When I visited Washington a few weeks ago, we visited Kitz Camera in Puyallup. It was great. I had to print some wedding reception photos from CDs and went on Christmas Eve. I was really pleased with the Kitz experience. The sales staff was friendly and helpful and the prices seemed relatively reasonable. I walked out with a bunch of great photos printed on matte paper (this is important, because I like it), which made great Christmas gifts for a few family members.

Since then, I've been trying to find time to get to Ritz Camera (different name, same company) here in San Diego to duplicate my CD to photo printing experience. Today, I finally made it, but I was far from pleased, and returned home today without any printed pictures.

I started out by packing up 6 CDs of both the trip to Seattle and my wedding reception photos. I have two photo albums that I want to fill with these pictures, and I needed a couple to put into frames for the 'rents. When I got to Ritz, I loaded all my photos into the machine, selected what I wanted, and took my paper printouts of what I ordered to the sales associate. I was then told that my 63 4X6 prints would be 29 cents each, but my 50 5X7 prints would be $2.99 EACH. I asked him why a 4-sqare inch increase in size was a 10 time increase in price and received the following answer, "I don't set the prices. I just work here."

Um, I know. I tried to be polite, but the guy was just an asshole. I asked if each store set their own prices, as these were higher than they were in Washington. I was rewarded with the "duh" expression and, "Every store is different."

OK. I didn't want to adjust my order as I had spent 20 minutes picking the images I wanted and I needed those prints. I live an hour away from their store, so I was promised my pictures in an hour and went on my way. I skipped a couple of more costly errands, as it now appeared that my expected $30 pictures would now be running me approximately $180, ate some lunch, and ran to the grocery store. I hustled back to pick up my prints as my groceries defrosted in the trunk of the car.

I watched the same clerk ring up my $183.97 (!!) pictures as I opened the envelope he handed to me. I only looked at the first print before I noticed a problem.

"Are these all glossy?" I asked, apparently stupidly.

"Yes," he sighed. "That's our default."

"So that's different in all your stores as well? I have to specifiy? Why didn't you ask what I wanted?"

"So you don't want them? We can reprint them but it will take another hour."

Unexpectedly, he had given me an out.

"No, I have groceries in the car and an hour drive home. I can't wait."

As pissed as I am that I don't have my photos (which I'll be printing all in the 4X6 size and on specified matte paper when I find another Ritz Camera store), I'm quite pleased that I managed to skip the most expensive photo printing EVER. I'm still mystified as to the lack of standard processing in each store. I don't have a degree in marketing, but isn't one of the big rules of retail that customers like consistency between locations?

I'm sure they immediately removed a photo of me, circled my face with red ink, and wrote "DO NOT ACCEPT ORDERS FROM THIS WOMAN!" on it.

Posted by: Ensie at 10:15 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Found a new site today, Buyblue.org.

This organization rates businesses on their political contributions. Obviously they would like people to use their site to encourage folks to buy from "blue" companies. This site also allows those who would prefer to purchase from red contributors to see who supports their cause. The site allows you to search by the name of the company or by the type of industry.

It's an interesting idea, unfortunately most people (including me) probably don't pay enough attention to religiously visit only specific stores that may (or may not) agree with me politically.

Posted by: Ensie at 10:34 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 I'd like to follow the buy blue idea, but I'm just too damn lazy. I saw that Ebay was blue though, which makes me happy.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at January 22, 2005 09:34 AM (b+zoX)

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I've applied for a job in Washington. Comence freaking out...now.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:57 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This is my public thank you to my husband, Frinklin, who spent 10 minutes at Michaels* this evening on his way home from work, waiting for me to get home to read the label to identify the type of yarn I needed to finish a scarf for a birthday present tomorrow.

Next time, I'll just buy two skeins.

*I'm no grammar expert, but shouldn't there be an apostrophe? "Michael's" instead of "Michaels"?**

**Oh crap. I bet the question mark should go within the quotes or something, further demonstrating my non-grammar expert status.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As taken as I was with the mountains near Seattle, it's days like the last couple that take my breath away. I live one hour from the ocean, and this is the view 5 minutes from my house:

All photos were taken from my car on the 5 MPH drive into work this morning. That darker blue strip in the back below the sky? That's the ocean. Although you can't make it out in the pictures, there's actually an island off the coast that you could also see quite clearly. It's amazing what's under all that pollution. more...

Posted by: Ensie at 09:55 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Another Lost rerun next week?!? We've only had two or three episodes since the last month-long stretch of reruns. ABC'c current schedule sucks.

Is Claire still pregnant? Where has she been? What happened to her? And just why didn't they go out looking for her, aside from the homicidal crazy Ethan who strung Charlie up, I mean.

How is Walt special? He reads the polar bear comic book and polar bears appear. He reads about birds in Australia and a bird flies into the window. If he was dreaming about plane crashes before they went down, well, that's a little freaky.

Black rock? What black rock? How can I be expected to remember what the hell the crazy French Woman said?

Why is Boone so obsessed with Locke all of a sudden?

When will ABC put Lost back on a consistant schedule?!?

Posted by: Ensie at 09:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Nothing scares the crap out of you like sitting in your office totally alone as you read your email when out of nowhere the theme to The Exorcist starts playing.

After I finished changing into some dry undies I found the owner of that cell phone and punched her.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I posted my resume on Monster.com today, looking for jobs in Tacoma. I'm hoping that I can stay with Bob's Hogs, however, if the right opportunity comes along with another company, I'd be willing to change jobs.

Little did I know that applying for an actual position would cause a total emotional breakdown. Apparently I haven't fully convinced myself to move yet.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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People who back into parking spaces in crowded parking lots are assholes.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:12 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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From Frinklin, but pretty much everyone has it up...

CD I have in my car that I roll up the windows to listen to:
Not that I'm ashamed, I'm proud of my Elton John, but no one wants to hear me shrieking, "B-B-B-Benny and the Jets!" at the top of my lungs.

Book I read flat so no one could see the title:
Again, I'm not bothered to read it in public but other people seem to be disturbed, so I usually keep 'em on the DL--any of the Dykes to Watch Out For titles.

Crappiest song ever sung at karaoke:
I'm a traditionalist--I Will Survive!

Bad movie I watch repeatedly:
Which bad movie won't I watch repeatedly?
The Hot Chick. Every time it's on cable I'm inexplicably transfixed by it.

Article of clothing I love though I know it's wrong:
I have a few too many tank tops in my closet. Plus there's that ill-advised "Vagitarian" shirt I bought at gay pride a few years ago. It cracks me up although I'm ashamed to wear it.

What I order at the bar when no one is listening:
Gimmie a Midori sour and keep 'em coming! Such a frou-frou drink.

Fast food item I adore:
Wendy's chicken strips are heavenly.

A TV show that is a good example of the downfall of civilization that I love anyway:
This season? Probably The Biggest Loser. Although I did sit through more than one episode of The Swan. As wrong as I know they are, I can't look away!

Posted by: Ensie at 09:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Richard at Pearly Gates so incredibly found my poorly described anti-plagiarism tool!

Check out Copyscape and enter your own site or archive pages to see if your work shows up anyplace else online.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I love Curly McDimple and her willingness to post horrific images of David Hasselhoff doing things I don't ever want to see him doing again.

You have all been warned.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sorry for the lack of information here lately, my life as most recently been absorbed by

I'm almost finished. I think I'll start a new game tonight and be EVIL.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

That would be my evil laugh.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:13 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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If I lived in Seattle currently, I would not bemoan the rain at all. I would expect it. But I live in San Diego. I pay good money to live here and have sunshine in the winter goddamnit!

I haven't seen the sun in over a week...

Posted by: Ensie at 05:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Can anyone please remind me which website allows you to find out if others have copied blog posts or parts of them? I had it at one point, but it has disappeared into the recesses of my brain and hasnÂ’t resurfaced in some time.

I would truly appreciate it.

Update: Thanks Richard, but it's not Technorati. It's another site where you enter your actual web address and it scans your content and searches out exact duplicate phrasing in other sites. It's awesome, and I I can't find it anywhere.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I've mentioned a few times that I don't really want to leave San Diego. I love it here. It's sunny most of the time, there isn't any ice on the ground at any time of the year, and my immediate family all live within a five mile radius. I'm not really a risk taker and I've lived here my entire life. I always thought I would.

However, there is the growing concern that purchasing a house in Southern California is not in my future. Between Frinklin and myself we make a pretty good living, especially when you compare it to what I used to make on my own 5 years ago. However, "a pretty good living" is almost nothing when the median house price in San Diego is over $450,000. These houses might as well be four million dollars, because we can't afford them and by the time we can, inflation will push them that much further out of our reach.

Being the rather selfish creature I am, I never really considered that I might meet and/or marry someone who wanted to move out of San Diego, for whatever reason. When Frinklin told me shortly after we met that he always saw himself moving back to the Seattle area where he grew up I snorted at him and told him, "Too bad. Hope you don't expect me to go." I firmly believed that at the time, but the combination of housing costs and his desire to return to the Pacific Northwest have pushed moving to Washington into a real possibility.

Our Christmas trip to visit my In Laws became my chance to decide if I could live "up north." Surprise, surprise--I think I might be able to. As much as I would miss my family and my life here, it is incredibly beautiful in the PNW, and I've always wanted to live somewhere with actual trees. Trees so tall (and climate so damp!) that moss grows on the roof of your house. Seattle itself was fantastic. We wandered around Capitol Hill and ate at the Space Needle. Toys In Babeland was even better than I expected, and Pike Place Market was awesome to explore. The place just smells cleaner, and the people seemed much friendlier (not to knock So. Cal, but they let you actually merge onto the freeway without having to promise your firstborn to the car next to you).

The weather, which is the thing everyone seems most concerned about considering my history of depression and love for the sun, was fantastic while we visited. We had fog (but not the thick, pea-soup stuff we have here), clouds, a couple of days of rain, and one day of totally blue sky--not a cloud visible. The temperature never rose above 50 degrees, and at night dropped to the 20s. Cold, yes, but with a jacket and a scarf, very refreshing. I figure I can drop a couple hundred bucks on a light box to combat SAD.

Unfortunately, purchasing a home within Seattle itself or in the surrounding areas where Frinklin grew up is still out of our price range. However, my Father In Law, Dan, is a Real Estate Agent, and recommended Tacoma to us. For those not familiar with Tacoma, I'm told it was a rather downtrodden, mostly a blue-collar town that reeked of burning paper products (the "Tacoma Aroma") due to the lumber mills in the area. In recent years, Tacoma has really taken on new life. The famous Stadium High School, best known as the school in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, is located in Tacoma. The downtown area is currently being revived with coffee shops and new businesses, the housing market is growing, and the city itself is working on cleaning itself up. It's located South East of Seattle, about a 20 - 30 minute drive without traffic. I have to admit, I LOVED it when I saw it.

Most importantly, and this is the best part--the houses are affordable! They're in our price range--and they aren't horrible dumpy houses. They're fantastic. It's as though they picked up whole areas of Hillcrest and Mission Hills here in San Diego and dropped them on bigger lots with year-round green grass and trees! I'm a huge fan of Craftsman style homes and they're everywhere up there!

So, now we're looking at moving to Tacoma. This is potentially the biggest decision of my life to date, after marrying Frinklin, of couse. As though we needed a push, the company Frinklin works for will be closing their California (San Diego) office on February 14th, prompting him to look for a new job. I'm trying to keep my sense of adventure open, and am searching for signs that will tell me if moving North is the next big chapter in my life.

His thoughts on Tacoma are here.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This is Maggie

She's about the cutest dog in the universe, except for my own, of course. She belong to my father in law, and wouldn't just stay still in my suitcase for the return trip to San Diego. Every morning we would wake up by pouncing on Frinklin and myself and digging at our bags until we petted her. This is one of the reasons I want to move to Seattle now. My father in law says she still looks for us every morning in the guest bedroom.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A phone call today:

Me: "Bob's Hogs, can I help you?"

She: "Yes, I'm driving down there right now. I have a letter to mail, will it be postmarked tonight?"

Me: "Um, we're a bookstore."

She: "I know!"

Me: "Ah, no, then. You would need a POST OFFICE for that. There's one across the street."

She: "Yeah. That's kinda far though. Do you have a parcel drop box?"

I really don't remember what I did to end this phone call, as this woman was obviously too stupid to live.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I was checking out my referrals and happened across "gaunt Orland Bloom." I was curious where I fell on this list (second), and clicked on the referral link. The listing above me is for Orlando Bloom Central, and I couldn't help but click the link, which led me somewhere I never like to go--fanfiction.

This particular passage was so good, I had to share it. It's written from Orlando's perspective:

"Still, that first week had been hard; a major adjustment for the both
of you. Suddenly your bathroom was filled with pink things and bottles
that contained fruity smelling elixirs.

One morning, you had stumbled into the shower and accidentally used
her grapefruit body wash as shampoo. It had wrecked havoc on your
sensitive scalp and you were tempted to shave it all off again."

Please note that the above is best read outloud with a fake british accent.

Posted by: Ensie at 11:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I'm so happy you're back!! Happy New Year! So do you think you'll move to Tacoma???

Posted by: violet at January 03, 2005 08:05 AM (BRlYP)

2 Thanks. Shhhh! That's a big secret! I'll email you shortly and tell you about it. By the way--where the hell did the comments go on your blog??

Posted by: ensie at January 03, 2005 06:51 PM (4k5pf)

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I feel like my body has been pretty well for an extended amount of time, save for one nasty cold that was oh-so-pleasant to fly with before Christmas.

Apparently, those pesky chest muscles are more sensitive than they let on. When I strained them over six months ago I gave them a good amount of time to recover. They were still hurting after a month, so I gave them lots of time to recover.

It would appear that lifting a heavy suitcase (bless you to the SeaTac Alaska Airlines worker who did NOT charge us the over 50 lb. fee on our return trip, unlike the San Diego Alask Airlines worker who sucked ass on our way out) half a year after the original injury is just enough of a work out to re-strain those very same chest muscles.

Dammit.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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