That I have never applied with any company to be a franchise operator for their store/restaurant. Not that there is anything wrong with being a franchise store/restaurant at all. It's just that lately, in my area at least, we've had a lot of franchises close down their locations. Village Inn did it (granted they went bankrupt), Linens & Things did it (granted they went bankrupt), Hatch Furniture closed their store here, and there are franchises we have here in town that could go as well such as Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant, Starbucks, and more. These are places that the news sites and financial sites have been saying are headed into more store closings this year. I'd hate to think what would happen if I'd had one of them.
However, there are some I'd be more than willing to get into, such as McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's. We have several McD's, several Burger Kings, and several Wendy's restaurants and not a single one of them shows any signs of possibly closing up shop. It's good to know that if I were looking for a franchise, there are still a few that would be available to me. :)
So the other day, I checked my mail and found my tax refund check in my mailbox. This was a complete surprise to me, as the IRS had stated that the earliest my check would go out would be on Feb. 27, and here it arrived on Feb. 23. Interesting. So after a bit of a hassle, (did you know that Wal-Mart's Money Center can only cash ONE check per person per week, neither did I and neither did Wal-Mart), I finally got my check cashed and managed to procure something I needed. No, I did not purchase anything like Berkline theater seating. :) I purchased a laptop outright. I had a laptop that I was renting from a rent-to-own place. I had two months left to pay on it when I got sick. Now I spoke with them, let them know what was going on, and they said it was cool.
Then all of a sudden they're blowing up my cell phone and sending me letters demanding their merchandise back. This after they'd said that it would be all right for me to pay them a large payment on March 6, when I get paid again. Go figure. So I said forget it and instead of paying them their payment (which I found out they wouldn't have accepted anyways) I went out and bought myself a laptop. A cheaper and better laptop than the one I got from them. Now it's just getting them to get the picture that I can't have them pick up the stuff when I'm at work! *rolls eyes*
The other day, a friend of mine at work turned to me, and I swear, she asked me "What are ball lock pins?" I had to tell her, honestly, I don't know! LOL I have no idea why she asked me that or what she was going for when she asked me. I really don't. I just about died laughing at that point. It was just so funny and out of the blue. :)
Another out of the blue question I keep getting asked is if I have any kids. The problem is, the people asking are people who have asked me before. The answer is always the same, only the ones that have four feet and fur on them. Other than that, I have no kids. LOL It's just weird the way people keep asking me odd questions out of the blue or asking me things I've already told them the answers to.
NASCAR season that is. Speed Weeks at Daytona ended last weekend, this weekend was the first Fontana race of the season, and all in all, I think this is gonna be a great season. Tony Stewart is doing well in his first year as an owner/driver, although Ryan Newman isn't doing so hot. The boy needs some GOOD luck because right now, if it weren't for bad luck, he'd have no luck at all! :/
Although things like rv camping aren't my favorite things on the planet to do, I'd love, and I do mean love, to be able to go to one of the races and stay there at the track in an RV like a lot of fans do. It'd save on hotel costs, restaurant costs, etc, because I'd have my lodging and my food right there with me. Maybe someday I'll get to do it. :) Just not right now. LOL
I've been sick. I've been off work. I'll get you the rent as soon as I get it. It's not that freakin' big of a deal. You know I was sick. You know I've been out of work due to it. Yeesh. I've almost got your money, so chill the hell out! It's not like I'm going to book any Orlando vacations with the money! I'm just going to pay my rent, then when I get paid on the March 6, I'll pay my rent again. Why is it so hard to understand, especially when I already freakin' TOLD YOU what was going on!
Please excuse my rant. I'm practicing for when I blast my landlord tomorrow for being a complete and utter moron. :) In any case, bff's dad has gone home, I'm still suffering from cough, sinus pressure, and sore throat, and the doctor is, as usual, less than helpful. His idea? Give me a script for Nasonex and send me on my way. Yeah, that's helpful. Not. *sigh* At least I can talk and I'm back at work now. So if you have AT&T cell phone and you call customer service, you might just get me. Be kind. ;)
My bff's dad is doing much better now, he's awake, he's pointing to things he wants, he knows who everyone is, and he's possibly getting rid of the ventilator tomorrow. :) Awesome!
My friends took me to Walmart to pick up a prescription for some steriod pills that I'm supposed to take to get my voice back. While I was there, I wandered about for a few minutes and happened to end up in the diet aid aisle. I hadn't realized that Slimquick Cleanse was available at Walmart. That was the one diet aid that I liked the look of, and I think the commercials are funny. But in any case, it is one of the few diet aids I would consider using. I just like the look of it. I might try it out once I get my taxes back and can afford it.
I am currently sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. My best friend's dad was found by the nursing home staff yesterday morning with a high temp and unresponsive. While he is now awake and they feel they may be able to take him off the ventilator tomorrow, we're still hanging out up here.
We're in for the long haul - we have money for vending machines, laptops for the free WiFi, and MP3 players for listening to music. The only problem I'm having is that my laptop is eating battery power like made and I've only been on the battery power for a little over an hour. *sigh* I'm not happy right now. My laptop isn't that old, it should have a much better battery life than this.
I'm hoping that it's because I'm using too may computer resources and not because the battery is a piece of junk. *sigh*
You know, there's one thing that my friend S and I get into arguments about. When she and her husband had their business, they used to receive a lot of samples for promotional products. They got pens, business cards, flyers, t-shirts, coffee mugs, lanyards, you name it, they probably got it. All of it was, of course, designed to get them to buy the items. But S and her hubby kept saying they didn't have any need of it.
Oh yeah? Then how come S and hubby's company ended up going under less than a year after they paid all the money and filed all the papers for their business license, etc? Because they never used any form of advertising. None. They didn't even take an ad out in the newspaper. Then they whined and cried because their business venture never took off. *sigh* I told them to get stuff. :/ Did they listen? No. Oh well, maybe next time they'll listen. Oh that's right, they can't. They filed bankruptcy a couple years ago. Maybe they should have listened to me after all.
