Intro To The Government

Since it is that time of the year, I got to introduce Sarah to the wonderful world of income taxes.  I was just going to do her taxes for her but I thought it was about time she learned how to fill out her forms so she could see how much Uncle Sam keeps from her.  Actually, she got all of her federal tax back, but the state kept about 60% of it. 

Anyone who uses Turbo Tax knows that the federal filing fee is $0.00, but the state filing fee is $19.99.  So it would actually have cost Sarah more to e-file her state taxes than she was getting back.  So I showed her how to print out her forms, sign it and actually mail it in.  It will take 4-6 weeks but this way it only costs a stamp, and she is in no hurry to get her refund check.  Welcome to the world of paying taxes, Sarah.

College Visits

We have our first scheduled college tour for Sarah.  On April 3rd we are heading up to UWGB to tour the campus, and have a look at their biology program.  Sarah is thinking that she wants to focus on human biology/cellular biology.  But that can always change I suppose.  She has expressed some interest in medical school, though she can't stand the sight of blood.  Who knows, maybe that will change.

I think that the schedule we have goes from 8:30 until 12:30.  After that we are going to try and get a meeting with a professor in the biology dept.  Last year at the college fair we attended the rep from GB gave us the name/email address of someone in the department that we should talk to.  Hopefully she is there and available.  More later as the day and schedule get finalized.

How Cold Is It?

Yeah, sounds like the intro to a joke doesn't it?  Unfortunately, this isn't a joke.  If you want to know how cold it is here in Menomonee Falls, have a look at this.

I was outside moving cars around this morning so I could leave for work when Kris called me back inside.  She said I needed to come in and go upstairs to our bedroom.  I was expecting to see the cat doing something he (or she) wasn't supposed to be doing.  Instead I saw that the window had shattered.  Well not exactly shattered because it was still in the frame, but it was cracked all the way across the pane.

The only thing I could think was that somehow the vapor seal between the panes failed causing the glass to break.  So now I'll have to go get a window insulation kit until I can get a replacement window ordered.  The last time I think it took about three weeks or so to get the replacement shipped.  But that means calling the window company and getting a new sash ordered, which is an ordeal all by itself.  Hopefully the plastic will help keep the cold out until the new window arrives.

Start of Prom Season

Friday night when I got home from work, I had to get changed quickly and get ready to head back out to go looking at Prom dresses.  One of Sarah's friends came over after school and she (Sarah) and Kris thought it was the perfect time to go looking for dresses.  I didn't have anything else to do so we headed out for Mayfair.  Sarah had an idea of the kind of dress she wanted.  She actually found one online that she thought looked perfect, but unfortunately they were made to order in Hong Kong.  She wouldn't have had a chance to try it on, and if it needed alterations, we would have to go find a seamstress somewhere who could get it done.  Plus it was a minimum of an 8-week lead time, which would put us pretty close to the Prom, and not leave Sarah much in the way of options if that dress didn't work out.  Though I have to admit, I did like that one. 

We hit Macy's first but there really wasn't much of a selection.  they had lots of short, cocktail style dresses, but Sarah was looking for something long, so we headed out to Boston Store.  They had many more dresses to choose from.  So Sarah started trying them on.  She must have spent at least 45 minutes trying on dresses, and she had to have tried at least 15.  Each time she walked in and out of the changing room, there was a "bell" or "alarm" that would go off, to let the workers know someone was int here.  It was driving me insane!

After trying on a bunch of dresses Sarah actually picked one that she liked.  Unfortunately, there was a little bit of a dirt stain on the bottom hem.  The manager said she could give us a percentage off because of the stain, but that we wouldn't be able to return it.  So after talking about it, we put the dress on hold.  They told us they would hold it for 48 hours, so Kris and Sarah thought they could go look at some more places on Saturday.  Mainly a couple of consignment shops.

Kris had researched a couple of places around here online.  She found a couple that looked like they were pretty highly recommended.   So with nothing else going on, we thought we'd head on out (besides the wind chill was at around 0° so there certainly wasn't anything to do outside, well other than the Menomonee Falls Chilly Fest). 

We began at a place in Plymouth, which was about an hour drive north.  That place only had a couple of dresses in the style that Sarah was looking for, but unfortunately, nothing jumped out at her.  We then ended up at a consignment shop in Cedarburg.  Again, they had some nice dresses, but nothing that was exactly what Sarah was looking for.  We got back home and had some lunch.  After eating Kris thought we could try JC Penney here in the Falls.  They had some decent dresses so we thought we'd have a look at their selection.  To my surprise, they had a couple that i thought were nice, and Sarah actually found one that she thought looked nice for about the same price as the one from Boston Store.  However, she couldn't decide which one she liked better.

We decided to buy them both.  She could try them both on at home and see how they fit and how they looked next to each other, and then we'd just return the one she didn't want.  After buying the one at JC Penney we headed back to Mayfair and Boston Store to buy the first one she found.  Now it is just a matter of deciding which one to keep.  That wasn't too painless (at least for me) all I had to do was drive and sit around.  Next she'll need shoes and jewelry to go with the dress, whichever one she decides.

The College Process

Apparently the college selection process has officially begun.  When I got home from work tonight, there was a stack of envelopes addressed to Sarah from a variety of small colleges.  I was sort of surprised because I didn't think she had put her name into any "pool" to receive literature from any schools.  Maybe it was because we went to the college fair last yer.

There weren't a lot of schools that Sarah was really interested.  Most were small, private colleges, though she did have literature from a couple of bigger name schools, like Drake, Ball State, and Bradley.  Those three actually had the major that Sarah was thinking about, but she also has said she wants to stay within Wisconsin.  So that will limit her choices significantly.  Who knows, maybe that will change somewhere down the road, but for now, it looks like she has already narrowed her choices.  So now we just need to look at what schools in state might have the major she wants and go take some campus tours.

No Cell Phone

Well that's just perfect.  I am now without a cell phone.  Last night as I went to turn my phone off, it locked up on me.  When I tried to reset it, it got stuck in a loop of booting up, never getting to the phone's home screen.  So I took it in to Best Buy (where I have the insurance for the phone) to see if there was anything they could do, short of sending it in to be replaced.  They said, no, they don't do any of that in the store anymore.  I have to go online and submit a claim.  I will have a new phone sent to me (actually a refurbished one) and then I send my non-working phone back to them.  However, that means that after I put this claim in, I will have to wait two to three business days before getting the replacement phone, which means the soonest it will be here would be Tuesday, though since it is Sunday night, they won't get the claim until tomorrow, which would mean that I wouldn't have a phone until Wednesday at the earliest.

It also means something else.  All my contacts, music, etc. that WAS on my phone will need to be replaced.  I had everything saved to the phone, rather than backed up on my computer, or online (in the cloud).  Well that lesson was learned the hard way I guess.  As soon as the new one gets here, I'll have to sync it to one of my online accounts, probably the Google one since that is the one I use for putting in entries here.  Once again I am going to say it...  Cell phones suck!

Cell Phones

So get this...  I had to upgrade Sarah's phone.  She was due to have her phone upgraded and actually had cracked her screen in July so she has been limping along since then.  But it was totally falling apart.  Her camera wasn't working, there was an issue with her charging jack...  it was a mess.  So I told her it was time to get her a new phone, and Best Buy had a 64GB iPhone 6 for $300.  I figured with the insurance, etc. it would be about $600, which is what I had usually done in the past, just paid for it all up front, and been done with it.  I should add at this point that AT&T is my cell service and I had the "4 lines for $140" deal that they offered about a year ago.  I was totally happy with it for the most part.  We never go over the shared data limit (10GB) or the minutes (I think it is 750/month).  So the sales person starts giving me the AT&T next pitch....  I figure, no, I want to just pay for it all up front since I always do.  Then she says that I can do that, but if I do, I lose my $25 monthly discount that I get with the "4 for 140" deal.  And the AT&T Next price for the phone is $25/month, so it's a wash and either way I am going to end up paying an extra $25/month.  I was like, WHAT???!!!

So I went the AT&T Next plan route, but I am totally not happy.  All of us could stand to have our phones upgraded, but if I do, then I lose my discounts per line???!!!  That is absolutely ridiculous!  I wonder if the Best Buy sales person was just giving me a line about losing the discount?  I only go there because it is much easier to deal with the sales people there than at the AT&T store (plus I think they actually have a bigger/better selection).  Either way though, I am not happy!  Kris has a 4S that is almost 3 years old, and Alison has a 4S that is about a year and half old, both of which have issues with the top button turning off, so they need to be replaced, but I also don't want the bill to jump by another $25 per phone.  

Cell phone companies suck!  I think it may be time to start shopping around for a new carrier/plan.