Yesterday was affirmation of that statement as it relates to shopping. It's not a true statement, not by a long mile. Just read back a few dozen posts to the ones about my eyes and my fear (terror) that I had the start of a detached retina.
But that does pretty well describe how I feel about shopping. I hate shopping and simply saying 'I hate shopping' doesn't describe how I really feel about it.
Yesterday and last weekend are two perfect examples.
Last weekend I had the Saga of the Jeans. The end result, after going through the horror of actually finding them and paying for them, was wearing them.
Pair 1 is fine. It's not a perfect fit because they're just a touch too big, but I can live with that. They ride reasonably well and I don't feel as if I have to keep grabbing the waistband to haul them back into position.
Pair 2, however, is something else again. Same brand, same style, same cut, but nothing like the same 'feel'. They feel like nothing better than a pair of crack pants. Whoever made the fabric used about 300% too much spandex (and why does every garment made by man these days require spandex, anyway?).
They bag and they sag and they shift and they are miserable to wear. Ordinarily, I am not a consumer who complains. This time I did because I figure they need to know to improve their product. I specifically said: I bought 'em fair and square. I washed 'em and I wore 'em so I don't expect anything in return.
This just makes me hate shopping even more.
Yesterday I got to go to Costco. Normally, I like Costco. Or, at least, I don't hate it. Yesterday, though, made me hate Costco, too.
I decided to buy gas, which I never do on the weekends because the station is packed. But I decided to get it over with so I wouldn't have to do it on Monday morning.
Got into line - one car ahead of me with two cars at the pumps. I figure it'll be just a couple of minutes. Sure enough, the front car finishes and pulls out but the guy in front of me doesn't move. The vehicle in front of him is a big truck with a correspondingly large gas tank. Five minutes I sat there waiting for something to happen. It finally does and I get to the pump.
I put my card into the reader and get the "Remove Card Quickly". I did. "Re-insert Card". I did that twice more and, by then, I am annoyed. I am annoyed that I have to do this at all. I am annoyed that the idiot in front of me didn't take advantage of that empty pump before. I am annoyed at the stupid mechanism.
Idiot finishes before I do and gets back in his car just as my pump stops. I finish up and get in my car and start the motor and idiot is still sitting there - paying absolutely no attention to the fact that there's a line behind us, and that those people probably want to get this over with, too. Idiot.
So, I put my car in gear and pull out to go around him and that is the point at which his brain engages. He pulls out.
Almost fifteen minutes spent doing something that, under normal circumstance (stopping during the week) takes about five minutes and, on the weekends assuming I don't have an idiot in front of me, takes maybe ten. I'm annoyed.
I find a space, park the car and get into the store. My shopping is done in about ten minutes because I know what I want and where to find it.
At the front of the store they have moved tall displays in front of the registers so you cannot see the lines from the other side of the displays. Is this deliberate? I have no idea, but I pick a line and... it's long. It's five people long and the guy at the front, which I didn't realize immediately, had two overflowing carts.
Shit. I look around. All of the other lines, now that I'm on the 'right' side of the displays, look just as bad so I heave a heavy sigh of resignation and settle in to wait.
Front guy's first cart is emptied and his wife starts unloading the second cart and... crash. She dropped a double jar of jalapeno peppers. Oh, frabjous day!
Four full carts in front of mine and a puddle of vinegar spreading from a mess of shattered glass intermixed with peppers.
Cue the mop bucket and two guys tasked with cleaning it up. In the meantime, as we all do, I'm looking around at the other lines.
The woman who had been behind me but whose husband had stationed himself in another line which moved faster than the one we were in has moved over and has reached the register while I still have three people in front of me.
What do I have in my cart? A bag of six avocados and a case of water. That's it. That's why I'm there. That's what I'm buying and I stood in line for nearly twenty minutes for the privilege.
By the time I got to unload the avocados onto the belt, I was so frustrated and annoyed I was ready to just walk away and leave it. Then, the woman in front of me has this insulated bag filled with stuff - which means the clerk has to unload the bag in order to scan the items inside it. Irritation notches up another two degrees, and spikes again when he says, "Oh, the bag of veggies broke open."
Shit. So they deal with that while my toes are just about doing a tarantella inside my shoes from frustration and impatience but, by this point, the temptation to just leave the cart and walk away is over-run by "just get it over with". I waited and they finished. My order took zero time since it was a matter of scanning just two barcodes. I paid and got into the line to get out of the store. I was NOT happy but when the guy at the door said, "How're you?" I didn't snap. I just said, snidely, "Just peachy, thanks."
In the car, I turn on the motor and start to pull out, stopping when a family strolls by at a snail's pace as if they haven't a care in the world. They didn't stop to wait for me to pull out. They acted as if they hadn't seen my tail lights and the car moving. They wander off and I start to back out again and the cart wrangler shows up. Standing between my car and the cart corral that's right next to my car he ignores my back-up lights and wrestles carts into line so he can pull them out, line them up, so he can push them back to the store. It's like my car with its taillights (which do work, by the way) doesn't even exist.
Finally I get to pull out and start home. I get into a line of cars at a traffic light and there's another idiot in front of me. He's not paying attention, looking down (probably playing with his God damned phone!) and, when the light changes, he just sits there. I honk. He looks up, scrambles and he just makes the left turn light before it turns red, leaving me sitting there at the red light. This is a major intersection, not a minor, and that light is about three minutes long. If he hadn't been screwing around with his phone we both could have made that light but noooo. He had to pay attention to his phone.
I HATE people who do shit like that. And this is why I HATE shopping.
Thank God it's Sunday and the shopping is done for another week.
I'm breathing again. Sitting here in my PJs with my coffee and I will relax, dammit.
Have a quiet, shopping-free day with no idiots around.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Christmas, By God!
There - I've offended millions in one swell-foop.
It's Christmas season. Hanukkah is past and now we're into Christmas - not "The Holidays" or "The Holiday Season" or any of that other nonsense.
If some group wants to establish some new winter festival, like Christmas or like Hanukkah which commemorates an historical event, go for it - but do not demand that I or others who ascribe to the joy of Christmas stop expressing ourselves. That ain't gonna happen. So, in keeping with that bold and clear statement:
In our household, we won't be doing Christmas cards. Buying ten cards for $10 and then paying $0.50 each to mail them ($5) on top of the time and energy spent writing that once-a-year note to people I otherwise don't communicate with makes no sense to me.
We won't be exchanging presents. Spending time and energy running from store to store to store looking for something that will probably end up in the back of the recipient's closet makes no sense to me.
Winding up in January looking into the figurative wallet and thinking, "Geez! Did we really spend that much?" makes no sense to me.
We won't be driving ourselves crazy with setting up the tree, stringing wires and decorating it. Getting out all the other knickknacks and decorations to spread through the house - living room and dining room and family room - all so we can take it all down and put it away again in two weeks.
Ours is a quiet period of normal living. And I like it this way.
When daughter was still at home and before MIL's illness back in 2012 we did the seasonal craziness - the tree went up the day after Thanksgiving. We would spending a day diving into the attic, pulling out the boxes of decorations and setting everything out. We would check the lights and argue about how best to wire the tree. Then, when it was all over and up, I would dive back into the attic to put the storage boxes away, all so the process could be reversed the day after New Years. We also did the cards and the shopping and the stressing out.
Since then, since MIL moved downstairs into our living room, taking up the space formerly reserved for the Christmas tree, we haven't done it. And, quite frankly, I have not missed it. I don't miss the decorating, the card writing (which took hours even though I only sent about ten or fifteen cards each year), or the running hither and yon to find that "perfect" whatever.
Aside from that, I live with two people who aren't sure about anything "religious" and for them to get all excited about Christmas was nothing but seasonal induced greed - what will I get / what can I have. And that's not what this season should be about. That's what it's become, but that's not what it should be about.
MIL refuses to acknowledge God or any higher power. So be it, that's her outlook. However, she is fretting because she cannot write or send Christmas cards this year. As if anyone is going to really miss that extra piece of paper in the mail. Yes, it's a nice sentiment, but this goes straight back to my 1:1 relationship. These are people with whom she doesn't communicate except at Christmas - and the sentiments in the cards sent and received are predominately "this is me in my world" instead of an on-going interested exchange of news and views.
Hubby doesn't seem to know what he thinks or believes. He talks about people "up there" influencing and affecting our lives, but refuses to acknowledge God or any other higher power. Whatever.
Then there's me. I am a believer in God. My relationship with Him is personal - 1:1. I talk to him. I know that He's there in all things and all moments so I try to always do the right thing for myself and for others. Do I believe that He is jotting down every little thing I do or ask for? No. There's an entire universe out there and I'm less than a dust mote in it. I send good thoughts, energy, to those who need it. Does it influence the outcome? Probably not, but if it makes me feel better or makes the people who ask for thoughts and prayers feel better, it's a small thing to do, so I do it.
With 2015 coming to a close, and 2016 looming large with all of its new offerings, it's an exciting time.
Next year I will be a Grandma for the first time.
Next year I will have new responsibilities at work (that came up yesterday and will start Monday, but won't really start rolling until after New Years).
Next year our new plant will open and, hopefully, start operating. That might lead to new things, too. We'll see.
In the meantime it's life continuing.
I went out and bought another pair of new shoes because the first pair is so comfortable. $19.99 per pair plus sales tax. Less than $45 for two pair of shoes that will probably last two years - and I got an argument and lecture when I got home.
I signed up for health insurance through my work. It's a funded plan in which a set dollar amount is deposited into a bank account in my name every pay period. The intent is that the money will accumulate and be there when and if I need it. I got an argument about that, too. But I'm standing firm - that is not going to be touched for anything but my medical expenses, as designated. (Hubby has a different idea but tough. He'll have to get over it.)
I forgot to return five cans of cat food this morning and got scolded for it. As if I can't take them and exchange them another time.
Life as usual in our household in other words. So, instead of the Christmas tree and cards and all the rest of it, I have two pair of shoes that I need. I have the beginnings of a health insurance nest egg I can use. I have five extra cans of cat food that will, at some point, go back to the store. It's all good and it's my little corner of this world on the Saturday before Christmas. Hubby's frustration and vitriol slid off my back like water off a duck because it's so common, so expected and normal, so that's all good too.
Have fun shopping! Watch out for those crowds and don't get carried away with the spending. Me? I'm going to kick back and relax.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
It's Christmas season. Hanukkah is past and now we're into Christmas - not "The Holidays" or "The Holiday Season" or any of that other nonsense.
If some group wants to establish some new winter festival, like Christmas or like Hanukkah which commemorates an historical event, go for it - but do not demand that I or others who ascribe to the joy of Christmas stop expressing ourselves. That ain't gonna happen. So, in keeping with that bold and clear statement:
Merry Christmas!
In our household, we won't be doing Christmas cards. Buying ten cards for $10 and then paying $0.50 each to mail them ($5) on top of the time and energy spent writing that once-a-year note to people I otherwise don't communicate with makes no sense to me.
We won't be exchanging presents. Spending time and energy running from store to store to store looking for something that will probably end up in the back of the recipient's closet makes no sense to me.
Winding up in January looking into the figurative wallet and thinking, "Geez! Did we really spend that much?" makes no sense to me.
We won't be driving ourselves crazy with setting up the tree, stringing wires and decorating it. Getting out all the other knickknacks and decorations to spread through the house - living room and dining room and family room - all so we can take it all down and put it away again in two weeks.
Ours is a quiet period of normal living. And I like it this way.
When daughter was still at home and before MIL's illness back in 2012 we did the seasonal craziness - the tree went up the day after Thanksgiving. We would spending a day diving into the attic, pulling out the boxes of decorations and setting everything out. We would check the lights and argue about how best to wire the tree. Then, when it was all over and up, I would dive back into the attic to put the storage boxes away, all so the process could be reversed the day after New Years. We also did the cards and the shopping and the stressing out.
Since then, since MIL moved downstairs into our living room, taking up the space formerly reserved for the Christmas tree, we haven't done it. And, quite frankly, I have not missed it. I don't miss the decorating, the card writing (which took hours even though I only sent about ten or fifteen cards each year), or the running hither and yon to find that "perfect" whatever.
Aside from that, I live with two people who aren't sure about anything "religious" and for them to get all excited about Christmas was nothing but seasonal induced greed - what will I get / what can I have. And that's not what this season should be about. That's what it's become, but that's not what it should be about.
MIL refuses to acknowledge God or any higher power. So be it, that's her outlook. However, she is fretting because she cannot write or send Christmas cards this year. As if anyone is going to really miss that extra piece of paper in the mail. Yes, it's a nice sentiment, but this goes straight back to my 1:1 relationship. These are people with whom she doesn't communicate except at Christmas - and the sentiments in the cards sent and received are predominately "this is me in my world" instead of an on-going interested exchange of news and views.
Hubby doesn't seem to know what he thinks or believes. He talks about people "up there" influencing and affecting our lives, but refuses to acknowledge God or any other higher power. Whatever.
Then there's me. I am a believer in God. My relationship with Him is personal - 1:1. I talk to him. I know that He's there in all things and all moments so I try to always do the right thing for myself and for others. Do I believe that He is jotting down every little thing I do or ask for? No. There's an entire universe out there and I'm less than a dust mote in it. I send good thoughts, energy, to those who need it. Does it influence the outcome? Probably not, but if it makes me feel better or makes the people who ask for thoughts and prayers feel better, it's a small thing to do, so I do it.
With 2015 coming to a close, and 2016 looming large with all of its new offerings, it's an exciting time.
Next year I will be a Grandma for the first time.
Next year I will have new responsibilities at work (that came up yesterday and will start Monday, but won't really start rolling until after New Years).
Next year our new plant will open and, hopefully, start operating. That might lead to new things, too. We'll see.
In the meantime it's life continuing.
I went out and bought another pair of new shoes because the first pair is so comfortable. $19.99 per pair plus sales tax. Less than $45 for two pair of shoes that will probably last two years - and I got an argument and lecture when I got home.
I signed up for health insurance through my work. It's a funded plan in which a set dollar amount is deposited into a bank account in my name every pay period. The intent is that the money will accumulate and be there when and if I need it. I got an argument about that, too. But I'm standing firm - that is not going to be touched for anything but my medical expenses, as designated. (Hubby has a different idea but tough. He'll have to get over it.)
I forgot to return five cans of cat food this morning and got scolded for it. As if I can't take them and exchange them another time.
Life as usual in our household in other words. So, instead of the Christmas tree and cards and all the rest of it, I have two pair of shoes that I need. I have the beginnings of a health insurance nest egg I can use. I have five extra cans of cat food that will, at some point, go back to the store. It's all good and it's my little corner of this world on the Saturday before Christmas. Hubby's frustration and vitriol slid off my back like water off a duck because it's so common, so expected and normal, so that's all good too.
Have fun shopping! Watch out for those crowds and don't get carried away with the spending. Me? I'm going to kick back and relax.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Saturday Afternoon Post
Sorry for that title. It's not quite plagiarism. If I had waited a few hours, it would be, but it's not evening here, yet, so I'm safe, except for the bad play on words. Besides, it is Saturday, it is afternoon and this is a post, so it's appropriate.
I have re-upped or upped on all the writer's sites in which I'm interested. I've heard too many stories about people pirating stories on Wattpad, so I'm not interested in that, and I have limited time, so I'll stick to what I've got.
I spent some time on Book Country last night and posted a crit. I still don't like that site - it feels closed in and it's hard to navigate because it's not intuitive. I'll keep pecking away at it and see if it gets easier or more comfortable.
As for Scribophile, I haven't changed my opinion about it. I do like the inline critique feature of it, but that's about all I like. The forums are dead. I dropped into their Flash Fiction group yesterday and the last post was ten months ago. I also noted that someone had commented on what I posted there - months ago. I sent a thank you and got a message back: "Didn't even know you'd left." Hmm. That says pretty much all there is to say.
I did sign up for two others and need to drop in and see what's going on with them, but I don't have high hopes.
In the meantime, this was supposed to be a day for writing. Instead, I've spent my entire morning sulking. Playing computer games (Farm Heroes) and watching Bond movies. What I'm not doing is what I meant to do yesterday and looked forward to doing last night. It's just a bit depressing given the current state of affairs. There's time, later.
I have to say, I do enjoy James Bond movies - they're stupid but fun. Just finished watching Goldeneye and now I'm on Tomorrow Never Dies. It's easy on the eyes (they always choose such good looking men for the role of Bond) and the brain (no thinking is needed).
Speaking of movies, we watched the remake of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' with Donald Sutherland last night. I like the original, but the remake is really quite good. It starts off slow, and I suspected Leonard Nimoy's character of being a pod-guy straight from the off - as soon as I saw him - but it was still well done.
I'll get to writing here in a bit. I'm feeling the need building - and writing this post isn't taking the edge off. I just don't know what I'll work on.
I took a look at Book Three of Elizabeth's Braid yesterday and it isn't as bad as I had expected it would be. It's not good, because it was written three years ago, before I knew as much as I know now, so it's wordy and repetitious, it needs some trimming and cleaning, but it starts off well.
'Would it have been deemed accident or suicide? 'twas a question to which I would never have the answer for I had not died.'
I think that's pretty intriguing as a story open. Unfortunately, as much as I prefer begin as I mean to continue, it didn't continue that well. There's a good story in there. It's just cluttered up with 'newbie' writing.
In Book Two, Elizabeth and her husband are at a house party. While they're there, Elizabeth catches the eye of a man who it is later revealed (in Book Four) is part of a human trafficking ring. This group kidnaps young women and sells them overseas as sex slaves.
He stalks her for days. Her husband has seen her watching this man and has gotten the wrong idea. It all leads up to his final assault on her during which she and her assailant are discovered - after he's beaten her nearly unconscious. He's not successful - they're found before he finishes the deed, but it's enough to destroy her reputation.
Since this story is set in the early part of the 19th century, such an event was almost always presumed to be the lady's fault. She must have been loose, have led him on or done something to make him lose control.
I won't go into any detail because I don't want to give anyone else any ideas, or spoil the story for anyone who might buy it once I get it published.
Book three picks up when she's reflecting on the past months - and her near suicide.
Naturally, I think this is a ripping good tale. I just need to clean it up and get it ready to go. So maybe that's what I'll work on this weekend. Otherwise, perhaps, I'll work on something else.
I'll have to think about it. While I do the shopping, which I need to get out and do, so I'll finish this up.
Have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
I have re-upped or upped on all the writer's sites in which I'm interested. I've heard too many stories about people pirating stories on Wattpad, so I'm not interested in that, and I have limited time, so I'll stick to what I've got.
I spent some time on Book Country last night and posted a crit. I still don't like that site - it feels closed in and it's hard to navigate because it's not intuitive. I'll keep pecking away at it and see if it gets easier or more comfortable.
As for Scribophile, I haven't changed my opinion about it. I do like the inline critique feature of it, but that's about all I like. The forums are dead. I dropped into their Flash Fiction group yesterday and the last post was ten months ago. I also noted that someone had commented on what I posted there - months ago. I sent a thank you and got a message back: "Didn't even know you'd left." Hmm. That says pretty much all there is to say.
I did sign up for two others and need to drop in and see what's going on with them, but I don't have high hopes.
In the meantime, this was supposed to be a day for writing. Instead, I've spent my entire morning sulking. Playing computer games (Farm Heroes) and watching Bond movies. What I'm not doing is what I meant to do yesterday and looked forward to doing last night. It's just a bit depressing given the current state of affairs. There's time, later.
I have to say, I do enjoy James Bond movies - they're stupid but fun. Just finished watching Goldeneye and now I'm on Tomorrow Never Dies. It's easy on the eyes (they always choose such good looking men for the role of Bond) and the brain (no thinking is needed).
Speaking of movies, we watched the remake of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' with Donald Sutherland last night. I like the original, but the remake is really quite good. It starts off slow, and I suspected Leonard Nimoy's character of being a pod-guy straight from the off - as soon as I saw him - but it was still well done.
I'll get to writing here in a bit. I'm feeling the need building - and writing this post isn't taking the edge off. I just don't know what I'll work on.
I took a look at Book Three of Elizabeth's Braid yesterday and it isn't as bad as I had expected it would be. It's not good, because it was written three years ago, before I knew as much as I know now, so it's wordy and repetitious, it needs some trimming and cleaning, but it starts off well.
'Would it have been deemed accident or suicide? 'twas a question to which I would never have the answer for I had not died.'
I think that's pretty intriguing as a story open. Unfortunately, as much as I prefer begin as I mean to continue, it didn't continue that well. There's a good story in there. It's just cluttered up with 'newbie' writing.
In Book Two, Elizabeth and her husband are at a house party. While they're there, Elizabeth catches the eye of a man who it is later revealed (in Book Four) is part of a human trafficking ring. This group kidnaps young women and sells them overseas as sex slaves.
He stalks her for days. Her husband has seen her watching this man and has gotten the wrong idea. It all leads up to his final assault on her during which she and her assailant are discovered - after he's beaten her nearly unconscious. He's not successful - they're found before he finishes the deed, but it's enough to destroy her reputation.
Since this story is set in the early part of the 19th century, such an event was almost always presumed to be the lady's fault. She must have been loose, have led him on or done something to make him lose control.
I won't go into any detail because I don't want to give anyone else any ideas, or spoil the story for anyone who might buy it once I get it published.
Book three picks up when she's reflecting on the past months - and her near suicide.
Naturally, I think this is a ripping good tale. I just need to clean it up and get it ready to go. So maybe that's what I'll work on this weekend. Otherwise, perhaps, I'll work on something else.
I'll have to think about it. While I do the shopping, which I need to get out and do, so I'll finish this up.
Have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)