The Bluetooth Saga

OK - here's the story.

Back on June 24th, I bought myself a Bluetooth wireless headset. I really wanted to upgrade from the wired handsfree unit I have been using for years. The hook that goes around your ear had melted into a weird shape that did not fit, the "ear bud" was hard and just didn't fit in my ear - besides, I wanted one!

Anyway, I stopped at my favorite Big Lots to see if they had anything. They get them in occasionally, but they sell out really fast! I was in luck - they had some AND they were on sale. Now, these particular units usually list around $50 or more - I got it for $18! WOO HOO - can we say excited?

So I came home, read my little pamphlet that explained how to charge it and set it up and I followed the directions - letting it charge for about 4 hours before I tried to "pair" it with my phone. I followed the instructions to the letter but the pairing failed. Let it charge for a couple more hours; tried to pair it again, but again the pairing failed. I kept trying to get it to pair, but nothing doing. So finally, I called the customer service number in my little pamphlet. The phone was either busy or no answer - for a WEEK! I thought, my goodness, this is a name brand, not some knock-off - what could possibly be going on. I tried the Internet to see if I could get any information, all I was able to find referred me back to the phone number I already had!

After about a week, the phone was finally answered. A very pleasant young lady walked me through the pairing process - again - and the pairing failed - again! We finally came to the conclusion that I had a defective unit and we made arrangements for her to send me a new one. (BTW- I offered to send the first one back, but they said it wasn't necessary.)

The new one arrived the night before I was leaving on a trip to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Indiana, so I just plugged it into one of the outlets in my van and let it sit for several hours. This time I left it plugged in while I tried to pair it (one of the problems they thought I was having was not enough power in the unit). It still wouldn't pair; so I left it plugged in for 3 days without touching it. Still it wouldn't pair.

So I start calling again . . . and again I could only get a busy signal or no answer for several days. When I finally got through, it was the same young lady who had talked with me the first time. We went through it all again. Again she said that she thought it was because it had not been fully charged, until I was able to get her to understand that it had been plugged in for 3 days without being disturbed! She asked that I send this one back so she could try pairing it with HER phone; not a problem. So I packaged it up and sent it back.

Well, the next week I got a message on my phone that they would like to talk to me before they sent out the next unit; so I started calling - you guessed it - busy signals or no answer - for an entire week. When I finally got through, as soon as I said my name they knew who I was! A new unit had been sent out that day. They still had no explanation as to why the units would not pair with my phone, but they asked that I charge this new one a minimum of 13 hours before I tried to pair it.

Now, let me say that I had been asking from the very beginning if they would like to know what type of phone I had to see if it was a problem with compatibility . . . no, we don't need to know that. Now it seems to me that if I have tried 2 different units and neither one of them have worked, wouldn't it seem a POSSIBILITY that I needed a different model or something?

So Tuesday night, when I got home from work, there on my porch was another package with another Bluetooth in it . . . here we go again. Things were hectic around here that evening/night, so I waited to plug the new unit in until around 9 a.m. the following morning (Wednesday). I left that puppy plugged in until 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning! Attempted to pair the unit using ALL of the pass codes they had given me and once again, time after time, I got the message "pairing failed."

Withdrawls! A whole week without internet!

Hey all! I can't believe I survived it! A whole WEEK without internet! I never thought I would survive!

So I took last week off and went to camp meeting out in Howell, MI - well, actually, Cohoctah, MI; the mailing address is Howell, but the taxes are paid to Cohoctah!

Those of you who might not be familiar with the concept of camp meeting, it's . . . . well . . . it's church, Church and MORE CHURCH! We had two wonderful speakers and a great husband and wife worship/musical team. Every day we had early morning prayer, then Bible study, then a church service - all before noon! We had the afternoons "off" to do as we pleased, and then back to church in the evening. After evening service, most of us headed back to campsites and had campfires and snacks; just hanging out and chatting until around 11:00 (which was our scheduled "lights out" time). When you have several thousand people all camping for the week, it's best to have some basic ground rules like that laid out.

I got to see a lot of "old" friends (I lived on the grounds for almost 14 years as an adult, and spent most of my summers there from the time I was around 9 years old). I have to admit, though, I did NOT camp! I cheated and stayed at my Dad's house (he lives just about 6-7 miles down the road - much closer to civilization). IF I had camped, it would have had to be in a borrowed tent and I DO NOT TENT CAMP; especially when I have available a nice soft bed with real walls, a "potty-room" right outside my door and air conditioning. My momma didn't raise no fool!

My cousin and I played hookie on Tuesday and went up to Frankenmuth, MI for the day. Went to Bronner's (the world's largest Christmas store), had dinner at Zehnder's (one of the best places to get a family style chicken dinner there is!) and then went over to Rapunzel's (my absolute FAVORITE yarn store ever) where I got some new sock yarn; and then up to the Cheese Haus (I just have to stop in and get my Garlic Cheese spread every time we are even close to Frankenmuth). We had my Garlic cheese in the cooler for overnight and Pat had to take it out - put it in a zip-loc baggie and put it in the refrigerator because it was making everything smell like garlic. tee hee!!! She just didn't appreciate my favorite cheese!

Well, I'll let y'all in on more of our adventures later.

Take care and God Bless!!

HMMM . . . what should the title be?

I can already tell that this will be my biggest challenge . . . what title to give the blog each day. LOL

I've added a couple of things/elements to the blog today. First a "counter" to see if anyone else comes to read this. The second is a daily Bible verse. It is a feed - so I never know what the verse will be. I was going to try and type a Bible verse in every day, but I decided that would be too much like work!

I had fun last night - left work a little early and went to a bar/restaurant with some of my co-workers. It was one of the guys last day and he really wanted me to go. Going to the bar is NOT something I usually do; but this was actually at a restaurant . . . we just happened to be sitting where they served alcoholic beverages.

There are seveal reasons that I do not go to bars . . . 1) I don't feel it is a good place for Christians to hang out. Just doesn't give the right impression. and; 2) I don't drink alcohol. Again, partly because of the Christian beliefs I was raised with but also because I am an insulin dependent diabetic. Now I know there are diabetics out there who drink - I just don't want to be bothered with trying to adjust my insulin to cover the metabolic effects of the alcohol. Besides, I also can't even stand the SMELL of beer and I don't like the flavor of wine; Why should I force myself to learn to like something that is not really good for me?

So anyway, my friend Jay offered (with some arm twisting) to drive me last night. We always have a good time together and we got back to the office around 7pm or so.

This morning, I went and had breakfast (as usual) with my neighbors and my brother. Today, though, Melissa and Steven came and joined us as well. Steven's face just lit up when he saw me walk in the restaurant (late, as usual). We tried and tried the other day to get him to call me Sasa - no go. But Melissa told me that as soon as I left to go back to work, he turned around and said, "Where'd Sasa go?" Figures, doesn't it?

After breakfast, I had to come home and round up Murphy. Have you ever tried to round up a cat? It can be quite an adventure. I am leaving to go to Camp Meeting and Murphy is staying with "Aunt" Gloria and "Uncle" Ron while I am gone. He actually loves it at their house, once I get him there! I think it is all the treats that Uncle Ron gives him. Murphy was pretty easy to catch, but getting him INTO the pet taxi was another story. He was grabbing the door frame of the car, trying his best to not get in that pet taxi! Then once I get him in there, I have to start praying that he won't throw up. He's not as bad as his "brother" used to be; Buster would lose control of ALL bodily functions. It was always bath time when we got to our final destination. I'll have to save some of those stories for another entry.

So while I was dropping off Murphy, Melissa and Steven came over. (Gloria is my ex-sister-in-law and Melissa's mom. She divorced my brother, but not me!) When Steven saw me in the kitchen, he came running over to me with a huge grin on his face and just grabbed me around the knees. It tickled all of us that he was so excited to see me. He still won't call me Sasa to my face though. LOL

Well, it's getting late. I'm not sure what kind, if any, internet connection I will have this coming week. They are supposed to have Wi-Fi throughout the campgrounds, but with several thousand people there for the week, I'm not really sure how well it will work. I can't imagine going a whole week without logging in, so I may have to search out another hot spot!

Take care and God Bless!!

Hey there!

I was so excited yesterday! LesleyB (who has absolutely fabulous digital scrapping freebies on her blog - see my blog list for a link) honored me by posting a collection of "swirls" just for me! I was tickled beyond belief that she would do something like that. I don't know where she got the idea that I love swirls - maybe because I mention it every time she posts something with them? HMMM . . . .

As a "thank you" I e-mailed her a LO (lay out or scrap page for any non-scrappers reading this) that I had done using several of her creations. She liked it so much, she asked if she could post it on her blog! I told her that if she thought it was good enough to show case her creations to go ahead. The next thing I know, there is the LO of my father's maternal grandparents and their children shortly after they came to America (circa 1905) out there for everyone to see. WOW!!!!

So that was yesterday's excitement . . . . TODAY I got to have a picnic lunch with my niece Melissa and her little boy Stephen. They are down from Alaska visiting for a couple of weeks. Stephen is 2 and this is only the second time I have gotten to see him; he's my number 6 for anyone keeping track out there.

Stephen's big sister, Dani, is my number 1 - a teenager now, and HOW. A couple of weeks before their family Christmas pictures this past year, she put a red streak in her hair - we are talking RED like a crayon, red (LOL). What a wonderful family portrait!

Then comes Rolland (a fabulous ball player - he is already making plans to make enough money to take care of his Sasa in my old age . . . better hurry kid, I had another birthday last week; next year is significant - half a century!!) .

Next, just a couple months behind Rolland is Victoria; she is next in line for the title of drama queen . . . behind me, of course, AND her mother. She tried to tell me once that SHE was the drama queen . . . I straightened her out with the proper order of things; I am queen, her mother is the princess and she is a duchess at best!

Then comes Noah . . . oh boy, Noah . . . we call him "George" as in Curious George . . . he NEVER stops asking questions.

Next is sweet girl Hensley; smart and sassy, with a winning smile that keeps her out of trouble - MOST of the time anyway!

With them spread out all over the country, it's a challenge to be a part of their lives. I do pretty good; we talk on the phone, IM each other and e-mail back and forth. The best part is when I get to actually BE with them and they can't wait for hugs and kisses.

I started something with Dani years ago . . . she comes to Michigan for a few weeks every summer. On the last time that we get to be together, I hold her and just kiss and kiss her cheek. It's her job to tell me when her cheek is full. Usually we have to do both cheeks to make sure there are enough kisses to last. The story is that I am storing up kisses for her to use later when she needs a kiss from me. Whenever she wants to be reminded that Sasa loves her, all she has to do is press her fingers to her cheek and then to her lips and it is a kiss from me.

Well, I guess I have rambled enough for tonight. Chat at you another time soon!

Welcome!

Welcome everyone!

I'm really not sure exactly WHAT my blog will be about . . . probably just ramblings of my thoughts. In reading other people's blogs, that is what I have found most interesting.

Now, "Why Sasa says" you are probably thinking - well, here's the story.

My background and education is in child development, early childhood education and child psychology. I spent over 10 years raising other people's children and never really got around to finding the "right" guy, getting married and having kids of my own. (I know, probably not politically correct to say, but I think that is the order in which things should be done.) Anyway, in one of the day care centers I worked in there was a little girl named Jennifer (Jenny). Jennifer was an absolute drama queen even as a toddler! She and I developed an especially close bond. One day I realized that she had come up with a name for me . . . "Mom-Mom." Very different from what she called her Mama and very specifically me! I kept trying to get her to say "Lisa" and she would smile, nod her cute little blond head and say "Mom-Mom." I was very distressed over this.

Fortunately, Jennifer's Mama thought it was wonderful. She did not feel it was an intrusion on her role as "Mama" - she believed it showed that Jennifer felt as safe and loved when she was with me as when she was with her Mama. But I kept trying to get Jennifer to change what she called me.

One day I was in another part of the day care, having music with the older kids, when all of a sudden I heard Jennifer calling out "Sasa! SASA!!!" I turned and she was peeking through the doorway yelling for me. "Sasa sing. Me sing too?" She wanted to come in and join the big kids in their music time; so with the kids' permission, Jennifer came and joined us for music that day, and I was Sasa from then on!

Now the background of this episode I found out from some of the other teachers later that day. The toddlers were all busy in our area when I left to do big kids music. Jennifer was standing at a table doing a puzzle when all of a sudden she stopped! Her head flew up, her eyes went wide, she cocked her head to the side, raised her hands in the air and proclaimed "Sasa SING!" At this point she went running to the doorway between the two areas and started calling to me.

I was thrilled with this new nickname. After I left that particular day care, however, no one called me that for years.

Now a little bit of family history. I am the youngest of three children . . . kinda of a last minute add on to the family actually. My brothers were 17 and 15 when I was born. I wasn't a mistake, just long awaited! So my brothers were both married and out of the house by the time I was 8 years old. In fact, my oldest niece was born when I was 8. The other two followed at two year intervals. So I was 8, 10, and 12 when "my girls" were born. Closer in age to them than either of my brothers, I was more of a big sister to them than really an Aunt.

When the girls starting having their families, I went to them and asked if they would mind if their children were to call me Sasa. After all, Great Aunt Lisa is just too hard to say. So I was able to once again be called Sasa!

I now have 6 wonderful great nieces and nephews and THAT is why I am "Sasa to 6" - even though there are a few others who also choose to call me Sasa. I told my great-nephew Noah that when he calls me Sasa I think of it as a secret way of him saying "I love you." He thought that was pretty cool; our own secret code.