Well, the end of 4 days off.  I know it's barely noon Sunday, but it goes so fast.  I got  up, let the dogs out, enjoyed a large breakfast - something I really don't get into but she loves to cook and this really was tasty - then headed up to Lowe's.  I have been working on the pond project this weekend, with the wall mostly built and mortared in.  However, I forgot about rebar and though I couldn't stick it inside the blocks as you are supposed to do, I was at least able to drive them into the ground directly behind the blocks and up against them and then cement them in.  This has turned into a much more involved project than I expected.  It's because  of the proximity to the house. OtherI pwise, I would have been able to just dig a hole and no have had to put up any retaining walls and it would have already been done.

But, getting too far out into the yard would have defeated the purpose of being able to sit there and enjoy a pond while sitting on the front porch.  And my water run-off drainage pipe limited how far away from the porch I could put it. It would have been ideal at around 2 feet.  Instead, it's about 10 inches, which is good enough.

Anyway, I  got my materials and got up to the contractor's check  out. I'm not a contractor but that never stops anyway.  The young lady running the counter had a foul attitude, which was obvious before even got up to her with the way she treated the people in front of me.  I thought, well, I just have a few things, get this over with and get out of there.  However, she rang everything up and and gave me the total, which I thought was way higher than what it should be.  I decided to say nothing, if I need a refund I'll go to the customer service counter instead of dealing with her.

But, it didn't happen that way.  First off, she was complaining about the purchase itself with the rebar.  Do you know how much these are? No, I replied.  There was no prices on most of it.  She got upset at that while talking to this other young employee standing there.  I kept my cool while enduring her foulness.  She rang everything up, I paid for it, she handed me the receipt.  I stood back from the register and turned slightly to head out the door.  I was looking at the receipt, there was a $22 charge for something on there that I definitely didn't buy and was the source of the conflict.  She grabbed the receipt out of my hands without asking and said: "let me look at that".  That is where she crossed my line.  I still said nothing while she issued a refund and then demanded that I sign a paper for it.  Huh? You make a mistake and you want me to sign for it?  She just looked at me.  I then stated: You have an attitude problem.  She got a pissy look on her face, said okay and then walked away from the register.  I asked her her  name.

No reply. I asked the other employee's name.  No reply. An older guy had just walked up and I was asking for a manager.  Well what's wrong? She's getting an attitude with me  because of her mistake!  Enough.  Note that this lady never once apologized for her error.  Nothing even remotely close to it.  I walked out of there before I was going to lose my cool, loaded the stuff into the car and went into the other entrance, to the returns counter and asked for the manager.  Is there something I can help you with?  A lady with a clearly Texas drawl asked.  No, I want to speak to the general manager of this store, is that individual here?

She calls her up, meanwhile attempting to try and pry info out of me  It was more  curiosity on her part so I accommodated her with a piece of the information. I then quickly said, no, it's not you anyone standing here.  Ohhhh, she said, okay.  The manager came up, listened to my story and started trying to explain away the receipt and what happened.  I quickly stopped that line.  I don't care about that, it's that lady's attitude that I am complaining about. I didn't make this mistake, I didn't get the bad attitude, I don't expect to come to  Lowe's and get treated like this for no good reason.  This lady wouldn't give me her name, grabbed the receipt out of my hands  without asking and never apologized for her error.  She has a bad attitude and I expect you to deal with this in whatever way you find appropriate.

The manager got the hint and the clue, profusely apologized for the other lady's actions and said she would deal with it. Thank you!  And I left, wishing them all a good day.  I forgot Merry Christmas, I started doing that after Thanksgiving.  It didn't ruin my day, I just made my point and got out of there.

The block is in, the rebar pounded in, the mortar poured, now I have to wait for it to set.  Then I am going to fill in with dirt up to the level of the foundation of the house.  After that I can set the final block in place.  So, this is going to be resumed next weekend.  I get home from work now and it's almost dark already.  Yes I could run a light out there but I"m not in a huge hurry.  I would like to get this done, but it's a step by step process and it can't be rushed.

That's it for today.  The leaves are all but burned.  Once those are done I have a huge ash pile to dump over the back fence.  The next rain will wash it all away down the creek. I was informed, though, that those ashes are good for flower gardens. Hmmm, well if true, I will have plenty more.  The ash pile is over two feet high now, I need to get it back to ground level and then I can start over again.  I really need a high powered leaf blower.  But they are expensive.  I dunno if there are any Christmas specials on such, supposedly Black Friday deals are going through the weekend  - but - Cyber Monday is almost here.

I'm determined to get my own property out here.  There is very little public land anywhere.  Ie:places to go to enjoy yourself with dogs running free or firing up the 4 wheelers. It's a culture of land ownership.  I'm hopeful by sometime into next year my credit rating will be out of fair territory and into good zone.  That will be good enough to secure a low payment loan on a medium sized piece of land, I"m thinking around 50 acres.  Unless you have cash, you can't do anything without  good credit.  I'm not going to get burned by high interest/high payments.  Cattle would be in the equation as well.  I do need to save up the money for the down payment.  Which I have started.

Well, back to the Lowe's fiasco. While sitting here contemplating things, I checked my bank account.  The money was not refunded back into my account.  That required an immediate call to Lowe's, where I was informed "he" was not available, the store's manager.  Now we are going into more lies.  He? I replied. Yes, he's on the phone. I'll wait, thinking what is this? The lady that I spoke to said she was the store's manager and that after I pressed her about being the store's general manager.  I was hung up on.  I called back.  Again.  I called back.  Finally, this guy answers the phone.  I dumped all over him.  What is going on  there?

Finally,  a sensible person.  He profusely apologized for all of it.  He said there are cameras all over  the store and he would be reviewing the video of it. PLEASE do, I replied, you will see her snatching that receipt out of my hands.  He offered to refund my money in cash, but I am not going back up to that store today.

Well I'm going to put that out of my mind.  The Shepherd is getting bigger.  I wasn't really looking for another large dog, so I hope that stops soon enough.  She is finally getting accustomed to my way of doing things and is starting to blend in - excepting her penchant for jumping the fence.  Now, I've been letting her out without being chained up for the last week or so while I"m home, but I just can't do that when I'm at work. The last time she got out I caught her in the act and that was potentially a turning point.  Whatever the case, I do hope she isn't pregnant. So far, there are no signs of it.

Nothing much else around here worth going into.