My mom was recently diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and her doctors told her that a vegetarian diet low in salt could significantly help her symptoms. I was skeptical at first but after doing a little internet research I decided it wasn't such an outlandish suggestion.
My mom dove headfirst into it however. She started by reading a book by Alicia Silverstone called "The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet." Out of cautious support, I downloaded the book too. Ms. Silverstone says that meals should be built around grains, like quinoa and barley and rice. She also talked alot about stuff I've never heard of, like seitan, umeboshi, shoyu, nori, and daikon. And kale.
My mom has so far lost seven pounds trying to be vegan and lowering her salt intake. Which is really what inspired me more. My weight fluctuates up and down by ten to twelve pounds year round and right now I'm at the high end. We are planning another trip to Hawaii next year as well as a wedding in Newport in May and I would like to look as hot as a 36 year old can look. Right?
I've tried a couple things, like introducing edamame into my diet, as well as soy yogurt, quinoa with curry, lots of oatmeal...It's actually surprisingly easy to eat vegetarian. I even made baked kale chips the other night.
But kale? Is horrible. Completely and utterly horrible. If you thought brussels sprouts smelled like fart, you have not smelled baked kale. I've done some research and it seems like there really isn't much you can do with kale, other than bake it or put into an omelette. Presumably the egg drowns out the kale taste. BLECH
Anyway, I went about three days without meat, and I have to say I felt pretty good. I did not feel bloated and I felt like my blood sugar remained relatively constant. But Saturday I broke down and had some tuna, and then a chicken enchilada for dinner. Which was delicious.
I am collecting recipes for vegetarian dishes though. What's your favorite?
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Dear Best Buy Reward Zone: You suck.
Best Buy Reward Zone Program
PO BOX 949
Minneapolis, MN 55440-0949
December 3, 2011
Dear Sir or Madam,
In September 2011, I bought kitchen appliances from Best Buy. The total purchase price was around $2700. The customer service representative who worked with me signed me up for the Best Buy rewards program, where for every $250 a customer spent they would in turn receive $5 certificates to be used towards future Best Buy purchases. By my calculations, I should have received close to $50 in certificates.
The appliances were delivered a few weeks later; however, at delivery we realized that the gas range we had purchased would not work in our kitchen as there was no gas line. We returned the range and purchased an electric range later that day. I mentioned that my reward zone points hadn't appeared to one of the customer service reps and was assured that the points would eventually show up.
In the meantime, the second stove was delivered a few weeks after that. It appeared with a large dent in the side. I sent it back to the store and a few weeks after that, a third range, in perfect condition, was installed in my kitchen.
I periodically checked my reward zone account and the points did not show up. There was even an option where you could submit a pin number that would track and add your missing points, which I did multiple times. The points did not show up. I went into the store several times to speak with service reps and the points did not show up. I was told to keep waiting. I sent two emails to the reward zone customer service. Each time I received a form stating that the reward zone people knew there were technical difficulties and that they were working on the problems.
On November 20th,I made yet another trip into the store and got someone in customer service to call the Reward Zone department. She was on hold for 40 minutes but was finally able to get through to someone. She explained the problem. I was informed that someone would call me with an explanation. A few days later, Tuesday November 22, someone did contact me but they left a message on my phone so I called the number back (it was the Reward Zone number). I called customer service at the reward zone myself and finally someone told me I actually had two accounts and that the accounts would have to be merged. This person also found that a $35 certificate had already been awarded to me but it had been used to purchase a laptop computer online. I had made no such purchase. It appeared someone had stolen points out of my account.
I went online to view the second account and activate it and then I called customer service back. I got a second representative and informed him of the whole problem AGAIN and explained that someone had stolen my points and he assured me that my accounts would be merged in 7 - 10 days and that he would alert the fraud department and try to track down my points.
Today is December 3. My accounts were still not merged so I made another phone call to the Reward Zone customer service number. I got a woman named Marie who was fairly helpful. I explained to her the problems, she quickly merged my accounts and added my points up. I was still missing points. She looked over my purchases, we went through the return and the new purchase of the stove. I told her a few times I had spent over $2500 and by my calculations I should have $50 in certificates. Finally, she saw
the $35 certificate that had been issued. Again I explained that I had not used or been issued the certificate, and further stated that another service rep had told me it had been used for another purchase. During her research, Marie found a fraud and wrote up a statement to the fraud department.
Suddenly she realized we had been on the phone for 41 minutes and that she had to wrap up the phone call. She gave me my points (FINALLY) and pushed me off the phone as fast as she could.
The question is, am I satisfied?
NO. I AM NOT SATISFIED AT ALL. If it hadn't been for my perseverance over the past three months, I would have completely lost those points I fought so hard to recover, points that were lost THROUGH NO FAULT OF MY OWN. I have spoken to at least four different customer service agents on the phone, submitted pin numbers from receipts numerous times, as well as sent two emails, AND went into the original store three times to get this taken care of. How much time have I spent trying to get this taken care of? A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT. All to get something that already belonged to me! Not to mention the fact that I helped your company uncover A FRAUD. How many accounts got hacked? How many service reps associated with Best Buy have passed the buck?
This is terrible customer service. I have spent over $3000 at your company over the past 12 months, including the purchase of the kitchen appliances. I have also bought an LG soundbar and I bought a Samsung netbook in March. I can’t believe this is the way your company treats customers. I can assure you that in the future Best Buy will be the last store I consider for purchases.
Sincerely
PO BOX 949
Minneapolis, MN 55440-0949
December 3, 2011
Dear Sir or Madam,
In September 2011, I bought kitchen appliances from Best Buy. The total purchase price was around $2700. The customer service representative who worked with me signed me up for the Best Buy rewards program, where for every $250 a customer spent they would in turn receive $5 certificates to be used towards future Best Buy purchases. By my calculations, I should have received close to $50 in certificates.
The appliances were delivered a few weeks later; however, at delivery we realized that the gas range we had purchased would not work in our kitchen as there was no gas line. We returned the range and purchased an electric range later that day. I mentioned that my reward zone points hadn't appeared to one of the customer service reps and was assured that the points would eventually show up.
In the meantime, the second stove was delivered a few weeks after that. It appeared with a large dent in the side. I sent it back to the store and a few weeks after that, a third range, in perfect condition, was installed in my kitchen.
I periodically checked my reward zone account and the points did not show up. There was even an option where you could submit a pin number that would track and add your missing points, which I did multiple times. The points did not show up. I went into the store several times to speak with service reps and the points did not show up. I was told to keep waiting. I sent two emails to the reward zone customer service. Each time I received a form stating that the reward zone people knew there were technical difficulties and that they were working on the problems.
On November 20th,I made yet another trip into the store and got someone in customer service to call the Reward Zone department. She was on hold for 40 minutes but was finally able to get through to someone. She explained the problem. I was informed that someone would call me with an explanation. A few days later, Tuesday November 22, someone did contact me but they left a message on my phone so I called the number back (it was the Reward Zone number). I called customer service at the reward zone myself and finally someone told me I actually had two accounts and that the accounts would have to be merged. This person also found that a $35 certificate had already been awarded to me but it had been used to purchase a laptop computer online. I had made no such purchase. It appeared someone had stolen points out of my account.
I went online to view the second account and activate it and then I called customer service back. I got a second representative and informed him of the whole problem AGAIN and explained that someone had stolen my points and he assured me that my accounts would be merged in 7 - 10 days and that he would alert the fraud department and try to track down my points.
Today is December 3. My accounts were still not merged so I made another phone call to the Reward Zone customer service number. I got a woman named Marie who was fairly helpful. I explained to her the problems, she quickly merged my accounts and added my points up. I was still missing points. She looked over my purchases, we went through the return and the new purchase of the stove. I told her a few times I had spent over $2500 and by my calculations I should have $50 in certificates. Finally, she saw
the $35 certificate that had been issued. Again I explained that I had not used or been issued the certificate, and further stated that another service rep had told me it had been used for another purchase. During her research, Marie found a fraud and wrote up a statement to the fraud department.
Suddenly she realized we had been on the phone for 41 minutes and that she had to wrap up the phone call. She gave me my points (FINALLY) and pushed me off the phone as fast as she could.
The question is, am I satisfied?
NO. I AM NOT SATISFIED AT ALL. If it hadn't been for my perseverance over the past three months, I would have completely lost those points I fought so hard to recover, points that were lost THROUGH NO FAULT OF MY OWN. I have spoken to at least four different customer service agents on the phone, submitted pin numbers from receipts numerous times, as well as sent two emails, AND went into the original store three times to get this taken care of. How much time have I spent trying to get this taken care of? A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT. All to get something that already belonged to me! Not to mention the fact that I helped your company uncover A FRAUD. How many accounts got hacked? How many service reps associated with Best Buy have passed the buck?
This is terrible customer service. I have spent over $3000 at your company over the past 12 months, including the purchase of the kitchen appliances. I have also bought an LG soundbar and I bought a Samsung netbook in March. I can’t believe this is the way your company treats customers. I can assure you that in the future Best Buy will be the last store I consider for purchases.
Sincerely
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