Carpet Replacement Epic Fail

About two weeks ago a small note was attached to the clipboard next to our front door which explained that Wymount was planning on replacing all of the carpet in apartments within our quad. At first I told myself that I didn't want them to come and then I convinced myself it would be okay since Holly and Jack were out of town as long as the process did not require me to disassemble my crib and treadmill that are in a back bedroom. Both of them had to be put together inside of the room because they were too big to fit through the door.

It took a few back and forth phone calls with Wymount to organize the best possible day, which turned out to be yesterday. I had to work all day because Roxy is gone for the week, so I was out of the apartment by 8:00am and after work went over to Shyla and Russell's house for dinner and games, so I did not return home until 10:30pm.

From the discussions with Wymount I was lead to believe that because I had emptied the entire apartment onto the balcony or into closets so the only thing on the carpet when I left was the bed, couch, crib, and treadmill that the crew would have more than enough time to finish the entire apartment in one day because I would be gone and nothing would be in their way.

Clearly I was mistaken.

When I got home late last night I arrived to an apartment with every single light on in the house. Added to that as I got to the top of the stairs I noticed that both the front door and balcony door had been left wide open and unlocked whenever the crew had left for the day. Walking inside I noticed new carpet in the living room, nursery, and living room closet, but no carpet, not even the old carpet, in the bedroom or storage closet/office. The floor had been stripped down entirely to the concrete base.

Furthermore, my bed was piled in a corner of the living room on its end with several pieces of furniture I had put on the balcony piled up to the ceiling in front of it (I still don't know how that happened) and my couch had been put on end in the kitchen with other things piled behind, effectively blocking me from reaching any food, dishes, or cleaning supplies.

By this time I was livid. I really needed to be able to move things back into the apartment from the balcony when I got home because I had certain things that needed to be done the next day. But no, it gets worse. While inspecting the mess I noticed at least four or five used razor blades littering the carpet throughout the apartment. If Jack were home and not in California he easily could have discovered one of those and sliced his hands up something fierce.

Wait for it... it gets even better.

After taking everything in I decided it might be worth it to try and find somewhere else to sleep for the night. I didn't have the energy or the time really to move furniture to somewhere else to make room for the bed or to empty the kitchen so I could get to my food. So, I tried calling Shyla and Russell back, but I'm pretty sure they went to bed immediately after I left. Shawn Saunders was unreachable as well, and all my friends in the ward are out of town on internships.

So, I tried getting online, but wait, my computer had dead batteries. No big deal right? Just plug it in and see what I can do. Yeah... there isn't a single outlet in my apartment that works right now. None, nada, zilch. The only electricity that works is the overhead lighting. No air conditioner, no microwave (even if I had been able to reach it), and I'm willing to bet I'm going to need to check the refrigerator for spoiled food because it likely lost power for about 24 hours as well.

All in all, a nightmare. I wound up pulling a few blankets from the top of our closet and sleeping in a corner of the nursery, and this morning at 8:00am I went over to the Wymount office before work and after listing off my complaints told them that if the power and carpet were not fixed before I get home today they will be giving me a credit for my July rent when it comes due in one week.

I don't know if they got the message or not, but they said it would be fixed by 5:00pm when I get home. We'll see if that is really the case, and if not I might have to pull a Dad or something, we'll see.

BYU Removes ESPN from Cable Package

I haven't posted about this development for a week or so because I am quite irate about the very thought of it. Here at BYU the campus cable package is severely lacking, as in so lacking it probably should never be referred to as an actual cable package, but the one thing it did have was ESPN to provide sports coverage whenever I wanted it.

The entire time I've been in married student housing I've settled for this knowing that as long as I could get highlights and news from ESPN I could consider myself lucky and move along with life.

Then not long ago I got the following message from BYU:

With the industry changes in television from an analog to a digital signal, changes are being made to our Campus Television service. A new contract for digital content has been negotiated and will take effect May 1, 2009.

The CBS College Sports network will be added to the line-up. The network carries Mountain West Conference athletic events and will allow students and employees to access additional BYU games from campus locations.

All other currently offered channels will continue to be available with the exception of ESPN. The cost of the ESPN package alone is now more than all of our other content combined, and this expense could not be justified. ESPN will no longer be provided as part of our television content beginning May 1st.

Yep, my ESPN channel disappears in two days. I'm not happy about it, not happy at all. Sure, a lot of the stuff can be found on the ESPN website, but most of the video coverage cannot, especially not my favorite one, Top 10 Plays of each day.

Sometimes BYU is run by unintelligent people. Sometimes.

Really? Can You Seriously Not Tell Where the Turn Lane is Located?

Yes, I'm sorry everyone, but there seem to be a proliferation of drivers suffering from idiocy in the Provo area. See, I ride my scooter back and forth to campus every day now, and so I take the same route on a regular basis. Interestingly enough, when riding a scooter, you find out all sorts of interesting stuff about the drivers of the four-wheeled variety.

Take for instance, the following example:

A week or so ago I was on University Parkway at the corner where it intersects Canyon Road. I was three or four cars back in line at the red light, and at the front of the line was one of the BYU mail trucks. As I had approached the intersection I had passed a multitude of bikes, perhaps 6 or 7 who were riding along in the bike lane to the right hand side of the road. They were minding their own business, doing their own thing. You wouldn't think this to be a problem would you?

Well, with the light glowing red, these bike riders obviously stopped at the intersection and waited for the light change. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but common sense says the fact they remained in the bike lane means they were doing the right thing, but here is where it gets interesting.

A car in front of me decided that they wanted to turn right, so, rather than wait for the light to turn green (as they should have), they took it upon themselves to squeeze their car in behind the bike riders and next to the mail truck. In the bike lane, yes, that's right, they pulled their car into the bike lane thinking they were going to make their turn much faster. How unfortunate for them to do so and then realize the bikes that were patiently waiting for the light instead.

But wait, the story gets better!

The car behind me driven by some rich kid accompanied by his girlfriend then pulled around me (I had my right turn signal on and was in the proper location), and got into line behind the other idiot trying to turn right. He then proceeded to lean out the window of his car and scream at the bike riders: "Get out of the way you stupid bikes!"

Yes, he really was that stupid, and therefore my natural tendency to make idiots feel like the fools that they are required me to respond with "You do realize you aren't even in a turn lane right? You are sitting in the middle of the bike lane."

His response to me was "Who cares, they are in my way."

I gave him a blank stare as his girlfriend then grabbed his arm and yelled at him "What the hell are you doing in the bike lane? Are you a moron!?"

Oh sweet justice! His face turned red and he slid down in his seat while she continued to berate him further. Idiocy at its best, plain and simple.