1/4 mile or more?) and back across with down/up stairs to my 3rd class (1/4 mile or more?). Back to the car (1/2 mile? 3/4 mile? up steep hill). Twice a week I have to repeat the trip from car to the first classroom as I have my 4th class in that same room (after an hour of sitting in my car getting fresh tea and eating a yogurt).

AF should be about here so that may be the bloated/icky feeling but I don't like my weight.

 

[audball]

I love your hair cut shorter! It has such a fun feel and frames your face so well. Love the pics!!
OMG that cookie

Aww, thanks! It's definitely easier to fix than when it's much longer.

 

[audball]

Audball -- Are you still trying to lose more weight or maintain?

I haven't gotten on the scale for a few weeks and need to. I've been eating so-so but get very little exercise.

I do have a super long walk from the parking lot to my first class (1/2 mile? 3/4 mile?) and then across campus and up stairs to my next class (1/4 mile or more?) and back across with down/up stairs to my 3rd class (1/4 mile or more?). Back to the car (1/2 mile? 3/4 mile? up steep hill). Twice a week I have to repeat the trip from car to the first classroom as I have my 4th class in that same room (after an hour of sitting in my car getting fresh tea and eating a yogurt).

AF should be about here so that may be the bloated/icky feeling but I don't like my weight.

Yep, definitely. We let ourselves get WAY WAY WAY too far off the wagon after the wedding, through the holidays, both of our birthdays, etc. We both gained over 15 lbs from the wedding to the new year. Yikes. I'm embarrassed to admit that, but yeah. So we restarted early in January and I've already lost 10 of those pounds. So a few more to go before I'm back to wedding weight and I still have more to lose from there. I joined a 12 week weight loss challenge group (people I know in person in a secret facebook group) and they leader posts challenges a few times a week for exercise and/or food. It's been pretty great to have other people making us accountable. I probably have another 30 pounds to lose from where I am now.

 

[TooPatient]

I just let someone have a piece of my mind and then hung up on them.

I've only ever done this about twice in my life and it takes a lot to get me there. This woman was calling about a billing thing for DH's medical stuff he's been through and I let her know that I do all of the paperwork and bill paying in this house to keep things organized (we ran into a few "oops! I thought you were going to do that!" things and found that this works best for us). She told me that she couldn't tell me anything other than the phone number to call back and refused to even look at his file to pull up the Power of Attorney they have giving me authorization for any and all medical discussions, billing, etc. She got pretty nasty about the whole thing so I told her that if she was going to act that way I would just talk to the billing department in person (click).

I feel sort of bad because I hate having to force issues (I like being laid back and friendly with everyone!) but I feel sort of good because I was absolutely in the right and she was just rude.

Eh.
On with life. (and then to the dr office to chat with the nice lady to see if she can make heads and tails of what we owe after the insurance!)

 

[audball]

How frustrating! I'm sorry things are so tough.

 

[audball]

Just added my "Week 5" photo! Don't forget to add yours, TP!

Happy Weekend!

 

[TooPatient]

Sorted out the dr billing. Just went in person and talked to the guy at the dr's desk. Their number matched what the insurance said it should be and I just paid the thing -- after passing on how very rude the woman was. I understand regulations and stuff, but that is no reason to be rude to anyone.

Did you know prescriptions expire 12 months after being written?!?
My dr gave me 15 months of NuvaRing so that I didn't have to try to schedule in January. Had three refills remaining and went to pick one up Friday. Long story made super short -- I needed a new one to use Friday night. I've done all I can trying to get one ASAP but there is nothing anyone will do until at least Monday.

I'm bummed.
Things in the romance area have been pretty non-existent since last summer. With DH feeling so much better and "A" going to be gone for a 4 day weekend in February, I was hoping to do something about that. Now I'm stuck with no BC and my body being all out of sorts (they say 30 days no protection if you don't insert when supposed to). I'm trying to be positive -- the 30 days will be up just a few days after my b-day so maybe we can cut a couple of days off the 30 and have a nice evening then...


Hope you're having a great weekend!

 

[TooPatient]

The football team from this area won the Super Bowl yesterday. Fireworks and everything going on last night.

I'm not a football fan, but I'm glad people in this area get the chance to be happy with the team.

 

[audball]

Glad you got the billing sorted out! It's unfortunate when things are frustrating, but you handled it the best you could.

I didn't know about prescriptions expiring 12 months after the issue date...that's really unfortunate. Couldn't you use barrier contraceptives until you can get a refill so that you don't have to wait the whole 30 days?

As for the super bowl...couldn't care less. Lol. We didn't watch any of it! Good to know I'm not the only one who doesn't give a crap about football.