The New Windows are HERE

The New Windows are FINALLY HERE!  The factory was/is really backed up because of the TAX CREDIT!  The windows were installed this week. 

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My van

I did not wake up this morning thinking that I would be posting something like this tonight.

I posted recently that I still miss my old van. 
Well, today I took care of that problem.  I bought the same van again.    This one is a 2002, whereas the previous was a 2000.  There are just a few difference between the two. First of all, the color.  This one has adjustable pedals.  It has  a power sliding door on the driver’s side.  The TV monitor hangs from the ceiling, instead of down low on the console.
Other than that, they are basically the same, as far as I could tell this evening.  As I was negotiating with the salesperson, I reminded myself that this was EXACTLY what I was looking for.  The same van as I had before.  This was it.  I found it.  I should just buy it.  And I did.

I think I did a decent job of negotiating too.    With help from Bill, of course.  I paid less than Kelly Blue Book & Edmunds.com values.  AND they are fixing couple of little thing AND we get free oil changes for the next year.  If I’d had some of my “expert” used car shoppers with me, maybe I could have done better, but I’m satisfied with it.

Here’s the link. I get to pick it up early next week, once they fix a couple of things.  I may have it before I get the Nissan back!  We’ll see.

“Church the Way it Used to Be”

I’ve been dying to write a post on this ever since I saw the sign outside of a large protestant church which sits to the right on my way to Mary, Queen.  The message sign out front said, “Church the Way it Used to Be.”  This cracked me up!  If you really want to go to church the way it used to be, you need to go a few blocks up the road.

I don’t have time this morning to go into everything I think about this.  Just suffice it to say that what Jesus said in John Chapter 6, he meant.  Literally.  This message board church probably takes everything else in the Bible “literally.”  Except that.
(Let me add a quick note here- YES, I have been to that church.  We actually went there for a little while weeks during our “apatheist”* years.)

John Chapter 6.  The early Christians believed that.   Of course, you will see in John Chapter 6, many followers of Jesus left him because of this teaching.

^“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

Just a few verses later, we seek folks walking away from this “difficult teaching.”

A message to the message board church, the early Christians believed John 6 to mean what it says.  Christians have believed this ever since that time as well, although some have broken away from the Church over this.  The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, even believed in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  SO- if you want to have church the way it used to be, turn back to the Mass.  Turn back to Jesus in the Eucharist.

*Apatheist = Apathy + Theology+ ist

Hit and Run by a Police Officer

To save time in typing the story to many people, I thought I’d just post it here.

Yes, the title says what it says and it true.  I was hit by a police office and he didn’t bother to stop!!

I was headed to the zoo this past Monday.  As you may recall, our last attempt at a zoo trip ended in a roll-over van accident before we even made it to Louisville.  So, all along the way there and back this week, I was praying for Mary & the Angels to watch over us.  We made it there and back with no trouble!   We had a nice day at the zoo.  The weather was great!

We got home about 5:00 or so late afternoon.  I had a women’s meeting at church at 7:00pm.  I was headed over there around 6:45pm.  We live just 2 miles up the main road from church.  I got to the church parking lot and was turning in when, suddenly, my hubcap and front headlight go flying off into the air.  WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?

I was on a two lane road.  One in bound lane.  One outbound lane.  There was a two-car NON-INJURY accident a few blocks from where I was.  It was in the outbound lane, so there were NO CARS coming from that direction.  Since there were no cars coming, the coast was clear, so I started turning into the parking lot.
As I begin my turn, the officer who was, apparently, called to the non-injury accident comes whizzing down the outbound lane (going in the WRONG direction) with NO SIREN.
He hits me and keeps on going to the other accident scene.  Does he come back around to acknowledge the fact that, perhaps, he hit me?  Does he come over to see if I’m ok?  Nope.

I did pull into the parking lot, because, as I said, I was already turning and the way he hit me (which was kinda a side-swipe), didn’t throw me off course at all.  I park the car and sit there for a moment.  What just happened?!?  I wait and look to see if this guy is walking across the church/school parking lot from the other scene, but he’s not.  I get out of my car to see what was hit.  And then I look to see if this guy is walking across the church/school parking lot from the other scene, but he is not.
One of my friends who was going to the same meeting, saw the whole thing.  She came over and had about the same reaction as I did.  I picked up my hubcap out of the church driveway.  I trudge across the church/school parking lot (because he still hadn’t bothered) with the hubcap.  I don’t remember what I said.  Possibly something like, “uh…Hi…” and he quickly replied, “I called someone to take care of it.”
Wait a minute.  He does NOT even acknowledge that HE was also involved!! Nope.  I tell you the truth.  Luckily, during this very brief encounter, I catch a glimpse of his name on his badge.  I will leave that unmentioned to protect the not-so-innocent.

So, I trudge back across the church/school parking lot.   My friend gets the headlight out of the street.  And we wait.  I dig around in my glovebox for the right papers and such.  Actually, I may have even done that before taking the guy my hubcap.  I don’t remember.

The other officers show up to take report.  A supervisor has to come out because it involved one of their guys.  I ended up walking back across the parking lot to give them my current insurance card, cause all I could find initally was the old one!  When I did this, I was able to get a quick glimpse of the cruiser in question.  The only damage I could really see was scraped paint.  Maybe he thought, “It only scraped my paint.  Even though her headlight and hubcap flew off, maybe it only scraped her paint, too.”  ACK!

We’ll call the guy who hit me “Officer A.”  We’ll call the officer who showed up to take report on my accident “Officer B.”  We’ll call the supervisor “Officer C.”  We’ll call the OTHER officer who arrived “Officer D.”

B shows up and takes the typical information- drivers license, insurance, what happened, etc.  C shows up and asks more detailed information about what happened.  Thankfully, I had an eyewitness there to verify all that I said.  They took her name and information.  Officer D came over and took pictures, since it was A who hit me.  C says that I should probably contact my insurance cause he didn’t know when the city would get around to looking into it.

Bill came.  He drove the car around the parking lot to make sure it would be safe enough for me to get home after my meeting.  As he was coming back around, he stopped by A’s car and suggested that the guy come talk to me.  He was quickly brushed off and A rolled up his car window and went back to whatever he was doing.  Bill drove the car back over to where we were.  We watched as A started pulling away from where he was.  Kinda curious as to if he would come over and say SOMETHING.  Nope.  He drove off without even looking our way.

I have a meeting set up downtown with someone to file a formal complaint.

I did end up going to my meeting.  Needless to say, I was quite mad and had little to contribute to the group this week.  The ladies lifted up prayers for the situation.

I did call my insurance company that evening.  It was kinda a funny conversation because I had virtually no information about the guy.  He was not very cooperative.  If I could have seen the insurance representative, I may have seen her shaking her head in disbelief while filling out the required forms.  I did get a laugh out of her at the question, “What color was the other vehicle?”  “It was white with POLICE written on the side.”

Our insurance company sent out an appraiser to survey the damage.  Before she really got started, we had a great conversation about homeschooling and I provided her with lots of information about getting started.    Maybe developing a relationship of sorts with her before hand encouraged her to be “kinder” with the assessment.
Turned out that the car is “borderline totaled.”    That stinks!

Once we heard from the other insurance company, they came up with the same assessment, “borderline totaled.”

I had it towed to a company that advertises in the Crossroads (Diocese Newspaper), Boots Auto Body.  The insurance lady said that she’s taken her car there before too.

They called me this afternoon and confirmed that, yes indeed, it is very, very close to being totalled.  He asked if I really minded all of the scratches.  Heck, no!  I can take a few scratches if it saves the car!!

I got my rental car today.  Enterprise tried really hard to take my money anyway- upgrading, adding insurance, etc.  I said, “No way.  I’m not paying a penny for this stuff!”
It’s a Chevy Colbalt.  Blah.  Not my favorite car.  I’m not going to be tempted to ditch my other one for this one.  At least I have wheels now.  I don’t always drive a lot, but it is nice to have it there, just in case.

Well, I think those are all of the big details.   Fun times.

Short post

It’s amazing to learn what the Catholic Church teaches.  I hear the phrase “the fullness of the faith” a lot. 

Example usage, certain protestant denominations have a lot of things “right.”   However, they lack the fullness of the faith, found only in the Catholic Church, by deciding to ignore the teachings that have been around since the beginning of Christianity.  (see John Chapter 6)

Tumbling Down a Hill Can Change Your Life

If you’ve followed my blogs, facebook page, life in general for the past year, you may remember that on October 10, 2009, the girls and I tumbled down a hill off of I64 in our Ford Windstar.  No one was physically injured, except my van. 

Back then, I don’t think I would have anticipated the loss that I often feel for my van.  It makes me very sad.  I replay the event over in my head and there is never a point where I can say, “Hey, if I had done this or that differently, it would all be ok.”  Other than checking tires before we headed out on the interstate, there was really nothing I could have done other than keep my head on straight, as I did.

There was nothing I could do about it then.  There is nothing I can do about it now.

I am still mourning my loss.  When we’ve been presented with opportunities to buy cars from friends and family, I relive all of that and desire to only ever buy a Ford.  Of course, folks aren’t offering Fords to me.    Specifically, I’m looking for a 2000 Ford Windstar with leather interior and quad seating.  I would like a VCR with flip up screen.  A CD player is a must.  I would also like heated mirrors. And so on.  I just want my van back.  I haven’t run across one yet that is just like it.  I see many on the streets that are the same color as ours.  It makes me sad…to the point of tears.  No joke.  Over a stupid van.  I pray that none of you readers will ever have to experience this.

I haven’t even wanted to visit the Zoo since then.  We usually end up going to the Louisville Zoo multiple times a year with my sister who lives there.  (yes, in the zoo,  hahaha)  When we have headed to Louisville, I haven’t driven.  When we get close to the county line, I look of to the side to see if I can figure out exactly where we tumbled.  I’m never successful.

No one warned me about the emotional aftereffects of this.

Another thing that has been coming up recently is the matter of booster seats.  My girls will be legally allowed to ride in the back of a car without a booster seat before too long.  Our backseat is a little cozy with the two booster seats back there!  But, after our little tumble, I’m not too anxious to let them out of the seats for anything more than neighborhood driving!

One of the first questions the emergency folks asked me at the time of the wreck was, “Were you wearing your seat belt?”  Duh.  I was still in my seat.  I was not dead.  I was not even hurt.  Was I wearing my seatbelt?  You decide.  Then they would ask about the girls.  We were applauded by the emergency folks for having them in boosters.  I am very thankful that they were.  We know that they were helpful.  I can hardly imagine what the scene would have been like if we hadn’t been in our seatbelts properly!

Back to More Insightful Posts

Thank goodness the window decision was made!  Now I can go back to posting more interesting and insightful blogs!

Window Shopping – The Final Post -The Windows Have Been Ordered

YAY!  I FINALLY ordered the new windows today!!  I ended up going with the high-end Gilkey window.  It happens to be the same window that we put into our old house.  Ok, not the EXACT SAME window.  We are leaving those in the old house.  Might get kinda drafty if we took out the windows.

I ordered the G10 system: Triple Pane, Low E, Krypton.  Look at the NRFC numbers and you’ll see why!

When I talked to Bill about it, and we realized that this is what we got in the last house, I decided that this was certainly the way to go.  We have no complaints from before, and I hope to be able to say the same thing in the future.

I’m glad I shopped around a bit, but next time, I won’t bother.  We have two windows that we aren’t replacing until we decide what we are doing with our back room.  When the time comes, I’m just calling Gilkey.

The sad thing about this is the waiting time.  The government is giving the $1,500 tax credit for qualifying windows.  Because of this, lots and lots of people are interested in buying windows right now.  The factory is overwhelmed and it may take longer than usual to get the windows.   Chances are, we won’t be able to enjoy their benefits this summer.  Oh well.

John says that the G10 window typically ends up saving enough energy cost to “pay for itself” in 3-5 years.  I’ll take it.

BTW- The State of KY is giving a $250 tax credit for windows.  Come April, I’ll be benefiting from the windows!  $1,750.

And so this sage draws to a close for the moment.  Glad the window shopping is over!

Window Shopping Part 6 – Decision Time (part 2)

This is it folks.  I’m going to make a decision!  ACK!  I saw one last window salesperson at my house today.  You know, I seriously would have only had to call the guy we worked with on our old house.  I think I’m working with him again.    Why, oh why, did I torment myself and waste countless hours on my computer researching windows!?!?  Gilkey has a fantastic window!  Gilkey has a very competitive price!  Gilkey has great people!  Why did I bother with everyone else?

When I was “interviewing” window folks a few years ago, I had decided that we would have gone with Gilkey if we had actually done the project.

I’ve looked at the numbers.  I’ve looked at “before & after” pictures of my old house.  I’ve compared all sorts of different features in a window.  Gilkey wins.  There was, indeed, close competition.  I won’t deny that.  But I always kept coming back to Gilkey.

So, congratulations, Gilkey!  You win!

Now, I have to tell Bill the decision and not change my mind in the next couple of hours!!!   The only things to consider now are grids and glass choices.  *whew*

Window Shopping – Part 5 – Decision time (part 1)

Yes,  I need to start making a decision.  Start?  No.  I need to DO IT.  I’m asking for any help out there.  If you have experience with any of these brands, let me know!  At the moment, I am leaning toward choosing a company to work with based on the window, not the sales people!!  I have liked most of the sales people, but the one I didn’t like has a great window.  One of my favorite salesman had a stinky window. 
Below you will find links to the windows that I have seen. There is also a poll about which brand to choose. Please feel free to vote and give me any comments that would be helpful! Thank you.

Alside
Gilkey
Renewal by Andersen
Pella
Gorell
Infinity by Marvin
Rogers (local brand)