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Helluva week

So, last weekend we had the pleasure of getting new field lines installed for our septic system. Now we’re $4325 more in debt, but dammit, our toilet flushes! Woo. Very stressful. At least the yard is flatter than it was (for now until it starts to settle). We certainly did not have that money to spend, I can tell you that. ::sigh::

I’ve had a productive week, but now I’m behind on some techie stuff I’m supposed to be doing for a friend. When it rains, it pours. That goes for work, stress, and especially home repair. I’ve got a bunch of geek work to get done this weekend. I’m glad it’s supposed to rain.

Today, a friend found her sweet little ferret comatose on the floor of the cage. He’s old and has cancer, so it’s not a surprise, but it still hurts like hell when you have to make that trip to the vet. He was adorable and will be missed. RIP Stinky Pete. ;_; They now have a single ferret that needs a home ASAP. You can’t leave them alone when one of a pair dies – it’ll grieve itself to death.

So, yah. Long week. I’m TIRED and sad. I just want to hide indoors all weekend and try to get back on an even keel. Hope everyone is having a better week than I. Bleh.

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Bleach your hair, change your life

OH, if it were that simple. Even though it’s not quite that powerful, I find that bleaching my hair does raise my spirits and cheer me up. Must be the chemicals seeping in!

So while I wait for the bleach to finish up, I thought I’d make a catch up post with lots of little stuff. Sort of a round up if you will.

– Heather’s moving to Vegas. Part of me is sad and part of me is jealous. The party this weekend will be fun.

– The Middle East is unraveling and all dumbass Americans can say is “Go Democracy!!”. ::shakes head:: If more Americans had a vague clue about the history of the region and OUR part in it, I think there’d be more people like me who are a) not surprised by the violence and b) VERY worried about how this will affect those countries such as ours who are totally dependent on them (the countries that are melting down now) for oil. This is SERIOUS, people. And “democracy” has nothing to do with it.

– The bullshit in WI. This comes down to the traditional debate of whether unions are beneficial or not. I fall on the NOT side of that. They artificially inflate wages and entitlements. You’ll never hear a union member offer to give up his entitlements for the sake of the company or the bigger economy. Look at the auto companies. UNIONS destroyed that industry. Yet far left hippies think that unions are the answer. Nope. Not even a little bit.

– Trek Trax was OK – what little we saw of it. We got busy around here on Sat and blew off the con but did go up Sunday to check it out. Met the Duras sisters, which was my main goal, and saw the Miss Klingon Pageant. They really need to work on the flow of that for next year. We might get a dealer’s room table next year just for fun and to support the con. It’s small enough that we might actually sell something! LOL

– We also wold love to do Furry Weekend Atlanta, but damn it’s pricey. You’ve got a cheap table ($65) but they don’t give you any passes with the tables, so you end up paying $80 for 2 passes + $65 for the table and that’s $145 for a table. Quite a bit, for such a specialized con. But we may do it anyway next year just to see how we do.

– This year will be an interesting one for our finances. We plan to have a whole new outlook by this time next year, I can promise you that.

– The Mirena is still causing light bleeding. It’s been 6 wks now, with 5 of that bleeding. ::sigh:: I NEVER get a break. NEVER. The good news is that there’s no pain, but still. What a fucking hassle.

– I’m loving this weather! 70s in Feb? Yes, please!

– Go buy something from my Etsy store – I’ve got some bracelets in there, now. It’ll help raise my spirits. Or buy a sketchcard from ThinkWeasel!.

Now, I’m off to rinse this bleach out. Tsaketa!

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Mirena Update

Had my 5 week check up on Monday. Gyno says all’s well. Yay. (If you are here via search and are looking for an in depth post about the Mirena and what it’s like to get one, see this post.) ALL UPDATES about the Mirena are HERE.

I’m STILL bleeding (we’re on wk 4) but the Gyno says that some women take longer to stop that. Of course I’m one of those. I never get a fucking break. I just hope that it stops soon and I don’t have periods for another year, which is RARE. Watch, I’ll be a lucky one that does. ::sigh:: At least there’s no pain or any of that. I *think* I might be having a period now – hard to tell when you’ve bled for 4 weeks – but I am craving sweets and feel cranky, so that’s probably what it is. If that *is* a period, I’ll fucking take it. NO PAIN.

Other than that, everything is mostly the same around here. I got the store up on thinkweasel.com (go buy something, bitches!) and everything’s on an even keel. Guess that’s a good thing, right? :)

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Another DO NOT BUY FROM: wegotbetterdeals.com

The latest in the litany of shitty online companies that I have had to deal with is wegotbetterdeals.com. Back in early January I bought a Hoover Floormate from them. Granted, I should’ve been more diligent in checking out an unknown web seller, but I was rabid to get my hands on a Floormate! Rabid, I say! When I saw their PayPal cart melt down with code errors, I was worried, but it was too late to undo the transaction. :/

The Floormate arrived in a busted box, with missing parts and the wrong brush assembly. No confirmation emails from WGBD, nothing. It just showed up, in pieces. I wrote them an email asking to return the item and get a refund.

They were rude and nasty from the get-go and the emails were NEVER signed. A sure sign of SKEEVY. Example:

So from your emails is this our fault or UPS’s fault? From what we can tell this looks to be UPS’s fault and a damage claim will have to be issued in order to have this item sent back.

They keep calling it “your claim” when it’s THEIR claim with UPS. SENDERS file damage claims, not receivers. They give an oh-so-generous 3 day claim window, so I was under pressure to get a response from them by their own rules! They got snippy about that, too:

For future reference for future orders please be patience with the seller as you have not been here. We are trying to work with you but you are not working with us.

Sounds like Engrish is their second language. Big surprise. And by “not working with them”, I assume that means that I’m demanding a response to get in by their three day window? Well, don’t have such a shitty service rule and I won’t be pressuring you, assholes.

Since they showed such shitty service skills, I thought it might behoove me to get the BBB Online and PayPal disputes going, since these people were obviously not interested in anything but taking my money. So I did. That really pissed them off! Here’s their response to the BBB complaint:

Yes you are right. 100,000 + positive feedback and approx 30 bad reviews. All from buyers like you. Please remember we have all of your emails with the lies and accusations. As stated in our last email. Once the item is received back and the serial #’s verified with the unit sent a refund will be issued.

Their response has been to not process the refund w/ PayPal. These people are rude, nasty and determined to get your money. They use the classic scam technique of being offended that you’d DARE accuse them of scamming and then NOT refunding you in the hopes that you’ll go away. CLASSIC.

The Floormate was returned to them and signed for by the asshole “TIM” who was the one bitching on the BBB site. I assume he is the head asshole. It was returned on 1/25/11. Hmm, and that’s been what? Two weeks? They have no intention of refunding me, they are going to let PayPal take the heat. Typical.

I will get the refund from PayPal, I’m sure, but take my advice and don’t bother with wegotbetterdeals.com. They may have “better deals” but good luck getting what you pay for. They SUCK.

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Why DC and Marvel are Soap Operas

I’ve never been much on superhero comics. I like the movies well enough, but not the actual comics. I’ve always been put off by the convoluted universes and myriad characters that DC and Marvel churn out.

That being said, I must point out that my very first comic I ever bought was Angela, which was a Spawn offshoot that I just recently realised was created by Neil Gaiman. (I could also do a post about the whole McFarlane and Gaiman lawsuit, but I’ll just say that McFarlane is a dick and leave it at that.) Spawn is published by Image Comics which is a big company right up there with Marvel and DC. So I have read some superhero (villain?) stuff before, but rarely. My very first comic that I liked was Courtney Crumrin that I got at Free Comic Book Day years ago. Totally indie!

Anyway, the point of this post is to share a realisation I had the other day about WHY I don’t like superhero stuff very much. And it has to do with soap operas.

I used to watch the soaps with my mother and grandmother when I was a kid. I even watched General Hospital during the Luke and Laura days. But as I got older, the genre started grating on my nerves with all the convoluted stories, people dying and coming back repeatedly, changed backstories to suit the current writers…

Sound familiar? Yah, I thought so. Marvel and DC are soap operas for comic book nerds. They have convoluted stories, multiple universes, characters being killed off and then magically coming back, changed backstories to suit the writer at the time… It’s the same. Exactly the same. No wonder I don’t go for superheroes!

I watched soap operas in my early years and I’d still watch them if I didn’t mind this nonsensical writing style. Well, I do mind. I know it’s all fantasy, but when you need large books just to keep the stories and characters straight, it’s just too much work for me, man.

So I’ll keep reading my indie comics from Oni, SLG and self published artists. I do my part for the big guys by also reading from Image, Vertigo and the occasional superhero story. But I tell you, I’m just not going for the whole soap opera vibe of traditional superhero story arcs. I can barely keep track of which heroes are with which company!

I encourage all comics readers to explore self published and web based comics. There are tons of us out there who work hard to produce comics every week and could use your support! So, go clicky-click and check out some of our indie and/or web based friends! Buy something! Help us become full time comics nerds! Did I mention BUY SOMETHING!!!

Think Weasel!
Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin, Polly and the Pirates, Princess Ugg)
Little Vampires
Steam Crow
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