Spitzer Tales

Keith's First Post

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:01:00 +0000

So today was a very exciting day for me at work. For those who saw my facebook updates today you already know a little. For those that didn't; here is as recap of what I did at work. (That sounds like a really lame way to start my first posting, but trust me it isn't.)

I had the assignment of covering President Obama's town hall meeting in Orange County today. I know it sounds rough but it was loooonnnnnggggg day!

During the very contentious '02 Presidential Elections of Whitworth, in which I had very strong feelings about one candidate, I was chastised by my advisor for my views. Since then my role as a journalist has changed a little, I have a clear understanding on the issue. I hate seeing when reporter friends put on their profiles that they support certain candidates or political parties. We are supposed to be reliable sources of information, but expressing your views turns you from journalist to pusher of ideas. So.... with that said, here is my day covering the President, in an objective manner.

I had to be there by 9 to start setting up and carrying in all my gear. We all had to be complete in by 10, even though things didn't start until 4. They had to search all our stuff and have the bomb dogs sniff everything. So while they searched from 10-1:30 my engineer and I sat around in the shade. Then we were let into the hall again to get everything ready for the town hall. Our little PBS station was the only one from the LA area to cover it wire to wire. We went on the air when President Obama came in and didn't end until he was leaving the hall. Yup all 1 hour and 15 min live on the air.

So I know that that doesn't sound like much, it happens all the time in TV. The diffence with that and ours is that we only had 1 camera. Shows like American Idol have lots of cameras and all sorts of fancy things that help them polish the show nicely. We had a single camera 50 yards away from the President and stayed on it the whole time we were on the air. I think that was the hardest I have worked in television, and I have walked backwards for more than a mile following a protest march with 40 pounds of gear on my back and shoulder. I had to focus on what I was doing so intently that I kinda forgot where I was at times. By the end of it I was exhausted. Don't get me wrong. It was a great thrill getting to cover the President of the United States, but it was like running a marathon.

What I saw today was one of the most eloquent speakers that I have ever heard. Regardless of political views, his ability to connect with the audience and speak candidly and with great depth of knowledge are something to be seen. I have heard the pundits on other networks say that he can't talk unless he is reading from the prompters, but I can say that he was "off-script" for nearly all of the town hall meeting. He rolled up his sleeves and spoke to the audience about genuine questions. If you have not heard him speak in person I strongly urge you to. I know that doesn't sound like the impartial ideal that I was preaching earlier, but I think that there is a slight difference. I am not advocating his politics or his plan for the future, nor am I railing against it. I am simply saying that he is worth seeing, if only for rhetorical analysis. And no rhetoric is not a dirty word. if you don't believe me ask my wife the communications professor.

There are few times in my career that I have been struck by what I see and hear. I have gotten to interview childhood hockey heros, and meet famous people. Today, however, was something that I will find hard to lump in with other things that I have done. And while I am more tired than I have been in a long time from a day of news coverage, I am still in awe of what I got to be a part of today.

A New Reason to go to the Dentist

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:31:00 +0000

source

Just a quick post cause it's late!

I recently saw a friend of mine who is currently in dental school. I may or may not have asked him all sorts of teeth related questions hoping to avoid the real dentist.

While we were talking, he tipped me off to a secret that makes going to the dentist almost worth it. You can get your jewelry cleaned at the dentist's office! He said all the older ladies who would come into the dentist would take off their tons of rings, earrings, bracelets, etc. and hand them to him for a good steam cleaning. I guess the dentist has a steam cleaner for dentures or something...which I guess is why it was the older ladies who were in on this and I was not.

I guess it would help if you have a cool densitst and it isn't too busy in the office but it seems like it's worth a try to me. And while having a sparkling clean ring might not make up for the ~~floss-till-you-bleed~~ teeth cleaning, it might save you a trip to the jeweler.

How Do You Do It?!?

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:37:00 +0000

I have been doing everything on Earth this past year but write my thesis. Don't get me wrong, I've tried and even have done some work on it. But mostly, it has been neglected but definitely not forgotten. It looms over me like a suspended jail sentence. It haunts me when I am trying to fall asleep, creeps in when I am out with friends and taps me on the shoulder anytime I am having too much fun doing something, anything else.

I don't really have anyone to blame for my procratination but myself. Yes, I know thesis hatred is definetly a first world problem. But, in my defense (get it? defense??), I was busy planning the wedding and then recovering from the wedding and working and all that but I know I could have done more work on it than I have.

I just seem to work best under a deadline. Like if I know something is due in 2 weeks I will definetly get on it on the 13th day. But the deadline for the thesis is seven years....seven years!! This is not helping.

Because I do not teach in January, I have deemed it thesis month and have vowed to get a lot of work done this month. It's going well so far but in the words of our friend Robert Frost, I have miles to go before I sleep. And by miles I mean pages and pages and chapters and chapters.

So, my dear friends, how do you approach seemingly insurmountable tasks? How do you stay motivated? Help me out. I have a few years left until my thesis is due but only a few months until my insanity expires.

You Give Me Fever

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:51:00 +0000

Well, technically my husband didn't give me a fever, but Peggy Lee didn't address sinus infections.

Since last Thursday, I have been taking care of my poor, sick husband and trying not to catch his germs. I failed. I have been battling some nasty congestion, coughing and other unpleasantries since Sunday night. Yuck!

It seems almost inevitable that anytime Keith is sick, I get sick too. I sort of knew when he was coming down with something I would be next. The good news? My illness seems not to be as severe or prolonged as his. And I think I know why...

The Neti Pot! Yes, I have taken up nasal irrigation but...only out of desperation. I think I first saw the Neti Pot on Oprah. As one who has suffered from allergies for as long as I can remember my interest was piqued. It works, people!

And while I do not use the Neti everyday, as is the practice for some, I do use it whenever I am feeling allergic or sick or just plain congested. And what sweet relief it has provided. I still feel awful but the degree of awfulness has been toned down just a bit.

Keith's doctor also told him to try Benedryl for sinus problems which I had never though of before. I have been using it for the past few days and it works so well! Benedryl is not just for allergies anymore.

So, do any of you use the Neti Pot? Do you have any home or off label remedies to share with those of us who are starting off the New Year under the weather?

We're Gonna Be Famous!!

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:12:00 +0000

Ok, well, maybe not famous famous. But our wedding is going to be published in an upcoming book on wedding style by The Knot!!

We got a call from our wedding photographer, Susan, a couple of weeks ago and she told us he publishers at The Knot had contacted her regarding publishing rights and all that legal stuff for our wedding photos. How exciting!

So, in honor of our future Knot appearance and because I just recently figured out how to publish photos in this little blog (yeah, I know it's not that hard...don't judge me) here are some of the photos.

You can find these and a few more (with captions!) on my photo stream on Flickr which can be found here.

Recovering from the Festivities

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:38:00 +0000

I love Christmas. I love the traditions, the Christmas carols, the time with family. What I don't love is the stress! Finding the right gifts, wrapping them all, planning holidya menus and braving the grocery store. It can be really crazy.

This year I decided to try my first pot roast to serve as Christmas dinner. I searched high and low for a recipe and eventually found one here. I am not going to repost the recipe here as it is super long and involved. We have been over to my sister-in-law's mom's house for prime rib Christmas dinner several times and I have always known that making such a big, wonderful meal took a lot of effort but I never knew that it tool a lot of effort. The prime rib turned out well in the end but in the process of making it there were a lot of spills, a few curse words and even a small(ish) kitchen fire. Yes, fire. But not nearly as bad as the one pictured above. I really think I overestimated my cooking abilites. Just because you can make hashbrown casserole does not mean you can make a prime rib. And it doesn't help that my husband told me the digital thermometer I was using was a candy thermometer, not a meat thermometer. Turns out he was wrong and I kind of overcooked the meat...whatever.

I am hoping as my cooking skills improve, our Christmas dinners will improve as well. The meat took so long to cook that we ended up eating each course on its own. Salad-break-rolls-break-potatoes-break-meat-break-Yorkshire pudding-break-cookies and hot chocolate-food coma. I comfort myself by thinking forward to Christmases of the future and hope that this Christmas will be remembered as the progressive dinner with the fire that was our first married Christmas and it will be a funny, yet distant memory. A memory...which would mean it wouldn't happen again and all future Christmases will be incident free. And all the food will be ready at the same time.

How was your Christmas? Any incidents you'd like to share?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:06:00 +0000

I hope you all had a great Christmases. Things here in the Spitzer house were fun and relaxed, my favorite kind of holiday! We spent Christmas with my mom, sister, uncle, cousin and her mom. My cousin is only 7 and got all sorts of toys. I loved watching her open her gifts. Some American Girl stuff had her mouth wide open and eyes all bugged out. As much as I love Christmas now, there is nothing like Christmas when you are a little kid.

Christmas morning I made a big breakfast for all of us...cinnamon rolls, bacon, sausage, and the hit of the morning- hash brown casserole. I have been trying to add to my recipes recently and came across the recipe for some Cracker Barrel style hash brown casserole on this website. It was so tasty I thought I would share it with you.

Cracker Barrel Style Hash Brown Casserole

1 hour total time - 15 minutes prep time

Serves 10-12 ( I halved the recipe and fed all 6 of us with good sized portions)

2 pounds of frozen hash browns

1/2 cup of butter or margarine, melted

1 (10 1/4 ounce) can of cream of chicken soup

2 cups of sour cream (I used reduced fat and it turned out fine)

1/2 cup onion, peeled and chopped

2 cups of cheddar cheese (again, I used 2% and it turned out fine)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11x14 (I used 9X13, it was fine) baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Mix the above ingredients together and then spoon into the prepared dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until brown on top.

This recipe was so easy to make and tasted really good. And while not healthy by any means, the substitutions of lower fat ingredients (sour cream and cheese) helped make it a but more healthy and did not compromise the dish at all, in my opinion.

This dish would be perfect for a lazy weekend morning or for your next brunch gathering. You definitely will not have any leftovers. Enjoy!

It's Christmas All Over Again

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:27:00 +0000

Merry Christmas from the Spitzer house!

When Bubba saw that I was adding an entry to Spitzer Tales, he wanted to help. Here he is "helping" me type. You have to excuse the quality of this and all subsequent photos for a while...it was taken on my iPhone as my real camera was lost/stolen/permanently misplaced.

Christmas is, by far, my favorite time of year. It is the one time of year where the weather changes (at least a little bit) here in Southern California. I also love having family around and enjoying Christmas music, traditions and gifts!

We have a couple traditions around here, my favorite of which is making Swedish gingersnaps. The recipe has been passed down for generations and the cookies are seriously the best things ever but such a pain to make. I think the end result is worth it though.

Since this Christmas is the first "official" Christmas Keith and I are spending together (but 7th overall!) I thought I would try and incorporate some traditions from his family into the Christmas celebrations I know and love. So we will be having cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and well, that's the only new one so far but it's a start.

Keith's mom always made them from scratch, like scratch scratch but I am making them from scratch like pillsbury dough in a tube scratch. I assert that if something is not ready to serve as is and needs some sort of manipulation by the "cook" like heating or cutting, then you "made" it.

We also sent out Christmas cards for the first time as a couple. Keith showed me how to design and order them through our Mac and they turned out great (if I do say so myself...and I do). And while normally addressing and sending out so many cards might seem a bit overwhelming, nothing compares to the sheer volume of stationery (anybody else always get stationary and stationery confused??) associated with a wedding so this was a breeze. Well, maybe not a breeze but like a light gust.

So that's what's up at the Spitzer house. What are some of the Christmas traditions that you know and love?

Is This For Real?!?

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:18:00 +0000

With the wedding behind us, I am thankful that all the stress and expense and crazy time requirements are done. However, from time to time I stumble upon a wedding related thing I wish we would have incorporated into our own wedding. Why didn't we have a signature cocktail? What about a photo booth? Choreographed first dance?

I have not felt wedding envy any more strongly than when I watched this video. I can't even imagine how they did this...but it is AWESOME! If I had a time machine I would definitely go back to May 17th, 2008 and get grandpa on film lip-synching to Queen. Priceless...

Brian & Eileen's Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.

P.S.- Queen is one of the most amazing bands of all time. If you don't agree, we can't be friends anymore.

Laptop Life Support

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:48:00 +0000

A few months ago I wrote about getting our first new laptop in several years. In all the excitement of the new laptop we sort of ignored the old, dying one. I have known for a while that I needed to transfer the old files on to the new laptop I just haven't taken the time to do it because it sounded so booooring. Well, I think I waited too long because the old laptop refuses to turn on for any extended period of time. I get maximum five minutes and minimum 5 milliseconds out of this thing.

Keith and I have been using a flash drive to transfer the files and throwing it back and fourth as I load the files on and Keith loads them onto the new computer. The trouble is that not much can be transferred in 30 seconds, 2 minutes or even the record five minutes the computer stays on at a time. It is like the old laptop knows it has been kicked to the curb and it is trying to maintain its importance in our lives by refusing to give up all the valuable old documents and photos from the past 6 years.

The reason the laptop keeps turning off is because it has stopped getting a charge from the power cord unless you hold the plug into the computer a very certain way (and which way works seems to always change). So, I am working off of a 1% charged battery that sometimes does and sometimes does not get any additional power from the power cord.

I am not sure if any of that explanation made any sense but just imagine that I am working against a very short clock to squeeze my memories out of this old, stupid, spiteful laptop. As soon as I get everything off the computer, I am going to go all Office Space on it in the backyard. * Be warned, the clip has some strong language...it's just as effective with the sound off.*

I am really, really, looking forward to that a lot.

Now it's your turn. What are your best (or should I say worst) technology stories? I know I am not the only one suffering with a vindictive laptop over here. Did I mention the laptop makes a weird like dying shriek just as it shuts down? I think that means "F you" in computer language.

The FedEx Man Never Rings Twice

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:19:00 +0000

Two days in a row we have gotten notices on our door that FedEx tried to deliver a package but couldn't because no one was around to sign for it. Two days in a row I have been here at the time the notice said the FedEx guy was trying to deliver the package. What is up with that?
My desk is right by the front door and the dogs go crazy when anyone so much as thinks about rining the doorbell so why did I not hear this sealth delivery guy? Did he actually ring the doorbell or knock and I am just selectively deaf? Did he just leave the note without even trying to get me to answer the door? The mystery of it all is killing me.
The even bigger mystery is...what is this package?!? 8 pounds and addressed to Jenna and Keith. At this rate, I may never find out.
Has anyone else been visited by the elusive delivery man? What happened? When do they just give up on trying to deliver the same package? I just want to know what this package is...come back FedEx guy and ring the doorbell!! Please!

Not Your Typical Blog

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:06:00 +0000

Well, I tried to update this blog on a more regular basis but failed miserably. I think I am going to stop trying to make this blog something it's not...i.e.- updated regularly. This way, when a new post does appear, it will be like a surprise! And who doesn't like surprises?!? Sure, there is something to be said for regularity but there are like 142,654,764 blogs that do update often to fill the need for consistency.

Things around the Spitzer household have been good but busy. Thanksgiving came and went with a flurry of family, turkey and shopping. Good times. We were house and dog sitting over Thanksgiving for some friends of some friends (got that?) in La Canada. They have the most adorable and mischievous basset hound, Mordy, that we fell in love with. We took Bubba over to the house as well and he and Mordy had the best time. They were fast friends. We're headed back over there for a couple of weeks at the end of December so Bubba and Mordy can be reuinted.

Christmastime is upon us and I am so excited. Finally the weather is a little bit cooler and it feels like winter (on most days, anyway). Keith and I decided to send out Christmas cards this year since it is our first as our own family. We designed them on our Mac and ordered them through Apple. They look pretty good if I do say so myself...and I do.

Hopefully you are getting into the holiday spirit and enjoying time with friends and family. Stay tuned for my next post....whenever that might be.

There are Lots of Other Things I Should be Doing -or- Contractors Stink!!

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Both of the above statements are true. I have a long list of things I really should be doing. That seems to be the case most of the time for me.

Yesterday was Keith's birthday but because I had to work last night (untill 11:00 no less!) we are celebrating tonight. Merriment will ensue. Anyway...there are a lot of things I should be doing to get ready for that. And, as always, there is laundry, my thesis, paperwork, grading, etc. all calling for my attention.

And because I am too lazy to put this in a separate post...Contractors Suck. Yes, I know...that is a sweeping generalization. And the guys we hired were not technically even contractors (maybe that is where we went wrong). But, to make a long story short, we hired these guys to remove and refinish the popcorn ceilings that adorn our 1950's era home. As a result of some great foresight on the part of my mom, we put together a contract that explicitly spelled out exactly what they were supposed to do, how they were going to do it and when they were going to do it by and exactly how much they would be paid. The contract also stated that the guys had inspected the ceilings before going to work.

And because I am blogging about this...you can probably guess that all did not end well. On the first day of work, actually in the first hour of work, the main guy came to us and said the popcorn was much harder to get off than he realized (wait, didn't you sign a contract that said you had inspected the ceilings before you went to work, oooohhh, that's right- you did!) and he would not be able to complete the job for the contractually agreed upon price. WHAT?

He then proceeded to offer up what he could do for the price. Ummm, remove 1/6th of the popcorn or just paint the ceilings or how about paining the walls. He also offered to do the job at more than double the original price. Little did he know that I rarely pay full price for anything so...paying double just was not going to happen. All the while he was trying to convince us that popcorn ceilings are great and he didn't really see why we wanted them removed anyway.

After about an hour of contentious discussion which included me pointing out that he made the mistake of certifying he could do the job at the price point we agreed upon and him claiming we should have told him it was sealed with oil based paint (I'm sorry, isn't that we hired you for?) he agreed to leave if we paid him $235. For what?!? The privilege of us moving all our belongings into the kitchen only to have no work done at all on anything? Yes, please, where do I sign up??

Additionally, I am pretty sure I saw a case on People's Court (one of my many TV related guilty pleasures) where a guy underestimated the work, signed a contract, tried to get out of it and then was held to the original deal. So, if I wanted to be really strict, he would be here right now, scraping away and cursing me, I'm sure, every step along the way.

After I made it clear he was not going to get anything but $50 for gas, because, after all, it was his mistake in assessment that led us here, he started actually yelling and tearing plastic off the walls like a madman saying he had never felt so screwed in his life. Good thing my dad was there or I would have been freaked out! Such an A-hole.

So, my dear friends and family, please be sure to always, always, always have contracts with people you hire to do work for you. You can get a lot of great suggestions for how to word them and what to include online. Going with the lowest bid might not always work out well and beware of finding workers on Craigslist. Just sayin'

Have you ever had a nightmare when it came to getting work done on the house? I have heard that these kinds of issues are all too common so I would not be surprised. What is up with this industry, yo?

I Tried...I Really Did

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:54:00 +0000

Well, it seems it's official...I really do suck at blogging. I just don't have that many interesting things to say. Well, actually, I have lots of things I think are interesting but I am pretty sure I am the only one. So, that being said this blog is now going to be less of a "general interest-add it to your reader-make you think/laugh/etc." blog and more of a "here is what we are doing in our lives-update for friends and family and anyone else who is interested" kind of blog.

So, you will not be finding any funny YouTube gems on here, nor will you come across any links to amazing, previously undiscovered websites. I (probably) won't be talking politics. I know I wont be posting any recipes (because the only one I have is for rice krispy treats). And as you can tell, I am not too good at posting pictures.

What I will be doing is sharing about the daily adventures of Jenna and Keith- sort of aimed at the friends and family that we do not get to catch up with often enough. So, feel free to stick around, you won't be getting any decorating tips but I do promise a riveting update on my gallbladder surgery soon.

The Leaves are Changing...Other Places

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Yeah, the leaves don't really change here in Southern California. There are a lot of things I wish we had here in SoCal and seasons is one of them. No smog is another.

Anyway...the Fall is upon us. And we all know what that means...new TV!! We love TV! And yeah, it's not the most most intellectual of pastimes but when Tina Fey is making you laugh 'til you pee as Sarah Palin- who needs intellect? We have been trying to catch a few of the new shows and so far things have been just ok. Kath and Kim, anyone? We are mostly just excited for the return of our old favs...like Grey's Anatomy!!

What shows are you excited for? Do you love TV as much as we do? And don't even get me started on TiVo...that's for a whole other post.

Worst Blogger Ever...

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:51:00 +0000

Its official. I am not good at blogging. I gave it a good try there for a while back in July but all of a sudden, here it is, October (October, really?!?) and I have not written anything in over two months. There have been a lot of little updates and accomplishments in our lives over the past few weeks. The most pressing of which was my gallbladder-ectomy (yes, that's the medical term for it).

Now, having your gallbladder removed might not seem like an accomplishment to you but if you knew me and what a big baby I am when it comes to all things medical you would, in fact, be proud. I am doing pretty well considering I am down one organ (and up a lot of vicodin) from a week ago. I am hoping to be 100% by Monday...which also happens to be when I have to go back to work.

So, I am hoping this little venture back into the world of blogging will wet my appetite and I will be more consistent with my updates. Now that the wedding is over all there is to write about it real life...but it seems that that can be pretty interesting too. :)

The Vigilante Shopper

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:08:00 +0000

I don't feel like I shop a whole lot more than the next girl. I just feel like I get bad customer service a lot more. Now I am not talking about Wal-Mart or Target or other brick and mortar stores. While I have had my share of undesirable experiences in these stores, there seems to be some sort of established grievance process one can go through to achieve desired results. Side note: Target has awful return policies and you should avoid buying anything you think you might have to return there. Seriously.

Back to the main point...I have recently had tons of problems with customer service online. That sentence sounds so simple but represents such complicated, ridiculous issues. I recently read an article in Real Simple magazine (which I love, btw) about evaluating shopping websites. There was tons of great info in the article that sort of seems like common sense but I had never really thought of before. One of their tips was to never make purchases at a website that does not list a customer service phone number, in addition to an e-mail address.

To make a long story short, I disregarded the advice about the phone number on a certain shopping website. I ordered something, it broke immediately and they refuse to return my e-mails. Booooo! And here is the idea I came up with during the restless, insomniac shopping rage (ok maybe rage is a bit strong but still) I experienced in the middle of the night last night.

I am thinking about starting a new blog...yes, another new blog. The Shopping Vigilante. You see, websites like Yelp, Angie's list, etc. include listings on all sorts of stores and services. They have a super broad scope. The Shopping Vigilante (TSV) would focus only on customer service and have an emphasis on online shopping. I thought people could contribute their own stories to me either via e-mail or the comments section of the blog. And then the entires would be searchable and it could become like a database of sorts.

I have a few experiences I can share to start off...but would love to hear your experiences with customer service- both good and bad. I can post them on TSV and the little guys (yeah, that's us) can start to fight back, dang it! 1 part therapy, 1 part revenge, 1 part community service.

So, what do you think? Does it sound like a good idea? Could people use such a resource? Or has my anger taken me to a dark, dark blogging place?

Death of a Laptop

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:51:00 +0000

A little bit of background...
The first laptop I ever had was a hand-me-down from my dad. The year was 2001 but the laptop looked like it was from 1981. At what must have been 15 pounds, it wasn't too terribly portable. After getting made fun of one too many times in class ("Hey Jenna, the 80's called. They want their laptop back."), I had had enough and put the laptop out to pasture (read: sold it on craigslist for about .50 cents).

This made way for my new laptop. It was the top of the line (in 2002) and was a huge improvement from the retro laptop I had been rockin' before that. It served me well for six long years (how many computer years do you think that is...like 300?) before it started to lose it's will to live. Really. For the past six months or so, our laptop would just shut off. I swear it can sense when you are in the middle of a paper you have forgotten to save or about to hit send on that super long e-mail. Then it dies. And it makes this sound right before it shuts down like just to mock you, to let you know that you will lose this info and there is nothing you can do about it. Needless to say, I have a love-hate relationship with this laptop. Turning more to just hate recently.

So, what now? Since we are still recovering financially from the wedding, and will be for a long time, we were torn about what to do next. But, after losing one too many paragraphs from my thesis...I threw in the towel, raised the white flag, yelled a little and gave up. We're already poor...we'll just have to be poorer because we needed a new computer...like yesterday (well, really, six months ago).

As you may or may not know, Keith works at the Apple store on the weekends. He says it is his hobby...that he gets paid for. I miss my husband when he works all 7 days out of the week but he really likes it and, did I mention he gets great discount off computers?!? So, order a new laptop we did. I am currently waiting (very impatiently) for the computer to arrive. Yes!

So, RIP old laptop. We won't miss you.

Do any of you have computer horror stories? Have you ever held on to a piece of technology a bit too long?

I've Been Victimized!

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:33:00 +0000

Well, that might be a bit dramatic. I did just get a call from a very official sounding guy (I picture him in a suit a la Men in Black) with the office of the Inspector General, a branch of the USPS. He informed me that one of our credit cards (the one we use for our gas) had been intercepted during a criminal investigation! Yikes! So, it goes without saying that I checked our account online to see if there was any fraudulent activity. I have to confess here that I was sort of hoping that there was some fraud involved since our last statement was over $2,500 (yes, we do spend that much on gas) and so if some of that was not authorized...we would get some money back! But, no, the card had not actually been used...just stolen. What's the point of that?

Anyway, that prompted me to think about identity theft. We all hear the fear appeals made in those credit monitoring and related commercials about the perils of identity fraud. And, I have always been sort of curious and interested in getting my credit monitored since I tend to walk on the high anxiety side of life (right, Keith?) but this phone call from the office of the Inspector General pushed me over the edge. I signed us up for LifeLock. I am not sure that their fee is worth what they do but I do know that just signing up for this service made rest a little easier and that is worth it.

So, that begs the question...have any of you ever had your identity/credit card/other info stolen? What do you do to ensure this doesn't happen to you?

Spitzer Tales- Part One

jenna.spitzer@gmail.com (Spitzer Tales) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:03:00 +0000

As you may or may not know, Keith and I recently got married. If you know us at all, then that is definitely not news to you. Hey, maybe you were even there. And, if you really know us then you might also know that we (well, really just I) had a sort of informal wedding blog going during the planning process. We loved being able to update our friends and family without sending out mass e-mails and well, I kind of got addicted to blogging in the process. And while addiction was an unintended side effect of the original, now defunct, wedding blog, I just cannot keep from typing about our lives. Thus, Spitzer Tales was born. And with no wedding to plan, the actual content of these musings is yet to be determined. Ah yes, nothing like a blog about nothing. Well, to be fair, it's probably going to be about nothing in particular.

We'll see if we can get this little blog up on it's feet and walking. Hopefully, I actually like blogging and not just the idea of blogging. I am also hoping to get my dear husband in on the action but am not too confident in my ability to make that happen.

I will hopefully be back soon to give some background info on me and Keith and how we ended up married and here in Southern California. But for now, hello, and welcome to Spitzer Tales. Catch you on the flip side.

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