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2006-08-11 - 12:12 a.m.

20060707-TIGGER

Oh dear.

I was kind of excited about the idea of an operatic version of John Gardner�s �Grendel�

Until I hear a story about it in NPR. It is going to be ridiculously bad, at least as a version of the book. It may or may not be a good opera, but it is a miserable adaptation.

The book is philosophical, it is all an internal monologue about otherness, myth, self.

�the opera doesn�t stand for that kind of philosophical analysis, that�s fine, and that part of Grendel the Novel was dropped.�

That part? Ug. That IS the Novel you knob.

The only funny thing in this is that the guy fell asleep while working on the early stages of the opera, he fell over in his chair and hit his head pretty badly, had to go through rehabilitation and such. That�s not the funny part by the way, as much as I love Gardner�s work I don�t wish physical suffering on the people who botch it.

What is funny is the comment he made in the interview.

�You can say I finished this with only half my brain working�

You said it brother.

I drive out to Mebane and ask at the front desk of Lowes for them to bring up the shutters. I then tell the gal that I have to go down to the pro desk and make an order.

So I come back 15 minutes later and they aren�t there yet. So I go look at bath lights, haven�t found one I like yet.

Come back and there are three packs of shutters on a cart. I need Six packs of shutters. That sinking feeling begins.

I go up the desk and ask where the rest of the shutters are.

�That�s all of them� She says.

�Nope, there are supposed to be six packs, look here on the invoice, 12 shutters, that�s six sets of two, correct? that is three sets of two, and the tag on these says 2of2�

�Are you sure? the computer says that is all of them.� She says perkily.

Apparently the look on my face was sufficient reply to send her to the back to check. So I wander around for a while. I keep looking down the isle to the desk to see if there are more packages, or if she has returned.

20 minutes goes by. I�ve now looked at everything I have any interest in, I head back to the desk.

At this point I should mention that this is the second order of shutters. The first ones came in, but were completely unacceptable. They were the �right� type, and size, but they looked like they had been put together as a kindergarten class project. This is more of a problem as stamped right on the box is a big sign that says, �custom order, cannot be returned�

The hell with that, they were returned. The guy that helped me out was pretty cool, he realized that the shutters were unacceptable and with the assistance of the store manager they were sent back and new shutters ordered.

Fast forward one week as I�m waiting at the desk for them to show up with the other three boxes.

�Sir, I looked in all the bins, there are no more shutters back there� She says when she gets back.

I�ve been in lowes for an hour at this point, the store is closing.

�But you do realize that there are three sets missing correct?� I ask

�Yes there must have been a mistake in the shipping order. I�ll leave a note for the stock manager when he comes in in the morning and he will get in touch with you.�

�No dice, I live 45 minutes from here and this is the second order you all have botched�

Just then I spot the guy who helped me the first time heading out the door on his way home. I ask her to grab him. He recognizes me immediately, and I can see the �Not again� look on his face. I explain to him what is going on, (I should mention that the Lady I was working with earlier was very nice about the whole thing, and tried very hard to make it work out.)

He says that he will take care of it first thing tomorrow, and would have them delivered to my house if they figure it out, and if they had to re-order them he would have them shipped overnight. I�m steamed, but since everyone is being very nice and at least trying to do the best they can ( a very rare thing indeed) I say OK and head out the door with my shutters.

I should also note for those who are not long time readers of this journal that my experience with Lowe�s and Home Depot is long, ugly and full of incidents like this one. I have never once had something ordered that came in on time or wasn�t screwed up when it got there, not once, and I order a lot of stuff.

So I get on the highway and head home. I get a mile r so down the road and my cell rings.

�Hey man, I found your shutters, they are here.�

I head back.

Much to his credit he stayed after hours, and went back and looked through the stock bay himself and found the shutters, misplaced in the wrong area.

I will write a letter to the manager and tell him about the guy. I�m quick to talk to the manager when things go wrong, but I also make sure I talk to them when things go right. Unfortunately for me the latter is a rare thing indeed.

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