Hello everyone, and welcome aboard the Jungle Cruise. My name is Mom, and I’ll be your skipper, guide, social director and educational instructor for the next three months and 18 years.
Knock, knock… Who’s there? Safari… Safari Who? Safari, so good. Let’s get this cruise started. (Yes, folks, I did grow up in So. Cal. And I spent numerous minutes traversing the treacherous (humor) on the wild waters Jungle Cruise loop at Disneyland.) Continue reading
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As full-fledged members of the Silicon Valley, Jon and I have numerous cameras. Our iPhones take quick clicks and we each have a decent point and shoot. But neither cell phones nor point and shoots do fabulous things for more focused or specific targets. Given how active the twins are currently – I am betting they’re not going to be the type to sit still for photo ops. (They already hate the ultrasound sessions.)
So we took the plunge. Jon ordered a Nikon D3000 SLR camera. Neither of us has any experience with operating such “fancy” cameras. But, since the world has ordered the boys to remain baking for several more months, we will thankfully take that extra time to figure it out.
The first step in this practice process requires obtaining said camera. In addition to the camera, we ordered an extra zoom lens and a memory card capable of processing multiple pictures quicker with a faster shutter speed. (Don’t I sound like I know what I’m talking about?) Problem – we got a note saying the zoom lens was backordered and they’d ship everything together.
Jon undertook the task of trying to contact customer support. Please enjoy the transcript below. (Names have been changed to protect the customer service culprit until they really annoy me.)
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Please wait while we find an agent to assist you…
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You have been connected to [CUSTOMERSERVICE1].
[CUSTOMERSERVICE2] has entered the session.
[CUSTOMERSERVICE1 has left the session.
CS2: Hello Jon. Welcome to [CAMERASTORE]. I will be glad to assist you.
Jon: Hello?
CS2: May I have the order number?
Jon: Yes, 1234567
CS2: Thank you for providing the order number.
Jon: When i ordered i did not know it was going to be backordered
CS2: Please stay online while I check the order.
Jon: i’m wondering how long the backorder is?
CS2: Thank you for staying online.
CS2: The Nikon 55-200mm lens is currently on backorder.
CS2: The Nikon D3000 and 18-55mm lens are in stock.
CS2: We are expecting the lens to be back in stock at the earliest.
Jon: Yes i saw that, but i also saw that you won’t ship one without the other
Jon: When?
CS2: I can make necessary changes to the order so that the in-stock items are shipped at the earliest and the backordered lens will be shipped once it is back in stock.
Jon: excellent that’d be great
CS2: Shall I go ahead and make the necessary changes to ship the in-stock item first?
Jon: yes please do, when do you expect the lens to be in stock?
CS2: We expect the lens to be back in stock in the next week.
Jon: ok great, as long as there won’t be an extra shipping charge, i’d like to get the camera ASAP and then ship the lens when it becomes available
CS2: The 8GB memory card has already been shipped on 5/05/10.
Jon: ok
CS2: The other items will be shipped shortly.
Jon: Meaning the camera will likely go out tomorrow and the lens sometime next week?
CS2: Would you like to purchase one of our Expanded Service Policy (ESP)?
CS2: We offer 1-year ESP and 2-year ESP plans.
Jon: no thank you
CS2: Yes, the in-stock items will be shipped tomorrow.
CS2: I can offer 50% discount on the Expanded Service Policy (ESP).
CS2: The ESP will provide your camera with coverage from almost every possible occurrence (except fire and theft) while you are using it.
Jon: no i’m good without it, but thank you.
CS2: You are welcome.
CS2: Would you like to purchase a camera bag or lens filter for the Nikon D3000 camera?
Jon: No, no more purchases I just wanted to get the shipping issue resolved
CS2: Is there anything else that I may assist you with?
Jon: No, you’ve been very helpful, thank you
CS2: You are welcome.
Jon: Good bye
CS2: Thank you for visiting [CAMERASTORE]. Please feel free to contact us for further assistance.
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Anyone else curious if we’ll get the camera before the boys start little league?
Apparently the Double Trouble blog is suffering from a lack of photos. Unlike the April Fool’s tabloid madlib (which was great fun), we actually did have a personal paparazza on our shopping excursion. As mentioned previously, Grandma Nancy (or Meemaw Nancy if preferred) joined us on our baby stuff getting adventure – camera firmly in hand.
A sampling of the madness:
Entering Lullaby Lane and taking in all the merchandise options.
Inspecting and checking out the gliders.
Jon also enjoyed testing the rocking chairs.
Debating crib selection and double (and triple) checking pricing and safety stats.
It was a very long day. I believe Jon is multi-tasking here: looking for food, playing a game, researching the new Nerf shooter capacity and plotting how to best use said capabilities on the dogs.
Two of everything, remember?
Car seats are ready to roll. (Granted not currently properly installed.)
More photos are promised as more photo-worthy things happen.
Happy Easter! To celebrate spring and new life, we went shopping. Seven hours, 100 miles up, down and across the Bay Area. There are approximately 894 gajillion options/suggestions on stuff babies need. I think we looked at all of them.
Naturally, I have used the past several weeks obsessively researching and compulsively organizing lists of what we would need. I pestered all the mama’s I know about their experiences, I highlighted key recommendations in Baby Bargain and Consumer Reports books, I asked the Internet thousands of questions and noted all contradictions. I set out equipped with notes, books, spreadsheets, notebook and pen; I felt ready.
Our goal for the weekend was to procure the “big stuff.” Furniture and important gear like car seats. Furniture often takes up to 12 weeks to arrive, you can’t leave the hospital without car seats (who knows when the boys plan to make their debut) and more importantly – I still fit in the stores to look at the merchandise.
Our adventure expedition included me and the boys (naturally), my mom (Grandma Janet), my mother-in-law (Grandma Nancy), and Dad (my very brave husband).
First we headed up to Lullaby Lane in San Bruno, CA. It’s ranked as one of the best baby stores in the U.S.; it takes up three city blocks. Directly upon entering, I encountered the books. I was quickly dragged away. Jon laughed at me and Grandma Janet reminded me, “You can look at all these later . . .” Oh yeah. We were there to look at furniture. (I will return to the fun subject of baby books in a future post.)
I wandered among the cribs, checking model types against my rankings. Jon shared his opinion on style – noting we needed to remember that these “lifestyle cribs” will also be serving pre-teen and teenage boys. Grandma Nancy remained in awe, constantly repeating that babies were on their way. She followed us around taking pictures to document the occasion.
We decided upon our nursery theme: it’s a jungle. I figure this fits – two boys on their way and a room already decorated with a mural of trees and sky inhabited by a tiger. View the adorableness that is Coco Tails.
Example of the boys bedding (not our nursery).
Next we headed down the peninsula to Direct Buy to find bargains. Success! Grandma Janet bought the babies (and their likely very tired mother) a glider. She also surprised us with two additional Coco Tails minky blankets. No, I don’t know what a minky is either – but the blanket is adorable.
Food was absolutely necessary at this point as each of the above paragraphs took about an hour each to achieve. Nobody would share where they wanted to go, so I picked P.F. Changs Chinese food. The expedition crew didn’t seem thrilled about this, but everyone was hungry and I don’t think anyone had a better idea – or at least didn’t want to argue with the hungry pregnant lady. I tell you our lunch saga only to share the fortune’s Jon and I received in our cookies:
Tricia’s: “Good things come in small packages. Yours is coming!”
Jon’s: “Welcome the change coming soon into your life.”
Refreshed, reinvigorated and re-motivated, we steeled ourselves and entered Babies R Us. This is the scariest store known to mankind. 1) The one near our house in Sunnyvale, CA is haunted. (I am not making this up: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/toysrus.asp.) 2) Everything has several brands and they try to sell you everything. 3) The salespeople are unhelpful and clueless.
The vast majority of their cribs received had an F ranking in my books and notes. One of the floor models was actually falling apart in plain view. Jon took this opportunity to wander over to the attached Toys R Us to investigate the new generation of automatic Nerf guns (now with 35 ball capacity!) Still a successful outing – we purchased two infant car seats. Ah, are you now remembering that we have to buy two of everything? Fun!
As it was now 4:15 p.m. PT, we made a break to escape from the haunted overwhelming toy store and dash over to Babyland – a baby furniture store that has been a fixture in not-the-greatest-area San Jose. (It is located directly next to the “world famous Pink Poodle,” San Jose’s strip club.)
Babyland may well indeed carry every single baby crib option ever made. Even more than the three city blocks worth in Lullaby Lane! We found our crib(s). Jon plans to return this week to pick them up. Already!
The dogs have already thoroughly sniffed and investigated the assembled car seat (yes, Jon put it together already), which is currently protecting the safety of a very fuzzy bunny Great-Grandma Winnie sent for the Easter holiday. And frighteningly not that much smaller than a newborn.
There is now a baby registry in existence. I’m still not sure if we’re missing anything or actually need everything on it. I guess the twins will let us know when the time comes.
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