There is a charge for the service call – $89. This was for the tech to tell me what was wrong with my water softener – it needed to be replaced. He called in the plumber to bypass my about-to-explode water heater – $35 for parts (I gave them a check that they said they would hold). The sales guy tells me that if I buy a water heater OR water softener from them, they would waive both charges. I do some research and decide to go with them.

On the day the water heater and water softener are replaced, I check with the plumber who then checks with the sales guy on the $35 check. The sales guy ASSURES me that since they had not cashed the check yet, they will not do so.

A week later, I get an invoice for the service call AND the plumbing parts with a credit for the plumbing parts. They cashed my check. When they said they wouldn’t. I called their office and the finance ops guy explains their process. I was supposed to pay the $89 and $35 up front and the sales guy was supposed to include line items on the contract to credit me the same amount. He didn’t do that. The finance guy offers to reverse the $89 (which I have not paid yet), but he couldn’t do anything about the $35 as they were for parts and the parts were used.

Pure and utter bullshit. The fact that Culligan’s internal communications suck does not mean I should have to pay for it. I just gave these people $2000 and they are going to nickel and dime me AFTER the transaction. But what should I expect? This is not the first time I have had a sales person outright LIE to me about what they can deliver and then have the ops person tell me there is nothing they can do.

My take away? Don’t deal with Salt Lake City Culligan. And if you do, make sure EVERYTHING the sales person promises you is on the contract: charges, credits, warranties, his first child, whatever. In fact, make sure everything is in the contract REGARDLESS of who you are dealing with.

And Culligan’s take away? Give the lady her $35. Especially, if she just spent $2000 with you, blogs, and is on Twitter and Facebook.

It is 2 weeks into the school year. This is what has occurred so far:
1) Assessment by teacher on whether she is ready for Kindergarten
2) Assessment by school psychologist on whether she is ready for first grade
3) Assessment of her IQ

I still have to meet with the school social worker and principal next week. So we could discuss “next steps”. What are the next steps? I’m glad you asked. I have no idea. The school social worker mentioned something about further psychological assessments. When I asked if there were specific concerns, she said no.

This is how I expect the meeting to go:
Principal: On this IQ chart, normal is here. (Pointing to the chart.) Mui is here. (Pointing right below where she was pointing before.)
Me: What does that mean? What do I need to do to get her into first grade?
Principal: Is there a Mr. Kong?

We met at Firefly on Paradise, a tapas place with really good food and really good mojitos. I had a lot of both. I was nervous to finally meet Craig and Denae. I have this short complex and Craig is a giant. Fortunately, we were sitting except for the initial hug, hug, handshake, handshake.

I also got to meet Julie and Terry, a couple of their friends. I think Terry is Mr. Magically Delicious. I forgot to ask. But he is Irish. And was wearing a green hat with a shamrock on it. And wouldn’t share his cereal.

I had a blast. My sister and BIL had a blast. Huge thank you to Craig, Denae, Julie and Terry. Definitely keeping you guys on the Vegas-Must-See list.

Me: Honey, want to watch Iron Man 2?
Mui: I want to go! I want to go!
Me: It’s not an appropriate movie for you. It’s PG-13.
Mui: It’s ok, Mom. I’m old enough. My tooth is loose.

Mom: Meh. Not my favorite.

Mui: I think you should love Spongebob.

Mom: Why’s that?

Mui: Because I love Spongebob and if you let me watch Spongebob, I’ll stop bothering you.

My mom, my brothers, one sister, and I have been saddled with huge heads proving one size does not fit all. And my children have big heads, too. In fact, Didi can barely fit his head through the neck hole of most of his shirts.

Growing up, we could not understand why we had big heads. Big heads were not a Chinese thing. Most Chinese people can find a hat that fits. But during this trip, we hit upon it. All those people in my parents’ village have big heads and they are Hakka. Therefore, Hakkas have big heads. Which explains the missing top on the Hakka hat.

When I got home, I checked online for famous Hakka people to test my theory. Deng Xiaoping – big head. Leslie Cheung – big head. Chow Yun-Fat – Really big head. Our family now refers to our big heads as Hakka heads. As in “Don’t cry, Mui. You don’t have a big head. You have a Hakka head.”

This law scares the crap out of me. Firstly, because we are returning to state sanctioning racism. Secondly, because I am Chinese. My kids are Chinese. My parents are Chinese. We don’t look like the people who supported and passed this law. This is no different than the rampant racism during WWII that put any person of Japanese descent, citizen or not, in internment camps. No different than in the 50′s when any person of Chinese descent, citizen or not, could be suspected of being a communist and interrogated. Arizona is hiding behind “national security” as the excuse to strip people of their rights as citizens and, worse, human beings. Arizona is legalizing racism. Russell Pearce and Jan Brewer might as well pass anti-miscegenation laws to keep their people’s race pure. It’s about as progressive and constitutional as this Immigration Law.

SO and I had discussed giving her an allowance, but I wanted her to have a more direct understanding of value. She already has responsibilities like taking a bath, brushing her teeth and getting dressed that she does with only a little complaint. Then there are responsibilities that she will dodge and ignore until I do them for her, things like picking up her toys and putting away her clothes. So we created a chore chart. Some things she gets paid for, others she does not.

We negotiated what goes on the chart and for which ones she gets paid. At the end of each day, we tally her chores and she gets her “paycheck”. Yesterday, she wanted a bag of M&M’s. It cost $1. When we got home, she had to pay me back. (Next time, she will have some money with her so she can count out the quarters for whatever she is buying.)
Me: Mui, the M&M’s cost a dollar. How many quarters are in a dollar?
Mui: 4
Me: How many chores do you have to do to earn a dollar?
Mui: 4
Me: How many chores does your bag of M&M’s cost?
Mui: (A look of surprise) 4. That’s a lot, Mama.
Me: Yes, it is. It takes a lot of work to earn money to buy things.

I also negotiated a deal where she pays me if she wants me to listen to her whine. I tell her it’s work for me to listen to her whine, so if she can’t stop whining and can’t go to another room when she wants to whine, she will have to pay me a quarter for having to listen to her.
Mui: Here Mama. (hands me a quarter)
Me: Are you whining?
Mui: No. It’s for later.
Me: You are prepaying me so you can whine later?
Mui: Yes. (and laughs)

I think she’s got it.

It worked for a few months until we just got tired of writing down every fricking thing she saw advertised. Usually it’s when I’m cooking and don’t want to let the food burn while appeasing her. I tell her to write it down herself. Of course, I now have to spell the name of every fricking thing she sees advertised.

The other day, I came up with a brilliant idea. I showed her how the name of the toy is usually shown during the commercial and that she can pause the TV (thank god for DVRs) and copy down the words. It takes her 45 minutes to get thru a half hour of Sponge Bob, but that’s fine. She has a notebook that she uses to record what she wants. This one totally cracked me up. It’s for a free bunny that comes with purchase at Arctic Circle. ]]> http://pamkong.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=799 1