The Domino Effect

I'm not one to complain. I mean...sure I bitch and moan occasionally about things that r-e-a-l-l-y piss me off. But in the grand scheme of things I'm a pretty cool chick. However, yesterday and today haven't been my best days...to say the least.

It all started yesterday while I was taking a little beauty nap before having to pick my son up from day camp. Nature called. So, I woke up and headed to the bathroom. The light wouldn't come on...and since I can't safely tinkle in the dark, I flipped the switch to the light right outside the bathroom...no dice! WTF!

There I go skipping through the house to the kitchen with a full bladder...you know that I'm-about-to-piss-on-myself-walk you do when you're seconds away from total humiliation...looking for a flashlight.

Found it!

Now back to the bathroom...ahhh...business taken care of. Now I try to figure out what's wrong with the lights. First thought...did I pay the bill? Yes. Second thought...am I the only one in the dark?

I head outside and see a huge power truck across the street. He assures me that the problem will be taken care of in an hour or two. Okay. It's still cool in the house. I'm comfortable. I'll just slip on my sneakers and head out to pick Jake up.

Shoes on...keys in hand...open the back door...WHAM!! The garage door is down and there's no juice available to let it up. Let me tell you...staring at your car and realizing you can't move it because it's locked in....is not a good feeling.

I improvise. I call my sister and get her to pick him up for me. But I have to do it on my cell because the house phone has no juice either.

About an hour later....Jake's home safely...I'm sitting in the dark looking crazy...when all of a sudden the lights pop back on. Yayyyy!!!

Everything seems to be in working order....with the exception of my living room television. No lights...no sound...no nothing. I check plugs, knobs, cables, buttons....still, nothing.

I don't have the receipt. I didn't get the extended warranty (although the television is less than 2 years old).

I decide to pay Wal*Mart a visit this morning. There friendly neighborhood policy isn't so friendly anymore. Years ago you could take your second born child back to Wal*Mart and get a full refund...WITHOUT A RECEIPT! Now...it's 90 days or I'm sorry we can't help you.

I leave the store feeling pretty low. Then I decide to call the good people at Vizio.

I'm on hold 4 or 5 minutes waiting on a support technician. Once he gets on the line I can barely understand anything he's saying. I keep asking him to repeat himself and he keeps repeating and I'm still standing in the middle of the floor looking like a hard of hearing goober.

Finally, he suggests I try another power cord...one from a desktop computer monitor. Do what? Then I realize I have an old desktop in the utility room in the garage!

I race out the back door setting off the house alarm....which brings me to my knees...Once my heart is back in my chest I dash over to the tv...try the cord and still n-o-t-h-i-n-g.

His last suggestion is for me to unplug everything and hold the power button for one full minute while he puts me on hold. So, I'm standing there holding the button....beginning to shake because my fine motor is being taxed to it's limit....when Hector finally chimes back in. We go through the plug it up process all over again...and......nothing.

He basically says screw you...you're on your own chick and hangs up.

And how was your day?

P.S. Do TV repairmen still exist and if so, is it even worth it?.......