Dear So and So

[Crankin]

Here's a very rare picture of both of my kids and their spouses.
Together.

[malkin]

Looks like a good time!

[Owlie]

Great picture, Crankin.

Not-dear ETS,
You charged my credit card twice (that extra $50 is a lot of money for a grad student, you know!), and you tell me that "Sorry, we can't refund it." You lot are a bunch of a________s.
Hopefully this is the last time I ever have to deal with you.

[indysteel]

Great picture, Crankin.

Not-dear ETS,
You charged my credit card twice (that extra $50 is a lot of money for a grad student, you know!), and you tell me that "Sorry, we can't refund it." You lot are a bunch of a________s.
Hopefully this is the last time I ever have to deal with you.

Owlie, I'm not sure what ETS is, but I'd take the issue to your credit card company and dispute the charge that way.

[Owlie]

Owlie, I'm not sure what ETS is, but I'd take the issue to your credit card company and dispute the charge that way.

ETS is the lovely (hah) company that brought to you the SAT, the GRE, etc.

[tangentgirl]

Dear Bike - I miss you! We should hang out more. If it's not so windy today, wanna go do something?

[Catrin]

I hear you Tangentgirl!

Dear eyeglass chain who will remain unnamed,

I've been bringing in these frames for almost a solid year. I look at them and they warp. I turn my back, and one of the lens will fall out. Every 2-3 weeks they need adjusting, or tightening, or the lenses pop out or... It has been very frustrating for both of us.

Today I went into one of your other locations when, once again, the frames decided to go out of true again for no apparent reason - and they were just adjusted 6 days ago. I am very careful with my glasses, I don't sleep in them, or sit on them, or drive over them. I take them on and off with both hands, and it has been frustrating. They weren't cheap either. Anyway, your OTHER location had a bright idea after hearing my tale of woe as she worked to adjust them. She is ordering me new frames since they are still under warranty. She wonders if there was a problem with them from the very beginning before I even got them, and why didn't you think of that and offer to replace them to see if the problem is ME or the actual frames? I certainly didn't think of that. She also explained to me why I've had such problems actually SEEING with this particular type of progressive lens and that you should have told me what it would be like to move from digital lenses back to traditional progressives (apparently for a lot of people this move doesn't work well).

Before I walked out of the door I scheduled my annual exam with them, and, hopefully, the new replacement frames will workout better so that I don't have to pay for new frames a year early as my insurance won't cover frames until 2014. I am sure you will breathe a sigh of relief that I won't return to your store.

[luvmyguys]

Dear Personality-challenged guy at the not-so-LBS,

Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that anyone who has ever helped me with a bike is a complete and utter idiot, and wouldn't know a seat tube from a derailleur. Let's assume that you are God's gift to the cycling world, and the only person who ever properly fit someone to a bike. Let's also assume that you are correct that if the standover height works, nothing else matters and you can fit anyone to anything. Do you really think, even on the slim-to-none chance that you are correct, that you're doing yourself any favors by going off like that about a bike that's already been bought, and one that I am completely, utterly happy with? Do you really think that's going to endear us to you and the chain you represent, when we plunk down another $2K on dh's bike?

Thought not.

[emily_in_nc]

Dear Clueless Woman in Polaris,

Obviously your eye roll and stating to your husband that "They don't have any idea where they're going" when my DH and I on bikes turned into the gravel road to the large, not-yet-built subdivision here was said loudly enough that it was meant more for our benefit than for his. But really, I'd like to educate you:

1. Yes we did know where we were going.
2. We ride there all the time; it's one of the best roads on the entire island.
3. We live here so we actually aren't nearly as clueless as you obviously are.
4. All bike rides don't have to have a destination.
5. Riding for fitness and recreation can be an end in itself.
6. You should get off your lazy azz and try it sometime.

Sheesh!

[indysteel]

I like number 6 on your list, Emily! Lol!

[Crankin]

They sound like super azzholes to me.

[Catrin]

They sound like super azzholes to me.

Yep - and she obviously didn't expect you to respond to her. Not that anything good would have come out of that...

[emily_in_nc]

Yep - and she obviously didn't expect you to respond to her. Not that anything good would have come out of that...

Exactly. As I rode away shaking my head I said (under my breath). "Yes we do, B*TCH." Not loud enough for her to hear, but I have to admit, it did bother me for the first half of the ride, for some reason. I realized I shouldn't give a rat's azz what a clueless loser like her thought, so I moved on to more productive thinking for the rest of the ride, while filing the experience away to add to this thread later.

Ignorant people who think they know it all just irk the he** out of me, though. Thanks for the support, friends!

[Pax]

Dear Weather Gods,

More snow, seriously? Just stop it.

Thanks,

Ready for summer

[Catrin]

(I somehow posted this in the meals thread, unsure how that happened, so am moving it here where it belonged)

It is sad to lose two special women in a week's time. Both are in my church, and indeed I was present when they were formally brought into the Orthodox Church, both were over 70 at the time. These ladies were like my surrogate mom and aunt, and one of them just remarried less than a year ago! One was buried last Friday, the other died that same day and her funeral was yesterday. They will be sorely missed, two classy ladies with a kind word and generous heart for everyone they met and were more alive and vibrant than many half their age. I aspire to be like them should I live so long!