Beating the Crowds
Okay, second attempt . . . (I guess Blogger doesn't like me.)
Although it's not yet Thanksgiving (and thus before the traditional mad house known as the "holiday rush"), I enjoy the disgusted looks I get from people when they ask me how my Christmas shopping is going and I reply "I'm done." With that in mind, I made an effort to get a chunk of my Christmas shopping done over the weekend. I bundled up and chipped the ice shield off my car and headed to the mall, only to find that it closes at 6 p.m. on Sundays (damn people on day schedules . . .). But . . .
Linens 'n Things was open, and I like that store, so I got a chunk of shopping done there. I learned an important lesson when I left the parking lot; trunks function better when they're completely shut. Nothing quite like slowing down for a turn and having your trunk fly open with a
thunk, obscuring your back window. Luckily no one was hurt and nothing was lost. My cousin Tabby has been having roommate issues, so I took her out for supper to cheer her up, then headed for Super Target (yay!), where I walked around the store for an hour, calling my parents' phone every 10 minutes so I could ask my mother a question about a gift (Mom - you really need DSL). I finally called my brother's cell phone, on the off chance he was there and could run upstairs and tell my mother to get off the computer, but when he answered and I asked where he was, he said "Kansas" (he and some of his friends were returning from an NFL football game or something), so that didn't help much.
I had an unfortunate incident with a catalog company over the weekend that left me somewhat frustrated. I called the company on Sunday and ordered some gifts (and the woman repeated them back to me, so I know she had them all), but when I received my e-mail confirmation, alas, one of the items was missing. So I called their customer service department, only to discover that while they take orders 24/7, the rest of the company is only open M-F. So I e-mailed them and explained the mistake. Come Monday, no response to the e-mail, so I called them back (which is pretty good for someone with phone phobias). The customer service rep I got confirmed that the item wasn't in the order, then, to summarize, said "I'm sorry, the order has already been processed. I can't change it. You'll have to re-order." She then suggested I hang up, call the order number and place another order. No apology, no reduction in shipping, no word on exactly
when I was supposed to contact them to fix the order, given that they don't check their e-mail and they weren't open when I placed the order.
sigh So I called the order line back and re-ordered the item, all by itself, for an extra $8 of shipping. The woman on the ordering line started to read me the same "members' club" promo until I informed her that I'd already heard it twice and I was just re-ordering an item (she, at least, was sympathetic). I'm going to e-mail them and see if I can get the shipping charges refunded; if not, I likely won't be buying from them anymore.
And as a touch of irony in an otherwise-frustrating situation, I received another catalog from them today.
All in all, though, I crossed six names off my list this weekend (provided that I actually receive all of the items I ordered), which wasn't bad. Next year I'm going to be done in October . . .
Yeah, right.
Posted at 11:19:00 PM. |
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Friday, November 21
New Things
This is the first post. It should probably be something overwhelmingly insightful or otherwise brilliant, but it's 10:00 p.m. on a Friday night, so bear with me . . .
This is a new addition to the site. Web logs have become quite ubiquitous recently and a few people with whom I'm acquainted have started their own, which leads to the inevitable flavor of peer-pressure that only the electronic tangle of the Internet can provide. I'm somewhat behind them (
Cris already has like three months' worth), but it's taken me a bit to get over my reticence. Would you like to know why? Of course you would:
<rant>
I like the concept of Web logs. I really do. When done right, they're a wonderfully expressive art form, uncensored and instantaneous. Writing of any kind is good for the brain, and the "diary" format of Web logs allows glimpses into the psyche in a stream-of-consciousness format that often gleams, like gold in a river, with amusing and insightful tidbits of coolness.
But I don't read Web logs on a regular basis (which is one reason I haven't started one of these before - welcome to Hypocrisy, NE). I don't read them because those tidbits of coolness are buried within mountains of fluff and meaninglessness. There are a
lot of intelligent people out there who have interesting and witty things to say, or unique and amusing ways of saying old things, but I don't have the patience to read through three pages of results from Internet quizzes to find those pearls. And no offense, but if I don't know you I most likely really don't care
which Britney you are or
what era in time you are. Which is not to say that people shouldn't be allowed to post such things. That in itself would be a form of censorship, which defeats the purpose of the Web log. But if 75% of your Web log consists of quiz results (no matter how pretty the free graphics are) or inside jokes that only your two best friends are going to understand or the cut-and-pasted lyrics to whatever song you're listening to, don't be surprised if you don't get repeat visitors. It's all about the content, and I expect a certain percentage of real, original, meaningful content from those things that I endorse with my time (and Web logs lack an agency like the FDA to stamp "45% Meaningful Content" labels on the front pages).
</rant>
So I haven't jumped onto the Web log bandwagon with as much enthusiasm as other people. And I really don't expect more than a handful of people to read mine (it's not like I'm going to dole out the secrets to cold fusion or copies of the Paris Hilton tape or anything). But I do have to agree with Cris that the
forum itself is refreshing and innovative and kind of fun, even if I'm going to skip a lot of booths at the Web log convention. And quite honestly I don't feel any sort of obligation to read or link to someone else's Web log because they read or link to mine. The logs need to stand on their own merits. If you like mine, read and link to it. If you don't, don't. I'll do the same.
I'm not sure how insightful or brilliant that was. But it's my first post, so cut me some slack.
P.S. -
What color is my heart? I damn well hope it's red (or a closely related shade thereof), 'cause otherwise I should probably be in an emergency room somewhere . . . I know, I know, I'm sucking all of the fun out of it . . .
Posted at 10:39:00 PM. |
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