Target Wins.
It's as simple as that. There are so many ways Target wins over Walmart, but the most recent victory is in returning items.
I had to return an item to Walmart. It was a weekday, mid-morning and took about 45 minutes to get waited on. Now most people would have given up and left, I was annoyed enough to be determined to get my money back.
About three weeks later I had to return an item to Target. I walked in, there were two employees ready to help, one customer was leaving and I walked right up.
Target has some sort of policy where they will get all available employees to help at the checkouts when there are more than two people in line. Apparently even supervisors, etc. When Walmart has more than four or five people in line, their supervisors apparently go in hiding.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Internet Friends, Nice but sometimes . . . . .
I would say 90% of my friends are Internet friends, probably a sad commentary on my life, but it usually works for me. It's especially nice when some friends I met online live close enough that we do get to meet once every couple of months, but there are times I wish I had more "physically close" friends.
Like this weekend. I desperately needed just another pair of hands and had no one that I felt comfortably calling and asking to come over for thirty minutes or so. It's pretty hard to move a bulky item or to hang a 120" drapery rod by yourself. I did it, but another pair of hands or a friendly face would have been nice. Oh well, now it's time to move one of the huge trees and again, since husband is working, it's me by myself.
Like this weekend. I desperately needed just another pair of hands and had no one that I felt comfortably calling and asking to come over for thirty minutes or so. It's pretty hard to move a bulky item or to hang a 120" drapery rod by yourself. I did it, but another pair of hands or a friendly face would have been nice. Oh well, now it's time to move one of the huge trees and again, since husband is working, it's me by myself.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Christmas Decorating
I'm known to be a bit over the top when it comes to holiday decorating, I usually decorate for Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, but when it comes to Christmas it's more than decorating. It's crazy! I don't count how many trees, ornaments, etc that are out and on display, but others do it for me. So this year I will keep track of what I am doing and how it goes.
So far I have four trees up, but only one completely decorated. This weekend's project is to get those decorated and then move to the "biggies" next weekend.
If you love to decorate for the holidays, share your decorating ideas.....
So far I have four trees up, but only one completely decorated. This weekend's project is to get those decorated and then move to the "biggies" next weekend.
If you love to decorate for the holidays, share your decorating ideas.....
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
New Table, Chairs, Paint, Drapery, etc
It all started earlier this year. One of our family birthday dinners took place at a fun restaurant in the Florida panhandle -- McGuires Irish Pub. We loved the food, the dollar bills on the ceiling, the atmosphere, Justin's ice cream sundae hamburger, but most of all the fact that all 12 of us were at a huge round table. No one was stuck at an end and the conversation flowed much better.
That started us on the quest to replace our 8' x 4' glass dining room table. Ever try to find a huge round table? It's almost impossible and when one is found, the price/shipping is as much as our first house. After searching for several months online, it occurred to us to try a local store Hemispheres. I didn't have much hope, but there it was. The perfect table sitting right by the front door and apparently had just come in, if we had gone there even two weeks earlier, we wouldn't have seen it.
The 7' round table breaks down to a 54" table without leaves, but it's so hard to add the leaves, it will always stay at the larger size.
Getting back to the story, now we have the perfect table and the "old" chairs are too short. The style was okay, but sitting on a chair felt like being in a highchair. the table came almost to mid-chest. So . . . . now we need some chairs. Again much searching online and locally, when we found the almost perfect chair for us. (Would have rather had a slightly different color, but this works). We ordered them from Home Decorators.com with local pickup. Uh, the store is the other side of the city and it took two trips to get them into the pick up truck. On the second trip to the store, it was finally realized that the company "shorted" us two chairs, so it was another week's wait and another trip across the city when they came in.
Now we have the perfect table and almost perfect chairs.
We've never had draperies in the "old dining room", just dark wooden blinds that looked fine. No more. So it's time for draperies -- the only ones I like, without going custom, are ready-made but about six inches too short. So I buy an extra panel and add fabric. Looks good!
Turning on the light, the chandelier looks pretty darn tacky with the table and chairs. So we go looking some more, go to numerous local lighting stores, lots of online searching. We finally decide on a chandelier and get the quote from a local store. Ouch. Well, it's what we want so, we'll bite the bullet. But when searching online, I find the same chandelier at LightingDirect at almost 40% less, PLUS no shipping and no sales tax. Wow. I call up to find out if it's in stock (it wasn't at the local store). The chandelier is not only in stock, but since we are getting another lighting fixture, we get an additional 10% off! The chandelier is ordered and comes in less than a week.
But that's another whole story. The trucking company calls and tells me they are outside of our subdivision on a main road, but the truck is too big to come into the area. They will take out the electrical wires if they drive in. Not a good thing. So, I grab our dolly and meet him at the entrance and bring the smaller piece into the house, while he puts a huge (almost refrigerator size) box on his dolly and follows me in. Both boxes are now in the foyer, make that "they are" the foyer and then some.
What's next? In the dining room -- NOTHING! But now the nearby kitchen needs a little more help.
That started us on the quest to replace our 8' x 4' glass dining room table. Ever try to find a huge round table? It's almost impossible and when one is found, the price/shipping is as much as our first house. After searching for several months online, it occurred to us to try a local store Hemispheres. I didn't have much hope, but there it was. The perfect table sitting right by the front door and apparently had just come in, if we had gone there even two weeks earlier, we wouldn't have seen it.
The 7' round table breaks down to a 54" table without leaves, but it's so hard to add the leaves, it will always stay at the larger size.
Getting back to the story, now we have the perfect table and the "old" chairs are too short. The style was okay, but sitting on a chair felt like being in a highchair. the table came almost to mid-chest. So . . . . now we need some chairs. Again much searching online and locally, when we found the almost perfect chair for us. (Would have rather had a slightly different color, but this works). We ordered them from Home Decorators.com with local pickup. Uh, the store is the other side of the city and it took two trips to get them into the pick up truck. On the second trip to the store, it was finally realized that the company "shorted" us two chairs, so it was another week's wait and another trip across the city when they came in.
Now we have the perfect table and almost perfect chairs.
We've never had draperies in the "old dining room", just dark wooden blinds that looked fine. No more. So it's time for draperies -- the only ones I like, without going custom, are ready-made but about six inches too short. So I buy an extra panel and add fabric. Looks good!
Turning on the light, the chandelier looks pretty darn tacky with the table and chairs. So we go looking some more, go to numerous local lighting stores, lots of online searching. We finally decide on a chandelier and get the quote from a local store. Ouch. Well, it's what we want so, we'll bite the bullet. But when searching online, I find the same chandelier at LightingDirect at almost 40% less, PLUS no shipping and no sales tax. Wow. I call up to find out if it's in stock (it wasn't at the local store). The chandelier is not only in stock, but since we are getting another lighting fixture, we get an additional 10% off! The chandelier is ordered and comes in less than a week.
But that's another whole story. The trucking company calls and tells me they are outside of our subdivision on a main road, but the truck is too big to come into the area. They will take out the electrical wires if they drive in. Not a good thing. So, I grab our dolly and meet him at the entrance and bring the smaller piece into the house, while he puts a huge (almost refrigerator size) box on his dolly and follows me in. Both boxes are now in the foyer, make that "they are" the foyer and then some.
What's next? In the dining room -- NOTHING! But now the nearby kitchen needs a little more help.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Time to Decorate for Christmas?
I'll admit to being over-the-top when it comes to Christmas. Every room has it's own tree, a few rooms have multiple trees, so with all that decorating it takes a long time to put up. It's only early November and I'm already feeling the pain of not getting started.......
And apparently lots of others feel that same way, was shopping in Garden Ridge today and it felt like it was the day after Thanksgiving. The store was crowded with shoppers, especially in the Christmas tree section. Folks were checking out the artificial trees as if they were in a street side corner lot. Trying to figure out what type would be best and what the differences were.
Later today we picked up my grandson from a playdate and those folks already had two trees up!
I've been working cleaning out some closets and finding stuff I've bought during the year and I'm determined the first tree will go up tomorrow.
And apparently lots of others feel that same way, was shopping in Garden Ridge today and it felt like it was the day after Thanksgiving. The store was crowded with shoppers, especially in the Christmas tree section. Folks were checking out the artificial trees as if they were in a street side corner lot. Trying to figure out what type would be best and what the differences were.
Later today we picked up my grandson from a playdate and those folks already had two trees up!
I've been working cleaning out some closets and finding stuff I've bought during the year and I'm determined the first tree will go up tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Don't, Repeat DON'T -- Let Your Oklahoma License Expire!
Unless you want to spend a few hours in line and driving from one end of he city to the other.
FYI: If your Oklahoma driver's license expires, a simple trip to the tag agency will not solve the problem. As of November 1st, 2007, it's no longer an easy deal.
Backing up a bit, for the first time in over 40 years of driving, I forgot to renew my driver's license. And I'm not the one who noticed -- it was airport security in San Jose, which of added to the adventure. Yes, they will still let you travel, but not with ease. It was a full security check -- lots of wands, explosive checks, and bag checks. They questioned the golf ball in the purse, but I guess they decided it wasn't going to harm anyone. I was finally allowed to pass through, but the scanning machine at the gate had the last word as it loudly beeped as my boarding pass was scanned.
The next day a trip to the tag agency was in order, it was only three days since the license expired and I figured it would be a simple deal. Wrong. The new immigration laws have changed all that, but as the highway patrol man told me at the license bureau --we now have the "safest driver's licenses" in the country.
Huh ??
So here's how it went:
1. I went to the tag agency to renew expired license and was told I had to go to one of five license bureaus in the county. I was also told they are all crowded, to expect a long wait and to take my certified birth certificate or my passport. The agency also suggested going to the Yukon office, as the lines were not as bad there.
2. I went home, got my passport and headed to Yukon, getting there about thirty minutes before the office opened after their lunch break. Not too bad, only three people were there in line, so I ran over to get some lunch to eat while waiting. By the time I got back, I was number eight in line. Still not too bad, especially considering the horror stories I was hearing from people who tried one of the other offices.
All of the offices will only see a certain number of people on any day and once that number on a card was reached no more spots would be filled, even if it was still early. Many of the folks I talked to during the wait had been there earlier and were told to come back another day or time.
3. The Bureau opened at 1 pm and we were herded into a small, hot room with chairs lined up around the walls. One officer handed out slips of paper with handwritten number on them. And the wait began. More folks came in, all looking lost until someone told them to go get a number from the second room. People left when they realized they didn't have the right paper work, etc.
After 45 minutes of sitting in this room, it was finally my turn to explain why I was there. I handed over my passport, signed a paper stating I was born in the United States, checked a few other similar items. My finger prints were taken, as well as a picture that was temporary, to be used as identification at the next stop. At that time I was given a piece of paper verifying I had been there and was told I had ten days to get my license at a tag agency.
4. I wasn't putting it off any longer, I wanted this whole ordeal over with now. So I drove back to the tag agency, gave them the verification paper, the agent checked the computer to verify I was the right person by looking at the photo that was downloaded earlier by the highway patrolman. Then it was time for the official driver's license photo, another fingerprint taken and it was finally over after I forked over $7. or so.
Did I learn a lesson? Perhaps, but since I don't normally forget to renew, it wasn't really a lesson learned as much as it was just an uncalled for aggravation. Everything that I did and showed to the officer, could have been just as easily done at the tag agency, with much less work for everyone involved.
So, is this a great state? Or Not?
FYI: If your Oklahoma driver's license expires, a simple trip to the tag agency will not solve the problem. As of November 1st, 2007, it's no longer an easy deal.
Backing up a bit, for the first time in over 40 years of driving, I forgot to renew my driver's license. And I'm not the one who noticed -- it was airport security in San Jose, which of added to the adventure. Yes, they will still let you travel, but not with ease. It was a full security check -- lots of wands, explosive checks, and bag checks. They questioned the golf ball in the purse, but I guess they decided it wasn't going to harm anyone. I was finally allowed to pass through, but the scanning machine at the gate had the last word as it loudly beeped as my boarding pass was scanned.
The next day a trip to the tag agency was in order, it was only three days since the license expired and I figured it would be a simple deal. Wrong. The new immigration laws have changed all that, but as the highway patrol man told me at the license bureau --we now have the "safest driver's licenses" in the country.
Huh ??
So here's how it went:
1. I went to the tag agency to renew expired license and was told I had to go to one of five license bureaus in the county. I was also told they are all crowded, to expect a long wait and to take my certified birth certificate or my passport. The agency also suggested going to the Yukon office, as the lines were not as bad there.
2. I went home, got my passport and headed to Yukon, getting there about thirty minutes before the office opened after their lunch break. Not too bad, only three people were there in line, so I ran over to get some lunch to eat while waiting. By the time I got back, I was number eight in line. Still not too bad, especially considering the horror stories I was hearing from people who tried one of the other offices.
All of the offices will only see a certain number of people on any day and once that number on a card was reached no more spots would be filled, even if it was still early. Many of the folks I talked to during the wait had been there earlier and were told to come back another day or time.
3. The Bureau opened at 1 pm and we were herded into a small, hot room with chairs lined up around the walls. One officer handed out slips of paper with handwritten number on them. And the wait began. More folks came in, all looking lost until someone told them to go get a number from the second room. People left when they realized they didn't have the right paper work, etc.
After 45 minutes of sitting in this room, it was finally my turn to explain why I was there. I handed over my passport, signed a paper stating I was born in the United States, checked a few other similar items. My finger prints were taken, as well as a picture that was temporary, to be used as identification at the next stop. At that time I was given a piece of paper verifying I had been there and was told I had ten days to get my license at a tag agency.
4. I wasn't putting it off any longer, I wanted this whole ordeal over with now. So I drove back to the tag agency, gave them the verification paper, the agent checked the computer to verify I was the right person by looking at the photo that was downloaded earlier by the highway patrolman. Then it was time for the official driver's license photo, another fingerprint taken and it was finally over after I forked over $7. or so.
Did I learn a lesson? Perhaps, but since I don't normally forget to renew, it wasn't really a lesson learned as much as it was just an uncalled for aggravation. Everything that I did and showed to the officer, could have been just as easily done at the tag agency, with much less work for everyone involved.
So, is this a great state? Or Not?
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