We're crossing the Ohio River into Illinois at Metropolis! From there, we're going to wander round Harrisburg and meet up with my cousin Cindy and her husband who will be our tour guide to our family's stomping grounds in Saline County before we have dinner and find our hotel in Marion IL!
After a lovely night in metro Lexington KY, we're heading through beautiful horse country down the Western Kentucky Parkway to Paducah where we'll cross the river near Metropolis! Yes Superman fans, you read that right... :)
West Virginia says on their signs that they're "wild and wonderful". The scenery truly is! One particular toll collector on the West Virginia Turnpike certainly fulfilled the wild requirement and then some! ;)
I'm heading off to Fayetteville to collect Mom and then we're heading toward the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. At some point we'll figure out where we're staying for the night. The anticipation and wonder adds to the excitement, don't you think? :)
Who knew getting the hire car would be far more of an adventure than anyone would have imagined? Maybe I should have flown to RDU just to make it a little easier... ;)
We're off to my mother's 60th (!) high school reunion in Hutsonville Illinois that will take us on a scenic trip through the mountains and completely round Western North Carolina and Tennesee to get to the Midwest for a few days. Come along with us in "The Tales From The Lincoln Trail"!
A beautiful web woven by a yellow garden spider shows that the iPhone 8 Plus is actually amazing at doing macro photography! :)
Expired coupon codes and epic stupidity on my part to duplicate an order for presets can’t stop the Radiant Photo support group from rocking the awesome and saving me from my own EPIC DUMBS! :)
The process to electronically file updated tax returns was somewhat byzantine but it did actually work!
Even though Intuit ProConnect says that purchased returns are entitled to "Free e-file, extensions, and amended returns"...it's *HOW* they implemented it that seems utterly brain-dead if not outright *EVIL*. :(
Well, the good news is that clearly someone at Intuit acted upon the support ticket. The bad news is that they didn't get all the details right which is shocking for a company that is supposed to be all about details and numbers! :(
Who knew that a squirrel playing with the foxes in the front flower bed when it's bucketing down rain could be *SO* entertaining?
The highlight of the visit was observing the multitude of employees for whom actually doing their job was less of a priority than fiddling with their phones or Apple watches.
Whilst ordering the TY2024 tax returns for next year’s tax season, the system duplicated the order. Getting “customer service” to mend the situation turned out to be somewhat less than stellar… :(
Was an early morning yesterday I was up before the dawn And I really have enjoyed my stay But I must be moving on... --- "Goodbye Stranger" by Supertramp
So whilst Keir Starmer may be as charismatic as a lukewarm block of unseasoned tofu… —- Jonathan Pie
Apparently my abilities to project menace work over a much further distance than I imagined possible. After a long day of kid schlepping, being harassed by two labradoodles, and the odd server move for the websites…I was relaxing on the floor of the living room when my sister Meghann hits me up on the ol’ text message delivery device. Their condo had apparently suffered a total power outage and she sends me a couple of…
Musing on what appears to be a growing cult of family Corollas in Fayetteville and a wee trip down Memory Lane...
The deal isn't done until whoever finances it is past the point of rescission! Fortunately for us, it seems like we've finally arrived in Happy Town! :)
We have an agreed sales price and a trade in offer! Are we done? Not by a long shot as we move the battle to the F&I office which is probably the most dangerous place we'll be!
"Funny the trade in hasn't been mentioned." The sales people think they've got the price agreed. They're about to find out that the trade in is always a completely separate deal...
Now the fun begins! Well, fun for me anyway... ;)
It's WABBIT season! It's DUCK season! It's not necessarily where you start but where you end up... :)
Know what cars you're interested in and what they're really selling for before you step onto the lot! So many potential good deals die before they have a chance to be born because the proper research and knowing what *NOT* to say or do during the actual negotiations kill any chance of avoiding being fleeced!
We're kicking off a new category of posts called "Top Nerd Top Tips" which will be a cousin to "Harrowing Tales of Customer Service" by offering up some hard won experience and tips for being a consumer to be feared rather than fleeced! We start off with an activity most people dread: negotiating with a car salesperson!
