Year: 2004

The up and down arrow keys on my laptop are not working, but the left and right arrow keys are. The delete key won’t function either. You never realize how often you use those keys until they won’t work. It makes trying to check my e-mail sooooo much fun.

I’ve had three people tell me things on the phone today that they then commented they were surprised I didn’t see already in their e-mails. I’ve been boycotting the computer since Sunday. I figure the Olympics are on, so someone somwhere should boycott something. No, no … not really. But it sounds good. I have been watching the games, along with a ton of other things lately. Need to reach me? Pick up the phone and call. Otherwise, it might be days before I see it in e-mail. (Blogomania stuff is different, that doesn’t go to my personal e-mail, and Mike helps me out with it when I’m offline.)

I went to have a crown and a filling done today. Ouch. I gave in this time and let him numb me, but that was only because the filling was a do-over, and the last time he did it it hurt a lot. Drilling for the crown? No problem. The sound hurts me more than anything else. The other tooth required one of those metal clamp things around it to do the filling though, and those always hurt the gums. Ugh, I cringe just thinking about it. At least I was wise enough to agree to being numb this time, so it didn’t hurt too much while he did the work. I just hate that tingly numb feeling afterwards. Blech!

They’ve issued my Stampin’ Up! distributor number and my catalogs are on their way! I’m so excited – I’ve already set up an area for all of my goodies in the laundry room, next to Jason’s school supplies. Paper, paper, paper! Stamps! Wheeeeee!

EBay Buys Stake in Craigslist Is it just me, or is that sad? Craigslist will no longer be wonderful for the reasons it is wonderful… [via Katie.]

(By the way, if you need a login for the Washington Post, BugMeNot can hook you up. Get the FireFox plugin … it’s goooooood!)

Mike just informed me that the Cincinnati airport is actually in Kentucky. Considering how late it is, I find this hysterically amusing. You know, Cincinnati, Kentucky, it’s all the same!

Today has been a fun day. From seeing “Little Black Book” and “Princess Diaries 2” with Emily to hanging out with friends (including Kathy and Elaine) at EJ & Sherry’s new house, it was a fabulous day. Simply fabulous. As an added bonus, Kathy tutored me on how to cut and mount stamps, so I got to set up some of my new stamp sets!

By the way, I had heard bad reports about “Little Black Book” beforehand, so I went in not expecting much. Brittany Murphy is not on of my favorite actresses, but I actually liked her in this. Overall, it was a good chick flick movie. Oscar-worthy? No. But I thought it was cute and amusing. And if you should go to see “Princess Diaries 2”, be sure to wear your tiara. All of the little 6-9 year old girls in our theater had them on, and we felt left out. Everyone is a princess!

Speaking of movies, have you seen Freeway? Dude, Elaine and Kathy have never seen it. I see a movie night coming up in the future just so we can watch Reese Witherspoon and Brittany Murphy at what must be their absolute worst. (Although the movie did get a 78 on RottenTomatoes.com!)

The karma for tonight’s events is sure to bite me in the ass eventually, but still. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Tonight we decided to go to Black-Eyed Pea for dinner. We walked in and waited for the hostess to finally show up. Once she walked up, she asked if we wanted a table for two, and when we said yes she said, “I’m sorry, we’re full, you’ll have to go away.”

Uh, yeah. There were maybe 10 tables with guests in the otherwise empty restaurant. We gave her a blank stare in response.

So she said it again. “We’re full, you’ll have to leave. Just go home.”

Is this chick for real? Seriously?

Finally she starts to lead us to a table. I had asked for a booth in the middle of the restaurant (I hate the ones that are right by the door – whoever thought it was wise to put tables in the entryway was crazy.) We walk up to the table, and she asks the standard question, “Is this ok?” I say yes. She responds with, “Too bad, it’s reserved for someone else.”

As if the comments at the door weren’t bad enough, she just went over the edge at that moment.

I sit down and say, “Yes, it’s reserved for me.” She responds with some lame comment about how she doesn’t live her life to make herself happy, but to make others happy – so she never leaves a table until she hears a chuckle.

Right. Yeah, I’m laughing. Uh huh. Get out. Now.

I have worked in restaurants in the past, so I am generally a really understanding customer. I very rarely complain. Food comes out slowly? Fine. Problem with the order? No big deal. But when it comes to service, I expect quality. Especially from a hostess, which is generally a low-key job (unless you’re on a wait, then you have to have the patience of a saint to deal with crabby customers that want a table now; otherwise, no-brainer job most of the time.)

As we ate, Mike finally said something about how we should talk to the manager about what the hostess said. I had thought the same thing, but thought I was overreacting, so I hadn’t brought it up. However, when he said it – I jumped on the chance. As we paid our bill, we asked the waitress to send the manager to our table.

As we told him what had happened, the poor guy was stunned. I told him that I just wanted to tell him so that she would be informed not to do it again – and he said she wouldn’t have a chance to do it again, because she would be gone tomorrow. Poor thing, I didn’t want to get her fired. I even told him that. However, really – if the job description is “hostess” it implies that you host guests, and that you treat them well. You don’t tell them to go home. He needed to know about her behavior, so I don’t regret telling him at all. I just know the karma will come back to get me.

He came back to our table before we left and gave us free dinner giftcards, apologizing again. We told him that it was ok and we understood – we will return there again. Hopefully, the new hostess won’t tell us to go home.