So Weeum and I went to Las Vegas on Sunday, marking our fourth trip together to Sin City. We had two free vouchers from Southwest to use before the end of August, and our hotel at New York-New York was about $60/night.

We had a great time visiting old haunts like the Lions Den at MGM Grand and M&M World, as well as trying new things such as Emeril's at MGM Grand, and going to see The Price is Right Stage Show at Bally's. However, I definitely had an unexpected surprise on Wednesday, our final night.

Wednesday night Weeum and I went to see Tom Jones, and while it was surprising to see a near 70 year old man grab his crotch on stage, that was not what was surprising. After the Tom Jones show we took a cab to the Bellagio to see the fountain show...

And that is where he proposed. :)

No date yet - we're still working out details of where we want to have it. I still want to go to Vegas, but part of me starts to feel bad that not everyone who will want to come to the wedding will be able to and thinks maybe we should have a small gathering with a JP. We'll see - I am so indecisive! But that's my big news. And with that I'm going to attempt to get back to the Eastern time zone.

My response from LL Bean:

-----Original Message-----
From: customerservice@llbean.com [mailto:customerservice@llbean.com]
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 11:12 PM
To: kamoore@gmail.com
Subject: RE: eCARE Web Form: My Account [T200902240055S010Z6815892]

Dear Ms. Moore,


We appreciate your email to L.L.Bean concerning the recent identity mix up.

I am truly sorry for all of the stress and frustration that this has caused you.

I have researched your account information and you are no longer in our system.

I can only imagine what you have been through. I understand your concerns.

If in the future you receive a telephone call from a stranger stating that they have a package of yours sent to them by mistake, wether it be from L.L.Bean or any other Company or individual, for your own safety please, please, please do not go and retrieve it simply because this stranger insists on it.

If you did not order something, from L.L.Bean anyway, we can handle this for you without you putting yourself in danger.

I have sent another request to our Customer File Maintenance department to remove your email address as well.

If we can be of further assistance, please call L.L.Bean Customer Service at 1-800-341-4341. We are available 24 hours.

Again, I am truly sorry for this.

Sincerely,
Christopher L
CSR2 Team 9A
L.L.Bean Customer Service
1-800-341-4341


My reply?


Christopher,

While I am not normally in the practice of going to the residence of someone I do not know, the fact that this person had my phone number and who knows what other information made me really not want to piss them off. Had the first representative from LL Bean, a woman I might add, informed that there were alternate ways of handling this situation, I can assure that I would have sought a different resolution. However, not only did they not inform me what options were available to me given that it was from a sender I did not recognize, they also were unable to tell me how my information was obtained, and further what information that person had access to. My concern was someone showing up at my current doorstep for a confrontation. Given how well LL Bean safeguards my information I am not inclined to believe that my current address was not already provided to them in some capacity, or wasn't simply a phone call away. The fact remains that in every instance save for tonight your representatives did not in any way truly assist me and passed along conflicting and negligent information. I appreciate you deleting my information from your records. Rest assured that while I previously championed LL Bean's service and return policies to friends, I will begin a vigilant campaign to warn future customers of how their private information can potentially be compromised based on inept hiring and training.


Regards,
Kelly

I do not think that I posted about this in the past, but around the holidays I received a phone call from a gentleman who identified himself as being the current occupant of Weeum's old house. He told me that I had a package that was delivered to this address by LL Bean and that I had to pick it up. Given that it was around the holidays I thought it could be a possibility and told him I would be there around 5:30 to pick it up. Really the only person who had that address was my mother, and I called her after work to find out if she had sent anything. She said that she had not sent anything, and I became concerned. I called LL Bean's customer service and was told that this was a phone order sent to me. They did provide me the name of the person who placed the order, and I told them I didn't know who that was. The customer service representative told me that I should call back the person that it was sent to in an effort to see if they would mail it back or leave it for pickup. And they made me feel as if someone was responsible for sending this back. The representative was unable to tell me whether or not I had been charged for this item, and even further could not tell me what other personal information was on the packing slip. I called back the current owner of the residence and explained who had sent the package, and asked if they knew them. He was slightly rude and annoyed, told me that he didn't know that person. When I asked if he would be able to leave the item for pickup or mail it back he told me, "I've already called you for your package and that is the most I'm willing to do. Just pick it up." So at night I went by myself to the residence of a man I did not know to pick up a package that I knew wasn't mine. I was exceptionally uncomfortable about this, and the only reason why I went was that I was concerned that he already had my phone number, and I wasn't sure what other information he had or could obtain from LL Bean if he called them. So I called back LL Bean, got another representative, and insisted that they were picking up the order at my current address as I wasn't about to be further inconvenienced by attempting to return an item I never misdirected. In addition, the customer service representative reviewed my account information and listed the addresses they had on file for me -- my parent's house, Weeum's old house, and an address in Raymond, NH I had never lived at. They assured me that evening that they would no longer associate that address with my account information. And I was happy about the way it was resolved.

Until tonight that is when I received an email confirmation of an order that was to ship to that address in Raymond, NH. I was pissed, and concerned that my card had been charged. I was assured my card had not been, and further assured that they had removed that address with my account information.

I have just written a scathing letter to LL Bean. I will never shop there again. I cannot in any way confirm the safety with which my information is being maintained.


To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to you to express my extreme frustration and disappointment in my most recent experiences with LL Bean.

A couple of months ago I received a phone call from someone who now lives at my old address ____________. They called to inform me that I had a package that needed to be picked up. I had not ordered anything, but it was around the holidays and I thought perhaps that it was possible something had been sent from my mother, even though it was a long shot. On my way to my old address I called my mother who insisted she did not send anything to me. Concerned I attempted calling LL Bean. The customer service person I spoke with was mostly helpful, but told me that I should call back the person to whom this package was sent to see if they could send back the package or leave it for pickup. The man was unwilling to do so, and insisted upon me picking this item up. Truthfully I was nervous - I was a single female going to a the residence of someone I did not know at night because I was made to feel as if the only option was that someone needed to send back this package. I had absolutely no idea what information was available to this person since they called my cell phone number, a number I do not disclose readily.

I picked up the package and called Customer Service back, only to find out that someone had phoned in an order and somehow someone associated my information with this order. To this day I still do not understand how this occurred. They confirmed my information, listing my first residence of _________; my second address of _________; and a third address I did not recognize: _________. I informed the representative that I had never lived at the last address and asked that it be removed. I was assured that such information would be removed from my profile.

I have received an email this evening in regards to order number _________ confirming a shipment to the address _________. I called customer service, and again I was assured by a representative that such information was no longer associated with my profile.

I am thoroughly appalled at how your customer service department has so callously disregarded my private information. I realize that I am somewhat lucky in the sense that my credit card information was not charged, but previously your representatives made me feel as if I had no choice but to put myself in a dangerous situation to recover a package that at that moment I had no idea whether or not I was charged for. The information contained within that shipping label is still unknown to me, other than it contained my personal cell phone number. Given that my information was somehow associated with another person over the phone, I have no way of confirming that my current information will not be disclosed again, or somehow associated with someone who is not me. I am truly disgusted by this. While I realize that there are limited restrictions placed on businesses with regards to what constitutes private information, I cannot believe that you have treated my information with reckless abandon.

The purpose of this correspondence is to not only inform you of my frustration over this situation, but to ask that all records of my information with respect to mailings from LL Bean and customer account information be inactivated by your service. I have absolutely no faith in your ability to safeguard this information, and I do not trust that my information and potential credit card number will not be associated with this same person's future orders. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

So in short LL Bean can suck it.

OK, I'm curious... if you were going to buy an engagement ring, where should you go if you don't want to break your budget? I'm talking either a national chain or potentially things in the area. Where are the good deals? Are there good deals to be had with these sorts of things?

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by already. It feels like just the other day I was ringing in New Year's with Weeum and watching a friend of ours bawl his eyes out because his wife was leaving him. How the time flies by. Everything in my life right now (Weeum's layoff aside) have actually been great. My parents and I have a good relationship, my job is amazing and I love it, and I'm really happy. I know I don't update, and I think part of it is due to the fact that for a long while my journal was full of my rants or issues about things bothering me. My life is where I want it to be and it seems strange to go on and on about that at times.

Although I will share a funny story of how my day started out on Friday. My parents got me a really cool container for transporting cereal to work:




So you put the container in the freezer before bed, and in the morning put the milk in the bottom section and cereal in the top. As you can see it comes apart and stores back up as one unit. Very cool! Anyway, I was very focused on making sure that the trash got out in time for the collection that was probably going to happen within 10 minutes of me being ready and dressed for work. So I didn't notice that Weeum had put the bottom part of the container in the freezer for me, and thus I thought I didn't have it for breakfast. I decided instead that I would go to Dunkins and get coffee and breakfast there.

Once at Dunkins I ordered a medium Iced Coffee Regular, and a muffin. One girl gets my coffee, another woman rings me up and gets my muffin. So the girl who makes my coffee puts a SMIDGE of cream in it, to the point where it looks as if it iced tea. That is not a regular. Now in the past when I went to Dunkins regularly I barely spoke up when things were made wrong. I don't know why, I just never could do it. Oh wait, that's not true. I do know why. As a child the few times my grandmother would come to visit, she and my grandfather were FAMOUS for bitching about EVERYTHING when we went to eat. To the point where I don't know how they managed not to live in a perpetual state of wonder as to whether someone had spit in their food based on their rudeness. As a result in situations of food and drink I will never send anything back. Weeum can attest to this I'm sure.

But today I said something. And really I rationalized it by saying that their coffee is overpriced and I should get my money's worth. So I said to the girl, "Can I please have more cream than that?" She takes the coffee back. The woman rings me up, and my change is supposed to be $16.44 because I had paid with a $20. The woman hands me back $16 and goes to get my muffin. So I stand at the counter saying, "No, I didn't want to have the right change today. That would be too easy." By this point I'm annoyed. When she gets back to the counter I say loudly "Do you think I could get ALL of my change back?"

"What?"

"My change. Could I please have all of it? Because the $0.44 you kept in your drawer was not a tip. Your coffee is pricey enough without me throwing it away."

So she rings up the next customer, and when the drawer opens practically throws the $0.44 at me saying, "Yeah, have a great day."

"Thanks. It will improve now that I don't have to deal with your attitude over your own incompetence."

I should also add that I had a Nashua police officer next to me the whole time. I hope I provided some entertainment since he has to deal with the public sector.

I get to work, taste my coffee and realize that the delicate genius didn't put sugar in it. So I go to the kitchen, pour sugar into a cup, and get back to my desk. I open the cover and see coffee grounds. Grr! As if playing the game Operation, I begin to delicately pick out each freaking coffee ground that was floating in what looked like a cesspool of coffee. As I'm picking out the grounds I come to the conclusion that douchebag still didn't put enough cream in it. Back to the kitchen I go and I get a cup of restaurant creamers. When I'm back at my desk, I decide to dump out the cup of creamers so that I can throw the empty ones back in the cup and throw the whole cup away. This was the end result:




Yup, dumped the sugar on my desk. Brilliant! Then I'm trying to scoop it off after moving my keyboard, and all I could think was that it looked like I was doing lines. Thankfully no one came by at that point. Only me!

So yeah, other than that my life is pretty boring.

So I typically don't post anything about the things that I knit, but I'm actually super excited about how this came out.

I decided to knit a diagonal scarf, and I used a really cool yarn that was multi-colored. The end result? Well, see for yourself:





I'm not sure if anyone on my friends list knits, but if this is something you want to knit you can find the pattern here. And I used Nashua Wooly Stripes in Blackened Jade.

So I've subscribed to Jenna Fisher's MySpace updates, and overnight was another post about a pet bowl she's designed and autographed for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. And although I wouldn't bid on this, it made me wonder who else donated items. I check out their listing and come across this one:



You are bidding on a ceramic pet bowl, hand painted by fine artist Melissa Barrett. “With nothing left to lose, I began to experiment freely,” says Ms. Barrett. “Oils, pencils, pastels, rust, anything I could get my hands on, I put on paper. I felt free to present these strange illusions in my head without constraint and create a style and vision which I can truthfully say is all my own,” concludes Ms. Barrett. Bowl’s base diameter is 8.5 inches. The bowl is for decorative purposes, and washing is not recommended because the paint may bleed or fade. This item comes with a certificate of authenticity. Proceeds from this auction benefit the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA).

She's an artist? A fine artist?? I don't mean to sound like Maddox but I could design something better! I'm sorry, but if I'm bidding on something designed by a fine artist, I don't want it to look like something I'd purchase at an airport giftshop or that my 10-year-old niece wouldn't make in a ceramics class. This is ridiculous!

I realize that at this point someone is totally fucking with me, and yet I get a little bit excited when I have a new email about a rehearsal dinner. I totally admit it - I am secretly giddy inside. Why? Because I get to screw with people, which on a somewhat anonymous level is highly entertaining. There's a certain not-so-secret rush that comes with crafting a really witty reply. And I say not-so-secret because with each reply Weeum has typically been sitting at his desk with tears in his eyes as he's read the replies and I basque in my ingenuity.

And so I bring you Part Deux.

From: philjoykelly@insertemailproviderhere.com
Date: Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 9:41 PM
Subject: Re: Barbeque sauce
To: Kelly

Kelly,

Hope you all are well.

We really liked the barbeque sauce from your rehearsal dinner. Can you bring a couple bottles up with you? We will pay you back when we see you over the holidays. Have safe travels and God Bless.

Thanks!

Love,

Uncle Phil and Auntie Joy



From: Kelly
Date: Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 10:27 PM
Subject: Re: Barbeque sauce
To: philjoykelly@insertemailproviderhere.com

I'm doing well, thank you for asking. Yes, that barbecue sauce was good, wasn't it? Although you weren't able to use it this way at the rehearsal dinner, that sauce is actually really great for Kama Sutra! Josh absolutely loves it when I spread it on his balls - I'm sure that's right up your alley, Uncle Phil. Can't wait to see you guys again!

Yes. I'm going to hell.

As the holidays approach I am reminded of one very important fact: I am so grateful I do not live with my parents.

You've probably all heard that New England, particularly Southern NH, was hit by a major ice storm and a State of Emergency was declared. Thousands are still without power since Thursday night/Friday morning. My parents are included in that 191,000 people without power. When I spoke with them on Friday night they were considering a hotel because of the dogs and the fact that the temps are in the low teens overnight.

So I called them today, and as my father picked the phone up I could tell he was already angry. I told him I was calling to see how they were doing and he goes, "Well Jesus, Kelly, it's about time. We've only been without power since Thursday."

"Yes, and the phone works both ways."

"Well you know it would have been nice if you called. Your mother and I could have been dead."

"I spoke with you on Friday and you were considering a hotel. But the phone works both ways, you could have called just as easily."

Ahhh, the holidays. A time when people bitch at those closest to them and take out their general misery on loved ones. So apparently they're going to my uncle's down the road because he has power, and allegedly they're going to call when they're settled. I don't think they will, or if they do it will be my mother calling who will sound disappointed.

God I'm glad I don't live with them.

First let me start off by wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone is able to spend it in a way that makes them happy, whether it is with family or friends, or by yourself.

But for me this year Thanksgiving is a bit different for many reasons. The first is that I am spending it with Weeum's family in Georgia. We had wanted to make the trip to Atlanta last year but it was not in our abilities to do so. The second, and more important reason, that today is different is that it marks my two-year anniversary with Weeum. In honor of that day I have actually made public and unedited entry about my first date. Here is my update about meeting Weeum.

I am so incredibly grateful to have met him. He is exceptionally wonderful, kind, caring, giving, intelligent, comforting, funny and sarcastic. He makes it so easy to love him, and I am so thankful to have him in my life. I truly cannot remember what it was like before we met, and how I managed to get through each day, because I know that I would be incomplete without him.

So this year, perhaps more than any other, I am truly thankful on this Thanksgiving. I have a wonderful boyfriend, fabulous friends, and a great family - both mine and Weeum's. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So I didn't mention this in my last post, but our TV is broken. Our 52" DLP TV. Weeum has been effectively mourning the loss of our child this week based on his strong connection with the TV. Me? I'm doing all right. The TV broke on Monday, and Weeum called Best Buy because he purchased a 4-year warranty. They couldn't find his information and insisted that he needed the sales receipt to be able to find the warranty info. He looked through every box that we have and couldn't find it. He then posted about it on Twitter. That night someone from a Best Buy community on Twitter saw his post and replied offering assistance! So Weeum emailed him and he was able to find our service number. He also populated the database so that other people in Best Buy could find the info. When Weeum had purchased his TV 3 years ago, it was broken when it came to him. So he went to Best Buy in Manchester and they replaced it with a better TV. However, something went wrong with how they updated his sale and not everything was updated. But now we have a service call on December 3rd, so hopefully we won't be without a TV for Christmas.

We went to my parents Thursday night before my heart issues started and got their 13" HDTV. I think it is an LCD? Anyway, Weeum is slumming it right now attempting to watch this. I feel bad about the size, but at least we have something and it was free! Other people offered up TVs but my concern was lugging them up the stairs to the third floor of the house and then all the way back down when the TV was fixed.

Tonight I'm making hot ham water baked ham for dinner with cinnamon apples and mashed potatoes. YUM! I'm also attempting to come up with a Christmas list. I truly do not want or need anything. The only thing I necessarily need are knitting supplies, but I wouldn't be able to come up with an effective list for people to use so that doesn't do any good. Ugh, how do you pick out Christmas gifts for yourself when there's really nothing you need or want?

I'm still occasionally feeling my heart palpitations, but I feel like they happen less frequently and aren't as noticeable when they occur. It makes me wonder if I've always had them and just not noticed. But I have an appointment with Dr. Fitzpatrick on the 2nd, and I'm looking forward to getting some answers. In the meantime I'm completely cutting out caffeine. Well, except chocolate. I just can't give that up.

OK, time to get dressed and do some knitting.