So Many Targets, So Little Time

Yeah.

Update on the Ireland VAT scam.  I finally got an email back from the bastards at FeXco with their Horizon Card thing.  They said they never got my first email and they're sending me a new .pdf form.  I imagine the former is false; I know the latter is as I still don't have the form.  The jerk who wrote me also said that:  (1) It wouldn't have mattered if she got my first email (of 11/24), because they charged my account on 11/28, so I never could've gotten the form back on time; (2) If they get the form back late, they'll reverse the charges; and (3) She's out of the office until December 14.  Interesting.  This means that the charge on my credit card was NOT from the other Tax Free refund place, but from them.  In response to her email, I: (a) forwarded my first email of 11/24; (b) pointed out that, since she can only charge me 60 days after I left the EU, her charge on 11/28 was totally without legal basis (even if they had sent me the form, which they hadn't); (c) demanded that she send the damn .pdf; and (d) called my bank to dispute the charge.  That last took about an hour and a half on the phone (Capital One is not tops in customer service) and that amount of time is probably not worth the $16.45, but I'm fighting this one totally on principle now.

The next target of my wrath is the contractor who installed the whole recirculation pump system, as things have gone from bad to laughable there.  I now have a shiny new indoor/outdoor circulation pump (with timer).  For the low, low price of about $700 installed.  I'm not using it, however.  When we plugged it in and cranked it up, we did not get hot water as fast as we should.  The new plumber did some research and discovered something interesting.  When you turn on the hot water faucet in the guest bathroom, you don't get hot water.  Even if you get hot water out of every other faucet in the house -- no hot water here.  BUT, when you turn off the circulation pump system, THEN you get hot water.  Conclusion:  The genius contractor who set up the circulation pump, has the COLD water line going back into it (at this faucet) rather than the hot.  This is why it takes so long to get hot water normally -- it's fighting the cold that keeps getting fed back into the system.  Other Conclusion:  There is a hole in my guest bathroom wall in future.  OTHER Conclusion:  There is another nasty letter, a complaint to the licensing board, a report to the better business bureau, and possibly a small claims lawsuit in the future of my idiot contractor.

I'm so pissed at both of these people, I actually had trouble getting to sleep last night.  (Which might bode well for idiot contractor -- as I'm more likely to just let it go than cause myself the added stress that full litigation would bring.)

On the bright side, I have a shiny new row of bricks in my driveway where the trip hazard used to be; I put "Pokey" out by the curb ("Pokey" is the name I've given to my plywood cartoon reindeer playing the fiddle.  Everyone on my street has a plywood cartoon reindeer playing some sort of instrument, and yesterday was the start of our Annual Holiday Light-Up, so we all got our members of the reindeer band out in front of our homes and aimed lights at them); and my friend came over and helped string holiday lights along my roof line.  This year, we put up three additional strands (covering the garage and a tree, as well as the front of the house) -- I'm really starting to see how easy it is go bigger and bigger every year.  I'm not at the Giant Inflatable Santa stage or anything, but I understand how you can get there.