Long and Eventful Day

Yesterday, we had no hot water after Bobby took his shower in the morning. By the time Bobby got home from work, he had called Benjamin Franklin (most expensive plumber in town) and they were going to come out this morning to take a look at the water heater. Well, when Bobby found out they were the most expensive, he called Sears who manufactures the water heater for their service people (of course the water heater was slightly past it's 6 year warranty) to come out and take a look. So the service guy came out to take a look and found that we had a faulty gas thingamajig (no idea what it was called) and that it would cost $309 to fix the part and we would have hot water tonight. However, due to the fact that since I moved into this house 4 years ago the water heater has sounded like there are rocks rolling all around on the inside every time you took a shower, washed dishes, or did laundry, I thought it was finally time to just get a new one! It cost us $69 for the guy to say what needed to be fixed, but said that if we bought a new one at Sears then the $69 we just paid could be taken off our bill, plus he had a coupon for $65 off any appliance within a certain price range.

I met Bobby at Sears (after getting done with Zumba) with my sister to talk about which water heater we should get. Of course there were no sales on water heaters, which I'm sure rarely, if ever happens due the fact that most people only buy water heaters when, they have no hot water (duh)! Bobby has awesome negotiating skills, but this saleswoman would not budge from the price at all. So, while we were in Sears, I'm looking on my phone to see the prices at Lowes, then Bobby called to find out how much Lowes' installation was. We decided to go with Sears since the price difference wasn't too much, plus we had a coupon and the $69 credit (at least we thought). When the saleswoman is about done with our transaction, Bobby mentions the coupon and receipt from the service guy. She then rudely says (with an eyeroll included) that he should have told her about those before she started doing anything. God forbid she have to go back a couple of screens to put in the coupon! (gasp) Well, the coupon wouldn't scan so she had to go back and talk to the manager and when she came back she said they could only do one or the other. Bobby asked to talk to the manager, who came out, but would not budge at all on his "policy" in which I replied that they should educate their service guys on their policies and should uphold the false information that we received about using both. What ever happened to the customer is always right? The manager tried to say that the company that services them is out of Indianapolis, but too bad all their service vans are sitting in Sears' parking lot!  All three of us (Bobby, myself, and Amanda) all heard the service guy tell us about using both.

Amanda and I both thought (Bobby agreed later) that the manager was also rude. I was sick of dealing with the incompetent manager and saleswoman at Sears and just told them that we would buy a water heater at Lowes and I walked away. Bobby was not very happy because he said how I said it was rude, but I wasn't anymore rude to them than they were to us. However, as you will see later in this story, I think Bobby was just tired and didn't want to deal with this whole mess at the time! Amanda, Natalie, and I all left and went home after Sears, but Bobby made the trek to Lowes (right down the road) to negotiate with them. We have dealt with Lowes on many occasions before and have always had good customer service and they did not disappoint tonight either. Bobby was able to get Lowes to lower the price on the water heater (basically the same one only a different name), honor the $65 coupon, match Sears' installation price. So, we should once again have hot water sometime tomorrow!

As Bobby says, it isn't often that you spend over $600 on something and aren't excited for your purchase. Who can really get excited about a water heater?! Unless you are the mom/wife at home who would like to stop living primitively and is wanting to wash dishes and clothes like normal, and take a shower at your own home! Spending that kind of money in an "emergency" didn't seem too horrible due the the fact that we have a home repair fund that we put a little bit in each month, which helps take the sting out of little events like this. I am so happy that we did not have the added stress of "How are we going to afford/pay this?" That could have made this little situation much less humorous!

I'm am very glad we will soon have hot water because I feel like I am camping! At least we have electricity and heat unlike the lovely ice storm of 2011!  I am having to heat up water in the microwave to wash dishes (which is constant with bottles and pumping stuff) and basically do a sponge bath for both Natalie and I. Bobby used the neighbors shower last night. Tonight, we both used their shower and as we were walking across our yard to their front door, I felt as though I was walking to the bathhouse at the campground to take my shower! The one thing that was much better than a bathhouse was no nasty shower floors or stalls and no huge bugs all over inside! All we need is a campfire, s'mores, and singing some Kumbaya :)

Going back a little bit in the story, Amanda had driven down to Terre Haute from Indy to go to Hip-Hop Zumba with me (plus she needed to get their leftovers from this weekend and Petunia's harness) and of course to see Natalie. So, while Bobby was dealing with the water heater service man and deciding what we should do, we were leaving to go to Zumba with Natalie in the care of Bobby. I hadn't made dinner yet either, so he was starving I'm sure. It was the first time I had worked out or attempted to workout without multi-tasking with Natalie. When I tried walking on the treadmill last Friday, I only got 15 minutes into it before Natalie was calling for me, so that didn't work too well. It was nice to get out of the house and do something for me. I was definitely out of shape, but not as bad as I had thought I would be. My legs felt a tad bit like Jello afterwards, but it has subsided now. This was Amanda's first time doing Zumba with other people (she has the Playstation game). I tell you the one thing that was not very comfortable were my now much larger boobs (they were definitely large enough pre-pregnancy...see what you get to look forward to, Natalie!). I had bought a new sports bra, but I don't think anything could really contain these things except maybe duct taping them so they don't move at all! (I just might have to try that...haha) Amanda and I both enjoyed ourselves and plan to try to get into a workout routine when she is here this summer to help with Natalie.

When we arrived to Sears, I noticed that Natalie was not in the outfit I had left her in before Zumba, so I asked Bobby what happened.  Thinking she probably peed all over it, since this occasionally happens when changing her. But, that is not what happened at all. Bobby began telling us how somehow her diaper was folded so that the elastic wasn't properly snug to her leg/butt just right and she had an explosive poop...while laying on the white couch. So, Bobby not only had to clean up Natalie, but he also had to clean up the poop that shot out sideways from her butt/leg on the couch while dealing with purchasing a new water heater. I couldn't help but laugh/smile because I fortunately have not had this happen to me, but I unfortunately was the last one to change her diaper prior to this lovely episode...oops!  Bobby handled it like a champ though. Spills/messes on the couch have surprisingly not affected Bobby like I think most people anticipated, but I think the cat and the dog prepared him well for all these unexpected messes!

Natalie and Bobby are now sleeping soundly (at least I hope) while I am sitting here pumping and blogging! Hopefully I am not too sore tomorrow after attempting Zumba after a long hiatus because I plan to continue it and get into a routine because it is so much fun. Can't wait to get the new water heater tomorrow; however, I must say it will be very strange not to hear "rocks" rattling around in the tank every time the hot water is running!