We then drove down to the bay where Jamie's dad lives. While in the bay, we were fortunate enough to be able to make it to Camp Yahoo!. We had a BLAST! There were too many activies to list here. Jamie and I are going to try and take our yearly Cali vacation so we can hit up Camp Yahoo! every year.

After a few days in the bay we headed back home. We made sure to leave at sunrise so we could hit up Crater Lake on the way home. Jamie and I were sure glad that we did make it to Crater Lake because it is absolutely gorgeous. The water is so blue and the scenery is breathtaking. We definitely plan to head back before the end of the summer for a camping trip.

Hopefully we can make the trip during Labor Day weekend which Jamie and I now have open. We are selling our Dave Matthews Band tickets for that weekend as we are now going to Hawaii. Jamie has never been to Hawaii and is extremely excited. Our good friends, Crystal and Jason are going with us, which absolutely ROCKS! We are going 10/3-10/7 and the flights are very desireable. We will have 5 full days and 4 nights. We cannot wait!

This is Kaena Point and we will definitely be traveling there.

Waikiki Beach.. where the hotel is. Diamond Head in the background and will be hiking up there for sure.

The vacation pics can be seen here:

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157601148008540/

Lately I have been extremely busy at work. I just finished my first big project as supervisor. I restructured my entire team and the leads and I really feel that this was needed and will help us all out. After the dust settles, we will definitely be taking some time as a team to have fun together. It has been a stressful past few weeks and I TRULY appreciate the team's patience with me and the changes I have implemented. This is a short term pain.. for a long term gain. As we head into Q3, my entire team has such an opportunity to make great strides and I am positive that we will. Q3 Baby!

Jamie, the kids and I have a fun couple of weeks coming up! This Sunday is the Yahoo! Customer Care Summer Picnic. We all go to the Oregon Zoo and have a very nice catered lunch and cold beer. The kids have a BLAST at the Zoo and having all of my fellow Yahoos there with their kids, just makes for a fun day. Wednesday, the fam and I are heading to Cali. We will spending a few days with Jamie's grandparents at their ranch near Sacramento. Then we head to the bay where will be spending a couple of days with her dad. Hopefully I will be getting the Yahoo! luxury box for Friday's San Fransisco Giants game. We are all really looking forward to watching the game.. especially from the box. By coincidence, the main Yahoo! Summer Picnic, Camp Yahoo!, will be that same weekend. I was going to take the fam to headquarters, but Camp Yahoo! will surely be more eventful. This vacation is definitely needed. I don't remember the last time I took more than 2 days off. (of course I will have my laptop and will be staying up-to-date on happenings). Jamie's van is broke down so we are renting a car. When we get back.. I am taking it to a shop, having it fixed then selling it.

We are moving the last week of August. My sisters family and my family are going to be living in a pretty big house together. This will allow us to save thousands of dollars on rent. Once we have a nice amount saved, we will be buying a house. Short term pain.. long term gain.

Jamie and I are headed to our yearly Dave Matthews Band 3 day trip to the Gorge over Labor Day weekend. We are really looking forward to the time alone. It helps to have a few days without the kids. While we DO miss them dearly (we tear up at night), it helps Jamie and I to really just hang out and talk for a few days. We wake up leisurely, eat breakfast over looking the river, we have a peaceful afternoon and then finish the day with a Dave show. 3 days of this in a row, does the soul good.

Well.. I talked everyone's ears off.. so that's all for now folks!

P.S. We had pics of us with each member.. somehow the pics with Richard and Benj didn't make it.

Jamie, Marc Roberge (Lead Singer) and Me!

Chris Culos (Drummer) and Jamie!

O.A.R. Head of Securty and Me!

Memorial Day weekend my bros and I will be heading to the Sasquatch Music Festival at its usual venue.. the Gorge Amphitheater. The Gorge is my #1 spot when it comes to live concerts.

We will only be attending on Sunday as I wasn't too impressed with Saturday's lineup. Sundays headliner is the main reason we will be attending. The Beastie Boys! We are camping at the Gorge the entire weekend. I am really looking forward to leaving the laptop at home and hangin with the guys for a weekend. This trip is long over due.

The next show will be 6/23 at the Roseland Theater in Portland. My wife and I will be going to see O.A.R. and will hopefully be able to meet and hang with the guys. As most people know, my wife won a contest sponsored by O.A.R. for her charitable work. I am hoping they will let us at least let us do a meet and greet.

My wife will be going to see Gwen Stefani at the White River Amphitheater with a bunch of her friends... but I am not fan and therefore will end the talk about this show now.

The highlight of the summer will be seeing Dave Matthews Band @ the Gorge Amphitheater on Labor Day weekend. This is my wife's and my yearly anniversary present / vacation for each other. We will be attending all 3 days and camping the entire time. It will surely be a BLAST... it always is.

Partying Nights

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306627078/

River Days

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306618263/

Dave Matthews Band Show @ the Gorge

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306640588/

Karley's 3rd Birthday

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306634622/

Kid Fun

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306636039/

2006 Buddy Walk

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306645749/

Gig Harbor

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306642466/

Portland Beavers Game

http://flickr.com/photos/burchs/sets/72157594306636816/

I have never have dealt with surch a horrible and insulting company before. Their customer service has much work to do if they hope to be a lasting company. I had AT&T Callvantage VOIP for quite a while. I loved them. I never once had a problem with my device, their customer service or my VOIP service. I will be switching back to AT&T very shortly as you will read...

Many months ago, us Yahoos were advised we could enjoy a $5 a month discount off Vonage service. All it said was if you had service or signed up for service you could call Vonage and advise them you were a Yahoo! employee, and they would give you the discount. Well my buddy Eriq sent me a referral so he could get 2 months free. So I signed up with Vonage. This is one of the biggest mistakes of my life. After calling every other week for 2 months, each time being told they would set up the Yahoo! discount, I FINALLY got the discount. This is because I finally got a manager on the phone who knew what the heck he was doing. However, he said he would have to charge Eriq the 2 months they had credited him. This was their 2nd way of showing me how horrible they are. The 1st way being the 2 months and 4 calls it took to set up a discount.

Well, about a month ago, my VOIP box quit working all of a sudden. I was dreading having to call Vonage again... UGH. So I called, they said they would send me a new device, because mine was only like 3 months old, and that I would get it within 2 business days. Well, 5 days later, no device. So I had to call them again. UGH. They said the order had been canceled by the agent that requested it. There were NO notes as to why he did it. So, they sent me a new device. I got it 2 days later. I installed it and put the old one in the box the new one came in. I realized they did not send me any return labels. So I had to call again. UGH. They said they do not send return labels and that customers must pay out of pocket to ship it back. I was very astonished as most companies that mail you a replacement of their product cell phones, internet ordered items, phone ordered items, etc..), also send return labels. I told the lady that they needed to ship me labels as I surely wasn't going to pay to ship back a defective device. She said someone would call me back. Well, noone called. So I just left it as is.

The other day I was checking my bank account online and noticed a charge. Vonage had charged me $110 for the freakin thing! So I called with my frustration. They said there was absolutely no way for them to ship me labels and if I wanted my $110 back, I would have to pay to ship the device back. They said if I called them back with a tracking number, they would credit me the $110 plus what I paid for shipping. So I went to UPS yesterday and shipped it for $10. So now Vonage owes me $120. I called today with the tracking number. The lady said that they would have to wait to receive the device before they would issue a credit. I advised her I was told that all I had to do was callback with the tracking # and asked for her supervisor. She became very rude and hung up on me!

So I called right back. This guy told me the same as her. He said I would have to wait until the 23rd and callback then. I advised him, very professionally, of how they need to give their customer the benefit of the doubt and that they need to stand behind their word. He then threatened saying their TOS says I had to ship the device back within 14 days, and that they dont have to credit my account and they are doing me a favor. So on the 23rd I will request my credit. Once it has hit my account, I will be closing my Vonage account and going back to AT&T CallVantage. I will have to pay an early cancelation fee, but it will be WELL worth it. And if I get tired of AT&T ever, I will have the peace of mind knowing they do not charge a cancelation fee.

VONAGE SUCKS!

One thing to note is how I am happy I have never used my real email address to comment on any of the blogs. For if they can hack the site, they surely can get access to the email addresses? Correct Dean?

PS -

Maybe this is Karma for Dean gettin a lil to self right-righteous? http://deanish.com/posts/im-kind-of-a-big-deal/

Seriously though. I am just messin with ya, Dean. It is way too far in between that you get OWN3D. So I must take advantage of every instance.