petra-b.com http://www.petra-b.com Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:20:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 pest control problems… http://www.petra-b.com/2011/07/11/pest-control-problems/ http://www.petra-b.com/2011/07/11/pest-control-problems/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:33:21 +0000 petra-b http://www.petra-b.com/?p=354 Continue reading →]]> I hate bugs.
I really hate bugs.
When we bought our new house in Natomas, the very first thing we did  (before even moving in) was hire a pest control service –  Planet Pest Control, who later became HomeTeam Pest Defense.   I only had one request and that was to get a 2 day notice prior to service.  When we first moved here we had a dog, now we have 2 dogs who need to be brought indoors.  Sometimes we aren’t in town, or we already have plans and can’t be home to let in the dogs. For the longest time, every 2 months when service is due, someone from HomeTeam would call and leave a voice mail message that they were coming out “tomorrow”.   This would be at the end of the day, and when I would try to return the call to either verify a time or reschedule because “tomorrow” didn’t always work, I wouldn’t be able to reach anyone.   I constantly told them I needed a 2 day notice so I would have an opportunity to make arrangements for my dogs or call them back.  Finally, 2 months  ago I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I told the woman that “tomorrow” wouldn’t work and that I needed a supervisor to contact me the following week and give me a 2 day notice.  I received both a voice mail and an email from the Service Manager Jesse Santos on May 2nd letting us know that service would be on May 4th (a 2 day notice – yay!).   Jesse assured me that he put “notes throughout our system”  to ensure that I get a 2 day notice always and that this would no longer be a problem.  Of course, the following day I received the “tomorrow” phone call from the lady in the office.  I just shook my head and thought I would see what would happen the next time.  On June 21st I got a phone call from the woman in the office telling me my service was “tomorrow”.   I told her to call me back the first week of July and give me a 2 day notice.  I then emailed Jesse and let him know that it happened again.  Mind you, I’ve been a customer for 11 years.  His reply…

 

“My apologies for this unfortunate mishap.  I am going to discontinue your account with HomeTeam due to the fact that WE just can’t get it right.  I thank you for the many years of service and once again I am truly sorry to inconvenience you and your family. “

 

I still hate bugs.  Today I found a new pest control company…

 

a “pit” to HomeTeam Pest Defense in Sacramento

 

]]> http://www.petra-b.com/2011/07/11/pest-control-problems/feed/ 2 vegan dilly red potato salad http://www.petra-b.com/2011/05/30/vegan-dilly-red-potato-salad/ http://www.petra-b.com/2011/05/30/vegan-dilly-red-potato-salad/#comments Tue, 31 May 2011 04:14:32 +0000 petra-b http://www.petra-b.com/?p=337 Continue reading →]]>

Vegan Dilly Red Potato Salad

I thought I would post one of my favorite vegan recipes.   Last summer, when I was “leaning” vegan, I was craving potato salad and couldn’t eat the pre-made ones in the grocery store.  So I decided to learn how to make my own.  I found this recipe (I apologize that I can’t remember where so I’m not able to give proper credit) and then tweaked it a little bit to go with my tastes.   This one calls for dill pickles, dill pickle juice and dill weed.  You really have to love dill to enjoy this recipe.   This recipe is easily doubled to take to a potluck. Enjoy!

Vegan Dilly Red Potato Salad
Print
Recipe Type: Side Dish
Who doesn’t love a good potato salad at a picnic or a bbq? This one has just the right combination of flavor, crunch and a lot of dill!
Ingredients
  • 2 1/2 – 3 lbs red potatoes – cooked and cubed
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/2 cup chopped kosher dill pickles
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 3 cloves of mashed garlic or minced
  • 1/2 tsp celery salt
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 1 Tbl dill weed
  • 1/2 cup original Vegenaise
  • 1/4 cup pickle juice
Instructions
  1. Cook the potatoes until tender, but not too well done. Drain and let cool.
  2. While the potatoes are cooling, chop, mince or mash the onions, celery, pickles, parsley and garlic.
  3. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cube them into a large bowl. Do not remove skins.
  4. Add onions, celery, pickles, parsley, garlic, celery salt, pepper, dill weed and mix thoroughly.
  5. Add the Vegenaise and pickle juice and mix in well.

 

]]> http://www.petra-b.com/2011/05/30/vegan-dilly-red-potato-salad/feed/ 1 a new post on petra-b.com! http://www.petra-b.com/2011/05/29/a-new-post-on-petra-b-com/ http://www.petra-b.com/2011/05/29/a-new-post-on-petra-b-com/#comments Mon, 30 May 2011 06:13:58 +0000 petra-b http://www.petra-b.com/?p=289 Continue reading →]]> I know it’s been a while since I started this new blog.  But I’ve been busy.  I have been learning WordPress, and originally this blog was a learning one so I could figure out enough before starting the one I was planning on doing post retirement.  Mission accomplished!  Check out my newest blog/website Natomas Arts!

So petra-b.com was neglected while I focused on the new site.  Originally the two blogs had the same theme.  Recently a whole bunch of updates happened at the same time. New versions of WordPress, new versions of several plugins, and even my theme was upgraded.  I did some searching and found out that the theme upgrade was causing some problems for some people, so I decided to do all the upgrades here first before messing with my other site.  People are actually reading Natomas Arts!  Disaster struck, the new theme had a lot of changes that were NOT backwards compatible.  I didn’t think I could fix the problems without starting over, so I decided it was time to start learning a new theme.   It’s called Weaver and is a variation of the new Twenty Ten theme.

So I’m back to learning.   It was time to update my pages anyway, so this was the kick in the pants that I needed!  All the pages have been updated and I’ve made a mid-year resolution to not neglect this site again.  The good news, is that I get to learn a new theme and play with the different plugins.  The bad news is I no longer have a test site for Natomas Arts.

]]> http://www.petra-b.com/2011/05/29/a-new-post-on-petra-b-com/feed/ 1 grandkids and dogs http://www.petra-b.com/2010/07/31/grandkids-and-dogs/ http://www.petra-b.com/2010/07/31/grandkids-and-dogs/#comments Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:36:32 +0000 petra-b http://www.petra-b.com/?p=154

jasmine & bandit at the park

’nuff said!

]]> http://www.petra-b.com/2010/07/31/grandkids-and-dogs/feed/ 0 petra-b’s personal place premier post – phew! http://www.petra-b.com/2010/07/25/petra-bs-personal-place-premier-post-phew/ http://www.petra-b.com/2010/07/25/petra-bs-personal-place-premier-post-phew/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:16:21 +0000 petra-b http://www.petra-b.com/?p=111 Continue reading →]]>

Here ye, here ye.  Introducing petra-b’s personal place! Come on in.  Right this way.  No!  No! Please don’t go.  That’s right, you’re in the right place.   Welcome!  Welcome to my new place.  I encourage you to come in and look around.  Feel free to ask questions or make comments.   Stay for a while, kick back, and relax.  Life is short, enjoy…

“What is this place?” you might ask.  Hummm, let’s see if I can answer that for you.  This place is very special to me.  It’s a lot of things.  It’s a personal website and all about me: petra-b.  It’s a place for my thoughts, my rants, my opinions, or just random stuff.   It’s a place to share my passions, post my photos, give props or pits.   And there’s more even.   After years of having, and for the most part ignoring, a personal website, I thought it was about time to update it.  I am retiring (or am retired, depending on when you read this) and I really wanted to do a better personal website.  Plus, I also wanted to join the blogging world finally and learn some actual blogging software for future not so personal blogs/websites.  I figured, what better time to convert petra-b.com from HTML web pages, to a WordPress blog. 

So that’s yet another thing this place is, a place for me to learn and practice WordPress.  I’m pretty excited about it actually.  I’ve recently joined a WordPress meetup group and am on my way to learning more and more about WordPress and what it can do.  This is some powerful sh*t. Seriously!  So far (with help from my husband and ipower tech support) I’ve got WordPress downloaded and installed with a database, a FREE WordPress theme in which we’ve done some basic customizing, some plug-ins and some widgets.   I know, seems like a lot of technical geeky stuff and I’ve barely touched the surface of what WordPress can do.   I have so much to learn.  This is just the ticket for this newly retired (COBOL) computer programmer.

So I hope I’ve done an okay job explaining what this place is.  Maybe you’ll find it interesting enough to come back once in a while and visit.  We’ll learn some new things, for sure share some laughs, and maybe even a recipe or two.  This is a place to leave my mark…

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