Plans for today (2023)

I was the one who told her tomorrow is a holiday. She didn’t know (relatively new holiday). :laugh:

I’m 50% mad at TSC and 50% mad at MrsT for not paying cash and being done with it, but she keeps saying, “No! 0% financing is a free loan! Don’t give ‘em cash! Use their money!” 🤦🏻‍♂️

The young woman complimented me on my unusually cheerful demeanor through all this, and I said, “I’m used to Life crapping all over me, and I’ve come to expect it, and even sort of look forward to it.”

Hey, maybe I’m Norwegian!*



*Reference to another topic about Norwegians and their embrace of misery.

I'm still laughing as I type. Poor "tasty" .

Russ
 
I'm still laughing as I type. Poor "tasty" .

Russ
I’m all seriousness, stuff like this usually doesn’t make me very angry for very long, and it goes a long way with me when the person I’m working with is just as annoyed as I am, and the young woman trying to help me out has been a gem.

For example, we were walking back to her desk, and she said, “Oh, by the way, happy Father’s Day.”

“Thanks, but I gotta be honest, I’m not a father.”

Without missing a beat, she said, “That’s why yours will be happy.”

:laugh:
 
I’m all seriousness, stuff like this usually doesn’t make me very angry for very long, and it goes a long way with me when the person I’m working with is just as annoyed as I am, and the young woman trying to help me out has been a gem.

For example, we were walking back to her desk, and she said, “Oh, by the way, happy Father’s Day.”

“Thanks, but I gotta be honest, I’m not a father.”

Without missing a beat, she said, “That’s why yours will be happy.”

:laugh:

Seriously I have the odd day like that as well.
I always put your bro lee in that position. How would he handle it? Apart from chatting up the server?? Lol

Russ
 
Seriously I have the odd day like that as well.
I always put your bro lee in that position. How would he handle it? Apart from chatting up the server?? Lol

Russ
Oh, I’ll tell you exactly how Lee would have handled it.

He would have complained to me about all the trouble getting the card and then finding out the terms had changed, and he would have said, “But this little cutie is gonna fix me up tomorrow when I go back.”

Then, today, when he would have charged the mower and noticed the terms had changed again, and the “little cutie” couldn’t get the bank on the phone, he would have told her, “Awwww, that’s ok, I didn’t really want all those free months of financing anyway, I’ll just go ahead and buy it like it is,” and he would have let it slide because he wouldn’t want to be seen as giving her even the slightest bit of a hard time.

Then, on the way out the door, he would have noticed the coffee shop next door and ducked in and bought her a doughnut and taken it to her as a way of saying thanks for helping him not get the deal he went in there to get in the first place.

And I’m not even kidding one little bit.
 
Today has been CD the Handyman day at my sister's house, where I do a list of things she could easily afford to pay someone to do, but she inherited my dad's "cheap" gene. :laugh:

The worst was some heavy shrub pruning and dead branch removal. It is 101F/38C right now, so I did that this morning, when it was only 93F/34C. :heat:

The rest of the chores were indoor repairs.

My sister and I both did some cooking for my mom's freezer today. My mom does not like to go to the dining room on Sundays, because the room is crowded with visiting families. She's never liked crowded spaces. We make food for her to eat for lunch on Sundays -- she eats her big meals at noon.

CD
 
I read you guys in texas are struggling with the heat. Its about 12 deg c here. My washing is up to date. Towels drying in front of heat pump. Nothing planned today except cook dinner later.
Chicken cordon bleu?
Tomorrow is a busy day.

Russ
 
I read you guys in texas are struggling with the heat. Its about 12 deg c here. My washing is up to date. Towels drying in front of heat pump. Nothing planned today except cook dinner later.
Chicken cordon bleu?
Tomorrow is a busy day.

Russ

Yeah, there is a high pressure system over Texas right now. It was 101F/38C today in Houston. That's about 8 degrees hotter than normal for Houston, since it usually gets cooled by winds coming off the Gulf of Mexico.

It is humid in Houston, too. I walk outside from an air-conditioned place, and my eyeglasses fog up.

CD
 
I'm flying back to Dallas this morning. That's about all I have to do today.

CD
 
I txt granddaughter earlier. Isla 13 I deliver her lunch every second Wednesday but she had day off yesterday so I'm doing it today. 1.30 delivery today and she wants a butter chicken pie. She always has lunch with a friend so I asked what her friend wanted. Steak n cheese please. And a can of fanta. I will get carrot cake as well. Her fave.
Pick up my booze for week.
Cordon bleu for tea tonight.

Russ
 
Ok, settle in, here comes the rest of the mower story, as that consumed my entire day today (10 hours, at least).

To remind you of the theme of this experience (all about Mr. Murphy and His Law), I give you this recap:

Saturday:
Picked out mower, employee had difficulty signing me up for a store credit card and loyalty card - took about 45 minutes. Rang up mower, found the advertised terms (48 months no interest) had expired three weeks earlier, they just forgot to take down the sign.

Manager said 24 months no interest started on Sunday, so I planned to come back for that.

Sunday:
Only two people working, waited about 20-30 minutes for the manager to help me out, she finally rang up the mower, new terms popped up…12 months no interest. Tried to call their finance department, closed on Sunday, and also Monday federal holiday. Planned to go back Tuesday.

Tuesday:
She called to say the financing issue had been fixed, I went in for a third attempt at buying a mower. Called up my customer record on the computer…”Computer says no…” - I’m not there. Tries again, same answer.

“No problem, I’ll just add you again.” - Provided my full name, phone number, address, email address for the 43rd time…”Cannot add, computer says customer already exists. Display customer?” - clicked Yes - “Computer says no…” - another 45 minutes while she called their IT department to figure that out, but I was finally able to purchase the mower.

That brings us to today.

Left the house at 7AM to drive about 80 minutes to my brother’s, to borrow his truck and trailer. Here’s a pic of my Mower Delivery System:

IMG_4819.jpeg


That truck is 29 years old (my brother’s remark was, “Didja bring some cassettes to listen to?”).

Got in the truck, went to drive away…”Wait! The trailer lights ain’t working!”

He uses the trailer constantly, hasn’t had an issue with the lights, went over all the common stuff, no luck - “Jus’ don’ drive it in the dark!” - Away I went.

Surprisingly uneventful going back over to TSC for the mower. Pulled in there, and Jessie, the manager I’ve been working with, was actually out at the mowers in the front of the store and waved to me when she saw me.

I parked out of the way, walked over, and she said she’d just paged a guy to come out and load the mower for me: “I started it last night, just to be sure everything was ok.”

John unlocked all the cables holding it down, hopped on, turned the key…nothing. Turned the key again…nothing.

Ok, they’ve drained the battery, so they’ll either have to charge it or install a new one. Another delay.

Lifted the seat of the mower…no battery. Not only no battery, no cables. Checked the mower next to it, same thing. Someone had come in overnight, clipped the cables and stole all the batteries, nearly a dozen mowers - all but one; for whatever reason, one mower on the very end…untouched.

Options would be finding a mower at another location, or having my location order one in - a delay either way, and I didn’t want to have to take another day off work to repeat all this.

“Let me make some calls,” Jessie said, “We’ll figure something out, give me 15 minutes.”

She came back out in a bit and said, “Ok. Our next closest location is 30 miles away. They have one in stock. You can drive over there and get that one if you want.”

“I don’t want.” :laugh:

“I didn’t think so. Ok, that mower out there that still has the battery, that one’s $200 more than the one you’re trying to buy, same cut, better mower. I can cut you a deal on that.”

“Ok, what’s the deal?”

“John, get that mower loaded.”

“Wait, what’s the deal?”

“Just trust me.”

We went back inside, she started ringing things up on the register, numbers flashed by, credits appeared and disappeared and appeared again, and finally she said, “There, that’s what I’m charging you.”

I looked at the register, and it was $200 less than the original mower, so considering the price of the one I was getting, a $400 difference.

“And I’m giving you a gift card when $50 on it.”

End of the day, I ended up getting a $2400 mower for $2000, which was $200 less than the cheaper mower, and another $50.

I’d still rather have my time back, but I do think she went out of her way to make sure I was happy, considering the circumstances.
 
Ok, settle in, here comes the rest of the mower story, as that consumed my entire day today (10 hours, at least).

To remind you of the theme of this experience (all about Mr. Murphy and His Law), I give you this recap:

Saturday:
Picked out mower, employee had difficulty signing me up for a store credit card and loyalty card - took about 45 minutes. Rang up mower, found the advertised terms (48 months no interest) had expired three weeks earlier, they just forgot to take down the sign.

Manager said 24 months no interest started on Sunday, so I planned to come back for that.

Sunday:
Only two people working, waited about 20-30 minutes for the manager to help me out, she finally rang up the mower, new terms popped up…12 months no interest. Tried to call their finance department, closed on Sunday, and also Monday federal holiday. Planned to go back Tuesday.

Tuesday:
She called to say the financing issue had been fixed, I went in for a third attempt at buying a mower. Called up my customer record on the computer…”Computer says no…” - I’m not there. Tries again, same answer.

“No problem, I’ll just add you again.” - Provided my full name, phone number, address, email address for the 43rd time…”Cannot add, computer says customer already exists. Display customer?” - clicked Yes - “Computer says no…” - another 45 minutes while she called their IT department to figure that out, but I was finally able to purchase the mower.

That brings us to today.

Left the house at 7AM to drive about 80 minutes to my brother’s, to borrow his truck and trailer. Here’s a pic of my Mower Delivery System:

View attachment 101578

That truck is 29 years old (my brother’s remark was, “Didja bring some cassettes to listen to?”).

Got in the truck, went to drive away…”Wait! The trailer lights ain’t working!”

He uses the trailer constantly, hasn’t had an issue with the lights, went over all the common stuff, no luck - “Jus’ don’ drive it in the dark!” - Away I went.

Surprisingly uneventful going back over to TSC for the mower. Pulled in there, and Jessie, the manager I’ve been working with, was actually out at the mowers in the front of the store and waved to me when she saw me.

I parked out of the way, walked over, and she said she’d just paged a guy to come out and load the mower for me: “I started it last night, just to be sure everything was ok.”

John unlocked all the cables holding it down, hopped on, turned the key…nothing. Turned the key again…nothing.

Ok, they’ve drained the battery, so they’ll either have to charge it or install a new one. Another delay.

Lifted the seat of the mower…no battery. Not only no battery, no cables. Checked the mower next to it, same thing. Someone had come in overnight, clipped the cables and stole all the batteries, nearly a dozen mowers - all but one; for whatever reason, one mower on the very end…untouched.

Options would be finding a mower at another location, or having my location order one in - a delay either way, and I didn’t want to have to take another day off work to repeat all this.

“Let me make some calls,” Jessie said, “We’ll figure something out, give me 15 minutes.”

She came back out in a bit and said, “Ok. Our next closest location is 30 miles away. They have one in stock. You can drive over there and get that one if you want.”

“I don’t want.” :laugh:

“I didn’t think so. Ok, that mower out there that still has the battery, that one’s $200 more than the one you’re trying to buy, same cut, better mower. I can cut you a deal on that.”

“Ok, what’s the deal?”

“John, get that mower loaded.”

“Wait, what’s the deal?”

“Just trust me.”

We went back inside, she started ringing things up on the register, numbers flashed by, credits appeared and disappeared and appeared again, and finally she said, “There, that’s what I’m charging you.”

I looked at the register, and it was $200 less than the original mower, so considering the price of the one I was getting, a $400 difference.

“And I’m giving you a gift card when $50 on it.”

End of the day, I ended up getting a $2400 mower for $2000, which was $200 less than the cheaper mower, and another $50.

I’d still rather have my time back, but I do think she went out of her way to make sure I was happy, considering the circumstances.

About 20 years ago I went and bought a brand new electric start push mower. About 500? Expensive at the time.
I used it about 6 times when our son asked to borrow it. I never saw it again.
I went around his place and it was locked up in his shed.
I'm pleased you dont have family.

Russ
 
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