READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!!!

The Youngers are moving to Waco, Texas. Yep, you heard that right. Rachael is going home and Pete is becoming a Texan. We will pack up a truck with our seemingly many belongs on July 15, and will drive off into the sunrise on the 16th. On the 21st, we will close on our new house! I, Rachael, start my very first full time job on Aug 5 and Pete starts the PhD program on Aug 24.

The email addresses will remain the same and phone numbers won't change for a while. But if you desire the new snail mail address, please write or call us and ask for it.

Its all so exciting, and so much to tell! I promise, more news soon to come.

My Inner Brat

I named her tonight:

Lasaraleen

That's Aravis's friend who she meets in Tashbaan (The Horse and His Boy -- by C.S.Lewis).

Lasaraleen has really gotten the upper hand these days. Not a good thing: not getting basic chores done, leaving things to the last minute, pouting when I have to do something I don't want to. Got to get her under control, discipline her so that she doesn't control so much. Hopefully, naming her will help with that!

Something not many know about

I feel like I'm finally ready to write about it.

We've been trying for 13 months to get pregnant and haven't yet. I think this makes it official: we are dealing with infertility. Not the nicest thing to deal with, but definitely not on the "bad" end of medical maladies. We've got a doctor's appointment scheduled for next week and, so, we will begin the process of figuring out why we aren't getting pregnant and if we can get pregnant.

There is a great deal of disappointment in all of this. Disappointment that expectations are not met. Disappointment that God hasn't intervened to fix the problem. Disappointment that there is still no baby. And the disappointment is like being on a roller coaster. Each month, when I know I'm not pregnant, there is a wave of sadness and disappointment. After a day or two, those emotions wane. Then, when that time gets close, I try not to anticipate, but I do. I get excited, I wonder if maybe this month I'll be pregnant. And then sadness and disappointment again. An emotional roller coaster, if there ever was one.

Here's to hoping that in the next month or two I can post an update... with news of a miracle.

Frequent and Annoying Phone Calls: 433-533-9029

So, someone has decided to use my phone number, and now a collection agency keeps calling. Their number is 434-533-9029. Yes, I want all to know. I called them back and told them to stop calling. Then less than an hour later, they call again. I pick up.... nothing... no sound... no response. What is this? Are they trying to scare me?

Whoever is calling from 434-533-9029, STOP CALLING ME!!!! I never had any business with you and if you don't stop, it might begin to look like stalking.

Thank you.

Additional information:
They have called...
Aug 26, 2008 8:36 am
Aug 26, 2008 8:02 pm
Aug 27, 2008 8:39 am
Aug 27, 2008 8:13 pm

I called them on Aug 27, 2008 8:39 am to find out who this was and why they were calling me. It was some "financial institution" looking for "Solidad". When I told him not call any more, he said, "It will take 24 hours for the order to go through." When I told him to put my number on their do not call list, he says "that federal order only applies to sales solicitation." But I have no business relationship with them at all, there for those calls are unsolicited phone calls!

Guys named Mike keep Verizon in business

So, seems like our problem has been solved. From an original activation date of 8/25, to now an activation date of 9/3, is not ideal, but at least we have the right plan with the right details. A guy named Mike in some part of Verizon phone service was efficient, actually listened and got it done. Thank you, Mike.

Of course, we will see if the order comes through. This would be order #5, and with 4 orders fallen through, it makes me wonder.

How does Verizon stay in business?

I have no idea. We are going on a week of trying to order DSL Internet to our apartment.

1. We ordered DSL Internet on 8/19/08 via online. 48 hours later, we hadn't heard anything (via email), so I wrote and email and called customer service. Customer service couldn't find the order, so we made a new order. Call this order #2.

2. About 24 hours later, I receive an email confirming another order, not the order placed on 8/21/08. Call this order #3. We call customer service trying to figure out what is going on.

3. Customer service declares they cannot help us, and promise a call back by end of business day (on 8/22/08). I also receive an email in response to my email about the missing order of 8/21/08. We never received that call back.

4. On Monday, 8/25/08, we call customer service AGAIN. We finally get to talk to a guy in India, who is kind and helpful and gets us the order we want. We are told we will need to call back to cancel the other orders that are floating around in the system, but otherwise all seems to be worked out. We are forced to wait an additional week for internet service, but sometimes that happens.

5. On Tuesday, 8/26/08, we receive a call from the agent at the other end of the email. After refusing to listen to anything we had to say, she proceeds to cancel the order made on 8/25 (the order we want).

6. We call customer service AGAIN. After being hung up on twice by customer service reps, we are still in limbo about if and when we will get our DSL internet. All of the sudden, customer service reps are very rude from the outset, and refuse to assist us or to transfer us to someone who can assist us. It is as if there is a note saying "being rude".

7. In the midst of all this, we discover that Verizon has some other address on file, a place we have never lived. I'm uncertain how Verizon stays in business, we can't be the only ones Verizon has screwed over.

The situation is not yet resolved, and we have used several hours worth of cell minutes (the only phones we have) in an attempt to order DSL internet. I hope that you, reader, never have to deal with Verizon.