Refrigerator Life Lesson

The following series of events might make you laugh, but more importantly it's a lesson I painfully learned, and am hoping that you do not have to duplicate.

Last saturday, I cleaned our refrigerator. I seemed to have bumped the temperature control to the off position, which actually is the "off" switch for the fridge and freezer. I don't notice until an hour later, and then turn the control back to 5, where it was before. No harm done, right? Wrong.

A couple hours later, I have a craving for ice cream and when I pull it out of the freezer, it's soup. Uh oh. So I put a glass of warm water in the freezer, and checked an hour later to see if it froze. Nope. I check the fridge and it's at room temperature. Oh crap, the fridge just died, I thought. It's dead silent. I unplug the fridge, plug it back in, nothing. I reset the circuit breaker, nothing. Plug the fridge into another outlet, nothing.

Heather and I go to Sears and buy a new fridge. We also buy a deep freeze to save anything that hasn't thawed yet. The stuff in our fridge that's still OK goes into our mini-fridge downstairs. I unplug the fridge and wait for the new one to be delivered on Monday.

Monday comes, and the delivery people can't install the fridge because there's no water shutoff valve for the fridge. I checked in the basement and couldn't find one. We may have one, but the previous owners finished the basement (which we're grateful for) and likely covered up the valve in the process. So they put the new fridge in the garage and turned it on. They also happened to plug the old fridge back in. Why? I don't know.

Later, I get home from work and guess what, the old fridge works! Are you kidding me?!?!? It died, and was resurrected on the third day. Ice is being made in the freezer, and the fridge is the same temperature as it is outside.

So now we are faced with a dilemma. Return the new fridge? We mulled that over a couple days and decided not to do that, because we'd have to pay the delivery fee and restocking fee (over $200), not to mention that our old fridge has been alive for over 10 years and it could die in the near future. So as soon I can get a shutoff valve installed, the fridges are trading places and the deep freeze is being returned.

So what's the lesson? If you must fool with the temperature gauge on your fridge, only adjust it one "tick" at a time, according to the owner's manual. And if something all of a sudden stops working, stop and think if there's anything you could have done to cause the problem. Yes, all the common sense stuff, which I seem to lack every now and then.

Mexico update

I report to Riverview in less than 3 hours for the trip. Everything is packed and ready to go. Should I try to sleep for an hour or two, or should I stay awake? Decisions, decisions. Please pray that the flight goes well and I stay calm - I haven't been on a plane in 3 years and I usually get pretty anxious.

I will not have access to my phone or the internet the entire time I'm there. However, Back2Back is going to be posting photos two or three times throughout our trip, and they will be available on their website for you to view.

If you want to see the photos, go to Back2Back's website (www.back2backministries.org) and enter Photo Code # 14907 into the “View Trip Album” box at the bottom left side. This code is required in order to view the photos.

Back2Back will also be blogging throughout the week, although I'm not sure what the frequency will be. You can check that out at http://back2backministries.wordpress.com/

Mexico

Most of you have heard about this already, but I want to share just in case some of you haven't.

I'm leaving on Saturday for Monterrey, Mexico and will be there for a week. I'm going with a group from Riverview who is partnering with Back2Back ministries. I'll be staying at the B2B campus and although I don't know all the specifics, I'll mostly be helping with construction projects and traveling to (some or all of) the ten orphanages in the area.

I've only traveled out of the U.S. a couple times, and that was just to Canada. I've never been in a third world country or a place where the majority of the people don't speak English. I've also never been to a place that hot (average temperature next week is 100 with lots of humidity). I'll be forced out of this comfortable shell that I've lived in for so long. However, none of these concerns will stop me from going. I am convinced that God wants me to be there. So far, He has lined up everything so that I'm able to go (fundraising, time off from work, etc), and I hope and pray that He will use me to make a difference and change lives down there. I ask that you pray those same things as well. Also pray that our team will stay safe, healthy, and be able to work together for God's purposes there.

When I get back, I hope to share a little about the trip along with some pictures and possibly a video. Thanks for your prayers and support thus far.

Paying too much

Think you're paying too much on your bills? You probably are.

This is beginning to sound like a dirty scam, right? I couldn't pull off a scam if my life depended on it!

No matter if you own a home or rent, you can actually lower your monthly payments on some of your bills. Some examples are cable, internet, phone, trash, and heat. Did any of your bills go up recently? You don't have to accept it.

So how do you do this? Just call the company and negotiate - that's it. I lowered my monthly payment on 3 bills in the last week, just by calling and negotiating:

Trash -
Last year, my promotional rate of $45/qtr ended, and learned that I was going to be charged $60/qtr, not to mention all the hidden fees. A couple days later, I found a local company that was only charging $36/qtr flat. I called my trash company and threatened to switch, so they matched the rate that the local company was offering.

Last week, I got a letter saying that my rate was going up again. I called the local company and asked if theirs went up too. Nope. So I called them back and asked them to match the rate again. They did.

Cable and Internet -
My promotional rate ended last year and my bill jumped an extra $30 a month. My co-worker has the same cable provider and the same thing just happened to her. She threatened to switch and the bill dropped. So I called and tried doing the same thing. I didn't complain as much as her, but they still offered to drop my bill by $10 a month and threw in a free DVR.

Heat -
Ok, so I didn't actually call my gas company to complain, but I got a letter in the mail today stating that my bill was going to be at least $30 lower through the end of the year. The only way to explain that is, they knew they were next. Nevermind the fact that oil prices are at their lowest in 8 years.

I would strongly encourage you to question what you are paying for, because let's face it, we could all stand to save some money. For at least some of the things I mentioned, you can probably get similar service from someone else, and it might actually be cheaper.

Clearing the air

I don't do New Years resolutions, but if I did, one of them would be for my blog to be less boring. No one wants to read boring crap. This means I will have fewer, more meaningful (hopefully) posts.

Having said that, I've gotta do one more lame post to resolve the last one that I did. Then I'll be done (again, hopefully).

So, what ended up being wrong with my car?

Nothing.

After a week of trying, the mechanic couldn't get any violent shaking to happen. Not even a little. We both concluded that the probable cause was snow and ice buildup that temporarily caused the suspension to freak out. He wouldn't accept any money from me - real nice guy.

During this week of waiting, I had an interesting development. If my car had a major issue, would it be worth it to dump more money into fixing the problem when I already know that my engine will slowly deteriorate due to the excessive oil burning, possibly before I get done paying off the car? Or, would I be better off putting that money into a different car? The idea about getting rid of my car began snowballing in my head.

A couple days later, after checking out a couple dealerships, I ended up trading in my Corolla for a brand new 09 Pontiac Vibe. A couple words might come to mind, such as "whoa," "frivolous," "unnecessary", or "expensive." Well, turns out the payments on the Vibe wouldn't be that much more expensive than my current car payment, plus I had been overpaying on my student loans. It was peace of mind, ending the stress and worry about how much oil was in my car at any given time. Plus, it's an awesome car.

If I can give you any advice, it's this:

If you plan on buying a decent car, decent being something less than 5 years old or something over $5K, don't buy it from a stranger. You have no idea whether or not they're lying to you. Even if you get the car inspected (which I didn't - another lesson learned - yes Heather you were right), mechanics don't always discover all the potential issues. Buy it from a place that's going to give you a warranty. If I had a warranty on my Corolla, even as small as 3 months/3,000 miles, I wouldn't be writing this right now.

Muh Muh Muh Myyyyyy Corolla

My car has caused me a great deal of emotional pain since I bought it back in January. Now it has taken a turn for the worst.

I was driving home from work today, and about halfway home, I began feeling a lot of push back and struggling from my accelerator. I was still a few miles away from an exit, so I dropped down to about 55 until I could get off. I did a quick check around the car, checked the oil, nothing blatantly obvious. I drove the rest of the way home via backroads, and every couple minutes, my car continued to shake, putt, and struggle to accelerate.


Early indications show that my car has one of the following issues:
- Bad spark plugs (least likely - replaced those a couple months ago)
- Clogged fuel filter (not likely)
- One of my pistons, rings, or cylinders completely took a dump (more likely)
- Blown head gasket (most likely)


I'm bringing my car to a shop on Monday to have a compression test done and assess the damage from there. I have one and a half years (at minimum) worth of car payments left. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the potential thousands of dollars in repairs. I can't afford another car and make two car payments.


I would like to request one or more of the following from you:


-Please pray that I would trust in God's sovereignty over the situation, and that He would provide for the potential costs involved.
-The name of a mechanic who is willing to do the necessary work as close to the cost of parts as possible.
-Advice


Thanks.

2 shows in 2 days

I've been pretty tired the past couple days, but that's not because I haven't been able to sleep. I chose to sacrifice sleep for the benefit of seeing two amazing shows in two days. I'll give you a recap:

Monday night - Weezer and Angels & Airwaves @ The Palace

I went with my brother-in-law Wayne, who's a huge Weezer fan. I like Weezer, but not enough to own any of their music. After we paid the undesired $15 parking fee, we went down to the floor (which cost extra, but well worth it) just in time for A&A. I was expecting a slower, spacier version of Blink 182, based on what I had been told. They at least managed to meet those expectations, but if I never hear another A&A song again, I wouldn't be bothered at all. The drummer was really good - I do have to give them that.

Weezer was awesome. They started with "Jonas" and got everyone (including me) pumped up right away. They played over 2 hours, covering all the hits off all their records, including a bunch of stuff from the new record, and even did a cover of Oasis's "What's the Story Morning Glory." I was impressed how good everyone was at their instruments, and each other's. Rivers (sporting the mustache) and Patrick switched instruments on multiple occasions, and everyone in the band got a chance to sing their own songs. This is probably nothing new to the rest of the Weezer faithful.

They also had two encores. For the first one, they handpicked about 20 weezer fans to play with them, which included a slew of acoustic guitarists, a clarinet, tuba, and bassist Scott's dad on saxophone. They played "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills" with the group, ala jam band style. They played two songs in the second encore, with the last one being "Buddy Holly," a perfect ending.

Tuesday night - Sleeping at Last @ Calvin College

Sleeping at Last hardly ever goes on tour, and when they do, they can't bring along the string section that plays on their records. Instead, they bring the next best thing - a MacBook Pro - to cover the string parts. Tonight, however, they recruited people from around the area and formed an 8 piece guest string ensemble to play with them. Four violins, two violas, and two cellos.

They played about an hour and a half, and the strings played about half of the set. I got goosebumps every time they entered the songs. The show tonight was in the chapel, which has very open acoustics and required the band to play quietier. Not a bad thing - it actually made the music feel more personal. By far, it was their best show I've seen them play.

Golfing

I've only golfed twice in my life. This coming week, however, that number will double. I've decided to take a part in two golf scrambles, the first one coming tomorrow. Since the last time I've attempted to golf was over 5 years ago, I hit the driving range yesterday to see what I should expect out of myself. Let's just say that, a lot of these were mine:

And so were a lot of these:

(The first white post in the distance was the 100 yard marker. I took the picture from where I was hitting)

To the other 3 people in my foursome: I'm sorry in advance. However, I did win the award for longest putt the last time I played.

Jogging

I've been thinking about taking up jogging for awhile.

This idea originated a couple years ago when, for a month or so, I had an irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath. My doctor ran a EKG and found something "abnormal," so they sent me to the hospital in Owosso so that they could run a stress test. I had to run on a treadmill with a bunch of cords and stuff stuck to me, during which the doctors kept pointing at my overweight stomach. After the test was over, I was out of breath, and they concluded that I was severly out of shape and needed to start exercising.

Finally, about 3 weeks ago, I decided to start jogging. Based on the experiences I've had so far, I have a few suggestions for anyone that is thinking about starting. I'm not reinventing the wheel here - you could probably google "how to start jogging" and you'd probably get the same suggestions - but this is just my personal experience:

- You need a warm up/cool down period, at least 3 minutes for each. That's a given.
- You need a good breathing pattern. What's working pretty good right now is inhaling every 4 steps, then exhaling every 4 steps. If you don't develop a pattern, you get side cramps. I've gotten some of those and they put a damper on the remainder of your jogging session.
- You need a routine. Pick a time when you're going to jog, and stick with it.
- Start by doing an even amount of jogging/walking. If you have lamp posts, walk to one, jog to the next. We don't have street lights in our neighborhood, so I started jogging for one minute, then walking the next.
- Set a goal, but be patient, and don't burn yourself out. I'm up to 2 minutes of jogging, one minute of walking. I'd like to run a few 5Ks next year, but I'm nowhere near that point yet. It's going to take me awhile to get there, but I'm not in any hurry.

I hope that helps. If you have any running ideas for me, or if there's something I'm doing that I shouldn't be, please let me know.

Beijing Restaurant Prepares

My friend Ty told me about this restaurant that was nice enough to translate its name for all the English-speaking tourists in Beijing. Unfortunately, they used an internet translator instead of someone who actually knew English. This is what they came up with:


I'm still laughing. I wonder if I could get some core dumplings there.


Read more here: http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2008/07/then-well-grab.html

4 day workweek pt. 2

Today marks the end of my 4 day workweeks. If you didn't read pt. 1, you won't have to scroll down very far to see the intent and purpose of the condensed workweek (again, my life is not that interesting). As I mentioned, they will be asking everyone to give feedback about how it worked (or didn't work).

I thought it was great to have Fridays off. Last weekend, Heather and I went up north. Friday, we stayed with her sister, and I took my nephew Noah to Michigan Adventure where we rode the rollercoasters all day long. We then spent Saturday and Sunday in Manistee with my grandparents, which I was grateful for considering they're 87 and have traded trips to the hospital the past couple years.

When we didn't take trips, Heather and I found ourselves running errands and getting Saturday's stuff accomplished on Friday, and Sunday's stuff done on Saturday, leaving Sunday wide open. Most importantly, I got to sleep in 3 days out of the week instead of 2.

Working longer hours throughout the week wasn't that big of a deal either, because Heather took 9 graduate credits in a 5 week period, so she was plenty busy while I worked later. However, her classes got done last weekend, so this week she spent every day until 6:30pm (or later) by herself. Had she not taken those classes, she might have gone crazy. I sympathize for the other employees who have families. Is the extra day off worth the previous 4 days of lost time?

As for work, I was more productive and felt that it was easier to stay on task. However, this 5-week timeframe is also the slowest time of the year, so it probably wouldn't make a difference if you compared it to a normal workweek.

In general, for me, the pros of a four day workweek outweigh the cons. For others, though, it may be the opposite. At this point, I would support doing this again next summer. Now that we're going back to a full 5 day week, I wonder what I'll miss and what I won't miss. I guess I'll find out and let you know.

My green chair

Imagine an episode of The Office that goes something like this:

Michael Scott, to his dismay, finds that the employees in Accounting are sitting in green chairs instead of the normal purple chairs that everyone else sits in.  These chairs had been sitting down in storage, unused, and were more comfortable than the purple ones.  About a year ago, Angela discovered them and so did her colleagues.  

Michael, not realizing how long these green chairs had been around, orders that the chairs be returned to where they found them.  

Upset, Angela walks down to receiving and asks Darryl if he knows anything about the chairs.

"They're new chairs," he says.

"I don't understand," says Angela.  "I'm not giving up that chair."

Word gets to Michael about these new chairs, so he asks Darryl where the chairs came from.

"You ordered them," says Darryl.

"No I didn't."

Darryl pulls up the invoice.

"Ah, yes," replied Michael.  "They were for the new employees."

"What new employees?" asked Darryl.

Michael, not wanting to explain himself, rushes off.  "Gotta go!"  His branch was going to hire new employees before corporate decided to cut jobs.

For no apparent reason, Michael confiscates the green chairs and gives them to Goodwill.

The End.

A similar event actually happened today at work.

Boss visits our work area because it will be undergoing minor renovations.  She notices that several of us, including me, have green chairs (yes, they are green too!), accuses us of stealing the chairs from another department in the building, and orders them to be returned.  (We didn't steal the chairs, they were in our department storage area.  And yes, they are more comfortable - it actually helped to get rid of my lower back pain).  Our head custodian informs us (and her) that these are new chairs that she ordered.  Long story short, she realized that these chairs were never needed, and donates them to the other departments in the building, so that all of us can have matching purple (and painful) chairs.

"I'm sorry that I ruined everyone's day," she said later.  "Oh well, back to work."

Thanks boss.

Fireworks

Ever wonder how fireworks got their start, or how long people have been using fireworks? Check this out. I was contemplating this question during tonight's fireworks display, and am now informed.

4 day workweek

My life isn't really that interesting these days, but I thought I'd share some sort of update to tide you over until something more insightful comes along...

This week marked the first of 6 four-day workweeks. This week happened to be one of them because of our nation's 232nd birthday (thanks JR for the correction - I originally put 332), but the next 5 weeks I'll be condensing 5 days of work into 4. My work is doing this in a effort to save energy for both them and their employees.

I've never done this before, so I'm interested in how this is going to work out. Am I going to be so tired and burnt out after 4 days that I'll need an entire day to recover? Or am I going to have a relaxed, but productive day off?

The plan is to have this "trial" 5 week run and then everyone will give their feedback. If it turns out well, maybe next year they'll implement it for the whole summer.

Oh happy day!

Our stimulus check was direct deposited today.
Payday for Heather and I.
We're driving to Mackinaw City tomorrow.
I don't have to go back to work until June 16.
Heather's last day of teaching for the summer.
Our house has air conditioning, and it's turned on.

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away...
Today, He decided to give.

Dancin' like a fool

Most of you have probably heard of this cheesy phrase at some point in your life:

"Love like you've never been hurt, Dance like no one is watching, Sing like no one is listening."

Whether I like it or not, I follow the part about dancing to a T. I'm not a good dancer. Not even close. In fact, I make this person look good:



I consider myself to be a fairly decent at DDR, and people tell I play drums really well. So why the bad dancing? I feel that my common sense level is a little lower than most people, which means that for many things in life, I can't just do something I've never done unless it has first been demonstrated by someone else. For example, I didn't know how to mow the lawn, tie a tie, or change the oil on my first car until my dad showed me. I didn't know how to efficiently paint a wall until someone with painting experience showed me. So until I get dance lessons (which I have no desire of paying for), I will continue my awkward, avant garde style dancing. Apparently it's quite entertaining for the people that have seen it.

Thanks to YouTube, I should be able to perform the Cha Cha Slide in time for the next wedding.

Baseball

On Saturday, I had this incredible urge to hit baseballs.  Unfortunately, the only batting cage in Cadillac wasn't going to be open until Memorial Day.  I was thinking about borrowing my brother-in-law's golf clubs and go to a driving range.  I don't play golf, but hitting golf balls feels somewhat similar to me.

Heather and I went to La Fiesta Grande on Sunday to support people from Riv going to Mexico and hang out with friends.  I was hoping for a small chance that people would bring baseball or softball gear and have a game.  And it happened.  I got to feed my baseball fix.

Now, 3 days later, I'm still sore from running and swinging the bat too hard.  But again, well worth it.

Wedding weekend #1

I had a good 4 day weekend.

Friday and Saturday were spent up in Cadillac.  Heather was a bridesmaid in her friend's wedding, and I got to watch...part of it.  We had a little miscommunication, or let me just say, I didn't realize my dress clothes weren't in my car until a half hour before the ceremony started.  So I had to rush to a clothing store to find some emergency dress clothes (which will be returned later) and as a result, I showed up 15 minutes late to the wedding.  5 minutes after I arrived, the wedding was over.  It was shortest wedding I've ever been to.  

The rest of the weekend was great.  Heather got to spend time away from school, both physically and mentally.  Anytime she's not stressed out, I also feel less stressed.  I think I try to bear some of her stress, whether it works or not.

Anyway, we got to spend time together and on Monday, were able to get caught up on stuff that had been neglected.  For Heather, it was school stuff.  For me, it was working on the yard and taking my car into the shop to get an alignment.

Yesterday, however, I got hit by a truckload of emails, meetings, and work orders when I went back to work.  I still haven't been able to dig myself out.  Oh well - the 4 day weekend was worth it.

Facebook

I've had intentions on creating a facebook profile for months, but knew I needed to devote time to set everything up. I really dislike my Myspace profile, for a few reasons. One reason is all the ads, and another is the pornographic friend requests. Just the other day, a friend request came from a naked girl lying face down, using the floor to cover the bare minimum. If I really wanted to view porn (which I don't), I wouldn't go to MySpace. To showcase my frustration, I changed my MySpace status to "Joel wants to get rid of his MySpace profile."

On Sunday, I went to Facebook and thought, "I'll just create my profile real quick and come back to it later." So I created my profile, but then saw how I could add friends using my email, and by people who graduated with me. I found people I hadn't talked to in years! Then I added my contact info, then people started accepting my friend requests...and then...and then.....3 hours later, I had to give the laptop back to Heather so that she could write lesson plans.

Needless to say, Facebook is far better than MySpace. For those of you that have it, I don't have to tell you that, but I just experienced it for myself. I enjoy how no one can view your profile unless they are a "friend," and there are no "screen names." There are many other things that make Facebook better, but I haven't experienced them all yet. One person told me that Facebook is to Macs as MySpace is to PCs. I'd have to agree.

Some month #3

Last month, after a couple weeks putting up with my broken, barely functional Treo, I bought a Motorola Q. I like this phone much better. It has many more and better features, has better call quality, and most importantly, all the buttons work. The only caveat is the low battery life, which can be resolved by upgrading to an extended life battery.

I had a heck of a time activating the phone with Alltel though. Last year, when I activated the Treo, I didn't have much trouble at all. I couldn't activate the phone at the store because they told me I needed a data plan. So I activated the Treo over the phone, no problem. They mentioned that a data plan is not required - just recommended.

So this time, I didn't expect to have any trouble activating the Q over the phone. However, having a data plan is now "required," no exceptions. Apparently they "changed their internal policy" a few months ago. (Thanks for telling us about it).

I didn't want the data plan. I rarely send text messages, and I don't need internet on my phone because I'm almost always near a computer. The customer service rep refused to activate the phone. I asked to talk with the manager and threatened to cancel my service. The guy wouldn't budge.

I hung up on the rep and wasn't sure what I was going to do next. Heather told me I should call back and get someone else, but this time, just tell them I needed to "transfer my service" from one phone to another. So I called back, told the different story, and my phone was activated, no questions asked.