Bugaboo Bad Review ( rhymes with "Poo Poo")

A Well Meaning Rant – and a request

(Or, who knew that I could get angry about a baby apparatus, so long after my kids were little – HMMMPH! )

If you have kids, you totally get how important your stroller purchase is – right? When I had Pat, some well-meaning folks bought me a stroller as a baby gift. The only problem is that the purchaser was about 5’5” – and I am quite a bit taller….pushing a stroller intended for a shorter person was killer…backaches, torn muscles after wrestling it through the sleet….just crap. I was too cheap to replace it and switched to a Gerry pack soon after he graduated from the Snugli. With K the younger, we splurged on a new stroller but it was still too short (there wasn’t a lot of choice back then). Once again, I tucked him into some sort of pack and went about my business. That was old me, the ‘don’t make a wave or behave unseemly’ me. Thank God she’s dead and buried; the new me is a lot less accepting of crap. Like my local constable noted after a run in with some local brutes, ‘phew T, you don’t take shit from anybody’. Yup, no shit - I expect idiots to leave me and my family alone and I expect a company to live up to its reputation. After all, a bully in a corporate suit is still a bully. In the case of Pink Mohair, her corporate bully is a bit of a dumbass, too. Just for good measure, I suppose…

A good stroller is worth its weight in gold – at least that’s what the Bugaboo stroller company seems to think – I mean $750 USD!!! Holy Flying Monkey Crap! What would you expect for that price????

If you spend a small fortune on ‘the perfect stroller”, one that allows you to link from car seat to stroller without waking up the baby and to carry everything that you need for the little one, you’d think that the company would be appreciative. “Wow, thanks for purchasing our over-priced but well worth the money stroller – we care so much about your happiness with our product that our customer service team is there to take care of your questions and concerns’ – as a Customer Service trainer, I know the routine inside and out – and I believe in the message. If you’re the customer left in limbo with a legitimate complaint, you start to believe in it too, don’t you?

Here’s the scoop – busy mom, with hectic career and personal life buys super-expensive stroller system, spends extra on (what the company claims are) compatible parts – car seat, etc etc.. One problem – none of this is actually compatible and refuses to snap together – FOR ANYONE! Talk about your high-priced rip-offs! The story only gets better. Read here and see how ineffective (read “Useless and unresponsive, excuse-making and dense”) this company has been in resolving the matter. Just like the Jet Blue fiasco, Bugaboo needs to get its shit together. Do not leave customers stranded without a solution and try to cover your ass with excuses (especially ones that don’t make sense). In a letter sent by the company, they claim that they had not received a lot of emails about this situation. Over 75 of us fellow Bloggers sent in our notes of ire - but somehow, they didn't get them? Ok, maybe their communications system sucks - but that’s not our problem. Address customer concerns in a logical (read – professionally, politely, timely and one that is a solution, not an added worry) manner. What they've offered so far is inconvenient and makes extra work for an already busy family. Any company worth its salt would be sending them the necessary replacement parts, to their home, at the company's expense, not the customer's inconvenience. Think about it...

I tell you what – let’s start them on the path to improving their customer service plan, ok? Let’s all send them an email about the situation – nothing too racy or mean-spirited, just plain language telling them what we think of companies who try to screw us around when we have a problem with their products. As women, we need to stick together and fight this type of battle. Alone, we’re one voice in a crowd. Together, we can make an impact. Ladies, send them an email, put “Pink Mohair Supporter” in the subject box and let rip. Tell them that we, as a population are tired of being patted on the hand and being told to go to our corner, where we can be ‘good girls’. Once, back in the day when I was a ski mechanic helping premiere athletes reach their (and our country's) goals, I met a sales rep who refused to demonstrate a new product to me. "Let the big boys worry about that", he told me. In my youthful arrogance, I looked him in the eye and said 'sir, I am one of the big boys!'. Don't let my response fool you - I was pissed, just like I am about Pink Mohair's situation. I haven’t been a ‘good girl’ since I was about 15 so I don’t think that I’ll regain any ground on that front but there’s a lot to be said about being true to our opinions. Speak out, ladies – if you don’t, who will?

Well-behaved women seldom make history.

Snow, Rain and a new Gazebo....

Yeah, that makes sense... This morning, we woke to heavy, wet snow tumbling from the sky. This was followed by a day of rain, snow and sleet - so deep, wet and cold that even the dogs (who swim in the frozen river if given a chance) outright refused to stay outside in their run. Last night, I woke up from a dream that our ancient cloth gazebo collapsed in snow so it was kind of odd when K the elder screeched, "it's going doooooown. The gazebo's going down!' and dashed outside. The old girl split her connectors and the tent came down, never to rise again. It's all right, though. We had already decided to replace it with a nicer one this summer. This one was for my market booth after I had got a really bad sunburn working one Saturday. I suppose that 6 years of life is as much as you can expect out of a cheap garden tent, eh?

We were going to replace our ancient, peeling Adirondack table with a spanking new patio set but Frugal Freida that I am, I could not condone buying a whole new set when we just replaced our patio chairs a year ago... Yeah, I'm just that cheap. So, after our construction success with the fence, I figured that we were up to building a patio table, too. That leaves the cash that I counted on for the patio set which can be for our new gazebo. Don't you love it when a plan comes together????

On a really bright note, I received a surprise set of stitch markers from Robyn, of the SME! Yay - they're so cute (I'll try and snap a shot of them ASAP - but you know me and my out of focus close up shots.... I suck). I mailed off the set for my partner. She's in Montreal so they should arrive shortly. I love a good swap!

Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I was so buzzed about Moo cards about 2 months ago. Couldn't wait to make them and get them into my hot, little hands. Then they lost my order. Ok, things happen - they were nice and offered to reprint them. Ok, I'm a grown-up. I can be patient....to a point. But wait... there's a problem? Again? Yup, because I had removed some of my photos from Flickr (long after they had told me that my order was on its way), they had several cards in my order that didn't print. Deep breath...it's only a business card. It's not like some heavy machinery pulled into my front yard and totally destroyed my lawn and garden and forced me to park far away from my home and to shlep my groceries to my front door, yeah the front door that doesn't unlock because there has been a key for the past 20 years and oh yeah, there is no walkway left unless I want to fall in a hole and break my f-ing leg- oh wait, that's a different story...So, back to our scheduled rant - nice folks that they are, the Moo guys gave me a credit for a free set of cards to make up for the lost cards/ reprint kerfuffle. That was nice - thank you. And so, I waited some more

Then, they finally arrived late last night. I was STOKED - "like totally gnarly, duuuuuude" - yeah, I said that!)and they weren't so bad. Actually they're pretty cute. Right away, I set to making my 'free' set, knowing so much more about the layout of these tiny little cards. I think that, just like baking cookies, the second batch will turn out so much better than the first. Where my first set was all about the 'calling card' with my personal contact info, this time, they'll be for the business. Rock!

On a different note, I had a wonderful surprise visit from two of my most favourite people in the known universe - Francois & Rita, who had just wrapped up their latest pilgrimage to the Sugar Bush. It was so nice to have their company in our hectic lives - thanks for making my Saturday, guys :) Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Las Freakin' Vegas - yeah you heard me L-A-S V-E-G-A-S (or at least Scottsdale/Snotsdale LOL)

Don't Fence Me In (but keep the dogs safe)

Jonquils in the snow - yes, this is April in County Lanark...
Phew - to quote the wonderful Jerry, What a Long Strange Trip it's Been! The fence is as good as it's gonna get, the dogs are adapting (so far, so good - still keepin' the fingers crossed), Flashlightie is looking good (and is a total purr factory - hey, if I spent all day snoozing in the sun, I'd purr too), some of the plants have been moved (and I've only lost 2/3 of them, not all). The back hoe will be arriving later this week and once they dig out the foundation of the new buildings, the driver will dig out my new flower bed. We're exhausted - it rained hard all day Wednesday when we were trying to get set up for the weekend's construction, so we were soaked to the skin, cold and tired. K the elder worked Thursday but had Friday, Saturday & Sunday off - so it was full tilt boogie for every hour of every day. And, because the universe has a sense of humor - it snowed every day! Mein Zeyde used to used to say, 'if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans'. Ok, I get it, Zeyde, I get it!

On Friday, we managed to get the main structure set up, but were missing 10 feet of board that we needed to finish up (of course!) - with the store closed, we had to wait. At 7h00 the next morning, K the Elder was in the car, off to pick up the last bit of board. With the frame and wire fencing installed, we were roughly finished by 13h00 but K (typical...) fussed around for the next 3 hours, looking for fault and things to do. I was ready to shout, 'good enough, Boris' (hee hee hee Russian humor - yeah!) but I left him to his fussing.
It doesn't look like much despite all the work, eh?
I was going to stain the bugger (the fence, not K the E) but it looks good the way it is. It'll grey out nicely and blend into the landscape. I really like the wire fencing - it 'disappears' and it's nice to be able to see into the yard on both sides without worrying about the 'boys' running loose and getting hurt. Jack is so damaged by his first year and the abuse heaped on him that he just wants to 'do right'. He is really frightened by change and has been on tenterhooks this past few months, with the construction going on around him. Because we now need to escort the dogs to their run, we need to do one dog at a time but Jack has decided that he wants to please us and is going straight to the run all by himself, no leash. I wonder how long this will last - once he relaxes, the good behaviour usually drops off and Gentleman Jack is replaced by his uncouth cousin, Silly Boy Jack. If he was a human, he'd be a good ole boy at this time, looking for fun, driving too fast. If it wasn't such a pain to try and correct his behaviour, I'd like to see the silly guy more. There have been days when I've prayed that he would 'just be a normal dog'... but I knew that I was bringing home a 'problem' when I adopted him. We were his last chance and I do not regret any of it (but I do wish that I was wiser, more patient, a better dog owner).

Pat made his usual weekly call home (yay!) - this is what happens when your kids pair off with good partners - They call home 'just to chat'!. I think that Val has brought Pat closer into the family and it's just another reason to love her. He was telling us about his last show at Zaphod's and how some of the guys he had gone to high school with were there. Pat was an 'artsy' kid in high school and marched to his own beat. Once, just 'because', he took an online "course" with a virtual church and obtained the faux-title of Reverend. His teachers were NOT impressed with him signing all of his papers with the 'Honorable Reverend Pat XXXX' (I think my favorite comment from on of his teachers was 'Pat, cut the garbage and be sensible!'. Yes, he was just that weird. He had a close circle of friends (most of whom are still his friends today) but like a lot of kids, took his fair share of teasing and abuse by the bigger 'jockocracy' that dominates small town life. So when those past bullies turned up at his show, wanting to be his friend because he was playing there, he was pissed. "I didn't want to be their friends then so why would I want to now?". Pat, darling - sometimes people will not get you when they should. Sometimes, in their ignorance, they will hurt you. Whatever they do or say, stretch your wings and be who you are supposed to be. I would rather have you 'odd' than have you unhappy. Anyone who knows Pat knows what a happy soul he is - he's living his purpose. I can only pray that those sad souls who bullied him back then find their purpose and a little happiness.

On the knitting front, I've churned out 11 pairs of LK mittens in the past 10 days - how? I have no clue... I've set a steep goal for myself this year - 60 pairs by September 30th. Think I can do it? Not sure but I'll give it a brave try. Last year, I knit 36 pairs in 3 months so I should be all right with 60 in 6 months. That is 9-10 schools worth of mittens so it's well worth the effort. If you know of a local school that would benefit from receiving a 'mitten bag' next winter or if you'd like to knit along with me (1 pair is just fine - don't worry about the other 59; I'll do those) - drop me a line.

I wanted to take a few seconds to all of the kind souls who were there with kindness when we were so worried about our little Flashlight - she seems fine and is back to being silly and even cuddled up with me the other evening. I suspect that she really wanted to sleep on this blanket but I'm telling myself that it's because she loves me. And don't even get me started about those who commented about the garden woes - a lot of people 'get' the need to till the soil and I was touched by the concern. I am always amazed at the 'strangers' out there who take time to leave a comment and there are times when those comments get us through the hard times. In this virtual neighbourhood, no one stays a stranger for long - here's to this brave new world and many, many new friends!

Panic in the Thrift Shop

Hey kids!
It's been a crazzzzzzzy weekend (and even week preceding, to be honest) and I'm still not back from 'digupafrozengardenandmoveallthestuffandbuildafenceeventhoughweveneverbuiltanythingtogetherbefore-land'. In all of this panic and mayhem, I haven't even visited the thrift store in at least 2 weeks (apart from my foray into Goodwill on the holiest of days on the thrifting calendar, 50% off day. I have a 'new' project in mind for the last few weeks and call upon you, my Ottawa Valley Friends to help out. I'm building a thrift store site and want to know, 'what's the best thrift store in the Valley?'. Where do you like to shop? Find anything cool? Bizarre? Just to strange for words? An amazing deal? Let me know and stayed tuned for the new site

I am so behind on all of my correspondence (and my life) that I'd better get started...

Talk to you soon!

Meanwhile, on the fabric front....

I've shared my 'materials' obsession before so it should be no surprise that I am working my way through this fabric jungle. Considering the title of this little weblog, I should be focused more on the yarn that looms in three massive storage bins in my den but the fabric has been calling...and calling...and calling

I have a series of built-in drawers in the den, which houses my fabric, wrapping paper, fabric dying supplies and patterns. The only problem has been that the wrapping paper is next to impossible to get to and wrapping a gift involves moving the yarn, and wrestling with the sticky drawer. When you have limited mobility, this is a bitch. Trying to open that drawer has landed me on my tuckus more than once! My solution? To hang the paper, of course.
It probably doesn't look like much but the long green pockets hold rolls of wrapping paper; on the other side, I've put 2 smaller pockets for gift bags. Two of these holders now hang in my huge downstairs closet. I love a cool storage solution. I'll try to write it out at the end of this post - drop me a line if you need more clarification

Because today was the day to dig the garden, it snowed. Not a lot but enough to harden the ground and to make it impossible to wedge a shovel into the soil. ARGH! It looks like Monday will be the only day that we (actually, "I" not "we" - K the elder is working that day) will get the chance to do this... we figure that we can put the plants into heavy garbage bags and tuck them into the crawl space until we can get the new beds dug. I'm a little worried about the cold, about disturbing the roots at this sensitive time of year, about the health of these plants and shrubs. Why do I worry about my plants? They're 'only plants', right? Not to me, for whatever reason, just like my dogs or cats are not 'just dogs' or 'just cats'. The day before we were about to euthanize my beloved Ilka (her cancer had spread and she was in such pain, I cannot imagine living through) I went to work. My colleague asked why I was so withdrawn and I explained my sorrow, the loss that I saw coming and that I needed a little space so that I could make it through the day. Her response was , 'well, it's just a dog - what's the problem?' - yeah, I know... I was at a loss for words and left the room before I boxed her ears. My Ilka was not 'just a' anything, she was my companion, a 3rd child in our house and a loving member of our little family. In some respects, our long-lived garden plants have fit into a niche of sorts, too. Maybe not family members but companions, of a sort, beautiful living creatures under my stewardship. When I read articles about whether or not plants 'feel' or 'hear', I'm hard-pressed not to believe that they do. Maybe not in a human sense of being sentient but as a living organism, their own reality must have some form of experience, of feeling. But hey, who knows - maybe I'm just a nutty old lady? Get ready for me to start loading my pets into a shopping cart and roll around town, talking to myself as I dig through the garbage. If this experience doesn't push me to an extra-wacky state of mind, nothing ever will.

Back to the wrapping paper hanger!
I've overloaded this pocket, so it is saggy. Once I had made the second set of hanging pockets, I unloaded half of this stock and there is less strain on the pocket, the paper is hanging nicely and these pockets should live a long, long time.
They're very simple to make up and I should have drawn up a tutorial (and taken better photos). In a nutshell, the process is very short.
You will need:
1 metre of fabric for the body of the hanger (I used sheets that I picked up a Wally-World for $4.97 each - because of their size, they go a long way)
1 meter of fabric for your pockets
A sturdy clothes hanger
Matching thread
Paper for your pattern (I use brown parcel wrapping paper) and a sharpie or marker
A long straight edge, like a yard or metre stick
-------------------------------------------------

1. Lay out your wrapping paper (I found that I needed to hold it down with weights as it had been tightly rolled and wanted to spring back every time I rolled it out flat)

2. Take your hanger and lay it at the top of the paper, leaving enough space for a seam allowance. Trace around your hanger top, leaving an opening for the hook. I left a 3" opening and left a hem allowance so that the top was neatly (for me) finished. Continue tracing along your hanger - where the hanger curves to form the bottom rail, keep going down the sides until your pattern is as long as you need to be. At this point, I laid out my rolls of paper to see how long I needed it to be. Mine are 36" long, plus hem length. Use your straight edge to make a nice clean line all the way from the place where the hanger curves to the bottom hem, making sure that you include a minimum of 3/4" seam allowance.

3. Once your pattern is ready, hang the hanger and pin your pattern to it to make sure that it will work. Ready?

4. Lay out your main fabric, doubled and pin your pattern. Cut out your 2 main fabric pieces.

5. Time to draft your pocket patterns - measure the length of your wrapping paper rolls and the width of your main fabric pieces (minus your seam allowances). My large pocket is 26" X 16", plus seam allowances.

6. Lay out your pocket fabric, doubled (if you want 2 large pockets) or single (if you only want 1 large pocket). Cut your pocket. Press and sew top hem. Press edges under and pin to 1 piece of your main fabric. Sew, taking care to reinforce your stitching at the top of your pocket. This will ensure that your pocket survives the strain of heavy rolls of paper. Repeat the pocket application for side 2.

7. Once your pockets have been attached, take your 2 main pieces and hem the opening (where your hanger will poke through to hang your hanging pockets). It pays to reinforce this stitching with a little piece of interfacing and extra stitches.

8. Lay your 2 main pieces, right side together and pin along the top of the hanger and sides. Stitch, reinforcing your stitches along the hanger edge, where the fabric may wear against the clothes hanger.

9. Once you've finished the main stitching, turn right side out and press. Place your hanger inside and poke hanger top through. You're almost finished (mine took less than 30 minutes, including time to consider the idea and draft the pattern!. Now you need to finish the bottom hem. Turn up the hem, press and pin and stitch along the bottom. Clip your threads and hang it up! You are done!

*Ginormous sigh*

What a week it's been. I'm sorry for being AWOL but you know, it's hard to be three people - worker bee, haus frau, mischief maker extraordinaire and find time to blog. Flashie seems to be trotting along all right but I don't want to celebrate just yet. I need to see a total turn around before I'll say that we're out of the woods...

Thanks to all of you who sent us your good wishes for my little kitty-grrl. It's nice to know that all of you love your pet-kids too and understand how hard it is when they're not well. Your kindness is invaluable - thank you :)

We're entering into phase II of the big construction project and unfortunately, the builders will be destroying my front garden so that they can put in the new neighbours' foundations. Not only do I lose my little flower bed in front of the house (filled with all sorts of tulips and jonquils, just ready to pop out of the soil) , we are also losing the huge strip garden that I busted my back (and 2 shovels) to build almost 10 years ago. The ground isn't even properly thawed yet and I have to move about $2000 worth of heritage varieties of plants like irises and lilies that I have collected over the years. We also have to build a new fence to keep our dog-kids in a safe place. Nashville, the little scamp has discovered that he can jump over the snow fence by belly-flopping on it, then he tears around our busy neighbourhood, hackles raised, scaring everyone he meets. Hey, he's an 18 month old Lab puppy - he wants you to pet him not run away. I felt really bad yesterday - we were inspecting the area where the new fence will go and he decided to pull his Houdini act and tore off after our neighbour's son-in-law. The SIL decided that he was under attack and tried to get into his car but the door was locked. I'd like to say that hilarity ensued but, judging his reaction, we'll be lucky if we don't get sued. I tried to apologize but the SIL just glared at me. Nash was really sweet when he reached the guy but.... guess that introduction didn't go too well....

If only he was still this cute
We'll be working on his etiquette as soon as we finish the fence and move the garden.

Sara, who always seems to be doing something charitable - where do you find the time/energy, girl??? - asked if I'd been to any Fred shows lately and I hang my head in shame. No, no I haven't. Once again, I missed the big Texas weekend. Maybe next year... He was supposed to do a show up in Perth but we had to forgo it to take care of things around Rancho Bumbershoot. This 'being an adult' thing sucks sometimes... Fred is still near and dear to our hearts (and ears). Yesterday, I took part in a collage workshop and a fellow collager remarked that she had noticed my Fred mug - and that her respect for me had increased 'tenfold' (I assume that it is a good thing? Did she not respect me a lot before? Hmmmm). I cannot wait until the big Cobalt weekend and a weekend spent in the cool, Northern woods listening to Fred and gang (oh yeah, and drinking tequila - remember kids, it's one shot for every year of age!) Love that Fred-dude!
On a bright note, Brock is playing at Jersey's next weekend and who is accompanying him? None other than the extremely talented Dan Walsh! Love that baritone gee-tar, dude!
I was extra-super blessed this week - a crate of vintage men's sewing patterns arrived from Texas and a giant "thanks" goes out to Kim from Dioramarama. I mean, a briefs pattern?!? WTF!?! High-larious! I showed it to K the elder and asked what color he wanted. All I got from him was a strange look, and a 'um, no thanks'. At least I thought it was funny. There's a really nicely shaped tennis jacket that I think I'll make up for K the elder and Pat has already asked for a leisure suit - love the curved pockets!

I did a little thrifting and hit Goodwill on their 50% off day - found an armful of vintage sheets that are just gorgeous and are screaming "den curtains" at me. At our local thrift shop, I picked up this beat up sewing box

It's in the middle of a paint transformation (orchid and lime green, no less) so stayed tuned for updates. It'll be a great place to tuck all of my thread and needles, etc instead of the plastic storage containers that I've been collecting stuff in. Not bad for $3, eh?

That's about half of the last week of life but my arms are aching...I'll type some more later - One of my favorite DJs, Chopper MacKinnon always wraps up with "and I love you" to which I cannot help but reply, "we love you too, Chopper" - so let me steal from the man - I miss you guys "and I love you"