The Pots and Pans

Last night, my boyfriend and I went to Kohl's because I need pots and pans and they had them on sale. This was listed in the circular for the week:
Farberware® 15-pc. Classic Cookware Set plus Bonus
$99.99
Reg. $199.99
thru Jul 22
BONUS 11”/4.5-qt. DEEP COVERED SAUTE PAN with the purchase of a Farberware® 15-pc. Classic cookware set. A $79.99 value.

Now, in this case, "BONUS" is synonymous with "FREE", don't you think? Anyway, it took us a little while to find it in the store and then lug the 2 boxes to the front counter (thank goodness I brought the slave-labor boyfriend along). The cashier rings it up, and proclaims, "That will be $155.98" My "bonus" gift had rung up as $55.99.

Sigh. Why must I do all the work? I had her check the circular (which, she flipped through every page knowing full well that the kitchenware is on page 47 out of 50) and of course, she was further confused by the wording. So, she calls over her supervisor and they look at it together. Turns out you have to do something special in the register (press "free gift") that our cashier didn't know about. Apparently, she'd been ringing up the "free gift" luggage sales all day, as well.

And this is why it pays to know what you're buying and how much you are supposed to be paying for it!

The Walk

One of the reasons I chose to move into the apartment that I did, was due to it's close proximity to my place of work. Ever since I left college life, I have missed having the option of walking places. I'm not really one for walking just for the sake of walking, but to have a destination and a purpose makes a big difference for me. Unfortunately, the HEAT here lately has been rather unbearable (I am, in general, a cold weather person), but I promised myself if the high temperature for the day is under 86 degrees F, then walking it is!

Today was the third time I walked to work. It looks like I'll be able to walk tomorrow as well (thank goodness for a "cold front"). My walk takes me out of our little development, down a rather steep hill to the main street where my office is. The whole walk to work probably takes 5-7 minutes, while the walk home takes about twice that long due to the hill and me being out of shape.

This morning, I saw approximately 50 pieces of trash. I would say that 90% of that trash was tossed out of car windows. I will never understand how people can be so piggish. I did pick up a Coke bottle because, like those commercials for www.mycokerewards.com, I saw a Blockbuster DVD laying on the side of the road. Tomorrow, however, I will definitely be bringing a trash bag to pick up trash - even if it doesn't get me 3 points closer to a free movie rental.

The Previous Tenant

Well, I talked to my landlord about the situation with the previous tenant's mail. Turns out, the previous tenant (from now on known as PT) skipped town. He owes money to my landlord, and considering the number of overdue notices in my mailbox, he owes money to quite a few people. Having these bills and letters in my possession was making me very uneasy.

I went to the post office this afternoon with a large bag full of mail addressed to the PT and explained the situation to the postal worker. He was very understanding and said he'd do his best to make sure that the PT's mail won't be delivered anymore, but he couldn't make any promises.

Hopefully, this will be the last of the barrage of unwanted mail. Although, I wouldn't mind if his magazine subscriptions kept coming!

The Microwave

Editor's Note: I have told this story twice so far, both times in long-winded detail. I have a feeling that this third time will be no different. Brace yourself.

Pre-move, I purchased a microwave from Best Buy. I did this without considering the size of the space that I had to put the microwave. Thus, the microwave did not fit. It was too large in all directions. Bah. Of course, said store is across town and not particularly on my way anywhere, so I put the microwave box in the trunk and hoped to pass by Best Buy in the near future.

Meanwhile, I am without a microwave. This is not a happy thing. You would not believe the amount of things you miss being able to do when you are microwave-less. I decided to check out the on-line Independence Day circulars for our local stores. I ended up finding a great Emerson microwave in the circular for Target. On Monday, I went to the Target I normally go to and found the microwave on the shelf. Then, I realized they only had the RED ones out. Of course, I wanted the Stainless Steel, not the RED. So, then I had to go and look for an associate. I looked for 20 minutes and did not find anyone. I had some place else to be, so I measured the microwave so I could be sure it will fit in my kitchen and then I left.

Tuesday, I tried again at a different Target. I found the microwaves on the shelf, and the only ones they had out were the RED ones. Then, I removed the tag from the shelf and found one of their little price-scan machines. I scanned it in and, VOILA, the machine informed me that there were some stainless steal ones in-stock.

Armed with this information, I found an associate who said he would find me an associate. When the second associate showed up, she had a hand-held machine for checking inventory. This machine told her there were none in stock. I explained to her that the microwaves had only been on sale for 2 days and the fact that they were out of stock was a little ridiculous. I urged her to check again since the OTHER machine said they had some. So, associate #2 calls associate #3 and he calls someone in the back and they look for it in their super-inventory-computer. We are then informed that there are none in the stock room, but there are some on the truck. This is the truck that they are not allowed to unload until the next day.

So, then I go to customer service and have them write me a rain check (I was leaving the store with SOMETHING DAMMIT). This process also took about 15 minutes. All in all, I spent an hour in Target on Tuesday without buying anything.

WEDNESDAY, I CALL the first Target that I went to and, with rain check in hand, provide them with the product number and ask if there are any in-stock. The associate that spoke with went and looked on the shelf and said there were five. I asked him politely if it would be possible to have one labeled with my name and held at customer service. He did. Then, I drove to Target, paid for the stinking microwave, and left.

After all of this, I went to Best Buy and returned the original microwave that I purchased. The return process took less than 5 minutes.


NOTE TO STORES: You should really make it easier for people to BUY STUFF from you than to RETURN STUFF. Really. This should be common sense.

OH, and PS the new microwave is snazzy and works very nicely. It will be great for heating up my frozen food.

The Cable Guy

Sadly, he arrived in the designated window for my "appointment." This means that I don't get the nice $40 credit that they promise if they are late. Normally I applaud people for being on time, but this was not one of those cases. It was a rather silly exercise due to the fact that I have no furniture, and certainly no TV. I think all he did was plug in the cable box (which I only got because it's $2 a month and ordering cut my installation fees in half), program the clock on the darn thing, and call someone to tell them to flip the switch. Ahhh.... to have that challenging job! Also, he wasn't able to do some of the testing they do since... I had no TV for him to test with. It was probably easier this way, however, since I am going to be using my Pinnacle PCTV Pro USB 2.0 Analog TV Tuner w/Remote. When I try to explain this to anyone, they become extremely confused and start asking lots of questions which are completely irrelevant. Today's conversation with the cable guy was no different. It went something like this:

Cable Guy: So, here's the remote. I'd program it for your TV, but it's not here. Do you know what kind of TV you have?
Me: I don't need to program that remote, I have my own.
Cable Guy: But I can program it for you! Is it a ****? A ********?
(He keeps listing brands until I stop him)
Me: No, see, I don't have a TV.
Cable Guy: *CONFUSION*
Me: (sigh - so much for my non-disclosure plan) I'm planning on watching TV through my computer. I have a TV Tuner in my computer.
Cable Guy: Then why do you need cable?
Me: Because how can I watch TV without it?
Cable Guy: With your computer.
Me: (I am silently screaming) It's complicated. I don't need to program that remote. It will work the cable box the way it is, correct?
Cable Guy: Yeah.
Me: Okay. (Refrains from throttling him)


Sigh. Fortunately, I don't think I have to go through that again. And I can return the Cable Box with the Remote-that-is-not-programmed-to-my-TV-since-I-don't-have-one after my first bill. The things I do to save $25.