Tuesday

I promise I'm not giving up on blogging, again, just going through some sort of phase. I know I missed Sunday and yesterday - which is totally out-of-character for me - dunno what to say about it, really.

Sunday was rather uneventful. I had a couple people over for BBQ chicken - but as far as getting anything done around here, not much. Just the normal cleaning and watering of plants. I have a couple of projects going that I would like to finish. The last couple of weekends have been total wastes for me - I usually work on some kind of project and at least get something done on them. I ain't promising anything for the coming weekend, either.

The rather large size of the casino winnings helped me get ahead on some bills and get some things I needed, such as several more bags of dog food; tic treatment for the dogs; new socks, stuff like that.

Today, I went into a McDonald's in Casa Grande. I had no time to stop anywhere but for a few seconds to run in and out. It really shouldn't have been that long of a day, but it turned into one with driving all over the place. I wanted a cup of coffee to wake myself up. I was driving the boss's pickup, so I went through the drive-thru window. Got the coffee, drove off from the window, took a sip - and about spit it all back out. COLD coffee.

Some of the things these fast-food places do nowadays are quite amazing. Amazingly BAD. I parked the truck, walked back in, set the cup down on the counter, asked for my money back. What's wrong? Cold coffee. I can get you another cup. Don't want another cup, just give me my money back. I don't take kindly to a place of business serving something that is just plain wrong. I didn't give them an attitude per se, I just decided that if that was the way they were going to treat their customers, I would rather have nothing to do with that particular store/location again. The manager comes up - I tell her again, please give me my money back, thanks.

She gave me my money back, I said thank you and started to walk off. She did the unexpected, as the thought hadn't even crossed my mind, honestly: she offered me a free cup of hot coffee. Before this lady walked up, 3 employees were arguing amongst themselves about whose fault it was: turns out someone had turned off the warmer on the coffee brewer and that's why the coffee was cold. It seems nowadays it takes management to do the right thing at most places when a blunder is made. Perhaps the employees don't have the power to be able to make something right, I don't really know. However, in this case, I didn't ask for a free cup of coffee, neither did I expect one. I just dismissed the whole thing and was going to leave. At least her end of the deal reaffirmed my faith that there are still people working in places - that count - out there that are doing the right thing.

Now, take my visit to Fry's. Take that back, take my FOUR visits to Fry's in 3 days, looking for a sale item the didn't have: 77 cents per pound chicken. I went in Friday - no 77 cent chicken out. When will the next shipment come in? It was meat department personnel who informed me: "Anytime, we are expecting a truck anytime now". Well, will there be some tomorrow morning? Ohhhhh yes, there will. So, no big deal, I go into Fry's frequently, I would just come back in the morning.

Saturday, I go back to Fry's. Look for the 77cents per pound chicken. No such baby exists. I ask meat department personnel again: how's come no chicken? Ohhh, we're sorry, we don't have any. Sir, that's what YOU told me yesterday and you adamently informed me that today there would be chicken. I let it go with that guy, instead, I saw Kim, the store's manager, and asked him (yes, it's a man named Kim, haven't ever figured that one out, and he's not oriental or anything) about it. He went back - came back to me, apologized and that was the end of it. Will you have any tomorrow? Oh yes, we will have a truck come in today.

Yes, I went in Sunday morning. No chicken, and yes, I asked.
I went again later - I had forgotten a few things that I wanted for a meal. This time, a different man was working out in the meat aisle. I asked this guy how's come no chicken? He gets and attitude with me - note: I did NOT get an attitude with him, I asked him politely about the sale chicken that they don't seem to ever have. Not worth going into, the attitude was very sour.

Now, this is the FOURTH time in THREE days I've been there to get the sale chicken. I have NEVER experienced anything this bad from Fry's. So, after this guy getting a tudinoidinal with me, I go to find Kim, the general manager. He's not in today, I am informed, but Tim is. Okay, I have seen Tim before - never knew he was even in management. I told him 2 things, 1: I have been here 4 times for chicken that you don't have and 2: the dude with the tude.

Tim says follow me, we'll do a substitute for you. Okay. We go back there - dude with tude is out there. Tim asks Tude Dude something, Tude Dude starts with his act. Tude Dude looks at me, makes a comment - I cut him off. YOU are a REAL piece of work. Tude Dude immediately goes into extreme tudinaoidinal flurry of - s***. In fact, he put the meat down he had been holding and pulled his hands and arms back as if he were going to hit me! Lol. Fortunately, I had no fear of the man, at all, and said it again: YOU are a REAL piece of work. Tim intervenes, tells the man to stop, picks up 4 packages of chicken drumsticks of a different brand at a MUCH higher price, tells me to just tell the cashier that he said it was a substitute.

I walk off. Tim starts in on the man. Again, as I have said countless times on this journal, if I were to treat a customer the way Tude Dude spoke to me, I am quite sure that I would either be fired or definitely reprimanded and threatened with termination if it happened again. I doubt Tude Dude got fired - and really, it takes a lot for me to want to see a person lose their position and though this is getting up there, I still wouldn't have wished it upon him. BUT - he definitely received and earful from Tim, the second-in-command of that particular store.

I did an experiment when I got home. I called a LOT of Fry's stores - NONE of them had the chicken until I got to the last one. I asked the guy to put 6 packages of it aside for me, I would be right in. Yup, I got in my car and drove over there - only 4 miles away, it was definitely worth the trip.

Okay, that's just a blurp for history's sake on my part for my blog. Note that I did not ask for any freebies in this situation, either. The chicken I received from Tim may have cost more - but to me - chicken is chicken. I mean, if you are getting chicken breast, THEN you are getting a freebie, but a chicken drumstick is a chicken drumstick, at least to me it is.

More? Oh - there's another thing that happened that got my ire on Sunday as well. I put $120 of that casino winnings on my power card for electricity. At least, I tried to. The machine ate my money, did NOT put the money on my card, and then pumped out a receipt saying that the money wasn't on the card, please call this number. LOOOOOOOOONG story short: they did not have ANY record of my having done what I said I did (so thank God Almighty the receipt actually stated it), I had to go in yesterday to an SRP office and have them put that money onto a new card.

So, on the good note side: I don't really have any. I mean, when I got home today, Mimi- the newest tenant -said when she went out there this morning to open the gate, the latch was not latched. The lock was in it's hold, but the latch was above the lock, not below it where the lock can keep it from opening. All the dogs would have need done was push against the gate and it would have opened for them. This is twice now in 3 days this has happened. Ken did it on Sunday - he apparently thought he had closed the get - he did not. I went out there to see the gate WIDE OPEN. Mary did it this morning - it was clearly obvious through looking at the video surveillance camera that I have trained on that particular gate. Yup - I'm going to eliminate the use of that gate for tenants. The gate on the other side of the house is in the dog-free zone. If they pull that s*** over there, at least I have some peace of mind that the dogs can't get out by virtue of the fence in the back of the house that keeps them from getting back there.

Okay - a bright spot. I was at Walmart on Sunday. I wanted to get flea/tic stuff for the dogs and several packages of new socks. As normal for me, I couldn't resist walking through the nursery department to see what they might have. My new trellises need some vines crawling up them and - whatever else. An employee was out watering the plants. He quipped: "There are trees that we are getting rid of behind those palms back there, they're greatly discounted". Well, I most certainly couldn't resist THAT invitation, so I thanked him for the info and walked back there. Sure enough, they had 8 foot tall trees for ELEVEN bucks!! R U Serious? Dang!!!! Okay, I only bought one. All I could get into my car. I have totally forgotten about those trees - of which they don't have many left back there - I would have gotten another one today or yesterday on the way home from work.

Oh, there's even more stuff, but this entry has gotten lengthy.
Hope you all had a great (and swine-flu-free) day!
ben