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Burst water pipe blues

Posted on June 8, 2010 1:26 pm by TheAngelForever

Monday morning, I was feeling rather ambitious. I was moving out the clothing that NHL had outgrown, switching out JSL’s fall items for summer and heading down to the basement for laundry/get the next size items for summer. Minutes later, things in my little world were changing. To give you a sense, this was how I felt this morning:

Thank you Keurig machine at Mom and Dad’s house. You are definitely my hero today! Now, back to yesterday.

When I went downstairs, I saw water on the ground. Let me rephrase that, I saw a lot of water! Over 3/4 of the basement floor was wet. It was not deep, but I could hear water rushing. This was not in the usual spot. I immediately screamed for TechyDad to come. Much to our horror we quickly found the culprit. There was geyser of water from a pipe in the back corner of the basement.

I was freaked out and knew it was not good. I called my father and he had someone come over to help us try to stop the flow. Nada – so we called the city. They were at the house in about an hour. By this time, I was already gone. I took NHL to school and went to my parents house since we had no running water.

They eventually came and told TechyDad that it was a pipe running to our main service line and we would likely need to replace that entire line. My heart sank when I heard this. This would be beyond expensive and require a huge section of our yard to be dug up.

To make a long story short, two people came to look. The first plumber I called said they would be there in 2-3 hours. Then, my father mentioned another person to call. He was there in 20 minutes. He gave us a price. I had to get back to him after I heard from our insurance company to see if anything would be covered. Nada on that (mixed feelings after the roof fiasco just a month ago). I told him that we had another plumber coming and not to be insulted. The other plumber came and gave us a better price. The catch – they could not do the work until Thursday at the earliest and he told us we could not wait. So we went ahead, signed a contract with the first person. That check hurt to write.

The saga continued. When they turned the main water off, the water kept flowing. Yes, the river in my basement was still going and going to the drain on the other end. TechyDad went to clean up some with the wet/dry vac and saw more of a mess. As he was sucking water up, more was coming. He called the water department again. Different stories were given, the potential for our bill was getting larger by the minute. I was in tears hearing the story over the phone. Lucky for us, the two men went into the basement and they found something. There was a covered sewer pipe right next to problem pipe. Thanks to TechyDad cleaning that area, they were able to see it and removed the spot and it shot right down there

Below is a view of the leaking pipe area this morning. Looks SO much better than yesterday, but who knows what will happen today as the work progresses.

Fast forward to this morning. After 2 hours of sleep, I took JSL to the doctor and then went to our house. The power company, telephone company and numerous other had come to check in so they would know where it was safe to dig. There were several large vehicles parked outside our house. Before I knew it, this was the scene:

I left the house since it was raining and was told they would call if anything was needed. Now, I wait and see. With any luck, they will be able to fix it and restore the water. The box outside may also need to be replaced will will add a significant amount of additional spending on this project.

On that note, I am off to rest while waiting to hopefully hear some good news about the dig site in my front yard. Once again, I wish that dull moment would come soon.

Categories:
bad news decisions house jl looking back losing my mind photos TechyDad vent

New Price Chopper Building and Conference Announcement

Posted on May 25, 2010 10:26 am by TheAngelForever

Being a blogger has opened up doors that I never imagined I would walk though. This was literally the case a few weeks ago. Christina (Cutestkidever) and I were personally invited to tour the new corporate Price Chopper building in Schenectady, NY. We had been told prior to going that only the people that worked there had seen many of the places were were being taken. No media had been given a tour at this point since they were just moved into the facilities. Talk about being honored.

Price Chopper Logo

The world of Social Media and blogging truly made this tour possible. Had I not seen a Tweet on Twitter, gone to the Price Chopper page on Facebook and signed up for their Cook’s Ham event – this would not have happened. While at the Cook’s event at Price Chopper, Christina and I started to chat with Heidi and Liz about plans that we had for a local blogging conference. After the event, we continued to be in contact via Twitter/Facebook/e-mail/phone. While talking about the ideas we had for a blogging event in the area, I was asked if I we would consider something a little different. Of course, my answer was yes and I was told I would hear more soon.

This is where a big thank you to Mr. Jerry Golub is in order. He is Price Chopper’s new President & COO and is very aware of the importance of Social Media. He asked Heidi to invite us for a personal tour of their new building. Of course, we said yes!

This new corporate building is big news in the area. The new state of the art building has many green features to be energy efficient for the 700 Price Chopper employees that will work there. Even bigger was the initiative to transform what was once polluted brownfield into a usable corporate space. To read more about the building, The Business Review has more details about the new $30M corporate facility.

When you drive up to the Price Chopper building, you immediately notice the size of the building. Then you start to see the whole picture. The facility is gated and has amazing security. When I drove up, I was told where to park and proceed in to check into the building. When Christina arrived, we went into the building to the security desk. They found our names on the guest list and asked for our drivers licenses to make us guest badges. At this point, they called Heidi and Liz to let them know we were here.

Once we were done giving security our information, Heidi, Liz and Maureen came to meet us in the lobby. I wish I had taken a photo of this area, but had not taken my camera out at this point. Not to worry, the photo taking permission came right after this and I started to take some photos.

One of the stops on the tour is the giant conference area. Can you see where I am going with this?

The ballroom like room is sectioned off into three smaller rooms that can be opened. The room has a lot of AV/technological opportunities for something like a blogging conference. Round tables could be set up for networking and the ability to live blog/Tweet from any event thanks to Wifi availability. Christina and I kept imagining who would be up at the podium talking to all of the bloggers that come to our event. Yes, it was becoming more real with every step of the tour.

Heidi, Liz and Maureen also took us to more behind the scenes areas. We saw smaller meeting rooms and back rooms that were not quite set up yet. One of the locations not completely set up was the new photography lab/kitchen area. When we walked into this room we were greeted with shrimp on a barbeque right in the area and the computer monitors set up to create the Price Chopper ads for the coming weeks. They explained that a kitchen would be there to help with preparations of their own displays. In addition to that, one side of the room would be used for the Kids Cooking Club segments with Jodie Fitz that are available online.

Next, we walked into the cafeteria that is in the building for Price Chopper employees. My first thought was that it felt like I was at one of the Quick Service dining areas at Disney World. In my mind, this is a HUGE compliment. The menus were on flat screen monitors, there was a clean modern feel. Here are a few views:

I could definitely imagine break out sessions in here and/or a meet and greet time during a conference.

Next, we were taken to the back of the cafeteria into a special room. The surprise was on us. We would be participating in a quality control/taste testing exercise. The following was set up on the table for each of us. We were testing white grape juice, apple sauce, chocolate chip cookies and rice crisp cereal.

Megan and Jane explained that they had done a similar exercise at a local middle school to show the students how often it is next to impossible to tell the difference between brand name and store products. Of course, they also showed the kids the math involved when the identities of the items marked A and B were revealed. Price Chopper uses this room, with a kitchen to keep quality control on their store items. They have different groups of people that do this to tell their input on taste, texture, look and feel compared to the brand name twin. It is not surprising that on almost all we were not able to tell much if any differences and several cases liked the Price Chopper brand item more. This was not only an educational/eye opening experience, but a lot of fun. Hmmm. . . something else for a conference perhaps?!

Just as we were finishing up with this, Jerry Golub came to meet with us. I have to admit, I was even more impressed with his dedication to social media, his employees and the community in person. Mr. Golub explained why he feels Twitter, Facebook, and blogging are important to companies. In addition to this, he made me laugh by saying how funny it was to see me blog one day about ham and the next about shopping for Passover.

After Mr. Golub left us, we brain stormed a little about the possibility of having our blogging conference at the Price Chopper corporate building. We had so many ideas in our head, but not enough time to fully develop them. We talked about a good time for one and what we would like to do. After this we went to lunch in the gorgeous cafeteria and chatted a bit more.

So, what have we decided for our Capital District blogging conference?

Rather than rush to put something together for July, we will be pushing it back a little and changing a few things. Here are the tentative details:

Who: Anyone near or far may come and join the festivities where we hope you will be able to meet a lot of new people and network up a storm. Details for out of town guests wishing to stay over night will be available soon

What: Blogging/Social Media Conference to learn more, meet new people and have the chance to network in person

When: Saturday, October 2, 2010 from approximately 9 to after dinner

Where: The brand new Price Chopper building in Schenectady, NY

How: More details on pricing coming soon. Still need to talk to the caterer on the specifics for the day and will get back to you ASAP.

Why: Why not?! There has never been a blogging conference in Upstate NY and we want to begin this tradition for those in the Northeast to have the opportunity.

I would like to thank Price Chopper for making this conference a possibility. Thanks to you opening up your doors, our dream is now going to be a reality. We look forward to working with everyone over the next few months to finalize the details to share with bloggers who will be coming to the event this fall.

If you have any questions please let us know. As soon as more details are available we will keep you posted and have a special sign up website up for purchasing tickets to the conference.

Please save the date and we hope to see you in our area in October.

Disclosure: I was invited to the Price Chopper corporate building for a tour, lunch and to discuss using it for a conference facility. Much to my surprise we were given a taste test and some grocery items to take home to use with our families. No blog post was expected or compensation given.

Categories:
Blogging Conference bloggy friends customer service decisions photos Web business

3rd Birthday Wishes and Themes

Posted on May 14, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It’s official, I am now the mother of a three year old again. Today is JSL’s third birthday and going to be an action packed day and weekend with family and friends. Yesterday, I blogged about the past year of memories with my little fellow – Goodbye to my last two year old.

This year, JSL is quite into Winnie the Pooh. My Wordless Wednesday this week, All things Winnie The Pooh, show cased all of the items that we have been trying to track down. Believe it or not, getting Winnie the Pooh toys/clothing/decorations is not the easiest thing in our area. Had he picked Toy Story it would have been a lot easier since Toy Story 3 is all over the place for the release of the movie this summer.

This made me think about all of the different themes we have had for past birthdays with the kids. Here they are:

1st NHL – Bear in the Big Blue House
2nd NHL – Finding Nemo
3rd NHL – Madagascar
4th NHL – Curious George
5th NHL – Dinosaurs
6th NHL – Cars
1st JSL – Sesame Street
2nd JSL – We were at Disney World

So my questions for you this week:

What was your favorite birthday party theme from when you were a child? Now be a kid again, what theme would you like for your next birthday?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #99

Categories:
Aloha Friday baking birthday decisions food glorious food jsl photos yummy

What’s in a name?

Posted on May 7, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Expectant parents often labor over names for the children. Hours are spent searching for just the right name for their baby whether with books or online sources. When TechyDad and I found out that we were expecting our first child, we did not have to think too much. It is a tradition in most Ashkenazi Jewish families to name for relatives that have passed away. We immediately knew who we wanted to name our baby after. TechyDad and I agreed that we would name our first baby for my Nana and TechyDad’s paternal grandfather.

For quite some time, we looked at boy and girl names that started with our target alphabet letters.Needless to say, we had no problem finding girl names, but always had difficulty with boy names. Then when our ultrasound confirmed that we were expecting a son, the name hunt intensified. We stretched the traditional rules a little when naming NHL, but we were happy and that is what matters.

When we were expecting our second child, we did not think about names until we knew if we were having a boy or a girl. I knew that I wanted to name for my other maternal grandfather, but beyond that things were up in the air. Several weeks before the little guy was born, my paternal grandfather passed away from a long fight with Parkinson’s Disease. From that moment, we knew that our second son would be named for both of my grandfathers. There was no debate really, JSL’s name was very quick and easy.

So my question for you this week:

How did you decide on the names for your children? If you do not have children yet, do you know the story behind your name?

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there!

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #98

Categories:
Aloha Friday decisions family jsl looking back nhl photos pregnancy TechyDad

Being interviewed for television

Posted on May 6, 2010 10:53 am by TheAngelForever

Today is the day that I will be coming completely out of my bloggy shell! *gulp* Why you ask? I suppose it begins with the fact that last Wednesday, this was in my living room:

To those of you here from the WNYT broadcast, or their website, welcome! I wanted to take some time to explain to my readers about the events that happened the last few weeks leading up to the segment you saw.

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As I have written in the past, I was hesitant to come out of my bloggy shell. New opportunities have presented themselves and I think I am pretty much ready. For three years, I never mentioned my name on my blog. You still will not find it specifically mentioned. When I went to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration in February, I came partially out of my shell handing out my bloggy business cards to people. My name was right there for all of my new friends to see. This was my first step.

Then, when we came back from Disney, Christina (CutestKidEver) and I started some larger projects together. These projects would focus their attention on local items and a blog conference to be hosted in our area. When I asked people about their interest, I finally revealed that I was in fact living in New York State. Not that it was a secret, I just did not specifically mention it on any posts up to this point. Locals certainly would know that the Six Flags park that I often wrote about was The Great Escape in Lake George, NY.

About three weeks ago, I received a message from AlbanyMommy to giver her a call. When I got in touch, she wanted to know if I was interested in being interviewed by a local television reporter. I was very intrigued and agreed to talk with the reporter. I immediately knew the name of the distinguished member of the local media and called her later that evening. It was soon after she had gotten off the air, so I expected to get voice mail. Much to my surprise, Elaine Houston answered the phone.

We talked for a little while. I was asked how long I had been blogging, why I started to blog and a few other items. During the brief chat I mentioned blogging conferences. This was something new to Elaine. She was intrigued. She asked if I could be interviewed the following week, but our schedules did not work. So we set a tentative date and I told her I would get back to her. The only item I was not sure about….the camera and Elaine would be coming to MY house. Yikes!

A week later, while talking to Elaine Houston, I was getting some cold feet. I will admit, I was still not too sure about someone coming into my house. Sure I post photos on my blog, but that is just different. At one point, she said something about other blogging friends. When I got off the phone, I had an idea. What if I had my partner in crime come to be intereviewed as well? She could interview both of us and see how a friendship was born from blogging and social media. I pitched the idea to Elaine Houston and she agreed.

Last Wednesday, Elaine Houston and Michael (camera operator) came to my house for the interview. It was surreal seeing a large television video camera in my house. We immediately got to work doing interviews. I was up first. I was seated on my couch and Elaine Houston sat across the way on the loveseat. Meanwhile, Michael had all of the lights on (camera included) and it was pointed at me. I was told to look right at Elaine and just chat with her.

The interview was probably 10 minutes of questions about different subjects. They were mainly about why I blogged, how I started, what we do at conferences and what the future of blogging holds for me. To all local people that find out you are going to be interviewed by WNYT reporter Elaine Houston – consider yourself lucky. Elaine really puts you at ease. After a few seconds, you forget that the camera is there. I was able to focus on Elaine’s question, smile and interviewing style. Next, the camera went to another angle to get some shots and then Christina went to the couch to be interviewed.

What Elaine Houston may or may not be aware of, the two of us were Live Tweeting the events! Christina and I blogged, but we were sending out a lot of Tweets during the time she was here. When Christina was done being interviewed, we were asked to get some camera shots of us blogging at my dining room table. We did this and then they wanted to see some photos from Disney Social Media Celebration. I cued up some on my blog and described a few of the events that I had already blogged about.

When this was over, Elaine Houston noticed that I had my camera out. I told her that as a blogger I always have my camera at the ready. It was not everyday that a camera and reporter are in your living room. I asked if I could take some photos of them to use on a future blog post. They both laughed at the tables turning a bit, but were gracious and agreed.

I would have to say the only awkward moment was when I was asked to do something around my house for the camera to see be doing. My house was pretty clean and I had no clue what to do. Thank goodness a stack of blankets that had been on the couch needed to be put back up and my son had a few Winnie the Pooh characters scattered on the floor. Admission – this was painful to do and I really hope it is NOT in the segment.

I know that I am excited to see how all of the interviews and other items are meshed into the final product that will be seen tonight on WNYT at 5:30. So to anyone here via WNYT welcome! Please sit back, click around and get to know me and The Angel Forever. More local item links will be coming soon as I finally fess up to the names of places that I go to with my family. Stay tuned as a lot more exciting things are to come as I continue my bloggy adventure.

A big thank you to Elaine Houston and Michael. The two of you were amazing to work with and kept us at ease. Elaine, your interviewing style is even more impressive in person. I also loved learning about you and seeing your great sense of humor. I look forward to seeing your future endeavors and appreciate all that you are doing to spread the word about what women in the Capital District are doing (Today’s Women). One day, I hope to work with you again. My dream as a teacher was always to have you in my classroom because you do so much for the world of education. Michael, just an FYI: The Dinner Impossible that we were part of during our conference will be aired the first week of June.