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Archive through August 03, 2007

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Jul. 2007 ~ Sept. 2007: Free Expressions (ARCHIVES): The return of The Return of the Gripe Thread (ARCHIVES): Archive through August 03, 2007 users admin

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Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 12:38 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Chewpito that's why I'm posting in here, to get it out before I say something I shouldn't. I won't even go as far as bringing things up. Next door neighbors drive through our yard to our drive so they don't have to move one of their vehicles out. Instead of talking to them about it I just planted some roses. Which died. [I hate flowers]. So we're going to do something different this fall.

I'm still waiting for that phone number Pamy!

Just like hubby saying he was going to cut all the branches off the tree and carve it into a penis. We had a good laugh about it, but it's all talk and we feel better. At least I HOPE he was only kidding!!!!!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 12:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
A whole garden of gnomes, Serate. You could have them peeking from under bushes and behind rocks. That could be a whole lot of fun, lol!

Annual rant for me..watering the lawn. Yep, the city is aggressively going after people once again for not having green, green, green lawns while the water company is begging folks to conserve water and water their lawns less. No win situation really, if it isn't green enough for the city (some of the ones they've sent notices to are just plain silly, they have green lawns, just not bright green lawns) they threaten to fine you $500. If you use too much water, the water company charges you an arm and a leg.

We've been pretty much left alone this year. A while back, Darren dug up the old sprinklers and then retrenched the front yard. Neighbor boy earned some summer money by digging the trenches deeper and cleaning the loose dirt out. Then Darren put the new sprinklers in. Then, rototilled the yard. And again, and again, lol. Finally he put down new seed and manure. It's been at the ugly, eye sore stage for months, but when Darren caught the city guy out last week he asked if we should be expecting a notice. Guy said nope, because it's clear to them we are redoing the landscapping so we get a pass. Asked Darren if he mentioned once the grass if fully grown in we'll go back to watering every 2-3 days instead of every day.

I like green grass as much as the next person but I live in the desert and we are in drought conditions right now. Less rain this past year than in the last 18 or 19, and while we aren't forced to conserve yet, we are trying to use less water as much as possible (lol, just ask the kids, they've been griping up a storm that we've only had the waterslide set up twice since they've been out of school!)

Oh and Serate, I gave up on my glower gardens. I've got two right up against the house and the last few years I had them planted something has happened to them. One year it was the record breaking temps for months on end, no matter what I did they just couldn't survive the heat. Then the next it was plumbing problems and watching my garden being dug up just about ruined me on ever planting one again.

Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 1:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
Wargod, one word: xeriscaping

And if that's not an option, three words: green spray paint!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 1:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Hehe, one Christmas when I worked, my company had someone come out and spray paint the grass. We were getting ready for the big annual holiday party and that was part of making the building look nice. Of course, the next afternoon it snowed (once every 5-6 years it snows, lol) and all the paint washed off and stained the sidewalk.

Part of the new sprinkler system was to help with water conservation. Instead of having areas that got overwatered and areas that were underwated, we now have a nice even coverage all over the yard. And not watering the driveway! We do take care to turn the sprinklers off if the wind is blowing (no use watering if the water is blown away!) and only watering in the morning or evening to avoid the hot part of the day.

What we'd eventaully like to do is dig up the grass completely and plant cactus and desert bushes and use rocks for landscapping. We have a neighbor who has done that and their yard is gorgeous. We watched as they made the changes and talked to them and know they put a ton of work into it, but since then they have probably the easiest to manage yard around. The one hangup we have about it is that the kids are still young enough to enjoy playing in the yard and we're not ready to take that away from them.

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 2:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
Serate, I wasn't for a second thinking you'd be the vengeful sort, but your neighbor. We Clubhouse ladies just aren't that sort. I was worried about your neighbor. If she could be that blatant on a first visit, I'd think I'd keep my distance from her.

This is the first summer in about 10 years we've watered our lawn. We have been letting it brownout for years because of the added expense of watering. However, the weeds were starting to get the upper hand, so we hired a lawn service. We paid for a year in advance, so decided to get my money's worth and give him something to mow. He's done a wonderful job and just about all the dandelions are toast...looks good now and we fit into the rest of the area without the dirty looks. Actually, a lot of people are browning out these days because of the horrid cost of keeping lawns green.

Karuuna
Board Administrator

08-31-2000

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 2:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Karuuna a private message Print Post    
There are some fertilizers and organic preps that help preserve the water you do put on your lawn, making what you do use go a lot further. In Colorado, I use Revive, and an organic fertilizer/weed killer/water preserver. It really helps.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 4:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
If it were me, I'd chop down that tree. If it's on your property and it's in compliance with the city, bye bye. Then, I'd plant something else that kids cant climb, like a pine tree or something. THen every time they had a sprinkler on the sidewalk, I'd go and trip on it, yep, then I'd call the city and a lawyer (i am in a horrible mood today)

Biloxibelle
Member

12-21-2001

Monday, July 30, 2007 - 6:31 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biloxibelle a private message Print Post    
Since you hate flowers go to the dollar store and buy a load of those ugly plastic ones that fade. Then stick them all over the yard. I would even leave the tags on them that say 5 for 1.00. If you end up cutting the tree down you can make a nice plastic flower garden in its' place.

We have some new neighbors that just finished building their house about 6 weeks ago. Their yard is still dirt. No seed, no sod, no nothing, but they water it every day. I don't know what they are hoping to grow and now I am curious myself at what is going to pop up. Lawn watch 2007.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Monday, July 30, 2007 - 9:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Escapee chopping down the tree was the plan of my hubby and brother, but it's leaning the wrong way [hard to tell from the pictures] and it's awfully high and they needed more tools than we brought from my brother's. Late fall, early winter we're thinking the tree will come down. But for now we're no longer 2 inches out of compliance of city codes, and feel certain nobody will hit their head unless a giant 14' alien comes to town and walks by.


The tree as it looked when we went back in January. Realtor had chopped some of the lower branches off but it still hung over the sidewalk [on the back side of this picture] so bad that nobody, even a little kid on a trike, could walk on the sidewalk. When we got possession of the house there was 12 inches of snow on the ground, followed by another 13 in 2 weeks. As soon as we could we trimmed the branches up a little to make them almost 8' high. Wish I had a pic of that.


The new mushroom tree. Which will probably be chopped down before the winter. The tree looks alot smaller and shorter in the 2nd picture - it's just how the picture was taken.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Monday, July 30, 2007 - 9:12 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
OOOOOH forgot about the ugly flowers that fade. Maybe THAT'S what I should do!! With a couple of pink flamingos and gnomes thrown in for fun!

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 2:53 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
Wargod, that's interesting about your city fining people for not having green lawns. We have a 100% outdoor watering ban here, so I don't have to make any excuses for not watering my lawn! Of course, it has rained nearly every day since I moved in and the lawn is perfectly green and all the flowers are growing. I do expect to hear from my neighbors soon if I don't get my lawn mowed, though. Hee! When I closed on the house we were in an extreme drought and my first day in the house was the first day of the watering ban. I figured all the grass would die and I wouldn't have to worry about it. But then the daily rain started. *SIGH* With all the money I've spent on plumbers and roof repairmen I do not have lawn mower money. And the guy who was going to come cut it couldn't come the scheduled day, and we haven't been able to reschedule. I wasn't too worried, because my next door neighbors'lawn looked just as bad as mine, but then they had to go and mow it yesterday! So, now I have the worst looking yard on the block! I tell you the grass is so long in the back, I sometimes can't see Whitney when she's back there!

Serate, I don't see why you have to choose one, do sections of the yard in all the different lawn choices...a gnome section, pink flamingo section, etc. Now THAT could be really tacky!

Today's gripe: I sat down this morning to make my mortgage payments (due tomorrow) and my electric bill payment through my bank's Billpay. My bank account is with Suntrust, my mortgages are with Suntrust, yet the earliest they can get the payment made is August 3rd...but they can have the payment to GA Power made tomorrow? What sense does it make that it takes 3 days to pay themselves, but only 1 day to make the payment to an outside company? And, yes I should have done this sooner, but I didn't get the payment info from the until last Thursday and since I'm still without internet at home I waited until I got back to work to do it. I didn't think it would take days to process. GRRRRR.

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 2:57 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
Oh, and I finally got a chance to do the math on my old vs new electric companies:

Greystone charged .09 cents per kwh
Georgia Power charges .11 cents per kwh

So, GA Power is more expensive. And they are currently asking the state for permission to raise their rates! I miss Greystone! I wish I had a choice for electricity. I'd stick with my beloved lower-priced co-op.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 3:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Gee, Serate, hope that you won't muck up your lovely yard to spite some old neighbor. (Unless you enjoy cheesy lawn ornaments.)

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 5:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Nah Vee it's all fun and games. Venting here so I can possibly be nice to the neighbor if she comes over with "helpful" advice again. That is unless Pamy &/or anybody els shows up to help TP! Though we are seriously planning on cutting down the tree. Unless hubby was serious about cutting green from the top so we have trunk on bottom and top with green through the middle. I think he was just kidding.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 5:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Cdbga I know we always LOVED it when we got our electricity through a co-op. Less expensive, and customer service was much easier to converse with.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 7:29 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
Cdbga, our bank does something similar with billpay - takes a long time. However if you phone them and make the transaction over the phone they can do it the same day. Very odd.

Kstme
Member

08-14-2000

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 3:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kstme a private message Print Post    
Cell phone gripe! Thekid and I went to PFChang's for lunch today. We went just after 1pm. Everything was going great and we were really enjoying ourselves UNTIL the female person in the booth next to us answered her cell phone and began a discussion that started when we got our main course and continued even as we left. She was loud! VERY LOUD! Her companion didn't seem to mind. We did! I wanted to go ask her to take the conversation elsewhere, but Thekid wouldn't let me. This female cell phone person was so incredibly rude! WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE TO TALK ON THEIR PHONES IN A RESTAURANT?????? WHY DO THEY HAVE TO SHOUT????

That's my gripe for the day!

Cdbga, thinks it's pretty standard. Can you go to the power company online and make the payment that way? Sometimes it works faster.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 3:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
Kstme, next time start commenting to each other about what she's talking about on the phone. Maybe then she'd get the hint. LOL

Kstme
Member

08-14-2000

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 3:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kstme a private message Print Post    
Twinkie, I turned around numerous times and stared at her. She was in tunnel vision mode, I don't think she would have noticed if someone lit a fire in front of her. It was really bad, but when she started talking about her back surgery, in detail, Thekid started turning a bit green!

I won't even get started on the lady who came in wearing the nastiest perfume ever...LOL

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 6:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
Geez, bad place for lunch, huh? LOL

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 9:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
Bummer Kstme! What a way to ruin the appetite!

Regarding the electric bills. We don't usually have A/C but the heating bills in winter can sometimes freeze the buns! In Seattle, we have an "Average Payment Plan" that allows us to pay the same monthly amount all year round. Then, each year they figure what we've used and the monthly rate goes up or down, but they're fairly accurate (based on past usage) so it rarely changes much unless you have radical changes in your lifestyle. Takes the sting out of winter months. Does your power company have an Average Pymt Plan perhaps?

BTW, it calls for the monthly payment (you pay the 2nd month when receiving the 'monthly reminder' as if you forgot to pay, which is deliberate). However, I try to pay bi-monthly all at once when bill first comes in, since the water/sewer/garbage bill comes on the opposite month. Kind of evens out for budgeting purposes.

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 7:59 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
GA Power does have the average plan, but I'll have to be with them a little longer to use it. My aunt is on it and loves it. Here our summer bills are high, but winter bills are low.

Not a gripe at all, but on the subject of bills, I got my first water bill and it was MUCH lower than I expected. The stupid fees were more than the water usage part (water usage part was just a little over $6). Considering the massive leak I had in the bathroom, I figured I was in for a huge bill. Very pleasant surprise.

Can't post without at least one gripe, though. Comcast again (of course). I thought I finally had everything straightened out (except for the bloody internet), then I got my bill for August yesterday and they are charging me for things I don't have (still) and for the internet self-install kit they never sent (either that or they are charging my for the digital box self-install kit that they sent instead of internet kit...either way I'm not paying them their $29.95). And they still don't have the old modem on the new account. *SIGH* Oh, did I even post about the DVR? When I went in to turn in the digital box self-install kit the woman at the office saw that I had an appointment to get a DVR installed and told me she could just give me one to take home to install myself and all I had to do was bring the other digital box back. She seemed annoyed that the customer service people I'd talked to on the phone had told me I HAD to have a technician do it. So, I cancelled the appointment and did my own install. (But that isn't the self-install kit they are charging me for, because the charge is dated 7/5, the day I asked for the internet kit). So, that last part isn't a gripe, its a good thing...but still, overall I've lost count of the number of times I've had to contact those people!

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 11:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
Hallelujah y'all! I'm posting from home! From my Comcast High Speed Internet Connection! On my new laptop, which will take some getting used to. I went for the widescreen monitor and my eyes are not used to having to take so much in! Now that I have internet, all I have to do is hook up the phones and I'm good! And after only a month in the house.

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 3:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
Way to go, Cd!

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Friday, August 03, 2007 - 2:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
Congrats Cdbga! Can't believe the struggle involved. One lady on our cruise told me I should check out Comcast, that she was so delighted with it. Think I will stick with what I've got after reading what you've had to go through.

Actually, I pay for Sprint long distance which gives me Earthlink for free. Earthlink's messed up my computer about 3 times so badly with their reqd yearly upgrades that I won't even use them, other than their email system. Sounds crazy but instead I prefer the NoCharge IP that comes in free in our area. Might be a little slower on dialup, but certainly more reliable!!