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Chimney Sweep

This morning I knew nothing about chimneys except that I have one, it’s made of brick, and Santa squeezes down it annually. Now I know way more than I ever wanted to know. I wish I could go back to chimney-ignorance.
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We’ve lived in our house for 10 years and we’ve never done anything to our chimney. Every so often I look out the window of the 3rd floor and see our neighbor’s chimney cap, reminding me that we should get one before some homeless animal climbs in.
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Last week a telemarketer called to see if I needed my chimney cleaned. She was the worst telemarketer ever, reading from a script with no enthusiasm for what she was selling, but she said that chimneys should be cleaned once a year and I felt like maybe it was an omen. I didn’t want to look back with regret that I didn’t have the chimney cleaned and then something bad happened. I still haven’t decided what’s worse…a telemarketer who won’t give up, or one who has given up before I answer the phone, but I took her up on her offer.
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So two guys showed up today. They were very nice, and were driving a truck with the company name painted on the side. But within 15 minutes of their arrival they were already talking about how we need a chimney liner because we have no flue in the upper part of the chimney. He had quite the pitch going, and said that it would cost me $3,000 elsewhere but he would do it for $1,750 if I paid cash and gave him the go-ahead right then. I put the brakes on and told him I’d call him later.
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Meanwhile I called a bunch of other chimney companies and surprisingly, most of them were willing to chat about prices over the phone, as well as the tactics used by this type of company. I have no doubt that we need the liner, and his price was good. But I didn’t like being pressured, and when I tried to find out more about the company online, I couldn’t really find anything. I left a message for the guy, to say that I was researching his company and needed references. I also called the main number for his company and left a message.
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Surprise, surprise…I haven’t heard back from him or from anyone at the main number. So if you know a good chimney sweep, let me know. I’m in the market for a 40′ liner.
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Don’t Blow In My Bag!!!

Last Friday I was at Stop & Shop, when I saw the pharmacist blow into a small bag to open it wider so he could put in a prescription. I thought that was somewhat unsanitary behavior, especially for a pharmacist. It wasn’t my prescription so I went on my merry way.

On Saturday I was at Wendy’s waiting forever for lunch for the fam, and one of the guys behind the counter did the same thing! He blew into the bag and then stuck in an order of fries. I was so grossed out!

Usually I’m not much of a germophobe. I figure we all lived through the days without hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes, so maybe all the hype about the negative effects of killing off all the bacteria is true. But don’t blow in my bag for crying out loud! Gross!

I just went to the Wendy’s website and sent this comment/complaint:

This complaint is not about the extremely long wait time to order and receive our food even though it was mid-afternoon (not lunchtime or dinnertime) and it took at least a half hour. But during my half-hour wait I saw one of the workers behind the counter blow into a bag to open it and then put in an order of fries. I’m not usually much of a germophobe but it really grossed me out to see him blow a bunch of germs into a bag and then stick someone’s open food into it. I didn’t say anything to the manager because I had already seen her react to a complaint about a customer being charged $1.69 for a small order of fries when the sign clearly said that a small order was $1.29 and a medium order was $1.69. She said that the prices had changed that day and she refunded the 40 cents, but she was obviously annoyed. I didn’t think she’d be open to my feedback so I kept my mouth shut, but I did keep a close eye on the worker who blew in the bag. We have enough germs in our household without adding his. I like Wendy’s but I was grossed-out enough to send this complaint. Nice comment/complaint system, by the way.

The next time I go to the Sturbridge Wendy’s I’ll be looking for the “Employees Must Not Blow Into Bags” signs right next to the “Employees Must Wash Hands Before Returning To Work” signs.
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Weinermobile

This is a headline you don’t see every day:

“Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Loses Control, Crashes Into Racine Home”

WITI-TV, RACINE – The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile got itself into quite a pickle when it crashed into a Racine home Friday morning. Neighbors tell FOX 6 the Wienermobile took a wrong turn and ended up on the dead-end street, Kenilworth Avenue in Racine. While trying to get turned around, the woman driving the hot dog on wheels accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and lodged the Wienermobile under a house. Officials say no one was injured in the crash. The Wienermobile was taken from the scene by tow truck. No word on the extent of damage to either the house or the giant hot dog.

http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-090717-weinermobile-crashes-into-house,0,6217102.story
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Adios Los Pinguinos

I’m almost caught up with posting the photos from the end of school when everything was crazy.

I went to school on the last day to release the rest of the tadpoles and fulfill a last-minute assignment to take photos of two of the classes and print them, have each kid sign the mats, and then put them in frames. They came out nice but I don’t do last-minute well. While I was there, Aliya’s teacher realized that she didn’t buy enough beach balls to give one to each kid for their friends to sign, so she asked me to run to Walgreens. I said, “Isn’t it almost time for the buses to come?” She looked at her watch and said, “No, we have 14 minutes.” WHAT?? I left Norah in the classroom and flew to Walgreens, ran in, grabbed 6 packages of beach balls, ran to the register (“It’s a beach ball emergency!”), flew back, parked in front of the dumpster, and ran to the back door of the classroom that I never even knew existed. Phew!

Aliya’s Class (Los Pinguinos):

Cora Stubbs-Dame’s Class:

Las Cuatro Amigas:

Am I the only one who didn’t know that the teachers have an end-of-year ritual (see video below)? Minerva went around to each classroom to wish the kids a happy summer, and she told them that the teachers would be dancing for them. I would dance in the rain too if I was waving goodbye to work for 2 1/2 months.

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