Consumer Critique

I bought a ring for Hubby right before Christmas. His wedding ring was too big and it needed to be resized but the man who made it for him was a friend from the Rez so it would take more than a few days like mine did to be sized. He wanted a ring to wear while his wedding ring was gone. But, being around Christmas time the ring he wanted was out of stock. Which is understandable. They told us it would take 2-3 weeks to get it shipped in from the warehouse.

2-3 weeks. No big deal, right? Hubby could wear his wedding ring that long until the other ring came in and then send his ring to the Rez for sizing. Over the course of the coming weeks Hubby would periodically ask if it had been 3 weeks yet. The shop called me a day or two after I'd ordered the ring to verify the size we wanted. And when the three weeks were up I called the shop to see if the order had come in.

"I'm sorry, that ring is on back order at the warehouse, but it has a promise date of Feb. 16th, but they usually come in way before the promise date."

Figures. But we hoped for the best - that his ring would come in sooner than the promise date. Meanwhile, Hubby was getting anxious to have his ring sized. I don't blame him. I would have wanted mine done immediately. Oh wait, I did have mine done immediately. But Hubby was very good and waited patiently for his ring to come in.

The shop never called before February 16th to say Hubby's ring had come in early. They didn't even call February 16th to say his ring had come in on time. I called to verify it was there but apparently something had happened, I couldn't understand what the girl was saying, and the ring hadn't come in like it was supposed to.

So much for a promise date.

Hubby's mom was up later that week from the Rez and said she'd take his wedding ring back down with her to get sized. We decided to buy just a cheap silver band he could wear until the other ring came in or the wedding ring was sized so his mom could take his wedding ring with her.

3 days later the shop called to say Hubby's ring was in. Figures. We'd just bought another one. He could wear one on each hand. We went to the shop to get his other ring. Somehow they'd sent a 6 1/2 instead of a 9 1/2. I could understand getting confused between a 6 and a 9 but with the 1/2 on there it's kind of hard to confuse the two. That was the last straw. The whole purpose of the ring was a moot point now. And the whole thing was just ridiculous.

I got my money back. Hubby's wedding ring will be done soon and until then we like the plain, cheaper, silver band better anyways. And it was in stock. At another store. I don't think we'll be going back to that first one.

Operator, could you help me place this call?

Sometimes I hate answering the phones at work. But seeing as I'm the receptionist, that's my job. Most of the time it's not a big deal. The phones generally aren't THAT busy and most people can be helped fairly easily.

Unless they're calling for tech support.

We've only got two techs in our office and one of them is generally away from his phone so that just leaves one. And the majority of the people that call are calling for tech support. And the problems they call about are not always easily remedied so tech support could be on the phone with one client for a very very long time. See a problem?

Sometimes people try to hold and wait for our techs to get off other calls. They could be waiting for a very very long time. Sometimes they'll try calling back. Usually the tech will be on the phone every time. Maybe with the same client, maybe with another client. Either way, you can't get through.

So, when people call and say they "desperately" need to talk to a tech and they're on another call there's really nothing I can do so stop acting so helpless. If they're not available, they're not available no matter how "desperately" you need them. Everybody else is having the same problems. What makes you so special? Take a number, get in line.

Happy Valentine's Day to All!

I got my chocolate covered strawberries.

And roses (which until we went to my parents' house were in the blender because I didn't have a vase!)

And Indian food.

And a trip to the movies.

Ladies, if you marry someone quiet like I did, hopefully it means he's a good listener and knows exactly what you like and what you would want for a gift. Don't worry, he got lots of good stuff too. This is the first Valentine's Day I've actually been in a relationship and Hubby was so sweet. We haven't been on many actual "dates" since we got married but he wanted to make Valentine's Day (actually, Valentine's weekend) special. So, he left about an hour before our date was supposed to begin to go pick up the movie tickets (and unbeknownst to me, flowers and chocolate covered strawberries). He wanted us to dress up so I put on the new dress I bought and curled my hair and at the appointed time I heard the doorbell ring. Hubby was standing there with his Valentine's offerings, all dressed up in his suit. He's so cute about that kind of stuff. We had a wonderful evening. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I'm not trying to rub it in for those of you without a significant other. I just want you to know what could be in store for you someday...

I'm craving chocolate. Bad. I'm not like most girls in that chocolate is considered its own food group. I enjoy it in small doses, but I rarely crave it like I am right now. Must be the time of year. I can't help but crave chocolate when Valentine's Day is near. But not just any chocolate. I hate those boxes of chocolates sold nearly everywhere on Valentine's Day. I'm really not even that keen on candy store chocolates. One year when I was in high school, for Christmas this guy I had been on a date with gave me a two pound box of chocolates from See's candies. After the date my friend and I went back to her place and took a bite out of every single one of those chocolates. Just to see what kind they were and if we liked them.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was very much NOT a good idea. We were sick for days! And to this day I still can't eat See's chocolates. Their peppermints, yes. Chocolates, no. So because of that experience I really have a hard time with candy store chocolates. Unless it's chocolate covered strawberries.

I don't know what it is but chocolate covered strawberries are probably my favorite thing to eat in the entire world. The best ones come from Cummings chocolates. And I'm pretty sure you can only get them for Valentine's day. At least that's the only time I've ever had them. I don't know how they do it in February but those strawberries are nearly the size of my fist and red and sweet. Mmmmm..... I might have to get one of those.

Mark it with a B

A friend asked me the other day what my biggest pet peeve was. I have a lot but at the time I could only think of when people come up and start talking to you like they know you and all you can do is just look at them and think "who are you?" Yeah, really annoying. But I think my biggest pet peeve now is people asking "now that you're married, when are you going to have kids?"

My mom had two kids by the time she was my age. Several of my friends got pregnant almost immediately after getting married. Several of our friends are pregnant right now. I never thought I'd be one to wait very long (not that we've been married very long) to have kids but now that that choice is before me, I think I want to wait just a little while longer. Let me get used to being married for a bit before we throw anything else into the mix!

I thought I was pregnant the other day. I hadn't been quite as diligent with my birth control as I should have been and then I was late. Panic set in! I must say, the thought that I was pregnant already was slightly exciting but more than anything scared the crap out of me! I'm sure I'd get used to the idea and be really happy when it happened if I was pregnant, but it turns out I'm not.
Yet.

So that's a relief for now. But who's business is it anyways? I know people are just curious and EVERYBODY asks that question but seriously, I find it a little tacky. What if I couldn't have kids? Hubby's sister and brother-in-law tried for nearly ten years to have a baby and finally adopted. I wonder how they felt every time somebody casually asked them when they were going to have kids. What if we didn't want any? I wonder how people would take it if I just started answering, "We're not."

It's like it's just this checklist you have to fulfill as quickly as possible. Go to college. Check. Graduate. Check. Get a job. Check. Get married. Check. Have kids. Check. Check. Buy a house. Check. Retire. Check. Die. Hmmm... is that really all there is? Personally, I've never been in any hurry with any of these things. I'll get to them when I get to them. I prefer to enjoy the journey along the way. And if I accomplish a few of these things along the way, great. Whatever is in the plan is fine with me. But I'm ok with a few little detours too.

So stop asking, ok? If I have news, I'll let YOU know.

Do I look any different?

Tuesdays are extremely tedious for me.

I work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and go to school Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I'm done by 12:30 and Hubby doesn't get home until 7:30. That leaves me to my own devices for 7 hours. Thursdays aren't bad because I go do laundry at my parents' house. That kills some time. But Tuesdays just drag and drag and drag. There's only so much homework, cleaning, or tv watching I can do in those 7 hours before I go crazy.

So I go shopping.

I've never been a huge fan of shopping. I don't necessarily even buy anything while I'm out. I just like to be out. I've been looking for a new dress to wear for Valentine's Day so that's given me a purpose to my shopping recently. Yesterday was no different. But it WAS a little different. I've never had such great customer service, ever. And it wasn't just one store. It was every store I visited. I felt like a celebrity!

I stopped in one store and looked around at dresses. The girl assigned to that department was really helpful. Pulling things down I couldn't reach (because I'm under 5 feet tall so that's nothing new for me), and when I was leaving she even asked if she could help me find something I liked better. I went to the next store and actually found a dress I liked. I went to the register and the lady was very friendly and helpful. I'm so not used to that. Usually when I'm being rung up the person barely talks to you, or they're talking to somebody else, which I find extremely rude.

But the biggest shock was when I went to the shoe store. I wanted to find shoes to match my dress because I didn't have any the right color. I didn't even ask but the girl came right up and started helping me find shoes that would match my dress. I was shocked. I've never had someone in a shoe store be so friendly and helpful. It was amazing. I think they should all get raises!