Cant Keep Quiet!

Jim works as a nurse in the emergency department of one of the hospitals in Orlando.  I’m not that surprised that he got H1N1.  Thankfully, he doesn’t live with us so he hasn’t exposed us to the damn thing.  I sure as hell don’t have time to be out sick for even a day since my three person department became a one person department.

Jim is mostly over it and is hoping to be cleared to go back to work tomorrow.  I hope he is able to go back to work.  I know he’s probably going a bit stir crazy right now.

Technorati Tags: H1N1

I used to really like Olive Garden. Used to. Now, not so much. Today’s fiasco won’t help Olive Garden’s standing.

First off, let me just say that this wasn’t my choice. I was invited out with my mother, aunt, and a couple of their friends. They choose the restaurant.

There were 5 of us in our group. When we arrived we were told that it would take 20 to 25 minutes. Not too bad for a Sunday at lunch time. Unfortunately, the woman right behind me had about three young children. When they told her how long it would take she said that she would allow her kids to run around in the lobby until they were seated.

Personally, the man at the desk should have told his manager what the woman said. The manager should have told her to handle her kids or leave. Instead the monsters were all over the place. Still, they arrived after we did.

Another group about our size arrived about 10 minutes after we did. They also had kids. Unlike the first woman, though, these kids were relatively well behaved.

Both groups were seated before we were. When the second group was seated I went to the desk and asked how much longer. I also pointed out that we had already been waiting 25 minutes and that the last group seated came in 10 minutes after we got there.

The manager came out and apologized for our wait and said they were getting our table ready right then. Once we were seated he offered a couple of appetizers on the house.

The appetizers were the best part of the meal. They weren’t that great.

We were sitting at a table near two large groups. Both groups had kids. One group must have had 14 or more people. Given the large number and their kids you would have thought they would be the noisiest table. They were not. Actually, they were fine. No the noisiest table had about 8 people. Their kids were already loud when we were seated and proceeded to get louder and louder. When they left there was also food all over the floor.

I had ravioli but there wasn’t enough sauce to cover the ravioli so it was dry. Fifteen minutes after we were given our food the waitress came with our bills. Fifteen minutes! We hadn’t finished eating. She didn’t even offer us desert.

I would have asked to see the manager again but at this point I just wanted to leave.

I will be writing a letter to the manager and to the corporation complaining about their horrible service and poor food.

Technorati Tags: Olive Garden, restaurant

We made it safely back from Alabama. I’m too tired right now to post anything but I couldn’t pass up JibJab’s year in review.

Enjoy!

We’re getting ready to head up to Alabama for Christmas.  Most likely I won’t have much, if any, time to update this blog.

I know I’ve been doing a crappy job updating lately, but that will get better once we get back from Alabama.

Technorati Tags: Alabama, Merry Christmas

Actually, that smell was sewage. And I hated it.

When I came downstairs this morning I noticed a rank smell. At first I thought it might be the dirty laundry I was bringing down the stairs with me. It wasn’t.

It was sewage. The lone from the house to the sewer was blocked and the sewage was backing up through the toilet in the powder room.

It took forever for the plumper to come out this afternoon. Then I had the fun task of explaining to him why we had a line to the sewer, two sump pumps and a septic tank. Until a bedroom and bathroom were added to the house about 20 years ago, there was no septic tank and only one sump pump. The house was designed so that half of the house went directly to the sewer and the other half of the house went to a sump pump that forced the waste/water on to the sewer line.

When the house was remodeled another sump pump was added because the drain that helped take care of the ground water that would come up from the artesian wells under the house was damaged. A couple of years later the septic tank had to be added because the idiots who did the plumping for the new bathroom didn’t set it up correctly and it was burning out the original sump pump.

Long story, short, the problem today was with the plumping leading to the sewer. I had to find both access pipes for the sewer line for the plumper. I ended up using my bare feet since the access covers had been overgrown by grass. He couldn’t find them. Once they were found he snaked the sewer line and now it’s working correctly.

Of course, the smell is still everywhere and I ruined a pair of sandals that I really liked. Oh, and I have a massive headache that I’ve had since yesterday.

All in all, it’s been a wonderful day. Not!