The Chicky's Life

Cool Blog Contest for all my Readers

2012-02-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

There is a really cool scrapbook software that I recently had the opportunity to try. Now all of my blog readers (whichever blog you like) are able to participate in the contest I am running on dawnconklin.com that is completely free. The winner will get a free copy of the My Memories Suite v3. This is a $40 value, and there is absolutely no cost to enter. No purchase at all and it is easy to enter. This is an awesome software that I have been having a lot of fun with-well me and the kids are :) Come check it out and enter our contest-this is completely free, no strings attached. The link to the contest is here: Blog Contest-Scrapbook Giveaway. Good luck to everybody!

My cooking blog. I have been busy

2009-11-25T00:07:00.000-05:00

As crazy as it may be I started yet another blog! This one is about cooking though so it is one that is all about good things LOL :) I have been a little crazy with tests at the cardiologist lately and of course shopping for the big turkey day. Can't wait to stuff myself and sit back half passed out. It's at my place this year so I get to clean, clean some more and then cook. Oh yeah and then clean some more! It is totally worth it though. Anyhow my new blog about cooking is located at http://chickyscooking.blogspot.com.

Happy Turkey Day :)

My new photo blog

2009-11-09T20:28:00.003-05:00

Ok Ok so I know I have not been on this blog lately. There has been a lot going on. Story of my crazy life hahaha. I started taking more photos lately and I recently started a blog of different photos. The blog is still new but I have been having fun taking various pictures that I will be posting. My new blog is located at http://thechickysphotos.blogspot.com

I will be a year younger Saturday :)

2009-08-24T00:26:00.003-04:00

The end of the kids summer is near. It is approaching the end of August and school starts back on the 31st this year not after labor day. Quiet days will be here again lol :) However with the end of August approaching that means that my birthday is almost here. Yup on Saturday I will be a year younger and this is the first time in years that I have not gone to Atlantic City on my birthday (although my bday didn't pass yet!) Yes for those of you who know me, you read this right do not shut down the computer and run and get an eye exam! So far I don't think I will be going to Atlantic City for my birthday. Not sure what I am going to do but ya know as old age is kicking in I may just want to relax on my back deck with the kids and have a cookout. The one thing I will be having on my birthday though is my ice cream cake. That too is a tradition, one that was started long before I knew what Atlantic City was. It is the only thing I ever ask for on my birthday. Though Red Lobster is sounding good too (hint hint wink wink.)

Please help find a missing 11 year old girl!

2009-07-16T00:23:00.000-04:00

Lindsey Baum was walking home on June 26th from a friends house but never made it home. Her profile was shown on America's Most Wanted on July 11th. I do not know her and live across the country from Washington State but I am helping to get the word out to as many people as I possibly can. Here is a link to a webpage that has more information including pictures of her http://www.squidoo.com/find-lindsey. I ask that you help spread the word to as many people as you can. Thank you and our thoughts are on the family and their little girls safe return!

A few friends

2009-06-30T17:10:00.002-04:00

I have been walking alot as there is a lot to do around me. Decided to walk down to the river today, thought the girls would enjoy it. As soon as we got down by the river we had a few friends fly in to visit! I have seen many geese before but never any brave enough to come within a foot of me. They must've thought that we had food :) This was really cool to watch some of them flew in, some floated in and some snuck in (or thought they were sneaking in.) The one standing up in front was actually hissing which was hysterical. The bottom picture also had a couple of ducks behind the geese. It was a very nice adventure to the river but boy were they disappointed when they saw we had no food.

The perfect rainbow

2009-06-27T21:23:00.002-04:00

I was driving the bus one nice evening as usual. It started out to be a beautiful day nice blue sky not too hot when all of a sudden the sky turned a funny color. There were a couple of rain drops and then suddenly a downpour. The sky started to clear before the rain stopped so now we were having a nice sun shower. Well I came up to a traffic light and directly in front of me was the perfect rainbow. Well the most perfect I have seen. It went end to end a perfect half circle and the colors were very distinct not at all blurred together. I took a picture through the bus window however it did not turn out as nice as I wanted so I pulled into the parking lot got out and took another. It was a lot closer then it appeared here as my phone has a hard time with pictures on a smaller resolution so I could not zoom in. Just wanted to share these pictures as I thought it was a very nice rainbow. I did ask a couple of my passengers if we should drive to the end with a shovel to see if we could find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow :)

Yes my van is gone!!

2009-06-07T14:29:00.004-04:00

Wells Fargo finally came and got my van!!! Been telling them for 3 months now. I washed my hands of the van as soon as I found out how bad they screwed me. It has been parked in the back alley by my house (which is the worst part of town) since I discovered the true mess. Yup since the day I told them 3 months ago to take it I have not gone in it. Left the doors unlocked and the key on the seat ready for anybody who wanted it. Not sure how it sat for 3 months without anybody even going in it let alone taking it! Told some of the people I talk to in this town and they were in shock that nobody stole it! Now people who know me just laughed when I told them I left the doors unlocked and the key on the seat as they can see me doing it. Others were shocked that I did it. Heck I was thinking about putting a sign on it that said free :)
I am pretty easy to get along with but I don't put up with being screwed over.

The Wells Fargo Story

2009-05-24T14:43:00.004-04:00

Many people know this story already however there are millions who don't. Unfortunately there are thousands (that I know of) who share a similar story with this poor excuse of a bank. If you have had a similar problem please do share as I am looking to hopefully start a class action suit against them.
I bought a van in May of 2007 and Wells Fargo Auto Finance was my lien holder. Little did I know then that this would be the worst mistake I could have ever made. The first couple of months of having the loan I mailed my payments in plenty of time for them to receive the payment on time. However every time I mailed it, Wells never received it. Well so they say. So they would call me tell me I was past due and had to make a payment over the phone right away-which has a $20 fee of course. Then I decided to just eat the cost of the phone payment fee every month just so they received the payment on time-or so I thought would be on time. I would make the payment which would come out of my bank account the next day but did not post to my account for a couple weeks, causing me to have a late fee and over phone payment fee. Couldn't pay it on their website without a Wells Fargo bank account which is the first time I ever encountered this!! Finally got smart and tired of all the late fees and them reporting to credit agency that I am late every month when it was paid on time so I signed up for the online bill pay with my bank. My bank would take the money out of my account and automatically pay my van payment.
Well couple months after I started this I started getting calls from their collection agency telling me I was well over 31 days past due. WTF??? So I explained to the lady that I could provide proof that the payments were being made and that they had just received a payment 4 days before this call. Yeah they were getting the payments however they had decided to take out an insurance policy against my loan without my knowledge (claiming they mailed me a letter.) So at the same time frame that I started to pay them through the bank-no fees they can collect-all of a sudden they took my monthly payments and paid an insurance policy with the payment. Yup causing me to "be significantly late" as my payments were not being applied to my account. Told me that my insurance company called them and said I did not have insurance so they took a policy out. In my state you cannot drop your insurance on a vehicle with a loan. The insurance company will not drop it without proof of another policy. Was ridiculous. So being annoyed them not caring that they messed up my credit and claiming this was all my fault I told them that they better come pick up the van or I will drive it to Nevada and park it up someone's ass. Yeah I was mad. 3 months later the van still sits here. :(
Paying insurance because I cannot drop it.
I am looking into different lawyers to start up a class action suit as I have seen way too many people go through this. Yes I would benefit more from a single lawsuit however it would not stop them from doing this again where a class action suit will help thousands more people in the future and that will be more beneficial and rewarding.
If you have had a problem with Wells Fargo Auto Finance please contact me or leave a quick comment here so we can see what we can do for everybody.

If you are looking to buy a car, invest in securities, buy a house or anything, do not use Wells Fargo!!! They have class actions suits in all of their departments and even employees have class action suits against them.

Sands in Bethlehem to open in May

2009-04-19T20:56:00.003-04:00

I am happy to announce that Sands Bethlehem will be opening on May 22nd!! Their stocks (LVS) will probably be going up shortly before they open. Also Emeril is opening a restaurant in the casino, this is worth going to for me :) This is his first restaurant on the east coast and I can't wait to be one of his first customers! I promise I will try not to get into too much trouble while here I don't feel like using my profit from their stock to bail my happy you know what out of jail. Besides something tells me that the food is going to be good, I don't want to be removed from the building :) That said I guess I will behave that night. Anyway just wanted to share that info for anybody who will be close enough to catch them opening night or anybody that may be interested in keeping an eye on their stock. I by no means guarantee a profit from their stock, investors should do their own research before buying a stock.
Have a great day

Hello

2009-04-15T21:11:00.003-04:00

Life has been crazy, yes more crazy then me if that seems like a possibility! I promise I have not been cheating on you wonder people who happen to stumble upon this blog of my life. No worries I only cheat on Wawa (shhh) occasionally at lunch time. I have been busy with life and investing in the stock market. Just wanted to say hello to everyone and apologize for the lack of attention my blogs have been going through. I hope they can forgive me!
I also started a new blog about investing it is located at http://myinvestors.blogspot.com Feel free to stop by and grab advice or share advice. Hope to see you there, have a wonderful day!
And don't stay out of trouble it is no fun however make sure you stay out of the police reports, that kind of trouble is no good :)

Intelligence at it's best

2009-01-31T10:52:00.003-05:00

This guy is a prime example of intelligence :) I wish this was a joke however this is for real. I was parked in the far end of a parking lot figured I was way out of the way as I take up more then 1 parking spot with this beast. This older gentleman was upset that I was parked here like it was a parking spot with his name on it or something. There were like a thousand other parking spots to choose from but he happened to want one of the ones that I was taking up with this bus. He first tried to parallel park behind my bus and in front of a coworkers bus. Now why he wanted to park this little car sideways instead of pulling into a spot is way beyond me. He had more then enough room to parallel park if that is what he really wanted to do. He got out of his car in the middle of attempting his parking job (take note you could've parallel parked two cars this size and he couldn't do it with one.) Looks all pissed off and looks at us then looks at the bus. Told him he was ok between the buses and that he had plenty of room. He gets back into his car and I thought he was driving off. Oh no he drove around the front of my bus and landed his car right here next to my bus. Then gets out takes his shirt off puts on another and throws his keys on the ground and walks away. Now me laughing hysterically at his stupidity yelled "well sir I hope I don't hit your car that is illegally parked as I have a tail swing on this bus. Oh and I hope your keys are still there when you come back!" It really does have a tail swing and a new driver probably would've hit his car but I know how to get it out of such a situation. As you notice he was so close that I almost could not get into my passenger door which is the only way to get into bus. Thank god I am skinny though even I scratched my butt along his car getting in the bus. Oh well he shouldn't have been so "intelligent"!

I survived Christmas 2008!

2008-12-28T22:01:00.002-05:00

Phew, made it through another Christmas season!! I probably gained a few more greys (shh don't tell anyone) but I made it. Ok ok so I probably gained more then a few but who is counting. Don't get me wrong I like Christmas and all but wow people are crazy. I am not one that enjoys shopping at any point of time so holiday shopping can really be a dreaded task. People this year were killing each other for toys and all that crazy crap! Is a stupid toy worth it??? No I don't think so. It's almost like the ladies that fight you for the slot machine in a casino (ya know the ones playing 3 machines at a time) and then spend all their money in the machine and not even get any money back. Then you laugh at them especially if you found one that wins (ok maybe thats just me that does that.)

Anywho made it through the overeating, the rushing around to the family's house and the living room that will take months to look the same. I really put up a good fight to exercise my right to a living room that I can at least step foot in without stepping on polly pocket however it was a losing battle. That's ok though because it is worth the look on kids faces when they see all the presents that Santa brought them. Of course you end up with wrapping paper, plastic, boxes and toys from one end of the room to another but hey at least the kids are happy. It is really amazing how much time people put into preparing themselves for Christmas and then the day comes and poof it is over for a full year. Can we understand how glad I am that Christmas only comes once a year!

Way to go Liners!!!

2008-12-07T18:17:00.003-05:00

WOW!!! I was sitting at my computer doing a little work and googling when I heard sirens. Not very uncommon by me. Then I see the flashing lights through my window so of course I have to be nosey! I poke my head out by the window and see a whole trail of flashing lights, ok my first thought was somebody did it but then I realized they were moving to slow to be rushing to the scene of a crime. So I continued to watch and next came a trail of school buses then a charter bus. Then a bunch more fire trucks. Thought to myself hmm they take their football seriously but wow! Then there was a trail of cars with proud parents following with their 4-ways on. Went outside to check it out and found out that our team had won the state championship!!
Go Liners!!!!!!!!

Happy Turkey Day

2008-11-27T23:09:00.004-05:00

I hope everybody had a happy turkey day! If you are like me you are getting home and changing into lounge clothes(which are loose fitting.) I ate so much I had to unbutton my pants, pretty much expected that though I do it every year! You would think that would learn in my age but no I have to overeat to the point where I have a belly ache. Then I sit back because my pants are too tight when I sit forward and my stomache feels like it is going to explode! But it is all good. Have to try a little of everything right? Do you think I will wise up and take it easy next year? I would like to say yes as I am sitting here feeling sympathy for the stuffed turkey as I am more stuffed then it was. The proper answer to the question though is probably hell no I will feel the same next year. Haven't learned in 32 years what is another year going to change?
Anyhow, hope everybody had a great day and I will see you next time you show up :)

Happy Halloween

2008-10-30T23:03:00.003-04:00

Well the time has come for halloween again! My favorite time of the year fall has arrived and it's time to go out and get candy with my kids. Yeah yeah yeah I'm a big kid but you guys who know me should already know that! Candy candy candy oh yeah got to think about something else. Anyhow everybody have fun this halloween and be safe. Do not eat anything that is not fully wrapped as good as it might look remember there are a lot of sick people out there. And try to get lots of candy oh no I started to think about candy again. Bad Chicky :)
So have a Happy Halloween and don't do anything I wouldn't do, oh wait I'm not really the person to use as an example in that statement! Just be safe and stay out of the police reports!

The Wawa incident, scarred for life!!

2008-08-17T15:19:00.002-04:00

Those of you who know me know how much I like coffee. Ok so I replaced my blood with coffee-make sure you tell hospital that if I am ever in an accident, would hate for them to try to give me blood! Anyhoo I am sure that you are also aware of my Wawa addiction-if they had meetings for this I would definitely be dragged in by a select few friends. A good friend of mine and I brought the kids to the Wawa by me and yes we were in there a while but we were trying to decide what all we wanted. A lady came up to us and asked us if we were putting stuff in our pockets. WTF??? I usually wear tight jeans and shirts where you can see my pockets. I told the lady no my friend said "would you like to put your hand in my pockets and see if you find anything?" and I just told her "lady you can see my pockets!" Oh wait maybe I stole my apartment keys, they were in my pocket. She then said "a customer came up to me and said they saw you putting stuff in your pockets and I don't want to see you get in trouble." What probably happened is they said that to distract her cause they were probably putting stuff in their pockets LMAO! I could not believe this! So we put back everything we were going to buy except the drinks we made paid for the drinks and left. I have not been back to that Wawa since.
I may be a few screws short but I am not a thief, just crazy which well isn't quite a crime yet! I have never been accused of being a thief especially in a store that holds the name of my favorite location-Wawa. I will be scarred for life!

I'm back hehehe...

2008-08-17T15:10:00.002-04:00

Hello world I am back, sorry to scare you but the truth hurts. I was away from the blogging world but I am now back with of course a cup of coffee by my side, would you expect differently? I had some family situations that kept me away. However the goods news is I got myself out of the bad situation I was in (no I didn't get in trouble, well not in this situation) and I am happier now. For the record I left him in the beginning of May for those who care to know. You can't get rid of me that easily hehehehe :)

This guy made my day

2008-04-29T14:52:00.003-04:00

This picture is a picture of me driving the bus. I had a passenger that I picked up one morning and he kept looking up at me every couple of seconds. I started to think that he was just being weird and half expected him to ask me on a date or something. The way the passenger mirror is I could not see his hands. When we were at a red light shortly before he got off the bus he handed me this picture said this was for me and thanked me for being his model! Thought it was really flattering that he drew my picture while I was driving.
Take note I was driving an older bus that day which is not the cadillac of buses. In other words it was a little bit of a bumpy ride. I think he did a great job!

So this is Chicky

2008-04-28T11:38:00.000-04:00

Yes this is Chicky. As crazy as I may be, I have to admit that it is me. My friends and coworkers started the name for me about 5 years ago and it just stuck around. A good friend of mine only calls me by Chicky (he was the one who started to call me Chicky first.) Hey wait I hope he remembers my real name! Of course I have to point out the coffee pot in the background, and yes it is on. Would you expect differently?
Well I think it is about that time to go out for a little while and go embarass some friends. Ooops I mean go hang out with some friends.

I can't believe this!

2008-04-19T22:53:00.000-04:00

This really burst my bubble. I come home today to a notice in the mail from my local municipal court stating that my drivers license has been suspended as of 4/12/08. They post marked the notice 4/18/08. First of all why did they(a municipal court not the Division of Motor Vehicles-or whatever they call themselves now here in beautiful NJ) post mark and mail a notice out 6 days after the supposed suspension? Second of all I had no idea why I was suspended! I believe the NJDMV has to send the notice and give you time to resolve the issue with the local court before suspension. I go online where you can pay a fine, one that I did not know I had, and it stated it was for a parking ticket. Now I have several problems with this besides the mentioned above. I never received a ticket. It said it was at 2:02 PM on a weekday back in January, I am still at work at that time. The parking tickets here are $17 but my fine due is $55. Parking authority, who is 1 guy in the office and 2 ladies that alternate giving out the tickets, knows I had a disabled family member here and told us to put up the handicap tag in the window and they can not give us a ticket. So now I might(I am unclear as the wording and legallity behind this is very vague) have been driving for the last 7 days on a suspended license for something I never got!!!
So as if that is not bad enough, I go online figuring I would pay today, I can't go with out my license, and ask questions Monday. I found that the hours I can pay online on Saturday are 7:30 AM-3:45 PM. They disable the payment option after these hours. Sunday the online pay hours are 1:00 PM-11:45 PM. So I can't even pay it until after 1 tommorrow and I have no way of knowing if my license is suspended until after I pay or sometime Monday when I call the court who will make me make a payment and then call the NJDMV to see if my license is suspended. If it is there might be a $100 restoration fee! WTF! I am sorry if this is a little confusing and unclear I am just annoyed at the time of this rant.

I was ripped off!

2008-04-06T07:56:00.000-04:00

Ok, remember about a month ago I talked about going to Mt. Airy Casino? My friend and I paid 17.50 for two drinks. That(and the fact that they do not have tables games) was my big reason for choosing not to go back. Not that I can't afford the drinks, it's just something about a place that people are dumping a lot of money into and they can't even give you a free drink. So Atlantic City even being an hour and a half further from me was and still is my choice of places to go.
Well anyway here is the reason to this post:
We paid $17.50 for two drinks while playing on the slot machines, the drinks were nasty and now I found out they were supposed to be free!! I was talking to somebody at work told him my story and how I did not like the place. He told me that he drinks whenever he is there and has never paid for a drink! WTF! Ok that really spoiled me on that place. It is definitely Atlantic City or nothing. I used to be a cocktail server in a casino, I always hook them up with tips, she did not have to charge us for the drinks to get money.

But it wasn't me Mom

2008-03-04T19:20:00.000-05:00

This here is my youngest daughter. Caught her in the act of trying to get into something if you notice the hand. She then tried to play off being innocent as kids know how to do best. Wasn't long after that she started throwing stuff at me and pointing at the cereal box like I completely starve her! Ok I have to admit she hasn't eaten in a couple of hours but she is the high chair because dinner will be served in 5 minutes!! I know I have got to be the meanest Mom!

My saturday night

2008-03-02T09:58:00.000-05:00

Wow I went to Mt. Airy Casino last night. I actually just got back about an hour ago which means I have not slept yet, I'm so tired I am beyond the point of falling asleep! Anyway had a lot of fun, though it is not like Atlanic City it was still a good time. Something about playing roulette and blackjack on a machine instead of at a table with a real dealer and players just isn't the same. Had fun with the slot machines though. My biggest kick in the butt was ordering a drink (an Alabama Slammer) and my friend ordered a Johnny Walker black and coke and the cocktail server came back and said after she handed us our drinks "that will be $17.50." I thought I heard her wrong, I usually play in Atlantic City and if you are gambling drinks are free. Not that we can't afford the $17.50 but we were just in shock! They should warn you that the drinks are not free and not worth the money first. Worst part is, I almost never drink alcohol and said what the heck I will get one tonight. Oops!
Oh well it was an experience and now I know.
PS the drinks really were no worth it! But over all it is a nice place with very friendly staff.

My coffee rant

2008-02-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

As I sit here drinking my morning coffee, yes the chicky is a coffee-aholic, I had found out that Quick Check was running a special. Any size coffee for 99 cents, sounds great right? I live by a Quick Check but when I am home I drink my coffee at home. My hot spot is Wawa, no Quick Checks in the area I drive the bus! I wonder if we can all talk to the spokesbean for Quick Check and ask him to talk to the spokesbean at Wawa. Actually us drivers are so religious to Wawa we should probably buy stock in them, I really have no complaint about them I just wish the spokesbeans would share their ideas with one another!