The small delights in life

OK confession time. And this is kind of odd. One of the things I really really enjoy is writing a sternly-worded letter to a manager or customer service representative if I think something sucks or is ridiculous. And yesterday I was able to fulfill just that delight.

I was online, looking at suites for a friend's bachelorette party and found a freaking awesome one at the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago. Of course, the suite was about a million dollars (let's agree to not tell actual amounts to protect the innocent and to keep my friends from realizing how much I was planning to spend). At any rate, I thought, "Self. Allowance goes alot farther in Indiana. You have been saving for something fun. You can cover most of the cost and the rest of the girls can chip in the same amount as if we'd gotten a more reasonably priced room. And I bet if you called the hotel, they would cut their rate. Why not give it a go?" So I did. I called the hotel, and they offered me a discount on the spot to book. Just like that, I was getting a two bedroom, lakeview suite at the Trump Tower for, let's just say, only half a million dollars.

I have fond memories of our anniversary at the Trump a couple of years ago. The bath tub was the size of our Corolla and the bathroom had a TV in the mirror. We drank champagne and watched Tommy Boy from the tub. And lo it was awsome. I was suitably stoked about securing an all out baller place to have this shindig.

Don't believe me? Check out these pictures...

Ridiculous no?

As we are wrapping up the phone conversation, the rep says, "OK, so one final thing. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of our Gathering Policy." I reply with no and she says that ONLY the six guests who are registered to the room are allowed to go up to it. That you need to sign in and have key cards and there is a security guy and the works. And the room can have a maximum of six people staying in it.

I'll stop for a minute and let that soak in. Also..... this pic below of a dining room table that seats 8. For a room that is only allowed to have 6 people in it. Because that makes sense.

ANYWAY - I tell her right then and there that we'd better just go ahead and cancel the reservation. Because while we probably will only have about 6 staying there, there was a possibility of having to squeeze in one or two more. And that we'd have more than that for the pre-dinner bachelorette festivities that included snacks and giving our friend some bachelorette gifts and playing of games. So she says ok, cancels the room and gives me a cancellation number. Bummer.

The more I think about it, the more freaking steamed I get. You pay an exorbitant fee for a great hotel room and then you can only have six people, REGISTERED GUESTS ONLY, even enter it. How weird. So I wrote this letter. I doubt I will get a reply. But it was it fun.
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From: April
To: Info@TrumpHotels.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:54 PM
Subject: Manager Question/Complaint

I tried to make a reservation for your 2 bedroom suite with a lake view (at the Chicago location) to the tune of around a half million dollars and the reservations representative asked me if I knew about your "Gathering policy." Apparently, only the 6 registered guests for the room are the only people allowed to access the room at all. As the room was for a celebration for a friend's wedding and we planned on doing gifts and snacks at the hotel prior to going out for dinner and drinks, I had no choice but to cancel.

This seems ridiculous. You charge someone a half million dollars and then treat them as if they are an 18 year old in a college dorm? I was on an academic floor in college and still had a more lenient visitation policy. Is this meant to limit property damage? If I have the means to pay for a hotel room of that amount, I would surely have the means to pay for any damage as a result of having other people in the room. Not to mention that there would be no damage. I would hazard a guess that you don't want parties on your property, but a few extra women in their thirties giving gifts to an engaged friend and eating brie certainly isn't a cause for concern. Your complete and total disregard for your guests in this policy is alarming.

I would really like to touch base with a manager on this policy. It seems completely contrary to the Trump reputation and everything it stands for. However, I was unable to find Manager information (in addition to the "Gathering Policy") published on your website.

Thanks,
April

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So anyways, am I crazy? It is offensive to charge someone out the wazoo for something and then treat them with all the leeway of a middle schooler, no? I just don't get it.

Pics are from the Trump Hotel website

Knock, knock.... is this thing on?

OK, I have been a majorly bad blogger. At least my template is fixed now. But God only knows how long it was like that! I will say that life with a little one is even more busy than I expected, and when I get a spare minute I usually want to spend it playing with Emmett or catching up around the house (which I never actually get caught up on!) or catching up on z's (another thing I never actually get caught up on!)

While Emmett is *knock on wood* a pretty good sleeper, the craptastic part of life is that YOU NEED SLEEP EVERY DAY. So even if he sleeps through the night 6/7 nights, there is that one night that he gets you up and you feel like night of the waking dead for a few days. Lately he has been much more unpredictable than that, but still. Overall it could be much worse. The other awesome thing is that he has been getting up around 5 or 5:30, which is ridiculous. Who gets up at 5? Crazy people, that's who. And babies. And then there are the days that he wakes up at 4:30. Oy. Let's just say, those days are crazy long.

I can tell you one thing that is awesome, and that is having my couch back. Those months in the rental house without my furniture took their toll, and I will never ever take my couch for granted again. This house is so big though that we're rocking things like a folding table in the dining room and a tv tray as a nightstand in the guest room. If that's not classy I don't know what is.

We're currently in the process of dealing with a few things:

• Emmett has glasses and may need eye surgery for strabismus and amblyopia. It's pretty likely he'll need at least one surgery, and it's kind of likely that he'll need two. We're heading up to Chicago at the end of March for a fun weekend topped off with a second opinion at Children's Memorial.
  
• I'm heading to India for a work trip in March, so my two dudes will be on their own for two weeks. I'm feeling a little bad for the dudes, but they'll make it through.
• Emmett was recently diagnosed with a moderate wheat allergy, so I'm learning to adapt and feed him without wheat. We're not going too nutso over it since it's a moderate allergy. Yet it's still a major adjustment. Do you know what wheat is in? EVERYTHING!
• The leasing agency found someone to take over our lease in Greenwood - SCORE! So this next payment is prorated and then we'll get our security deposit back. So really, there won't be any more paying for a rental we don't live in! Woot!
• Thinking of buying a car. Drove some this weekend and I fell in love with a Prius V. For those of you that don't know, this is basically a station wagon. But so cute! And so energey efficient! I am in love! We'll wait until I get back from India though - no use in buying a new car to let it sit in a garage for weeks right off the bat.
  

Overall we are loving our new life in Indiana! Maybe my new pink and chevron setup with inspire me to write a little bit more :)

Technical difficulties!

VID00636 a video by agstratt on Flickr.

I know, I know, the stuff is jacked up. Now I have to go find a new template and install it. Stand by!

In the meantime, check out this video of my tiny baby. My BAAAAAAAYYYYYYBEEEEEEEEEEE!! Where did he go? Now he's been replaced with a small boy who yells and bites my finger when I brush his teeth.

I miss the baby smoke monster noises. At least during the daytime.