Second chances

I got stuff done yesterday, just not as much as I would have liked. The day went downhill pretty much from the get-go.

I had a call for work that lasted two hours. Excellent information, but I didn't want to give up two hours. No worries - all is good. Then I had to run out of the house as I had an appointment to get my tires changed on my car.

Hey - I haven't been in my car for so long, it had that NEW CAR smell. I decided to go for a walk while I was waiting since it was such a beautiful day. I couldn't go to Fabricland as I had left my mask in the car, so I thought I'd check out Chapters.

It wasn't that long of a walk to get to the plaza where they are located. Nope - closed until May 25. But there's a Micheal's in that same plaza - perhaps they are open. And they were! I had a lovely browse through the aisles, which were all marked with directional arrows. There weren't too many people in the store, so no issues with social distancing. 

Flowers in bloom at Michael's

And if you still want Easter stuff - it's all 80% off!!!!

Easter stuff on sale

I found the light bulb for my Ott lite. Good grief - that thing is $42 and doesn't qualify for the coupon discount. Seriously??? 
With the miracle of search functions, I see that I bought the last light bulb on August 11, 2019. That's less than ONE year, and this $42 bulb is dead! Does that seem reasonable???  It's not like I use the bulb all day, but I do use it a couple of hours every day. I might send them a note and ask if that's the life - or maybe the life is written on the packaging.

Ott Lite bulb replacement

I think a NEW light is in order as that's outrageous to pay that much for a lightbulb that doesn't last too long. It says the bulb can last UP TO 10,000 hours. By my calculation, this bulb has LESS THAN 1,000 hours on it. I'm writing a letter.

On my way out of the plaza, I had to pass by Starbucks. Not my usual place to stop, but I was a bit peckish as I didn't have a lot of time for lunch. And one of the employees was hanging around outside the door, and I thought I'd give him some business. I popped in to find two employees. I ordered chocolate milk and a cookie. I love the fact that they put my debit card on a tray and then walked it over to the pay terminal. The tap worked through the tray and I was on my way.

I bet they can't wait for Chapters to open - they certainly weren't busy. All that didn't take that long and I was back at the car dealership before the appointment was up.

Let me backtrack a bit on the tire change story. The last time I got my tires changed (in November), I had to wait 2 ½ hours to have the tires changed. The tires are on rims so it should be an easy switch. No seals to break - just use that pneumatic wrench to whip the lug nuts off and put the new ones on. It doesn't seem like a very complicated process.

I was furious that I had to wait for that length of time since I had been told that the appointment would be 1 ½ hour. I'm good to wait but once the deadline has come and gone, well - it's not pretty. Imagine how I felt when my kid was overdue!

I wrote a polite letter expressing my displeasure at the extended wait. The service department got back to me right away and assured me that there was a note in my file to reflect this and that they would endeavor to not let it happen again.

So, since I had arrived back at the dealership before the 1 ½ half was up and I didn't want to appear pushy, I went to the waiting area to wait. Yep - those chairs are socially distanced! I actually like the look of those bright red chairs spaced out like that.

Social distancing in the Toyota wait room

And if you wanted to buy a car - you get to social distance as well. That looked pretty funny!

Social distancing to buy a new car

And the verdict? Yep - the tires are in my car. They failed - the dealership that is, not the tires.

My winter tires are back in my car

At the 1 ½ hour mark, I went to check with the service representative. Nope - not done, but just 10 more minutes. Hmmm - perhaps I could tolerate another 10 minutes. But at 20 minutes past the deadline, I thought that was it! I went out to the service area and my rep wasn't there. Another rep asked me if he could help. I gave him a two-second explanation and asked that the tires be put in the car as I would no longer store them at their garage.

Then my rep came back into the room and he said the job was done. He walked me over to the cash and then I asked him if the storage for the upcoming season was on the bill. YES - well, I said that wasn't happening. So we walked back to his desk and he gave me a new bill. I think he was ticked, but then so was I. But I was polite.

He waived ALL charges for the visit. And my tires are back in the car. I have to say that I'm disappointed. I'm frustrated. To me, there's a reason why we spend extra money to have tires put on the rims. It should be much faster to switch the tires and I paid the price to save some time. Heck - the winter rims don't have the tire pressure sensor and they look crappy so why else would I do it? But that just doesn't work at this dealership.

I know that others can get their tires changed in UNDER ONE HOUR. So I'll be switching garages to do my tire changes.

It's even marked ON THE INVOICE that I was looking to have the work done in 1 ½ hour. And it was also indicated that I took the tires home. I'll write another note today. Not expecting anything since they did waive the fees yesterday, but just to note my frustration at having paid for the rims and getting no benefits from that expensive purchase - at least at their dealership.

By the time I finally got home, it was mid-afternoon. I did get a bit more work done, but it was so beautiful outside. Ok - I was out there. BUT I wasn't in the gazebo. I sat on the lounge chair which was just as bad. I fell asleep - again lulled by the quiet.

It doesn't matter, I'm behind, but not so far behind that I can't catch up! And there's NOTHING but work on the agenda for today! I can't put anything else off, although I did defer writing one blog post to Monday afternoon.

I'm so excited about my Virtual Challenges from The Conquerer. I'm making amazing progress. My cross Canada trek is a total of over 5,000 miles over two years. Yesterday, I hit the 1,000 MILE mark. Can you believe that?

But what's been more exciting, I'm now almost home - at least the home where I grew up and I've driven that stretch of highway between North Battleford and Saskatoon a lot of times. Well, not as many as someone who lives in the area, but a lot. I can't wait to recognize the scenery as I walk by! I think I'm about 2 miles ahead on this challenge (my pace marked hadn't been moved when I took this snapshot).

Almost "home" in Saskatchewan

On my Route 66 virtual challenge, I'm at the border between Oklahoma and Texas. I'll be in Texas tomorrow.

At the Texas/Oklahoma state border

That challenge is almost 2,300 miles so I'm very close to halfway. I hope to be at the 50% mark by the end of this month. That's a bit aggressive, but I won't be far off. My original goal was to do this trek in 12 months. Now my new goal is 10 months.

Since I've shortened the walks with the dogs (not by a whole lot, but enough) and still walking on my own, I'm so much better.

While I did get sewing done yesterday, there's absolutely NOTHING that I can share with you! I'm madly writing up the homework and editing pictures and making presentations so I can get the work to the students on time. There's nothing like getting a block done, turning it over to see the back of the block and discuss pressing when you realized that you've made a major mistake. No worries - it's all fixed now!

Don't forget the Virtual Sewing Retreat  - NEXT WEEK. May 27 - 31. Stay for a day, stay for five days!  I'll be setting up a Zoom meeting each day so you can drop in for a bit or the entire day. It's totally free. But if you're planning on sewing, get yourself prepped!! Preparation is key to getting a lot done!

Have you ever wanted to go to Quilt Market? Have you heard people talk about the Schoolhouse presentations and wished you could attend? Well this year YOU CAN. The Spring Quilt Market was canceled. In its place, they've decided to host a virtual Quilt Market. Normally, you need credentials to get into the show, but they have waived them for the online show. I paid $30 US for TWO days of virtual Schoolhouse presentations. This is where the exhibitors are going to do ZOOM presentations of their new products. I figure it'll be good entertainment for two days and the price was right. If you're interested, you can check it out here.

It should be interesting. The only bad thing? There's NO SWAG! But actually, I'm OK with that. Less stuff to deal with when I get back to the tidy up thing.

The normal price for in-person Schoolhouse is $25 or something like that so this is a good deal. They've spread the events over two days which hopefully means we can visit more sessions. It's a whole lot to take in in one day in person, so I'm excited about this new two-day format.

What are we going to do if we find that all these virtual events are BETTER than the real ones? Just think about it - the same cost for registration. But no travel time, no hotel, no airfare? I'm in!!!!

For the record and I must admit that I'm NOT one of the front line workers during the pandemic. But we are the laxest household as far as cleaning goes. Wash hands - yep. But nothing else. Oh - we wear masks if required. But do we scrub things down that come into the house? Nope. Do we run around with hand sanitizer? Nope. I'm trusting my immune system to keep me healthy. If not, I get sick, and should the worst happen, then it's my time. I'm NOT freaking out about this.

On that note, I'd better get myself organized for the day!!!!

Have a super day and get outside even for a wee bit.

Ciao!!!!