My fierce puppy dog has saved from from what she perceived as certain death - the rinse cycle of the washing machine.  What would I do without her?  She is so brave and fearless!

She also pulled a Dakota on me today - it tugged at my heart.  Dakota was such a good girl, especially at bath time.  It took a couple of years, but eventually all I had to do was point at the tub and she would begrudgingly jump in.  Not her favorite event ever, but she did enjoy the toweling off process and I believe that in her head the reward outweighed the inconvenience of being lathered, scrubbed, and rinsed.  Today, it was time for Liberty to have a bath as it has easily been 6 weeks or more because of the staples in her side.  But since they are finally out, it was time to wash the stink off (and oh did she stink!)  I politely asked her to join me in the bathroom, and she did.  Then I pointed to the tub and she gave me the look of DOOM.  She slunk around behind me, looking for a way out.  I gently cajoled her and then, like a little miracle, she jumped right in the tub.  I am so proud of her.

I sold my motorcycle over the weekend.  Turns out, maybe I shouldn’t have.  My insurance premium went from $760 for TWO bikes to $1111 for ONE bike.  WTH?  Something about losing the multiple motorcycle discount.  Too late now.  I self excluded myself from riding Lambchop’s motorcycle and that will drop the rate down considerably, and seriously, I have not, nor will I ever, be the driver of that bike (except in dire emergency).  His bike is just too big for me to be comfortable handling.  So no loss really, just a shock that the rate would increase, let alone go up so much.

While I shopped for new motorcycle insurance today, I also checked out a new homeowners policy and managed to save about 40% there.  Auto is as low as I can get it considering our personal comfort level.  I might try to reduce our flood coverage, but dealing with all of the other insurance wiped me out.  No joke, I have spent HOURS in the phone today.  Some day “off”, eh?

I sold the motorcycle to pay for a new computer - should be here tomorrow.  Yay!  This little old Dell is about at the end of it’s days.  I hope the computer is here when we get home tomorrow, or preferably, that Fed Ex comes when someone is here.  Not sure any neighbors are home during the day and naturally, I could coordinate my day off with the delivery company.  So far, we haven’t had problems when they leave packages at the door - but just my luck, my computer will get stolen.  O, the inhumanity!

Earlier this week I was invited to take part in a focus group regarding home improvement stores.  Eventually it was revealed that the company behind the focus group was Home Depot and I learned some interesting things about their new push towards customer service.  I also had a revelation about the major difference between Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Recently, a Lowe’s opened up in our immediate area.  Home Depot is closer to us, but after visiting other Lowe’s stores much farther from home, we were SUPER excited to have one open near us.  I observed as part of the focus group that there is definitely a different target market for each store, where I previously thought it was the same group. 

There was a definite preference of women in the focus group to prefer Lowe’s.  Specifically, they really liked all of the displays and the glitter that the store provided.  Everyone loved the customer service at Lowe’s.  Everyone agreed that essentially, each store carried equivalent merchandise at similar price points.  It was noted that Lowe’s hires a slighter older, more mature worker, whereas Home Depot had a younger, more diverse group.  Lowe’s was more family friendly, whereas Home Depot felt like it ws geared toward the contractor crowd.

And that is when it hit me.  We really like Lowe’s for the glitz, but if I am being honest, I think they are a glorified Walmart.  When I want to get something done, I go to Home Depot.  Sure, I have a really hard time finding anyone to help me - but when I do, they are knowledgeable and I leave knowing exactly what to do for my project.  Home Depot gives me the know-how and the skill.  Once I have that info, I confess to looking at each store to find the best deal on materials.  But I always start at Home Depot.

It is less of a “shopping experience”, and more about getting the job done.  I discovered I lean more to the contractor preferred store, and less toward the “family” store. 

Home Depot is planning on having more employees dedicated to helping customers during certain “Power Hours”.  During that time, the employees will not be stocking or cleaning - they are there only to help and be available to the customer.  When they are done with a customer, they will congregate in the open center aisle so they can easily be found by the next needy customer.  A “greeter” will be at the door to help direct people to where they need to go.

So rock on Home Depot.  The displays are pretty to look at, but I love you for your substance.  I hope you don’t change too much - and only in the good ways.  I believe in you because you believe in me.

PS.  Thank you for the $100 gift card for taking part in the focus group.  I will be sure to spend it, and countless more $$ and cents in the coming weeks.

Did you know they make drills that plug into the wall?  Holy ravoli!

Seriously, I am being serious.  I genuinely forgot that drills once relied solely on 110v power.  I am so used to the cordless battery operated ones (which are pure crap for big or heavy duty projects) - heck, when those weren’t powerful enough we bought a drill that attaches to a compressor.  I have no excuse for not seeing the plug-in style ones most likely intermingled with the others on the shelf, but apparently they were there - I just had to remove my blinders and see outside my apparently narrow scope of vision.

I don’t know how I did it, but my mom’s BF is lending me his help with the tile floor.  We decided to suck it up and get the tile done.  One of the hard parts (there are many, just ask my back) is mixing the thin-set.  I was whining that since the compressor is missing, maybe we should rent a mixer.  It is a big project, after all.  He informed me that not only did he have a compressor (he is a carpenter by trade), but what the hell do you need a compressor for to mix thin-set?  My little girl voice explained and he pulled out his electric drill, and I fell madly in love.

I asked my mom if I could keep him.  I told her that he could live in my closet and I would feed him pizza and beer forever, but she declined.  The nerve.  Love shmove, the man is handy!  And handy is dandy.

He is a very hard worker, I did not have to feed him or provide an beverages (I tried, honest!), and he is wicked smart.  Remember when you were a kid and you wanted to know WHY algebra was important - when were you EVER going to use it?  Well, the BF uses it all the time.  He is making sure the tiles are laid in a perfect square and perfectly centered in the room.  And he did it all using his brain, a tape measure, and a chalk line.  I have to tell you, it was beautiful to watch.  Me, I graduated college and aced algebra (ahem, after 4 tries) and I never figured out the secrets that he has unlocked.  Just goes to show, you don’t need a college degree to be smart.

And Lambchop is THRILLED with the help.  Because, I promise, I would not have measured or made guiding chalk lines to make it straight.  I shoot for perfectly imperfect and I always hit the vicinity of the bulls-eye.  But some people shoot for the bulls-eye to start with, and they use a precise set of crosshairs.

Thanks Tom, you are the BEST.  I am sorry I was a turd when I was growing up (still am, sorry about that too).  And thanks to my mom for sharing!

Rainbows and puppy dogs,

Gina