Back to my Adventures in Consumerism

Wow, 3 blog entries in one night. And I'm not even procrastinating cleaning the bathroom! Anyways, this entry will be about a topic near and dear to my heart: my Adventures in Consumerism.

So, I had pre-ordered a copy of the latest Harry Potter book at the Borders in Eau Claire. In fact, I distinctly remember pre-ordering it on June 23rd - it was supposed to be added to my sister's pre-order. The seemingly-capable employee at Borders told us that we were fine and we merrily left the store that day.

Now, my sister used to work at this Borders. She even knew the guy that took my pre-order. I was told that everything was fine.

So, we get to Borders at 11:30 on Friday night. After waiting in line for 15-20 minutes to get to the wristband table, we are told (by a manager!) that there was only one pre-order for Erin. NOT TWO. THE GUY HAD MESSED UP MY PRE-ORDER. So, the manager is nice enough to be all "I know Erin, I'll just mark her down for two." However, there was no apology - she didn't even acknowledge that my pre-order wasn't there. This turned into a problem later when Erin had the wristband on and had to get out of line to use the restroom. I just about had a heart attack because I had to hold the place in line - with no wristband of my own! Because I had no pre-order! I thought I'd be outed as a phony.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. After waiting in line for 40 minutes and not moving, I have something akin to a consumer-mental-breakdown. I decide I've had enough of that crap and I drove us over to the Waldenbooks in Oakwood Mall. Borders employees, you could learn a lot from those folks. Not only was their line moving, but the employees actually seemed happy to be there! We waited in line 45 minutes there, but at least I got my book.

And no, after all of that stupidity, I still haven't started it. NO SPOILERS!

So, I will be refusing to buy any books at Borders from now on. I did not like how the Harry Potter situation was handled on any level. I now consider Borders to be the Best Buy of books. That's an insult. (However, snaps to WaldenBooks - I was impressed.)

Thrift Sale Recap

This was the note telling us to give Kirby lots of love and our permission slip to take him to the vet.
This was the sign location map.



Me, blatantly mocking my mom's old coat.


You know, he really is adorable.

The full view of the garage.


Most importantly, the Star Trek tapes.

If you're all hot and bothered about the thrift sale, feel free to look at the rest of my pictures on Flickr.

www.flickr.com

Hug a Lion

I have a sister. Her name is Erin. If you're reading this, there is a good chance that you are either related to Erin or you've met her. Anyways, Erin started a blog for her adventures in Africa. She doesn't leave for a few months, but she's a funny one, so I recommend reading it.

Day Six

I've learned something about myself: I am incapable of writing something every day in this blog. Suffice it to say that Day Five was pretty normal. Much as I expect Day Six to be.

With the glaring exception that I will be in Eau Claire until Sunday. I don't use the internet while I'm in Eau Claire due to my impatience with the dial-up situation. So, if you really want to IM with me about....hmmm....well, I usually IM about what time I should arrive places, so nevermind. You probably won't want to IM with me while I'm in Eau Claire.

The family thrift sale is Friday and Saturday. I plan on taking many pictures. Since my parents are out of town, my sister and I will be running the show. But, in true "my parents" form, my parents already made us the signs to put by the road and left a hand-drawn map of where we should put the signs. My dad also left us with an excuse for not letting people into the house to use the bathroom: "We have another dog and he bites. He's in the bathroom."

Day...Four

Okay, so, that experiment didn't work out very well at all. I didn't post yesterday, so Day Three just didn't happen. Well, it happened - I volunteered, I painted a second coat on my Wall of Contrast, I stopped at the bank, I stopped for coffee and I figured out my financial aid. All before noon!

So, I took a nap. When I can't think of anything else to do on a weekend, I just take a nap. As a result, I am incredibly well-rested lately.

Day Two

So, my mom is the JV softball coach in Altoona. Also, my mom is one of the nicest people in the world. You may have met her. She's really nice.

Anyways, four idiot teenage girls from her softball team have tried FOUR times to toilet paper my parent's house. Now, setting aside the fact that these girls were stopped by the police walking along a county road with an ass-load of toilet paper (haha), they're obviously not very bright, regardless. My parents are going on vacation next week and my sister and I will be holding down the fort. So, there's a good chance that the idiots will TP the house when my parents aren't even there. And we will have to deal with it. Hell hath no fury. I HATE teenagers.

And how convenient - I will be in Eau Claire/Altoona for five days next week with nothing to do! And if you know me, you know that I enjoy having something to focus my irritation on. So, I've come up with a four-step plan to dealing with these idiots:

• Call the police. Give a detailed statement and be sure to detail the number of hours my sister and I will spend attempting to get toilet paper out of the beautiful trees.
• Look up their names in the phone book, find their houses and tell their parents what their idiot teenage girl did to my parent's house.
• Write a letter to the Head Sports Guy at Altoona and explain the unsportsman-like behavior of these girls. Encourage that they never be allowed to play sports again at Altoona.
• Sleep on the couch with a flashlight. With Kirby near me, so I can get him barking at a moment's notice.

Wow - is it wrong that I'm almost hoping that they TP the house while I'm there? I would LOVE to do this stuff.

Day One

How do people write stuff everyday in their blogs? How is there enough to say to constitute that amount of writing? Maybe I should try that for a week. STARTING TODAY.

Okay, so....I guess I can fill up some space by saying that I saw a fire in front of the Planned Parenthood in Uptown today. And then I saw the fire trucks pull up - very exciting. Possibly the most exciting thing I saw all day.

I would also like to retract all of my venomous language directed at whoever I thought had stolen my reserved library book off of the hold shelf. Turns out the library had misplaced it, but don't worry! They found it and I'm reading it now.

July, July!

HB, Declaration of Independence!

So, yeah, not much on the "things that are new" front with me. Most of my consumer experiences have been at SuperTarget or the Minneapolis Public Library system. I think I've figured out a grocery-buying schedule that allows me to avoid as many screaming children as possible.

No coupons YET from the Lean Cuisine folks - but I'm convinced that it is only a matter of time.

Rachel and I volunteered as abortion clinic escorts last week. It was a really pleasant experience. My favorite moment was when a patient was being yelled at by one of the anti-choice protesters. The patient turned around and yelled "I've already had one, bitch, SO FUCK OFF!" Right on. I'll be escorting the next two weekends. Reproductive health is one of the few causes that will get me out of bed at 6 a.m. on Saturdays.