It Is So Bad

I just feel ill. It is one thing after another. On Friday I went to
pull out a small kitchen drawer. It is on the left side of the kitchen
sink. I stepped toward it with my left foot and pulled the front off
the drawer with my left hand. My slight tug ripped the wood front
off the drawer. It fell on my left foot. I am very lucky I was not hit
with a sharp corner of the front panel. I do not know if the drawer
was broken and glued back. The particle board was absolutely ripped
apart. I am right-handed. My left hand is not very strong. I called
Meagan. She came over to inspect the situation. She said she would
order a new drawer and it would take ten days to get a new one.

Friday night at the wine and cheese social I told the lifestyle
director about the fiasco with my new refrigerator not fitting under
the cabinet when it was delivered because the cabinet had been hung
3/4" lower than it should have been. They think the distance was
measured before the tile floor was put in. I told her how I had got
the model number of the refrigerator from the Walden model home. Found
the dimension diagram for that refrigerator on the GE website and then
when I picked out my refrigerator I printed out the dimension diagram
for my refrigerator and compared the dimensions to the refrigerator in
the Walden model. They were identical. She told me the construction
group is telling them that people should not go by the measurements
in the model homes and should measure the house they are buying.

I told her that was impossible in my case. When I made my trips up
here from Beaumont my house was not at a stage where I could get
accurate measurements. I should have told her that I thought Pulte has
a severe quality control problem. I am a chemical engineer. I was in
manufacturing. We manufactured petrochemicals. We produced our product
according to specifications. The specifications were based on the
needs of the customer. Pulte needs to learn a lesson about what
happens when quality control is ignored. I see parallels between Pulte
and General Motors which was a company that was all marketing and did
not meet the needs of the customer. General Motors started a downhill
slide in the 1980's when the Japanese made big gains in the U.S.
market by delivering a dependable quality product that met the needs
of their customers. General Motors was the largest corporation in the
world. Pulte claims to be the largest U.S. home builder. They are
ignoring the needs of their customer in the product they are
delivering. General Motors has never recovered their former status and
a few months ago the buzz in the media was that GM was on the verge of
bankruptcy. Wake up Pulte.

Last night I made the mistake of looking at my online bill from AT&T.
It has absolutely no relation to what I was told the charges would be.
I figure they are over billing me by $120 a month. The bill is
supposed to include the Dish Network. There were no charges shown for
Dish Network. Of course I found this mess on Saturday night when the
business office was closed. I am supposed to be paying $102/month for
a package that includes phone service, all inclusive long distance,
several calling features which included CallNotes that will not work
with the fiber in my area, DSL and a 120 channel package with local
channels on Dish. I agreed to an additional $5.95/month for the DVR.
Since CallNotes is not available the package was supposed to be
reduced to $100/month. There was a one time charge of $6 on the bill
for CallNotes Plus. They are crazy. I could not sleep after I saw that
bill. I will be calling at 7 AM Monday morning when the business
office opens.

Some things are going right. On Friday I got my new driver license
with the new address. That was the last day of their delivery window.
I also got my prescription that I ordered on Monday from my insurance
company's mail order pharmacy. The mail delivery is working well. My
efforts to submit address changes before I moved are paying off. The
fire policy on the Beaumont house from USAA was delivered. Now if I
can locate a secure mailbox within five miles of my home I will feel
better.

My grandfather clock has run since Saturday, 9/16, without a hiccup.
Ever since I bought the clock back in 1977 it has had a problem with
the clock stopping when the weights reached a level where they touched
a projection in the cabinet. Over the years the clock service people
have tried to correct the problem by not making the clock level. The
clock was slightly titled to the back. The clock man here in Frisco
made an adjustment to the clock movement which moved it a very small
fraction of an inch back in the cabinet. That seems to have worked.
The weights traveled down into the cabinet as they should without
touching the ledge. When the clock is running right, I only pull the
weights up once a week. Since 1977 it has been my habit to pull the
weights up on Sunday morning. It was nice to do something normal.

I am still unpacking boxes. I found my Rowenta iron plus a GE iron
that I did not realize I still had. I found the paper for the laser
printer. My Epson PictureMate is fouled up. I printed two pictures and
they came out with a green cast. I think the red nozzle must be
plugged. I need to find the manual so I can run the printer through
diagnostics and cleaning. I cannot blame the movers for the printer
problem. I brought the printer in the car and put it in the storage unit
on August 27. I brought it to the new house when I moved everything
out of the storage unit.

There so many little things that I have not located. Most are of small
monetary value; but it is so disconcerting not to be able to put my
hands on things when I need them. I was upset because I could not find
the string for my toy gyroscope that I bought at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington D.C. It is a special piece of string. I
found it and the solution sheet for some wood puzzles in my bag that I
brought from Beaumont. I had rescued them when I went through the
house before the packers came. I still have not found my shoe horn.

I found my magazines rack. I am still missing a waste basket and the
manuals for my Sony television sets. All of my photo albums must be in
the garage in boxes labeled books. I suspect the manuals are out there
too. The packers used the generic term books on the boxes. I imagine I
will find all kinds of things in those boxes that are labeled "books."
The boxes are heavy and stacked so high I will have to use my ladder
to start opening the top levels.

I have not removed my pictures from boxes. Henry has grown attached to
one particular box. It is a picture box that is propped against the
wall. He has found he can roll his ball along the side of the box and
puts on his happy light. It is really amazing what that little robot
manages to do.

I am furious at the way the Sears delivery men setup my washer and
dryer. The washer drain hose is held in place with packaging tape
instead of having the proper hanger pictured in the manual. The dryer
is not level. It makes a thumping noise while it runs. The
refrigerator seems to run properly except that the doors do not swing
closed as they should. I have to be very careful to make sure the
doors are closed. I will also be calling Sears on Monday morning.

I have not heard anything from the realtor in Beaumont. Nothing would
cheer me up more than to hear that someone has made an offer on the
house. I still feel that I have done the right thing by leaving
Beaumont. The bright spot in this whole situation is the nice people
who are moving into Frisco Lakes. I said I would have things
straightened out by Christmas and that is still my goal.