Random Friday: Years Of Hell

This week’s random Friday is a mixture of a rant with a bit of a happy ending. Too better understand this story I need to take you back a few years to Nov. 2010. My girlfriend of the time Amanda and I were talking about marriage. I asked her to give me an idea of what type of ring she wanted. So one November night we happened to be at the mall and walked by a Kay Jewelers. I told her we should go in and take a look just so I could get an idea of what she likes. I had no intentions on buying a ring from Kay’s. If you live in Pittsburgh you know the Clark Building is where you want to go for jewelry. Anyway, we are looking at rings and she finds one that she is in love with. A sales person comes over to us and shows her the ring. As much as I didn’t want to buy it from there I could see this was the ring she wanted. I tell the salesman I will be back at a later time to pick it up. He then drops a bomb on me that the ring is on sale and the sale ends that day. So now I am in a dilemma do I buy the ring in front of her and put her through the stress of knowing I have it, but not knowing when she is getting it or do I pay hundreds more and come back later. Needless to say I purchased the ring that night.

I ended up giving her the ring in December. Remember the months because that is the key to this story. Oh ya, when I purchased the rings I was given certificates. Anytime I spentover $300 I would get a $100 taken off the bill, but they had to be used before the end of July. So in July we went out and decided to use the certificates and bought our wedding bands, once again wasn’t planning on buying them there but who could pass up a good deal? Around that same time a diamond fell out of my soon to be wife’s ring. The store happily fixed that problem and we thought nothing of it. That is until 3 months later when her main diamond fell out. So quick run down here, she only has been wearing the ring a total of 10 months at most and I already had to have it fixed twice. I would like to tell that was the last time with any problems with her ring, but it happened 3 more times over the next few months. I was absolutely livid and called the corporate office to see if there was anything that could be done. I was told I could not get a refund, but they would continue to fix it. Luckily the people at the store are not like corporate and felt so bad for us that they took the same ring out of the case and gave it to her. We were so happy and thought finally the problems will stop. Why wouldn’t you think that after getting a brand new ring? Well, a few months later and a stone falls out. This time when I called corporate they told me this is the first time it has ever been fixed. I replied with “No, this actually the 6th time in less than 2 years.” Apparently since she was given a new ring it was if they wiped the slate clean and we were starting back at zero fixes. They ended up giving us a $100 credit. Not much for the amount of gas I spent just driving back and forth to the store.

Amanda and I got married in August of 2013. From the time she was wearing the ring until the day we got married I would guess it was in a total of 9 times at least for service. Every time it went in I would call corporate and bitch. Most of the time the answer would be, “we are fixing the problem”. I would always ask to speak to someone high up and every time they would tell me that the person is unavailable. So now remember 9 times in a little over two and half years. So after we get married we pull out the wedding bands, which have not been worn in 2 years. I think it took all of 3 months before a diamond fell out of my band. At this point what do you do but laugh. I take it to the store and they fix it. Just so you all know, the whole time this was all going on we still took our rings every 6 months to get inspected and cleaned. A few weeks after I got my ring back we were back in the store for a stone falling out of my wife’s engagement ring AGAIN. At this point I am boiling and every time I called corporate I would make it maybe 30 seconds before calling the person on the other end a dickhead or asshole. Finally someone comes up with the brilliant idea that my wife can trade in her ring and get a new one. At the time I thought this was a great idea, until I talked to the manager at the store. He then informed me that they would only be giving us credit for the amount I paid for the ring. Now remember when I bought the ring it was on sale, and now it was over 3 years later. The price of gold had gone up and let’s just say if you paid $1000 for a ring it would now be selling for $1300. Do you see a problem here? I called corporate again and explained why would I trade in a ring and have to get a smaller size ring or get a ring similar and have to spend more money. Why should I give them more money for a problem that I did not do? Needless to say corporate was not helpful and when I brought up getting a lawyer involved, the person on the other end of the phone said and I quote “Lawyer up”. Who even says that? My wife wasn’t about to get a new ring because in her mind that was her ring and it had meaning to her. We could have taken the ring to another jeweler to get fixed but once again we would be out money of our own pockets. At this point you realize you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. We did hit a nice streak for about 9 months or so until January of 2015 with no problems. It’s pretty sad when you have to say 9 months is a good streak. So quick rundown to refresh your memory.

Engagement ring is bought in Nov. 2010 serviced 8 times and swapped out once before we are married in Aug. of 2013.

Wedding bands are purchased in July of 2011 and not worn until Aug. of 2013. 3 months later a stone is missing from mine.

Wife’s engagement ring goes back in for service for the 10th time early 2014.

You still with me on this one people? I know it’s a lot to take in. So now it’s January 2015 and a stone once again falls out of my ring. I take the ring to get fixed and I decide not to call corporate because, well what is the point? I know exactly what they will say at this point. I pick the ring up at the end of January. In February my wife notices we are due for our annual 6 month inspections. We both go into the store and here is the best part. When we walk in the store now the employees know us on a first name basis and say “oh no, not again” before even saying hello. This time though we are laughing and telling the sales lady it’s just for the inspections and mine was just returned to me a few weeks ago. She takes our rings and starts to go over them. She then proceeds to tell us that she is keeping BOTH rings, because both have loose stones and need to be sent in for repairs. I was dumbfounded how in the hell does this happen when I just got the ring back? What do you even say? I just shook my head and said okay. The next day you better believe I was on the phone with corporate again. The first phone call ended in a quick 2 minutes with me calling the gentleman an asshole. The second phone call I speak to a woman who couldn’t believe how many times my ring and my wife’s ring was fixed. I am a bit different from my wife and even though the ring may be symbolic, I would rather have a ring that doesn’t need fixed. I asked could I please trade in my ring and get a ring without diamonds. Kay’s policy is a diamond for a diamond. Basically if you have a ring with diamonds, you must trade it and get another ring with diamonds of double the value. So once again they are saying, you can trade in your ring but you’re going to give us more money also. The lady and I went back forth and we came to an agreement that if it happened once more I could trade in my ring and get a ring with no diamonds. On Monday this week I received a phone call saying my ring was ready to be picked up. I was at work so Amanda went to pick it up. When she got to the store they informed her that they were not satisfied with my ring and sent it back again. So another wasted trip, and on top of that my wife’s ring still wasn’t in and should have been. Now tell me if you agree with me on this? I took it as my ring going back as another time it needed to be serviced, therefore I wanted a new ring. I called corporate and the lady I spoke with was not trying to hear that. She kept telling me that this happens because rings are fitted and stretched out. Awesome, only problem is neither of our rings were ever fitted. We got lucky and they fit right out of the case. I tried to compare the rings to a car and told her there is something called the lemon law for cars. She came back with like a car the rings need serviced every so often and this is normal. After 30 minutes of bickering back and forth she says “I feel you just want a new ring”. My answer was “No shit I want a new ring, I want a ring without diamonds so I don’t have to deal with this shit.” She explains the whole trade policy and I tell her it isn’t going down like that. No way in hell am I losing more money. I had to explain I didn’t care that I would be losing out on the deal. For some reason she kept thinking I wanted a cheaper ring with no stones and wanted a cash refund to make up the difference. That was not the case I just wanted a plain white gold ring. Finally they agreed and on Tuesday I went to the store to pick out a new ring and pick up Amanda’s ring. So now at least we are only back to having to go to the store for her ring.

So the point of this story is Kay Jewelers sucks, not the store employees but the corporate employees and if you were ever thinking about buying anything from there I would rethink that.

Freak out Friday: Cry me the weather!!!!

This past week has been pretty cold up here in Pittsburgh. We are no strangers to the cold weather though, last year temperatures dropped below zero for a few weeks. It’s not a question of if it is going to be cold it is when will it get cold. So every year I brace myself. Not for the weather but for the remarks and the comments that will be made by the people that act like they are surprised it is cold here. Don’t get me wrong here I too am guilty of saying I hate the cold. It’s a fact I do. I don’t ski or snowboard, and I am too old to get dressed up and throw myself down a hill on a sled. My extent of playing in the snow is standing with a leash in my hand while my dog jumps around and eats the snow. I am a warm weather person who loves the heat. You will never hear me say it’s too hot or I wish it was colder out. I am a runner, the sun is my friend. The cold and darkness are my enemy. I love Pittsburgh though. This my home, my roots I have lived here my whole life except for small stints here and there. I know what to expect with the weather for the most part, so bitching just doesn't make sense.

Every year though like clockwork when we get our first real cold you will start to hear the bitching. I wouldn't mind this except I am starting to notice that those same people are the same people who bitch at the first real hot day. Ummm, my question for those people is at what weather are you not bitching? I guess those people haven’t heard that old saying, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Choose one and stick with it. You either hate the cold or you hate the heat. I understand sometimes it does get extremely hot and you may feel like you are melting, but then think about subzero temperatures and decide which one you would want more. I mean this sounds crazy but if you hate the temperature where you live, move! No, you don’t want to move though because of other reasons. Move south, no thank you they have hurricanes and flying cockroaches. Move west, no thank you again they have tornadoes and earth quakes. No matter where you live you have to take the good with the bad. So please spare all of us who know that already and shut the hell up. We hear enough bitching on a daily basis, the last thing we want to hear is your ass bitching about the weather.

Hey while we are talking about weather here what the fuck ever happened to Global Warming? I remember 16 years ago when I was in high school that was the rave. Global warming this, global warming that, don’t use this product you’re just contributing to global warming. I remember thinking now here is something I can get behind, you mean to tell me it’s eventually going to get hot and we are not going to have winters, sign me up. What a bunch of bullshit that was. I felt like someone told me they were giving me a million dollars then at the last minute said, oh wait we made a mistake this wasn't for you. I mean how come when I just searched global warming everything I read worded it as global changing? Does global warming not exist anymore, and what the hell does global changing mean? When was the globe not changing? I want some answers. I want to know who the fuck lied to all of us. There is no way in hell I am buying Buffalo getting 6 feet of snow is due to any type of warming. Sell that shit to someone else because this guy isn't buying it. I mean last year it was so cold there were days I was afraid to pee outside, in fear something would freeze and fall off. Luckily this did not happen people. Maybe everywhere else is getting warmer and Pittsburgh is the only place getting colder each year. I guess we aren't part of the globe. Will someone just come forward and say “We don’t what the fuck we are talking about.” Do you know how many times last year I thought I didn't have to work the next day because of the storm that was coming only to wake up to nothing except disappointment. It was like waking up on Christmas and finding out all your gifts were socks, and not the good running socks. Let’s all just face the facts no one can predict the weather. Let’s also face that facts that no matter what the weather is there is always going to be a person to bitch about it.

Freak Out Friday: That's my lane

Let me all welcome you to a new segment of my blog called Freak Out Friday. This is where I will go on a rant about whatever is bothering be, it may about running or it may be about whatever is on my mind that day. This is no holds barred, I may offend some people and some people may agree with me. I am only stating my opinion, you do not have to agree with me in fact I would love to hear the other side of my rants so some back and forth bickering is always accepted.

Today we are talking bicyclist. I am all in favor of saving our mother planet earth, so when I see a person riding a bike to work I respect them. Now here is what my problem is with certain bike riders. Notice I say certain because this is not true of all of them. Here is a scenario to picture in your head: you are on your way to work. You look down at the dashboard clock and realize you are cutting it pretty close. Now you are sweating and thinking of every excuse in the book just in case you are late. “Sorry I am late there was an accident.” “There was a fire and I happened to be the first person to drive by and I had to stop and I saved everyone, I left though before the news got there, in fact you probably won’t see it on the news.” In your mind you’re thinking please just let me get there on time. Everything is going good until your come up on to some traffic and realize it is moving at a snail’s pace. You can’t make out what is holding traffic back, but you know something is moving slow enough to keep the traffic moving but just about 20 miles short of the speed limit. After admitting defeat and knowing you are going to be late to work you notice traffic is going around whatever it was holding up traffic. As you approach the “thing” you look over and see a person on a bike riding down the middle of lane going 10 mph in a 35 zone. You wait till there is no oncoming traffic and you pass the person. The rest of your ride is smooth sailing but you are two minutes late, forcing you to walk into work and say “Sorry I shit myself and had to go back home and change my underwear.” Okay maybe that excuse isn’t the best but you get the idea.

As a runner I am constantly sharing the road with motor vehicles. I run toward oncoming traffic and if I am in their lane when they are approaching I jump up onto the sidewalk until it is safe to jump back into the street. I understand that even though I can be in the street running, it is easier for me to move then it is for a car to switch lanes. In Pittsburgh one thing we are seeing more and more of is the bike lane. I am all in favor of the bike lane, it keeps the biker out of traffic and as a runner I just assume that is for me as well. In downtown Pittsburgh they have even taken a lane away from traffic and put in a 2 lane road for the bikes. The picture below is the basic concept of what it looks like.

A lot of people are bitching up a storm about this, but I am all for it. Bikers should be able to feel safe while driving around town and this just does that. The problem is when there is no bike lane, the street I work on is about 1 mile outside of downtown and there is no bike lane. Traffic is very heavy and both cars and bikers use it to get to work. Every day as I sit at my desk I watch at least 2 or 3 bikers riding the middle of the lane holding traffic up. If they move to the right cars can still go around and traffic would flow steady. I hear bikers bitching saying they deserve the same amount of road as the cars. No problem by me, but you better be able to get the bike to do the speed limit. You want the same rules of the road then you damn well better respect them. How is it every day when I am behind one these ass monkeys they are taking up the whole lane like they are a car, but as soon as we come to a red light this fool goes through like the rules suddenly changed? Ah ah my spandex wearing friend last time I checked red light meant stop and a stop sign meant you stop for a 3 second count(unless in Pittsburgh then we just pause and coast through). All I am saying is if you aren’t willing to move to your right to let traffic by, then your ass should be just as miserable as the rest of us who have to sit in traffic and at lights. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate all bikers. There are more bikers that follow the rules and respect the cars than the ones who don’t. If you are one of the people who don’t move or think you’re special because you can weave in and out of traffic without a care in the world then there is a good chance me and you have had some words. You’re lucky my window was up and you couldn’t hear what I was saying though.