Posts Tagged ‘College’

On His Own

Monday, September 1st, 2008

California Girl and I went to visit The Boy over the long weekend. He’s only been gone for a couple of weeks; but it was still good to see him. He seems to be adjusting well to life on his own. He seemed a lot older and a lot more confident than he was when we left him. Except for the huge pile of laundry in the corner he was adjusting well to college life. (Or perhaps that is the way of college students.) While we were on campus, I was struck by how different this year is from years gone by. It was warm enough to get into the pool; but, instead of relaxing in the back yard, we were walking around on a college campus. Except for the size, the campus is very similar to the one where I went to school. Although we think he’s more like his mother; perhaps he’s more like me than we think.

Except for the fact that the hotel which we had reservations was overbooked and we had to spend the night after we arrived at a dump until rooms became available at our preferred location, I really enjoyed our visit. With all of the restaurants and shops that cater to students so close by, college life is so convenient. Where we live, you have to get in a car to go anywhere. The closest bus stop is miles away. So, everything being in walking distance was a nice change.

I don’t know when we’ll get back to see him. He is adapting very well. Unfortunately, his mom, his sister, and I, are still getting used to him being gone.

Last Pizza Night

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

We had the last pizza night for The Boy today. This time next week, he’ll be college bound. California Girl and I really didn’t think about it until The Girl mentioned that today would be his last family pizza night for awhile. The current phase is ending and a new chapter is about to begin. We’re proud that he’s ready to take the next step and think that he’ll do fine; but we’re still going to miss him.

It Just Gets Better

Monday, August 11th, 2008

I ordered The Boy a laptop for another company this morning and though that everything was good. Then, when I checked my email after watching the Bengals beat the Packers, I had an email from Dell notifying me that they had shipped my computer and it should be here on Wednesday. So, now I have two computers on the way. As I mentioned in my previous post, I couldn’t reach them on the telephone to verify that my order was cancelled; but they should have done it anyway in accordance with FTC requirements.

So, now I have a conundrum. Do I send the Dell back for a refund and keep the system that I bought when I didn’t think that I was going to be getting it? Or, do I keep it and sell the unneeded substitution on EBay? The Dell is faster/better with more memory, a bigger hard drive, etc. since it was custom configured as opposed to a standard system. But it’s the only one that can be returned. The replacement was purchased from a site that does not allow laptop returns. I won’t be buying anything on my credit card until I get things sorted out.

Due To Unforeseen Circumstances

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

Your order is further delayed and we need your permission to… This was the email that greated me when I check my email when I got home on Friday. When your son is leaving for college in less than two weeks discovering that the vendor still can’t ship his laptop after waiting for a month is not a pleasant surprise. California Girl and I will have to scramble and try to find one locally. Now we’ll end up spending more money, getting him a system that is not as good or both.

I tried to call themFIVE times about the order andthe firstfour times I called I got mysteriously disconnected when I was being transferred to a “supervisor”. I finally reached someone’s voicemail on the fifth try. I doubt that they will ever call me back. They’ve had plenty of time to call me back so far and have yet to return my call. Sometimes, I wonder how companies with such disregard for their customer stay in business. The only thing that was “good” was that they didn’t even try to pretend that they were American. Instead of Saying their name was “John” through a heavy accent; they gave obviously foreign names.

If anyone has any suggestions for retail locations to purchase a good laptop for a college student please let us know. The college will be providing all of the software he needs; so the laptop itself is the only thing that is important for us.