My letter to the president of Saskt*l

I have been prompted to email you because of a situation that I have been dealing with. I have been a Sasktel customer for almost 2 years and have never been late on my account. I feel customer loyalty is something that should be valued by any company, and I do not feel that has been in my situation. I have a Blackberry Pearl Flip that up until the last 2 weeks I have been very happy with. Within the last 2 weeks I have had many problems with the phone and called Customer Care to find out what I could do. Initially I spoke with a representative who escalated the call by saying "there is nothing *I* can do for you" when I explained my situation (my phone was not working and very unreliable, as I live in a northern community and rely on this when I am travelling on the highway, so I wanted to replace the device). Of course, when she said that it prompts any customer to say " I would like to speak to someone who can help me". I spoke with a supervisor named Chris who advised me to speak with the technical department to see if there was any programming within the phone that could be fixed, and if not to call him on his direct number to discuss replacing the phone. I called him today because although I did go through the troubleshooting steps with the technical department the phone is still freezing up, displaying error messages and not receiving calls. I left him a message today but did not hear back from him, which prompted me to call back tonight to customer care to start this all over. I was advised that Chris had left for the day and would not be back until Monday (I'm sorry, that is horrible customer service not to return phone messages before leaving). The representative tonight, although she was very nice told me the only option would be to either buy out the Blackberry Contract (210.00) and switch to a basic phone (Samsung 79.00) or to play 320.00 which is the difference between the 3 year and the 2 year contract price of the Blackberry Pearl I currently own, then I would be eligible to buy another phone and extend my contract. As I am sure you can appreciate, neither of these options appeal to me. Here is why I am so upset. I am told that I am not eligible to upgrade my phone until July 2011, which is 8 months from now. I pay on average 70.00 per month on my cellular service, and I am a very light user. So, what you customer service and manager on duty tonight are saying is that if I pay to the company $560.00 in service, (70.00 a month for the next 8 months), I will be eligible to upgrade my phone at that time without it costing hundreds of dollars, unless I want to buy the exact same phone for $125.00. Phones are being practically given away to new customers. I am aware that the price of the phone is recovered by the monthly service paid by the new customers, but it really feels like unless you are a new customer, your business doesn't matter. That is the impression I am getting from customer care. I calculated that it would cost me $610.00 to cancel my service right now, which without having a reliable device I may as well do and then purchase a prepaid phone with another company to use when I am travelling, which is really the only time I use the phone.

I am not even sure that anything can be done at this point, according to your customer service department I have been given all the options. I am just really not happy with any of these options. I am not looking for one of the new fancy phones, that really doesn't appeal to me. What I need is a device that works and that is reliable, which is something I do not have right now, and I get the impression of your company via your customer service department that unless I want to pay hundreds of dollars, I'm out of luck. Unless of course I want to find a used one somewhere like kijiji, which is the advice the first representative gave me.

Our trip to Saskatoon.. in pictures of course

Colby has been saving his money for this Nerf gun. Just what I need, a Nerf gun that shoots 60 darts.

Rob enjoying his Red Bull, a little too much.

Saskatchewan is so proud of the Roughriders Tim Hortons actually has a Roughriders donut.

Look what we bought at Wal-Mart!

Colby being silly.

Cart racing.

Playing tic tac toe while waiting for supper at Montana's.

Pebbles.

My boys love to wrestle.

I feel I need to post SOMETHING

My life has been super stupid crazy lately and sometimes I feel like I'm spinning out of control. I'm at the point now that I make "honey do" lists for myself to keep on top of things. I will admit, I was really scared the end of last year when I almost lost my job to a certified teacher. Although everything did work out the in the end, I am really "turning up the volume" so to speak on my planning for this year, to make the best year that I can for the kids that I have. This is also the biggest group of kids that I have ever taught (14 in the morning and 16 in the afternoon) and I'm taking on more projects with them (we've started a penpal program with each group, the morning writing letters to my friend's class in England and the afternoon writing letters to another preschool site in Arviat, Nunavut). Coincidently, my friend in England who is undertaking this project with us is MY penpal from when we were kids. I have the first packages ready to be mailed and they will go out Monday morning. I'm hoping my preschoolers will learn to love this as much as I do. I have also learned from my last 2 years teaching there of exactly what it is that they need to be prepared for kindergarten (for the most part). We are starting with the basics (I'm teaching them to recognize the letters of the alphabet, not just to "sing their ABC's). At this point we are already up to the letter "J" and there are times that I am just so proud of them that I could cry. I'm becoming too attached already, but seriously now do you not?

I was also really busy the last couple weeks with pictures, so much that I started stressing that I was not getting pictures edited. I have decided that I am going to take a little break from pictures until the end of November (I have already committed to a wedding then and I will be more than up to date at that point). There are other people here in town and people from out of town that travel into town that promote their photography so I'm just gonna step back for a while. People that really want me to take their pics will still call me, otherwise I'm just going to stop for a while. Guess that means you'll be seeing more and more pictures of my kids here.

I will also try to blog more. I feel really guilty that the blog gets pushed to the side because I spend so much time on the computer doing other things. So you'll be seeing a lot more of me and my kids around here. :)

Yep, we did it

Megan over at Snow Covered Hills is running her annual "Being David Hossellhoff" contest. And of course, we had to enter. :)

"Are you sure you didn't have a child with Adam?"

Yes, this is a question my husband asked me tonight after I told him this story. If you know Adam, you'll understand this.

I went to the elementary school today and was stopped by Colby's teacher. It seems that Colby has been arguing with his teacher to the point of almost being rude. He argues about almost everything, because he thinks he's right and she's wrong. YEP, according to my almost 9 year old he is smarter than his teacher. I know what you're thinking. Sweet little Colby argue? Well, here's why. (Adam, I can see you smiling already. Piss off.) During one of these initial arguments, he was in IN FACT right and she was wrong. (Shut UP Adam, stop laughing). So, now he feels it is his duty to argue EVERY time because she was wrong before, she's MUST be wrong now. (Don't nod Adam, it's NOT right!) I had a long talk with Colby tonight about respect. The thing about all of this is that Colby is a VERY literal kid, he always has been. There is no "subject to intrepretation" with him. If she explains something and this is the way HE understood it, well according to him HIS WAY is right and he will argue that it's right to the point of being rude. Now, if you know Adam, you're laughing right now. Probably really hard to the point you have tears. I know Gramma Jeannine is. :)

So, now that you're all laughing, and some are just down right confused, I'll distract you with pictures, because that's what I do.

Living here in the North is just amazing

Seriously long overdue

I went into town today to get a haircut. Living where I do, getting a haircut is a bit of a challenge. I went looking for a place today, and found a great new spot. Her name is Nadine and she just opened her own salon. It's just a one chair kind of place, but after chatting with her for a while (she did as I initially asked, just a trim) she asked me if I ever considered going short. I have been wearing my hair in a ponytail for the past 3 months, and it had completely grown out and was just a mess. She said she had an idea for me and I immediately said "go for it". And that is the result. I have worn the same hairstyle since high school, and I'm THRILLED with this new look. It's not something I ever thought I could pull off, but I've had nothing but compliments so far, and Rob just loves it. I think I've found my new hair dresser!

Look what I taught myself to do!

I took this pictures yesterday of little Brandon, my friend Charlene's newest nephew. I decided to play around with Photoshop and see if I could figure out how to make birth announcements, since a lot of people have been asking me for them. I think it turned out pretty well, don't you?

A new contest for you!

Alright, now that I have you here, I have a challenge for you. The person who comes up with the best caption for this picture will get an autographed postcard from me mailed directly to your house. Get your thinking caps on and tickle your funny bone for this one folks!

Like I don't have enough to do in a run of a day....

I've started canning. I LOVE having canned veggies in the winter. Unfortunately our community garden has been overtaken by weeds, due to a lack of follow through by the organizers. It has certainly helped me develop a green thumb, and I plan to have a garden in my backyard next year. Through the amazing generosity of people in this town, I was given approximately 20lbs (yep, you read that right) of green tomatoes, beets the size of turnips and pickling cukes. The beets will be cooked today (as soon as Rob comes home with more jars) and more Nova Scotia Chow will be made tomorrow. Many people have asked me for the recipe for the Nova Scotia Chow, so here it is.

Nova Scotia Chow Chow (green tomato relish)

This is served with the Saturday night Baked Beans that many Maritimers love.

16 cups finely sliced green tomatoes

8 cups sliced onions

Sprinkle well with pickling salt, and let sit overnight.

In the morning drain and put in a large pot, add 3 Cups vinegar, 6 Cups sugar, and 1/2 cup pickling spices (in a bag)

Cook ,stirring often, until soft and thickened somewhat.

Seal in hot sterile jars. Makes about 6 pints.

Camping in Glaslyn, Sk

Our home away from home.

A few forgotten pictures from vacation to Drumheller

Cinnamon Pull aparts

Over the past few days I have been doing a lot of baking. I find baking is a big stress reliever for me, but since I am constantly trying to lose weight having a large amount of baked goods on hand is never a good idea. I put the word out that I was having a mini bake sale and these were a huge hit. Many people have been asking me how I make them, so when I was making them yesterday I decided to have my sous chef (Joey) document for me.

Use your favorite bread recipe.

Cut the bread into little balls about this big, anywhere from 18-24 of them depending on the size. They don't have to all be exact, just around the same size. Dip them in melted butter, and then give them a roll in brown sugar and cinnamon (no exact measurements, just use as much or as little cinnamon as you like, and enough brown sugar to roll in)

Toss them into a greased bundt ban. Bake for 45-50 minutes, and as soon as they're out of the oven turn them out immediately on a plate big enough. Be careful! There will be lots of syrupy goodness dripping down the size and that shit is H-O-T!

And voila! Cinnamon pull aparts. When cooled, I put Philidephia Cream Cheese icing on top (super easy recipe, just google it) and that keeps the tops soft. And they're like Pringles, you can't eat just one, which is why I don't keep them in the house. :)

Why I have been ignoring you my blogger family

This is where all my spare time has been. I have been working daily on this wedding. I try not to do too many per day, to keep myself sharp for each picture. Thankfully to my wonderful friend who introduced me to Photoshop and has recently showed me some fantastic tricks with photoshop (Hello Burn tool and Gaussian Blur) and showed me how to blend pictures together so I always have everyone smiling with open eyes (one picture I changed 3 people but Rob couldn't tell who). I am super proud of these pictures, but I am trying to get them done before this weekend when I am doing another wedding. It is a couple here in town where the bride is just stunning and the groom isn't hard on the eyes either. I had a small meeting with them yesterday and we planned some fun and original pictures for them, so I can't wait for the weekend.

My beautiful boy

*note* this was not taken by my big camera, but by a point and shoot canon that I always carry. Had I known Nipawin was so scenic, I would have definately brought the big one!

Nipawin, Saskatchewan

Our maiden voyage in "Coach" was to Nipawin Regional Park. Friends of ours from here were posted there (he is RCMP) and we decided to head in their direction (and truth be told, if you haven't booked a serviced site in January for any of the provincial parks here you're shit out of luck). So off we went to Nipawin. It's so beautiful there that we have decided to book there again in 2 weeks time to say for a mini 4 day vacation. Here's hoping Rob can get the time off.

I keep a journal in the trailer of our "camping adventures", and I will be typing those later here to the blog. It's easier to type that, so I will have a digital copy should anything happen, and you can have a better idea of how the vacation was, since I write as we go along. Here's a few pics just to show, and when I add the journal entry later tonight I'll add more pics.

"Green Kitt"

Mini golf was a huge hit.

We bought Pebbles a new harness.

So excited to get there!

Ready to roll!

So after some serious work, "Coach" is now ready to roll. We decided that the back ledge will not be used as a bed, but as storage. We (and when I say we I mean Rob) reinforced the middle of it. All the covers have been removed and washed, floors have been swept and beds have been made. Cupboards are now stocked, and pantry is full. Bbq is out there, as are all the tools needed for s'mores and hot dogs. Bikes will be loaded in Friday morning and we're off to Nipawin for the weekend to meet up with friends who recently moved there. I'm not sure who is more excited, us or the boys. I think it's a tie.

The best room (or at my favorite when I have to pee in the middle of the night)

Our "room". There are 3 steps up to it. The new reinforced mold free storage cabinet.

Coach, and my uber sexy hubby, very proud of his work.

Our new home away from home.

What a nightmare

After our last camping trip and having to deal with the weather, we decided that the pop up trailer was just not big enough for the 4 of us, and a real pain in the ass in the rain. We talked about the pros and cons of looking for a bigger trailer, the biggest con being that we would not get a whole lot of use out of it as we plan on going back to Nova Scotia to camp next summer. The thought of investing money in a unit that we would not get a lot of use out of didn't seem like a good idea, so honestly I dismissed it all together. Nope, not Rob. He was on Kijiji that night and found a couple really well priced campers. (He's getting better than me finding great deals online). So we decided that we would take a little road trip and go look at a few. The first one we looked at was an older pull style trailer, that honestly looked much better in pictures than in real life. It was like it was literally pulled out of 1962 and put in this man's driveway. Cosmetics aside (think lime green cupboards) the furnace hadn't been used since .. well, forever considering the amount of dirt that was in it. From there we went to look at a 5th wheel. I was not thrilled about the idea of a 5th wheel, as I really have never liked them. Plus, there would be the added cost of putting a hitch in the back of the truck. But for shits and giggles we went to see this unit. And honestly fell in love. Although it is a 1977, you would never think it by looking at it. It has everything we need (bathroom woo hoo!), working furnace and air conditioning. Yes, I know it doesn't sound like camping when you put it that way but hea, you need to be comfortable. So this guy offered us a fantastic "can't turn it down" kind of deal that included the installation of the hitch in the back of the truck, as this is what he does for a living. We brought it home and begun to make plans on taking it out. (Note to self: Next year book in January like everyone else if you want a site in a provincial park with services). One of the great things about this trailer is that there is a "loft bed" hidden over the back table, which can either be used as a bed or as cupboards (there is a false board that pulls down to make the bed). When we pulled this down, Rob noticed a water blister in the ceiling. When it cut it open to investigate we found this:

and these that were holding everything together:

To say we were upset is the understatement of the year. That black you see? Yep, you guessed it, black mold. The boys and I immediately left the trailer, and Rob put on a mask to pull the rest of it down. I emailed the man who we bought it from and that email said:

xxx, I sincerely hope I am wrong in the opinion that I have formed about you and your wife this morning. Imagine our suprise when we went out to the camper this morning to start loading up for our first camping trip to see the water bubble above the top bed. Upon further investigation of this bubble (because of course we had to look seeing as our 8 year old had picked this out as his bed) we found rotten wood, drenched insulation and mold. We also found an enormous amount of very obvious brand new screws holding all this together. The boys and I were in the camper when Rob found all this (it literally crumbled in his hands as soon as he cut the bubble) and with the mold that came out with it Rob immediately sent us out. He is still in there right now cleaning this up without a mask. Do you realize how scary this is? You KNEW that my son would be sleeping up there, at least your wife did because I TOLD her. I can't imagine as a parent selling a camper KNOWING that it has been leaking for some time, and moisture leads to mold. Had we not looked, my son would have been breathing in those fumes, as he would have been so close to the ceiling. As a parent yourself, can you see why I'm soo upset??

I honestly don't believe that you didn't know about this problem. It is obviously a "patch work" job, as the new screws give that away. The problem that I have, seeing as honestly we don't know you at all, is that you let us unknowingly buy this KNOWING WE HAD CHILDREN. We probably would have bought the trailer anyways, it is what we were looking for. Rob is a very handy guy is is more than capable of fixing this. Taking advantage of people is one thing, people do it all the time and I understand that when you buy something it's definately a "buyer beware" when you are buying a camper as old as this one. But we have kids. You KNEW we had kids, you met them. You also met my son on both occasions that would have been sleeping up there, breathing in mold fumes. That's the part I just can't get over.

At this point, it looks like we won't be able to take the camper out until all this is fixed, and since Rob works full time it won't be until the end of the summer at least. I still haven't told my kids that our summer camping trips are now cancelled, because at this point we have already sold our other camper. I really hope you understand why we are so upset right now.

Rob and Tina

To which I received this reply:

hey guys, we are in shock as-well, i never really inspected that part of the trailer, the repair was honestly not done by me or i would have tore the roof off and fixed it properly, we kept all of our food up there and cant believe we missed it, i know u must be very upset, please give us a call, i will be checking to see if we can do anything about the guy we had bought it from because he never disclosed this issue to us and it should have been, we paid more than $x.xx for the trailer, im so pissed and upset right now too, thats were the food was that we were eating and feeding our kids, phone anytime please, 123-4567, 890-1234.

I must say, I believe him. When we went to see the camper, they had just got back from vacationing in it and their stuff was still in it. Luckily, Rob is a very handy guy and at this point in time has reinforced that ceiling with all new wood and re-sealed the roof. We're still planning on going on a mini vacation this weekend. Fun times for all I tell ya.