Starving Students: The Best Move You've Ever Had (NOT!)

This blog is mainly about Noah and his antics but tonight I feel it necessary to use this blog as a tool to exact revenge against Starving Students Movers. I realize that there are maybe 10-15 faithful readers of my blog, but if I can protect them from this company I will have done my job.

We hired Starving Students Movers about a month ago to handle the move into our new house. They're licensed and bonded, and a friend from work had used to them when she moved and had a good experience. Dan made the reservation with them and then called to confirm with them earlier in the week. We had arranged for them come Saturday morning and move the furniture from the old house to the new house. Simple, right?

We signed all the papers yesterday for the house and our realtor called at 3:45 p.m. to tell us that the papers had been filed with the county, the house was legally ours, and to come get the key. At 3:50 p.m. the phone rings and it is Starving Students Movers. They picked this moment to inform Dan that they needed to cancel our move because they didn't have enough staff for the weekend and the earliest they could reschedule us would be sometime next week. Mind you, we've taken three days off from work for the move and we have to be out of this house May 31. Rescheduling was not an option. So I got on the phone and asked to speak with a manager. I explained the situation and asked what they were going to do to help rectify the situation since they were canceling on us with 36 hours notice on a holiday weekend because they could not efficiently managing their staffing. The jerk told me that it wasn't his problem, it was my problem. I asked if he could recommend another company and he gave me the name of some guy who only accepts cash and check (that's not happening). I told him that I would be reporting him to the Better Business Bureau and he said, "you and about 30 other people." Then I hung up. Asshole.

The good news is that I while I was fuming Dan opened the Yellow Pages and with one call managing to find a company willing to do our move (yes they are licensed and bonded). Whether they show up on time is another story but it's better than nothing. And while Dan was on the phone I was emailing my complaint to the BBB. The moral of this story. . . . Starving Students deserves to starve and they will not be getting their pizza and beer money from us.

Hell Hath No Fury Like A Noah Scorned

The past week has been completely crazy but a lot of fun at the same time. We went to Denver last weekend to see my sister and Noah was great from the moment we left until we got home. This is the first time we have flown with him since he was 8 weeks old and if you do didn't know better you would have thought he was a frequent flier. We talked, looked out the window, and looked at books. Dan on the other hand does not travel as well as Noah. He had to purchase Direct TV on the plane because the Cavs/Wizards game was apparently the only way to keep him entertained.

While we were in Denver we went to the Aquarium, walked around downtown, shopped and just relaxed together. We also went to the Denver Children's Museum. Noah was completely disinterested most of the exhibits except for the indoor kids basketball court (where he practiced shooting) and the fire engine. Noah got to "drive" the engine and push the button for the siren. Pretty cool. We also went to ESPN Zone for dinner Saturday night so we could watch game seven of the Suns/Laker series. Dan and Noah loved the fact that we had our own TV screen at the table and we tried to teach Noah to boo whenever Kobe Bryant on the screen. Except my sister said this was a bad idea because people in Colorado are sensitive about the Kobe-rape thing. Either way it was fun.

We also learned that Noah is developing his assertiveness. Right now he has four sentences: "doggie no," "go away doggie," "doggie no," and "Do-wah bye-bye." My sister brought her dog (a bull terrier) the hotel and he Noah and the dog were playing. The dog knocked Noah down and Noah bumped his head on the coffee table. I was holding him and he was crying hysterically. All of a sudden Noah stopped crying, turned his head, pointed his finger at the dog, and yelled "no!" And the dog, Dan, Karie, and I just stood there in awe. Noah wasn't hurt, he was pissed.

In other news, this week I was invited to Noah's class for a Mother's Day Brunch. It was very sweet. The kids had bagels and cream cheese, and pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles. Noah played on the slide and then rushed to the front of the room during the motzi so he could be in front of the class and at the head of the food line. He then proceeded to eat absolutely everything in site. It was messy, but a lot of fun and I'd like to think he had fun with me there too. I thought he looked particularly handsome in his official Israel Football League (soccer) shirt!

Enjoy the pictures!

Pictures of our new house

Here are pictures of the new house and we close on May 25th. Though excited about the house I am starting to get nervous about the fact that we have not started packing yet.

This is the front. Except right now the grass is starting to turn brown because in Arizona there is winter grass and summer grass, and I guess in Arizona summer grass turns brown in the summer. And the for sale sign is still up but they have added a signed that says "sale pending." The remaining pictures are: the kitchen and formal living room, the formal living room, and the kitchen.