tuesday.

hello, hello, hello......

funny world we live in.  first my smoke alarm kept going off at weird times.........day and night.  kidde smoke alarm co is sending me a replacement smoke alarm.......waiting on that.  when the alarm went off the cats and i would breathe hard, they would hide under the bed and i had to push the button to turn the noise off and restrain myself from hitting it with a hammer.

but the new one will be here soon........so on that same day my doorbell starts randomly chiming.  it is battery operated......just like the smoke alarm.  are batteries possessed.......and if they are, what are they possessed by?  bruce was here when it started, so he pulled the old batteries and put in new ones.......but hours later it was still door belling the atmosphere randomly.......it has only gone off once today.....but what can we make of this odd thing?

bruce commented on all the wild flowers in my yard, in years past i had a lot of dandelions, but not this year......there are dozens upon dozens of tall pretty green weeds with tiny lavendar flowers.......very pretty.  he commented that it felt weird to plow down a field of pretty flowers.........since he did the bird activity is off the chain.  lots of  birds are busy hunting food........saw cardinals, robins, some kind of tanenger........really pretty coloring.......the tiny bird building it's nest for the second year running.....

i ordered a bedspread through walmart.....it was supplied by another company.  it comes and i think this is not the right shade, i need to exchange it.....that leads to a rabbit hole.  i speak to some random guy in the midwest who provides no company name or his own name for that matter, gives me an e-mail to write to and says not to expect anything to happen for a few days.......uh, oh, fishy fishy.....

so today i contact walmart directly......after talking the 2nd rep says she'll credit me back the full amount i spent onto my card......ok, not to worry about returning it at all, will i promise to find it a good home? sure......she tells me the other color is less expensive and because i had to go through this she is giving me a discount on the spread.....another $10.00 off the price.  wow........so then a short time later i see a message from walmart.  this message is giving me an e-gift card for future shopping after everything that happened......all the time spent and mess created etc, etc. etc.

but i don't know how to use the card. my skills are LIMITED.  i call back.....i think this might be a mistake as they have already given me a discount, the lady assures me that this is in addition.....that i simply need to print it. i can't, no printer....she says go to a friends house......i don't have a lot of pals......no one close by that i know has a printer......she tells me to do this and do that.....and i start to feel frustrated, anxious.......most unhappy.  i feel my life getting smaller, i feel embarrassed at what i don't know how to do.....at having to explain myself.......then i draw myself up fighting tears and say how is this in any way a gift to me?  i can't be your only old school customer out there......why don't you do this another way?  and she says that what she is suggesting i do IS BEST?  i say, best for you?  best for walmart?  does it sound best for the woman you're talking to  right now.......can you hear the frustration, anxiety.......hurt?  please let me speak to a supervisor.  i don't want to be this upset.....i'm giving you the condensed version, this was a 46 minute conversation where she is telling me what to do.......what is BEST for me according to her.  u g h .  that is when she says she will send me a $25 gift card in the mail.  (this is after she told me there is no way to send a gift card of any amount to a customer........)

at that point i said after all this now you're willing to give me two and a half times more in a gift card you told me repeatedly you don't have and cannot send?  now i really want to speak to a supervisor.......finally got transferred to a lady named Summer. 

Summer and I get along well....she listens, i listen......i suggest that walmart print a coupon for the use of customers like me, they have great postal rates, they could send me the original $10 coupon for pennies on the dollar in the US mail......she wants to know if she can "steal" my idea and present it to the powers that be.......then she goes the next step, she puts $25 back onto my card for all the additional mess and time wasted on the phone not to mention the level of frustration created by the previous rep.

so in the end i will only pay $25 for this brand new bedspread.......i wanted to check on Helen.........talked to her about the bedspread briefly.......she said what does it look like?  so i tell her it's ivory, very soft.......has a shabby chic design.  the top is smooth and so soft.....the sides flow down to the floor and kind of puddle there........a very romantic elegant look.  she says  oh my goodness that sounds exactly like what i've been looking for......can i buy it from you?  i say NOOOOO, but i can give it to you.  that's the rule, i am to gift it to someone who will enjoy it.......they are sending me the same one in white to arrive on monday.

wow, where did all the birds go?  i'm wonky as all get out after easter........feel like crud on a stick.  eloquent words to be sure......the chores are mostly done.......my blanket is waiting on me to warm me back up.......just wanted to see if you're ok.........let you know i care......pray for you daily!  later you!!!!!!!!!!!!