Toshiba

So the rant continues......... Toshiba sent my computer back to me this week in it's "fully operational" condition.........yeah right! Within 2 minutes - literally - it started screwing up all over again. I thought "surely not!" - they wouldn't have kept this thing for 3 WEEKS, made repairs and not have tested it prior to shipping it back. I figured it might just be that the battery needed to charge, since it was brand new, and might be fouling things up a bit. So, I closed it up and left it to charge overnight. 18 hours later the battery showed it was fully charged, so I turned it on and sure enough - almost instantly - it shut itself down and crashed. You can guess my reaction - I'm pretty sure it started with "Son-of-a-B*#*$!" (but can't quite remember as I seemed to have blacked out due to the lack of oxygen going to my brain from my screaming).......and kept going for at least 10 seconds as I tried to restrain the urge to fling the piece of crap out of the 2nd story window! So, I called Toshiba and they just couldn't understand it because their paperwork showed the tech tested the unit. My rear-end he tested it! Anyway, they told me that they never, under any circumstance, replace a defective unit - they only repair them - and that I'd have to send the unit back to them for repair. I asked the "case manager" (because my case got elevated since I was so ticked) if I send it back to the "repair depot" and they say they can't fix it - then what? She then said that they'd replace it with the exact same type of unit. "Huh? You just said you never, under any circumstance, replace a defective unit?" Her response: "Only if the repair depot says it's not reparable". So I sent it back - but I sit here wondering if the double-talk I got from the "Manager" is rampant throughout the Toshiba company and if they just didn't send me my computer back with the same components it had to begin with.

Ah well, if nothing else, the woman at the UPS store did "ask" if the unit was insured against falling, dropping or other breakage........... uh, come to think of it - yes - as a matter of fact it is.......... hmmmmmmmm......................................... Needless to say, Toshiba is not a company I will recommend to anyone in search of a new computer - their repair/customer service dept. stink.

Anyway, next week is our first parent/teacher conference for Zachary. I somewhat dread this. I've never been a fan of measuring a child's abilities to a scale that has been created by some person or thing - of which you have no clue. Not to mention having to wonder about how "good" my child acts in class and how "helpful" he really is. Ah well, no pink slips or whispered 'Can I have a quick word with you' from the teacher in quite a while - so it can't be that bad - can it?!

Mike and I have been working very hard this week to lose weight. My mom sent me a diabetic cookbook several years back when Mike was labelled a "pre-diabetic" or something like that. The dietician I saw a couple of months ago suggested that maybe I should try some recipes from it and see how we like it as the diet would be a great way to lose weight quickly. Not only that, but her suggested diet for me was very similar to a diabetic's diet approach and it might just be easier than having to try to come up with things on my own. I broached the subject with Mike this past Sunday and was astonished. He was all for trying it! So, as of Tuesday - we hit the book and I am happy to report that this week I have lost 3 pounds and Mike has lost 5 pounds - which puts both of us under a milestone - 159 for me (haven't seen that in over a year) and 269 for Mike (sure it's been about the same time frame for him). Not only that, but the food is really, really good! I can honestly say that I never, in a million years, would have thought that mixing lean ground beef and ground white-meat turkey would actually be better tasting than ground beef alone! I guess you can teach this old dog new tricks! I'm trying out the oven-fried chicken tonight - it's done with Rice Krispies. But hey, I made oven baked Chicken Parmesan that was just as good as my pan-fried version, Old-fashioned Beef, Tomato and Macaroni, and Turkey Cutlets with Cherry sauce - so I'm hoping this falls under the same yummy category. Rice Krispies and Chicken just don't seem like such a good combo - but hey, neither did corn flakes and chicken and that turned out great.