Blather & Whatnot

Saturday evening, and I should be tucking in, because tomorrow, this will be 10:22, not 9:22.  I hate Daylight Saving Time.  You can't save daylight.  You get what you get of it, and have to make the best of it.  I personally prefer my daylight in the morning, thank you very much, so I wish people would stop telling me that I'm "getting an extra hour of daylight."  No, I'm not.  It's just been moved from the morning to the evening quite unecessarily.  If you can't tell, DST makes me grumpy.

Off to set up an Overnight Coffee Cake for tomorrow morning,  so that all I have to do is pop it in the oven while I shower and dress for church:

Overnight Coffee Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• Topping Mixture:
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Combine first 7 ingredients, add buttermilk and eggs. Beat at low speed until moistened, beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.

Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, pecans and 1 tsp cinnamon (topping mixture). Sprinkle over batter. * Cover and refrigerate 8 – 12 hours. Uncover and bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm.

*Can bake immediately 350 degrees for 30 minutes. To reheat cover with foil and bake 350 degrees for five minutes.

I'll probably cut the recipe in half, since Jenny is at a sleepover, and she is a coffee cake monster.  Or I could take the leftovers to church with me for the coffee hour.  Decisions, decisions...

Dear Mary,

Thank you for ordering from Harry and David - we appreciate your business.

Your order has been received and is being processed. You can view its status at any time.
If you need to get in touch with us about your order, click here or call us anytime at 1-877-322-1200.

	Mary Lastname 212 Any Street     ANYWHERE ST 11111-1111   EMAIL:  jalilifer@yahoo.com PHONE:  ORDER NUMBER:  1002399299 ORDER RECEIVED:  2007-12-17 PAYMENT:  $50.04 (AMERICAN EXPRESS)

SHIP TO:	GREETING:

John and JoanLastname 246 Another Street     Another Town, ST 22222-2222   Merry Christmas! with love, Mary, John, Lili, Jenny & Jack

ITEM # DESCRIPTION ARRIVAL DATE AND METHOD PRICE QTY TOTAL 55Z Merry Mix-Up® Box 3 DAY EXPRESS Christmas $29.95 1 $29.95 SUBTOTAL: $29.95

ORDER DETAILS
	[Regular Price Subtotal]: $29.95 Your Price Subtotal: $29.95 Standard Shipping: $8.99 Expedited Shipping: $9.99 Fuel Surcharge: $0.13 Total Delivery and Processing Charges: $19.11 Sales Tax: $0.98 TOTAL: $50.04

So yesterday, I sent the following:

Please be advised that the below purchase (placed on December 17) has not been processed.  Please cancel this order.  It was ordered as a Christmas present for my convalescing mother-in-law.  I am greatly disappointed that I was not notified of the incomplete status of this order before Christmas.  I do not intend to make any future orders through Harry & David  due to this error on your part.

Sincerely,

***

An hour after that, I received the typical automated message saying that my request had been received, and to expect a response in 24 hours.

This morning, I received the following:

Please accept our apologies. Unfortunately, your order is in the process of being shipped and we are unable to make any changes.

We're sorry we couldn't be of more assistance and hope to have your understanding.

Best Wishes,

Michael C.
Harry and David

Shipped?  Now?  Two days after Christmas, when I placed the order on the 17 and paid for expedited shipping????

So I sent the following, after deleting several choice words:

I do not find this situation acceptable.  Upon reviewing my credit bard bill a second time, I see that you did process payment (payment was processed on the same date that it was ordered...I was looking at 12-18 onward the first time I checked my bill).  Since I made the payment with the understanding that the package would arrive before Christmas, I think that the very least you can do is to refund what I paid for expedited shipment.

I am still very disappointed by this experience.

.................................................................................

The burning question....will I get back my money for expedited shipping?  I will never use Harry and David in the future again.  The only reason why did I use them, was because MIL and FIL sent us a Harry and David package. 

I'm absolutely flummoxed by the fact that they dropped the ball on processing and shipping in a timely manner and didn't even offer to credit my account back the shipping costs.

the stuff in the head has not been moving today. not a good sign. it's back to the mucinex.

i've been delphi glutting again.

i have no idea what to cook for dinner tonight.

i have a headache, but i'm not convinced that it's a sinus infection, yet, anyway.

i'm too lazy to use capital (or is that capitol?) letters.

i need to either go to the doctor tomorrow, or else pretend that i'm not sick any more and just work through the head gunk.

Or that's what everyone says. Folks claim that each year the decorations in the stores go up earlier, that more and more people jump the gun on decorating their own homes.

Personally, I doubt it. I did a lazy search on the topic and found complaints that date back five years regarding Christmas decorations going up in October. Guess what folks? It's not new! In retail, Thanksgiving isn't a big holiday. Christmas, however, is. As is Halloween (it's rising through the ranks, and I think has broken into the top five: Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, Halloween -- that's from memory, so don't quote me). Christmas decorations go up before Halloween comes down because that's how retail does things. Displays sell things...the next set begins its rise before the prior set is stripped down. Stores don't do naked. That's just the way it goes.

What about personal homes being decorated earlier? Really, I doubt this one, too, though some people might be spreading out their decorating tasks over a longer period of time. I remember my mother commenting (note: not complaining) about two families in our neighborhood who started decorating for Christmas on November first. I'm not a spring chicken...if these two neighbors were the first folks to decorate for Christmas prior to December (which I higly doubt), then it's been going on for at least 40 years.

Retail decorates early. They always have, they always will. People decorate early. They always have, they always will.

If you see someone decorating for Christmas in June, I'll be willing to take complaints at that time.

Argh. I was hoping that the problems I had previously with Verizon's web space was going to magically disappear with FiOS. Not.

Does anyone here have Verizon and use the web space? The site builder always breaks on me (no matter what browser I use) and when I use FTP Verizon always rejects my password.

I went through the same thing last year, and trying to find a contact for interacting with a real person was a pita, as well.

Anyone have any advice (other than changing ISPs)?

Those people who pull half way into the street, blocking traffic to see if they can make a left turn are annoying.

People who don't call when a four o'clock appointment has been changed to a five o'clock appointment are annoying.

People who were supposed to meet you at three, don't show, and then don't return your call are annoying (ormaybe worrisome, but given the individual in this case, I'm annoyed, not worried).

I think it's annoying that there isn't a link to update journal from anywhere but my profile page.

I think it's annoying when a forum has a hard "no editing" rule, and they would rather me post a second message for any clarifications. Sometimes I realize my mistakes immediately, and removing a "not" (or adding a missed one) COMPLETELY changes the meaning of a message.

I think it's annoying when people drive for mile after mile with their turn signal on.

I think it's annoying when I have to repeat everything three times because no one in my house listens to me.

I think it's annoying when I type for too long and my carpal tunnel syndrome flairs up.

I think it's annoying when people have huge sig files and post using pink fonts.

I think other things are annoying as well, but that's all for now.

I really hate DH's work right now. HATE it. He needs to get a new job.

We had planned to go to Ocean City, MD this weekend. This morning, as I was doing the last minute packing and walking of dog and ofther miscellaneous trip prep activities, DH was checking his e-mail and attempting to validate the time sheets of his employees.

Let's just say that DH's "last minute" activities went off with a huge hitch. Three of them.

1. He couldn't access the time sheets due to a network problem (this is a recurring problem that no one appears to be willing or able to fix),

2. He learned that one of his employees was hit by lightening in the parking lot, and DH now has to write an incident reports, and

3. He just learned that "work for risk" that he was forced into last spring WILL not be recouped in a current contract, seeing as that contract was dropped by the government.

Number three means that DH will be "made an example of" yet again. Which really sucks, because it's his boss and a coworker (who thinks DH reports to him, but DH doesn't) who created the situation. Dh has been told that he needs to "stop blaming" this co-worker for when things go wrong, but as far as I understand it, this coworker is an ego-centric, manipulative bastard, and DH just keeps getting stuck with the short end of the stick.

Anyway. No trip to OC. Three upset children. I guess I could have taken then with DH, but that's just not the point. We hardly ever see the man -- most weeks, he works Monday thru Friday in SC, then he sleeps all weekend because he's exhausted. We seldom do anything together.

I really think that DH needs to start looking for another job. I don't care if it means moving out of the area -- I just want him to have a "real" job that doesn't steal him from us. He hasn't taken a full week off work in the past three years, and now, he can't even have one damn weekend.

I also think that I need to start looking for work. I am so out of practice with that sort of endeavor that I don't even know where to begin. And that's a whole 'nother journal entry.

Right now, I feel hurt, disappointed, and angry. I know DH likes his boss, but I'm currently thinking that he's an arrogant ass and just as bad as the coworker. Right now, I'm thinking that DH needs to move down the totem pole a bit, get a career that doesn't deplete his family and social life. Right now, I'm thinking that the "road to success" bites, and isn't worth the desitination.