Winter Wonderland

Well we got back from Tennessee last week and there hasn't been much interesting to write about lately. Just the usual hum-drum of family life. It has been like a winter wonderland around here for the past several days. It's really strange looking out the window and seeing so much snow, so early in the season. The only good thing about it is that it's helping me to get into the Christmas spirit. Because I haven't even started thinking about the dreaded shopping. I'm thinking it's time to do internet shopping this year. But first I need some ideas about what to get everyone. This is a stressful venture which makes me procrastinate even further.

Chattanooga

We're in Chattanooga, TN and have had a lot of fun. Yesterday I took my son to the Creative Discovery Museum where we spent several hours enjoying the multitude of hands-on activities available for the kids. There's a huge water table area with pulleys, buckets and levers where kids can explore how water moves and why it does the things it does. There are many different rooms with everything from music and art to a real archaeology pit where one can dig for dinosaur bones. It's a great place to explore and play - not just for young ones but for adults too. I love seeing the world through the eyes of my son. That way I can once again be a kid...act silly and not have anyone think I'm weird.



Today we went to the Tennessee Aquarium - 2 phenomenal buildings of beautiful water creatures and plants. One building houses the salt water creature, the other has the fresh water. There is a stingray tank where you can actually touch the bamboo sharks and many stingray (which have had their dangerous stingers removed). In another area you can 'pet' the sturgeon fish - the oldest fish still living. They were around in the dinosaurs' time. There is a beautiful collection of jellyfish and undersea wonders. It is so easy to just spend hours watching the beauty of the water world. We had a great time watching the river otters play in their habitat. They're very cute and fast! The penguin exhibit is also a real treat to watch. You can stand in front of them and see them from above and below the water. Containers of chilled water also allow you to feel just how cold that water is that they swim in. It's a great way to spend time here in Chattanooga.

Road Trip

We spent the day on the road driving to Lexington, KY which is where we are staying tonight. As usual, the border was a good hour's wait - and that was after arriving there at 8:45 this morning. I get the distinct feeling that the Americans want to discourage Canadians from entering to shop now that our dollar is worth more than theirs. Only 2 lanes were open for the toll booth, and the wait at customs for the volume of cars was lengthy.

We stopped at Lima, OH for a quick lunch at McDonald's and then it was on to Lexington. We got here around 4:30 and then went to look around at some shops. There is a store called Gordman's here and it's got great deals. After picking up a few things, we went for dinner at Don Pablos - a reasonably good Mexican restaurant chain. The frozen margaritas are good and so was the quesadilla. But nobody can beat Carlos & Pepe's cantina in Ft. Lauderdale - or Iguana Mia's in Ft. Myers for really great Mexican. So it's off to sleep soon and on the road again...Chattanooga here we come!

Snow Already?

I was just shocked to see light snow start to fall this afternoon around 3. Two mornings ago, we awoke to a light dusting which later melted. But as I look out of the window, the ground is more white than green and the temperature is hovering around freezing. So this may hang around. Either way, it's way too soon for winter in my opinion.

The Deer and the Hawk

Sunday morning we finally got to see a deer. I've been waiting a while for this event because back in September my son and parents saw a baby one, but we never did. The large male buck complete with horns, calmly and quietly walked across the road, towards our property, where he then disappeared into the tall reeds. It was so exciting. I look forward to seeing more as winter comes along.

On a sad note, later that afternoon we heard a large crash into the front window. I went out to check because this was much more of a thump than we've ever had. It turns out it was a beautiful brown and white hawk. He must have run into the window at top speed because he broke his neck. That was pretty upsetting. I hope that doesn't happen again.

The Fridge

My husband had another exasperating day dealing with Sears. We finally got delivery of our new fridge. The delivery was supposed to be between 11:20 and 1:20. Now given all the headaches we've received from Sears so far, we certainly weren't expecting them to be able to keep that time frame. So my hubby took the day off from work. By 2pm, he saw a delivery truck go by our home slowly but did not stop. By 2:30, he called Sears delivery information to find out where the fridge was, and was once again jockeyed around between several customer service reps. They either didn't know, told him the same delivery time (and then when corrected realized that yes, that time had passed -- oh!), or curtly said they couldn't help him (and that was their corporate customer service).

So my husband called the store manager where we'd bought the fridge around 2:45, only to discover that he was still out on a late lunch. Coincidentally enough, by 3 the fridge arrived. But by this time, my husband was just at his wits end and fed up with dealing with such an incompetent bunch of Sears employees. We have the fridge but now are dealing with a leakage on the water line hook-up. It's always something.

Don't Buy Sears Appliances

It's been almost 2 weeks now without a fridge. Oh, did I forget to mention that? I would like to advise everyone NOT to buy appliances at Sears Canada. We have had nothing but headaches dealing with their customer service and deliveries. Back in August, we had our brand new stainless steel Kenmore Pro line fridge ($3000 +) delivered late after waiting one full day (7am - 5pm as the time frame was specified). After many calls to distribution and them having no way to contact their driver, nobody had a clue where the fridge was by 8:30pm that evening. We finally got delivery the next afternoon after again being given a day-long delivery window.

So a short while ago, the fridge suddenly started losing it's cooling effects, so we assumed the compressor had gone. Again, I called Sears service early that morning and was given a service call date of 3 days later - with again a day long time window. Late that night, a service guy came by, had a quick look at the fridge, told us it wasn't the compressor but was most likely a freon leakage internally. Well, now we knew we had trouble. Trying to get Sears to replace this fridge was about to be the newest challenge.

The service guy was supposed to file a report stating that fixing the problem would just be too huge a problem. We had to call Sears customer service countless times to report this. They had no notice of any report. We then went back and forth between the service guy and Sears' service department. Everyone kept blowing off our problem, stating they would 'call us back.' Ya, right! Finally, after my husband called the Sears store multiple times where we bought the fridge, and hunted down the manager, we managed to get them to reluctantly replace the fridge. We are now still waiting for the delivery date - and the famous day long delivery window. My hubby is taking the day off this time, just to ensure we receive delivery. We'll see about this.

My advice after all our headaches is DON'T BUY APPLIANCES FROM SEARS!