On-Line Shopping Is Annoying

I am back!! Me, the annoyed with the world crabby woman you all love to read! I just needed a catalyst and today I got one!

I should be in my craft room drawing a Halloween scene as requested by HeWho took his wife out yesterday for dinner and shopping. I should be enjoying the excellent weather and deadheading plants while collecting seeds. I should be doing laundry, a task I enjoy.

It all started this morning when, while perusing Pinterest for a suitable image to portray a happy seasonal image for a banner, I happened upon an advertisement that had Halloween merchandise. Lacking a formidable witch costume for myself I noted that this particular site had some inexpensive dresses that would fill the bill. I meandered through the on-line store and chose some things and then saw that if I purchased $45, I would be eligible for free shipping. Being the thrifty shopper that I am, I acquired $48 worth of stuff I don't need items to enhance the coming holiday event.

Lest you think me to be unfamiliar with on-line shopping, I can tell you that I shop on-line quite frequently, being tethered to my business, as I am. I went through the process and eliminated one item that I had considered, until I saw a much cheaper alternative. It is a costume, not a ball gown, after all. On to the next step, I entered the required information about shipping and noted that the shipping method defaulted to expedited shipping. I changed it to standard shipping which was free, due to the amount of merchandise I was ordering.

I entered the shipping address and the billing address and saw that the shipping method had defaulted back to expedited shipping in the amount of $30.64 again. There is no way I would pay that for shipping, even if I wanted it to be expedited. I changed it again and then went on the payment step. 

After I put the payment method in and almost hit the button that would give them permission to take that money out of my account, I noted that the shipping method had defaulted again! When I tried to get back to the shipping method, It would not let me. My only option was to pay for the merchandise. Well, anyone who knows me, know I was not paying that shipping fee.

I opted for customer service. This proved to be equally dismal to navigate. I only want to change the shipping method. I went back to the original site. My shopping basket was now empty!!!!! There is a phone number to call for customer service, but I know I will need the order #. It has vanished, along with the items in the shopping basket.

I am so annoyed now. I call the number. A woman answers and I know right away that English is not her first language. I take a deep breath and explain that all I want to do is to change the shipping method. No, I do not have the order #, it is waiting out there in the inner bowels of the internet and I can't seem to retrieve it. 

I suggest that she try to access the order with my e-mail address and my name. She tells me that she can e-mail me if I want. WHAT! No, I do not want too exchange e-mails with you, I just want to change the shipping method. I tell her what happened with the order. I speak slowly and use common terms and all the while I am onto her. She has no clue how to change it either. I switch over to my e-mail and find that the billing department has sent an e-mail to me. They want me to know that I cannot receive my order until I authorize payment. But, it includes a summary of the order, along with my order#.

Thinking that if I have the magic number, the CUSTOMER SERVICE representative can simply change the shipping method and all will be well in the world. I was wrong. After I give her the number she carefully parrots the shipping info to me and tells me that if I want free shipping, I will need to order at least $45 (in US currency) worth of merchandise. I point out to her that I did and she tells me that my total is $80.01. I want to scream at this point and I did raise my voice. I asked if there was anyone there who spoke my language and she informed me that only customer service representatives were allowed to help customers. She went on to say that I could wait 24 hours for someone else to e-mail me. I told her to cancel the order.

I have already spent too much time trying to change the shipping method to the free shipping you so boldly advertise. Your website automatically chooses expedited shipping in the amount of $30.64. I changed it twice while still on that step. It defaulted back and I happened to catch it before I gave you the permission to apply that amount to my credit card. Your website did not allow me to go back and change the shipping method.

 I called your support number and was treated to a most annoying conversation with someone who barely understands my language. Talking to her was even more frustrating than trying to navigate your website. You may be wondering if I am still interested in the merchandise I ordered. As much as I would like to complete that order and anticipate the arrival of the items I chose, I will not be placing the order. I will not be placing ANY orders in the future.

Your support center suggested that I wait 24 hours and then try to place the order, never addressing the shipping method at all. I speak clearly and enunciate my words well, but failed to make her understand what I was calling for. Your customer service is appalling.

I did respond to the e-mail. Not that it will do any good. I have calmed down now that I have vented. I suppose I could cook a nice meal, but my creativity seems to have gone the route of that shipping method. I did use the almost brown bananas and made a nice banana pudding this morning. Perhaps we will just have that as the main course. Which wine shall I pour with that?

Spooky and Fun

I cleaned my house today!! The entire living area. I swept, I mopped and I vacuumed. I dusted and sweated and I think I may have collected enough dog hair to make a rather large dog. Now that I think about it, maybe I could have used that dog hair in my Halloween creations ….

It  all started when I decided to make my own spider web. I have used those stringy things you buy in a package before, but I hate the clean up. We get pretty strong wind here, so it will blow chunks of it onto the grass, along with my spiders.

I researched and pondered possibilities. One suggestion was to use cotton clothesline and white yarn. While the clothesline would definitely be strong enough, it seemed like over-kill to me. After all, isn't it supposed to be thin and gossamer-like?

I like to think about things as I go about my day and it should come as no surprise that I found just what I was looking for. A used water filter. The kind that look like twine wound round the core. Stronger than yarn and not as stretchy. Worked great and cost nothing!!

A work in progress. The child in the cage. I visited the thrift store and scored the outfit, plus shoes for $1.37! The clothes baskets came from the Dollar Tree and I always have black spray paint. You can see the can right there in the picture! Today I added some chain and a padlock. Changed up some stuff and added a cauldron for the witch to stir. Final pictures in a future post.

 Back to the skeletons and spider webs. HeWho bought a dog skeleton for me! He knows I am too cheap to spend $8 on it!

My skeleton bride always makes an appearance this time of year. She is old. She made her very first appearance at my daughter, Jill's bridal shower. Almost 20 years old, she has held up well! Could that be her groom behind her? Under the "groom" is a rat skeleton. Another spider web to hold the spider skeletons.

Kamper Stacy found this frog skeleton for me! Love it!

This side is finished. I have four sections on the front. Another spider web is full of spiders with bats coming soon. Another section will feature witches and cats and the fourth will be all about jack-o-lanterns.

I added some creatures to sit in the rockers today. I am having fun with this and I still have the pavilion to decorate ……. not to mention Spooky Trail.

We will be having a Halloween celebration on October 26. Great fun, good food and scary times around a bonfire coming soon!

Kissing Miss Maisy

Meet Maisy. Maisy is a resident in good standing here. She is a sweet girl, Miss Maisy. She visits me from time to time. Her head reaches me about chest high. 

 Always friendly and happy to have some pets and love from me, She seems to like HeWho loves dogs the best.

He does share crackers with her. Here they are making out. Am I jealous? Not so much. After all I have been his main squeeze for almost 44 years.

Maisy is easy to love, until she whacks you with that lethal tail! I do have a bruise or two that was dealt by her. All worth it to have a hug form her.

Typical

This is one of my happy places. It is cool in the shade and a slight breeze wafts by occasionally. If only I could sit for a spell.

 This is a weed. What kind? I do not know. It started growing at the edge of my yard a few years back and a neighbor told me I needed to pull it up, as it was a weed and an invasive one at that. I decided to let it be and see what it would do. I like this weed. I installed an app on my phone that identifies plants, but it failed to identify this one. It is about two and a half feet tall and blooms late summer. I like it, it provides some nice color this time of year. Invasive? Sort of, but it invaded an area between the lawn and the road that fails to grow anything else, so I am kind of happy about that. It helps define the yard and prevents people (HeWho) from driving on my carefully tended grass.

 I found a pair of frog planters long ago. They now sport a wonderful patina that would be hard to duplicate. They have no drainage holes. I actually broke one of them when I tried to lightly tap a hole in the bottom. I still use it, I just sort of shove the two pieces together and plant something in it.

It is time to change the season. My red, white and blue theme has to go to make way for spider webs and skeletons. These are hard to see, but they were the tall zinnias that were in the giant planters in front. They are still blooming and there was no way I was going to lift the planters they were in, so I transplanted all of them, finishing this morning. They seem to be happy in their new location. Time will tell.

Yes, I did sleep last night. I am still a bit grumpy. I have decided I prefer the company of my gardens or my dogs over people. Maybe I just need a vacation. 

While I was hanging sheets on the line this morning, the phone rang. Nothing new about the phone ringing. The caller inquired about a site for tomorrow night. I asked if he would need 50 amp or 30 amp. If you have an RV, you know what I am talking about. 

I confess that when we were simply RVers I could not have answered that question. HeWho does all things electric and sewer related was in charge of that. I was in charge of the inside stuff. Cooking, cleaning, dogs and such. I am not ashamed to admit that I like it that way.

That was then, this is now. I need that information in order to place the RV in the correct site. I can't really answer the question about having availability without knowing this. I have no 50 amp sites available for this weekend. I have had people tell me that it really doesn't make a difference, they can use either and I will tell them how many of each I have left.

The caller says, "It is just a typical RV." I took a deep breath and explained that I have only 30 hook-ups available for this weekend. He again tells me that it is typical. I ask for particulars as I try to determine his electrical needs. "How many air conditioners?" I ask. He replies, "It has air conditioning." I try again, "How many units?" He does not know. I try a different tactic. "Does the plug have three prongs or four prongs?" He is unsure, I hear him ask someone else (wife?). She tells him it is just a plug-in. He tells me it is just a typical RV plug.

So many questions fill my head. "Have you ever seen the plug?" "Have you ever used the RV?" "If so, who helped you with that plug, perhaps they know what it looks like?" I can usually figure out what the camper needs with a few questions if the answer is not "typical". 

I sincerely hope that I am in a better frame of mind when this typical camper comes in tomorrow. I may have to let HeWho take care of this one. 

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep

I am so happy this day is over! Had a super productive day yesterday. Got all the mowing done and transplanted about 100 mum seedlings and still had time to bake a cake and make a pizza. Checked the app on my phone to find that I had walked 12,733 steps, or 4.9 miles. 

You would think that I would be tired enough to sleep, but I was still up at 3:30 this morning looking for something to make me sleep. My mind would not close down. I went to bed and finally drifted off. I have no idea how long I slept before Martha, the boy cat, still inside for whatever reason, decided to pounce on Eddie and wake me.

Note, I said that Eddie's yelp woke ME. HeWho is oblivious to his surroundings when sleeping, grunted, and turned over. He slept on, while I struggled to recapture my dream. I was up by 8 to tend to doggie bladders. I toyed with the idea of crawling back in bed. Instead I decided to cancel my plans for grocery shopping and stay here.

It was pleasant outside, a light wind and overcast. I walked out to clip the huge spent sunflower from it's stalk and ended up weeding around the fence that contains the pool. Since I chose to stay home, HeWho "needed" to make a trip to Walmart for new tires. He took off with Kevin and they spent half the day waiting on the tires. He did bring me a meatless whopper from the Burger King. My big reward. Ended up being my breakfast, lunch and dinner. Indigestion for dessert.

I will admit that I have been less than pleasant to be around and was happy to be left to my own devices. I stayed outside as long as I could after the clouds blew over and sun shone down with a vengeance, then I came in, hoping to have a nap. I half-dozed while listening to Hot Bench dole out some justice. Then went back outside to attend to more gardening chores. 

I dragged the hose across the parking lot to water my fledgling mums while I transplanted more plants and strung some fairy lights in one of my gardens. Sometimes I wish I was invisible, even though it was past closing time and I was intent on my task, I was hunted down. For quarters. I was on my way back in to the office to fulfill the quarter order when I saw that someone had run over the connection of two hoses and the parking lot was flooded, while the mums were dry.

Annoyed, I turned off the water and gathered up my hoses. I decided to call it a day and come inside and get showered. I got the water going and wet my hair. I applied the shampoo and had the bottle in  my hand, the lid between my teeth when suddenly there was NO hot water. I was not expecting ice water to cascade down my back.

I gasped and the man who never hears anything demanded to know "what's wrong?". I was trying to get my hands free to get to the shower head. He kept demanding an answer, so I yelled at him while still holding the cap to the shampoo bottle in my mouth. 

I am so happy the day is over and now I am going to bed. Maybe I will sleep, maybe I won't.

Cub Scouts Weekend

We had Cub Scouts for the weekend. A former seasonal kamper is one of the leaders and made the arrangements. Everything was so organized! The kids were very polite and so cute.


 Saturday morning I went out to check on the bathrooms and found a couple of boys waiting to brush their teeth. I told them to use the ladies room, since it was not occupied. The look of horror on the faces!! They declined, telling me that the sign on the door said "WOMEN"!!

Sweet innocence, why can't they stay that way? Kudos to the parents of this group of children. I kept the pool open for them and the weather cooperated for a lovely weekend. And now the pool is closed for the season. Time for a break!

Cheap Medical Care?

Every time you think you have seen it all ....
and heard it all, you discover you haven't.

I was on my way to my annual visit with my cardiologist when the news came on the radio. Walmart is about to open their very first stand alone health clinic. I was blissfully unaware that some of the Walmart super stores have clinics in them. I knew that some of the Target stores had them. One stop shopping on a whole new level.

Is this the newest approach to health care? When you go to a clinic or an emergency room, you are well aware that you might be exposed to some very sick people and could possibly get even sicker. I have been to some facilities that have separate waiting areas. One for those who have are there for a check-up and then another for those who are sick. 

I wonder what will distinguish this Walmart clinic form other urgent care facilities? The one-stop shopping will not factor in. I am sure they will be similar to other clinics and accept insurance in any form. Will they offer roll-back prices? They already administer flu shots and other vaccines in the pharmacy. 

Will the Walmart medical clinic slowly start to add merchandise? You know, just a few items related to taking care of yourself. Pain relievers and cough remedies, then a full aisle of vitamins and supplements. Bandages and heating pads. Then, before you know it, deodorant and shampoo. The "waiting area" will slowly be taken up with aisles of goods pertaining to your health and well being. they will start with just baskets to haul your merchandise in and soon carts will appear. Outside the clinic, of course. They will have to add a structure for the carts. About that time, the "manager" of this new facility that was to be dedicated to health care will decide there should be a small aisle for chicken noodles soup and juices (drink plenty of fluids) and the entire facility will have to grow to accommodate all the merchandise and a waiting area for all those ailing people who flock to this Walmart health care facility thinking they will get some health care on the cheap, what with the name of the facility including "Walmart" on the front of the building.

I ponder things while driving. My cardiologist is located in Washington. Washington, Missouri, that is. They have a clinic  in the hospital in Hermann, Mo. It is a pleasant drive, about 20 miles on a two lane road meandering through farmland and woods. On the way you are on a decline as you slowly make your way to the Missouri river. Once over the bridge, you find yourself in the quaint little town of Hermann. 

Bed and breakfast, bakeries and antique stores line the streets as you drive very slowly through the town and begin the ascent to the road leading to the hospital and a winery. Even though my check-up found me a few pounds lighter with an excellent blood pressure, I did not decide that a wine tasting was in order. It was only 9 am, after all.

As I exited the hospital through the main door on the front of the building and headed to my car, I looked up to see a black truck parked right there at the entrance in what I thought was a handi-cap space. The windows were open and in the driver's seat sat a man engaged in the process of brushing his teeth! His mouth was all foamy with agitated toothpaste. I sorely wanted to whip out my phone and snap a shot of this, but he was looking at me, as I was looking at him.

I got into my car and sat there watching out the rearview mirror, all the while wondering where he was going to spit out the foamy toothpaste, which triggered my gag reflex, so I started home.