A lot of you are wondering whatever happened with my audition. Well, he called one night and said that he would allow me to sing even though he hadn't heard me still and he scheduled me for July 12. Last Sunday I sang "Guide Me to Thee" from the Sabbath Song II book. I was so nervous. I don't have a natural vibrato, but I'm sure some people thought I might because I was shaking so much. I definitely thought I could do better, but it was a lot better than it would have been if I hadn't had voice lessons this last year. Anyway, people said I did well, so I guess I did ok. I always wonder though if they are just being nice. I mean, I didn't hear anything from the ward music chairman!
Bryson (my voice teacher) left this last week to move to Provo and get married. I am really sad. I was really liking taking voice lessons. At our last lesson we sang through a lot of the songs that I have sung this last year. It was awesome to end the lesson on the song I first learned and realize just how much I have improved. I really didn't notice how much my singing has improved, I mean, I definitely feel more confident in singing, especially some of the higher notes, but when I sang that song, it was so easy! I remember how much I struggled with getting all the notes and now I just belted them all out. Of course there was still room for improvement, oh but it was so fun to feel so confident in it! I will definitely miss my lessons. I am really glad I did this for me and I hope I am at least a little closer to Tom liking my singing!
Update: The music chairman came up to me this Sunday and thanked me for my musical number.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Savings win!
This post is the conclusion to the Anderson Washer and Dryer Saga of 2009. Part 1 and Part 2 were posted previously if you haven't read them already.
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After being told by the salesman at Lowe's that the best they could do was essentially to match Home Depot's price I noticed that US Appliance had renewed their $100 off coupon code for GE Appliances, which was convenient since we had our eye on a GE washer/dryer pair.
We had pretty much decided to go with US Appliance, but I figured I had come this far in asking for good deals, so why stop now? I called Home Depot, without much hope, and explained that I had found a MUCH lower price online and asked if they would they be willing to match it. The "Appliances" manager didn't even hesitate to say "Yes." With the caveat that Home Depot would charge tax where US Appliance does not. But Home Depot has free installation, unlike US Appliance. The 2 pretty much offset, and we ended up getting the washer and dryer we wanted for $113 less than the Home Depot sale price which was already 10% off their regular price! I definitely smiled because I was saving even more!
When I went to Home Depot I was preparing for them to look at me like I was some sort of criminal for ripping them off so badly, but both the Appliances manager and the employee who completed my purchase were very friendly and did not make me feel awkward at all! Home Depot customer service WIN! The washer and dryer were delivered today. Needless to say, we are very excited about our new acquisitions, even if it means we don't
Meet "Launderette" and "Gus!"
Our laundry room doesn't look like much, but we're pretty excited to actually be able to do laundry again! (this might be the only time in my life I'm excited to do laundry!) As I mentioned earlier they are made by GE. "Launderette" is a 4.0 cubic foot capacity washer and "Gus" is a 7.0 cubic foot capacity gas dryer.1 They were rated very highly by Consumer Reports for washing efficiency, energy efficiency and water efficiency. The only downside is the washer shakes the floor pretty badly during the spin cycle (which was the one mark against the washer at Consumer Reports). I think we can live with that. Hopefully they'll save us $$ on our energy bills!
1 Sometimes when we stay up way too late we end up watching "According to Jim" on Fox, not really because we like it, but because it is on. Last night on the episode Jim created a doll that flatulates that he called "Gassy Gus". How timely!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Savings fail?
Dave Ramsey is really big on paying cash for things, and he often talks about getting a better deal on things when paying cash since the store gets the cash up front, doesn't pay overhead to credit card companies, etc.
So we are shopping for a new washer and dryer and I thought it would be a good time to try Dave's approach. We have shopped very carefully using Consumer Reports, comparing store prices to those online, etc.
Yesterday we withdrew a substantial amount of cash from the ATM (no Bank of America branch here) and went into Lowe's to get our selected washer and dryer. We informed the salesman of our intent and showed him a price we had found online at US Appliance and asked whether they could match it. The answer was no. The manager quoted us the bottom line price, which was still $123 more than US Appliance. So we left. (Don't get me wrong, the Lowe's price was still a decent deal.)
This morning I awoke to discover that the US Appliance deal had expired, so I went to Lowe's and approached the manager. I told him I had the cash to buy our selected washer and dryer (patting the fat envelope on the counter) and asked if he could knock a little more off the price quoted the night before. He replied, "I'm not going to give you a discount just because you're paying cash." He seemed amused/annoyed that I was even asking. I said, "Even though you will have to pay 3%-5% if I pay with my credit card?" He said, "I don't care about that." I said, "OK" and walked out of the store while he apologized. He can let the money walk out the door - it's not my problem (turns out the US Appliance deal is back on again anyway, so we'll likely do that).
In essence, this is what I heard from the manager, "I know that you are going to save me money by paying with cash, but I am not willing to pass any of those savings on to you." OK, well that's fine but I'm still going to buy the appliances at the cheaper place. I definitely wasn't expecting him to say, "Oh, sure I'll cut 10% off the price." But even a small discount for me would be awesome and would go a long way toward me being a repeat customer, and I would tell everyone how awesome Lowe's is. But now I'm instead telling you how much I dislike them. Oh well.
As I've thought about it, I've come to see it two ways.
Reasons he should offer a slight discount to me:
1. He's saving 3%-5%
2. The company immediately gets the cash assets, as opposed to a monthly payment
3. Better for me to spend my money there than elsewhere
However, there are some good reasons why he didn't give me the deal
1. He's the manager, and my purchase doesn't affect his paycheck.
2. Most people who shop for washers and dryers NEED them - it's not often a whimsical purchase. So he knows there's a good chance I'll be back to pay his reasonable price.
3. "The establishment" makes it difficult for them to make "exceptions" for individual customers.
4. In the case of a washer and dryer, he knew that no one else in town had a lower price on those models (Home Depot was the same price). If it were a custom job, like counter tops or carpet, he isn't as confident that he's the lowest in town and may be more likely to give me a better price.
So what do you think? Is it crazy to think I might get a discount on a large purchase just for paying cash? Is the Lowe's manager dumb to turn me away? Or is this a case of "Dave Ramsey fail?" Or is it just not the right situation to apply Dave's cash tactic? Should the system reward financing purchases while offering no advantage to those willing to pay cash?
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Side note: The large ATM withdrawal prompted a freeze on our debit card, email notification of suspicious activity, and multiple phone calls from Bank of America (within hours of the withdrawal). Score one for them for customer protection!! The irony is, I went and deposited the money back in our local bank account. Too funny.
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