The Search is Over

Last night we signed up for our new windows.
Before I get started do you guys hate the Events taking up the top of the homepage? It is kind of annoying to scroll down to my new posts but I wanted to make sure you would see them and consider going on our adventures. I’m thinking Monday I’ll let them go and you will just have to find the link on the right side of the page.

In Other News. Yesterday was a pretty wild day so I’m going to start from the beginning but go quick. I got up at 6am hurried to get ready and get to work. I tossed a post up here, packed some equipment then hopped in a Ford Focus rental and rode to Jefferson City. The ride was a little rough as it was early and we had to stop for coffee and stuff and the rental car had no cruise control but it did have a governor so when the car reached 75mph it would start beeping and you could not go over 80mph. The speed limit was 70 and we were stuck going right about that.We got to the MO Capital building at about 10:30 and headed to the governor’s office. We went into his conference room and started setting up. I immediately touched base with the capital IT service and tried to get our 2 laptops and our unit that sends audio to the station on the internet. Usually this takes a minute and then I help set up the microphones and clocks and other equipment. This time we could not get online.

Governor, Jay Nixon and the show host came in and we all shook hands but kept working on the problem.

Moments before air we tried our wireless sprint connection and we could connect to the station but at a low quality. We were out of time so went live on it. It sounded bad and there were drop outs and 10 minutes into the show we lost our connection. The station played some music and we tried out the internet connection again but still could not connect so went back to sprint. It was ok but low quality till 30 minutes in when we took our break and the Governor interview was over.
Durring the break I unplugged some of the capital’s equipment and plugged in our own. Immediately everything was fixed and we connected with good high quality sound. The second half of the show went great and 4 senators were interviewed.

At the end of the show we found out we had 5 minutes till a meeting was taking place in the conference room and we had to be gone. So we quickly broke down everything and packed it up and got out of there. It was a bummer the first interview had gone bad and we learned not to trust any equipment but our own.

So we got some lunch and drove back to KC. I got back to the station and 4 and took care of a few things then went to get Pumpkin. We got home and I changed out of my fancy capitol clothes and the doorbell rang. I put on a shirt and jeans and answered it. Our window guy was early and Heath was late.

Iz and I showed him around the house and he measured and looked over all our windows and wrote lots down on some notebook paper. Then he brought in his sample and computer and everything and got set up. Then we called Heath and she was getting close. I put Pumpkin in the jumper and she kept an eye on us while bouncing.

Once she arrived we went over the company and how they work and then the window and it was clear pretty early that this window was a little bit nicer then the other vinyl windows we had seen. It had a little nicer look, had better locks, and more insulation but otherwise was very similar. These windows came with a lifetime transferable warranty from the manufacturer and a lifetime transferable labor warranty from them.  His heat lamp demo was a little better then the previous salesmen. He had readings on a meter of how much heat was getting through and showed us like 4 different kinds of glass and how well they keep heat in/out. Pumpkin was getting fussy so Heath fed her then laid her in bed while the salesman worked on the numbers.

Then he worked up a price and it was close to twice what the other guys wanted. He had warned us early on that these were better windows then the $189 deals and he would be higher. Then he did some salesmen tactics that I really hate. He dropped the price a bunch if we signed up tonight. No thinking it over or sleeping on it allowed. I was ready to send him away but Heath really liked the windows and did not mind this trickery as much as I did. We talked to the guy a bit about the EPA lead laws and he did appear to know more about this then the other guys. He even had taken all the certifications for it and kept the lead test in the car with him. So we tested for lead in 4 places and 3 of them showed up positive. This would make everyone else estimates go up by $50-$80 per window. But it would make the Energy Pro estimate go up by $250. He was really pressuring us for an answer and we explained there was no way we would decide without talking it over. So he went out to his car and Heath and I got out the other quotes and the calculator and started hitting buttons and doing some figuring.

Our top 3 choices were Window World, Sunshine, and Energy Pro. EP’s price came with lead treatment/protection full size screens and wrap around all the outside frames. WW and S were cheaper but didn’t come with any of that stuff so we added them in and they all the prices were within a few 100 bucks. I was still on the fence because of the now or never tactic but I could not argue with windows we liked better a business we trusted a little more and the excitement of being done window shopping.

We called the guy back in and went over a list of questions we had all the answers were good and we had him fill us out a contract. We signed and he left. A guy will come next week to take precious measurements and then in 4 weeks we will have new windows and lead free sills.

We found Pumpkin still awake so Heath fed her again and I started making dinner. Then we had a celebration glass of wine.

I browned sausage and boiled noodles and then mixed them in a bowl with cream cheese onions green peppers mushrooms spaghetti sauce and cheese. I got it all mixed up good then stuck it in the toaster oven and we headed to Lowe’s.
We returned our first light and got a new one that we believe will look better from the top of the stairs and our own home lead test. 

We have 3 days to do some investigating on our window purchase before we can cancel so we are going to make sure his lead tests were good and try to find any dirt on them.

After Lowe’s we went to Walmart for a handful of things then rushed home. We cooked up some broccoli and garlic bread and then ate.
Pumpkin was ready to crawl and climb so played around on the floor while we ate and watched tv.Oh yeah and I never showed you the noodle we screwed to the ottoman to protect it from Pumpkin’s head.

The food was good and we mixed up a few drinks and talked about windows for a bit more. We got Pumpkin in bed and watched a few more shows and ended up staying awake a little late but we were too excited for an early night.

 

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