If you have money........................

When you're in a hurry to set the microwave to cook the oatmeal, it's never a good thing. Boiled over! GRRRR!!! Oh well -- I don't care! The two quilts are gone, and they are in the hands of UPS, and I don't care about anything else!

OK -- so that's not true as I have two classes (three different quilts) this morning and two lectures (the same topic) this afternoon. 

Here's the really GOOD news. Everything is prepped. Don't ask me how that happened!

And now, back to the story of the custom quilt. Well, the second one went faster than the first one but still required a bit of finagling in places. It doesn't matter, I figured it out, and if I needed help, I had the Quilt Path Facebook group. I love the sense of community -- you help me, I'll help you! It seems there are many others in that group in the same boat as me - lots to learn. 

I had to finish quilting the quilt, trim it, attach the binding (that was already made,) and hand stitch the hanging sleeve on - after I made it! Then get a box and take it to the UPS store. My printer isn't printing properly, and I don't trust that whole issue with the commercial invoice. So off to the store I went. 

It was all good since I had donation stuff in the car and still hadn't had time to drop it off. There was a donation center close to the UPS store, which got taken care of on my way home. 

Here are some observations about UPS. I got to the store at 4 PM. The pickup cutoff is 5 PM. The store was filled with boxes, and the driver was there loading his truck. I sort of panicked. I thought, "did the cutoff time change?". NOPE -- Matt, the driver, comes THREE times a day to empty the store!!! Are you kidding me?? Yep --- three times a day, and how many UPS stores are there around? 

There's even a new station inside the store for those people dropping off. If you have prepared labels, there's a scanning machine, and you scan the label and drop off the package. Shipping and logistics is a HUGE business right now, with everyone shopping online and returning stuff. I can't imagine the added COST to all things because of the returns. 

I know I've mentioned this before, but when you work for a large company and walk into the mailroom and ask that a package be sent overnight -- you don't think twice about it. But when you're an independent freelancer, you think very much about sending stuff overnight as the price difference is HUGE. 

I don't have the specific prices, but here's what happened. The first package went out with five-day delivery, and it should be there two days before it needs to be there. I paid $36 to ship that. It got stuck at customs but now appears to be sitting in a warehouse - waiting.  

Yesterday, I had to send the package with a three-day delivery, which cost $142. If I had shipped it overnight, it would have been over $300. The package weighed 11 pounds. Although I wonder about the UPS people at the store. The box was actually 18 by 18 by 6, but they put it in the system as 19 by 19 by 7. The weight was 11 pounds, but it went as 19 pounds. I wonder if I paid for that extra. I don't think so, and maybe they have a buffer? I need to check that.  

Here's the other thing. I had to deal with a different employee as the owner (who comes running when I walk in) was on the phone and couldn't get off the call. Anyway, there is a list of options for shipping -- express, overnight, etc. The guy was trying to sell me something completely different when I said I wanted three-day delivery. I pointed to the monitor and said, "I want that one.". OH -- that's three BUSINESS days, not three days. I KNOW THAT!! I guess they've had issues in the past, or they just try to jack up what the unsuspecting consumer pays???? 

Now, let's look at the tracking of both packages. 

This is the package I sent yesterday with a three-day (business days, that is) delivery. It's already in the state it's supposed to be in. Not the city, but at least the state. 

Now, where is that first package? Hmmm -- It seems to be in the warehouse in Michigan. Oh yes -- this package isn't supposed to arrive until Wednesday, so let's NOT ship it out of the warehouse until the day before it needs to get to its destination!!! 

Sigh -- if you have money, anything can happen. If you don't, well, you get the slow boat! 

I've sent the tracking numbers to the destination person, and they have a person tracking the packages -- just like Santa Claus. I'll leave it in their hands! 

I got out for my first walk of the day, but it was getting dark when I got home from the UPS store, and I had to get my presentations prepped for today, so NO second walk yesterday. That's been a LONG time since that happened. I usually say -- poo-poo to the deadline, but I needed to make that 5 PM cutoff at UPS. I have barely checked my Virtual Challenges online as there just has not been time. 

While I was out, I saw this truck. Hmm --- this is how a new car is delivered if you bought one online. Why would you purchase a vehicle online? I would want to test drive the darn thing before I bought it. Maybe people test drive the model and then have their actual car delivered. How much does it cost to ship a car? And do they offer an overnight service? 

Buy a car online, and it gets delivered like this

Speaking of walks -- it's FREEZING outside -- minus 20 C on the thermometer with a windchill of muns 32. Do I even want to venture out with the dogs? They will love it. I might sneak out for a quick walk with both of them. Thankfully, they can't tell time -- that's not true. They know the TIMES of the day, but not the duration of time. There's a difference. Thank goodness for that -- I can trick them!

Tomorrow is UFO day, and once I'm done with today's sessions, I need to finish my UFO. Yep --- now with two clubs, I have TWO UFO assignments each month. Thankfully one of them is done! 

And then -- an entire week away. But I'll be working during the retreat. I'm a bit behind, but it's all sewing work, so that works out just fine!! 

It'll never happen that I'm not on a deadline for anything, and I seem to thrive on it, and I learn super quick and work very well when there's an impending deadline. Thank goodness for that. 

I think we have a problem with our new kitchen window. I haven't checked any others. But it's cold in the kitchen. You can feel a drop in temperature when you walk to the sink. I felt the window -- yes -- one side of the slider window is frigid. I get it - it's cold outside, but there is a DRAFT -- a considerable draft coming in the center where the two panes join. I don't think the seal has been made correctly. I need to call them. We never noticed it when the weather was warmer, but this draft is pretty darn cold. I may have to put something along the window to stop the draft. I checked the window in the family room (slider window), and it's just fine. I need to check all the other windows in the house. 

I spotted this droplet of water on the locking mechanism. 

Water on the locking mechanism

The rest of the downstairs windows are fine, but I must check the upstairs windows before I call. 

Keeping with the decluttering theme, I'm sharing a link to Maryke's blog post about her decluttering challenge.   I had to chuckle because one thing leads to another, and well  -- go read the post to see what happened. 

So here's the next area of focus. What's happening with all your essential supplies - like needles (hand and machine), rotary cutters and blades, binding supplies (clips), scissors, bobbins, etc. Are the LIKE items together? If not -- why not? You need to get these things grouped together and find an appropriate container for them. Then you need to find a spot for all those containers. I use the plastic drawers on wheels to store everything, and it works like a charm. So get compiling and culling as you go!! I'll share photos tomorrow so you can see what I've done. 

OK --- so that's it for today. I hope to have some show and tell from the next couple of days, but there's nothing to show today!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

On the way!!!!

Here's the update on the UPS saga. 

Yeah!!!!!  I'll still be on alert until the thing actually arrives, but I have seen that it's left the initial depot! Now here's the thing -- can you tell me why this issue was resolved quickly, and last time, it took weeks? There was no reason for that massive delay the last time. Why drives me crazy is when I can't get an explanation for what happened. I can easily understand if they said a truck blew up or there was a fire or whatever. But to have no valid answer why someone kept dropping the ball? My brain doesn't like that!

It's the same thing when I'm told to do something. Tell me what to do, tell me why I need to do that task. And if there is a valid reason why that task needs to be done that way, then I'm good. But if you say we need to do it a certain way because that is the way we've always done it! OH -- never tell me that. 

That was an issue with guilds and myself. I heard over and over again -- we've always done it that way. OK -- I get that, but let's try something different. The resistance that I met time and again was enough to drive me to drink. Well - I didn't actually start to drink, but I was very frustrated!

That is why, when I'm teaching that I try to never tell people that there's only one way to do something. I give them my rationale for doing that task a certain way, and they can adopt that method or modify it to work for them. I've heard of teachers and attended some classes, where if you didn't do things the EXACT way the teacher wanted, there was hell to pay. There was an instance where a student hadn't put her binding on correctly, and the teacher proceeded to rip it off in front of the entire class. Which was highly unprofessional of the teacher and very degrading (unfortunately) for the student! Seriously??? 

I don't think that person is teaching any longer. Thank goodness for that! How many students have been traumatized!

I spent a lot of time with the serger yesterday, and I have a bunch of photos to upload into my presentation, and then I'll be ready for the first part of my serger series, which starts today!

Do you need a serger?

That's like asking your husband - does he need a table saw, a chop saw, and a scroll saw for woodworking. There are probably workarounds, but having the right tool for the job makes life so much easier!!!  

I currently have three sergers in the house! I love them all! But seriously - do you need one? It really depends on what you are sewing, but I wouldn't be without one. I've had one for years, and I use it for way more than garment sewing! 

There's another serger series starting on November 10 and if you want to get signed up for that class, let me know, and I'll let you know the store. It's all on Zoom. 

I was on driving duty to get my MIL to physio yesterday. Hmm -- I'd already been for my walk, and I had some time to kill. There are geocaches in that6area -- let's go for it. I had to drive; otherwise, I wouldn't have had time. 

I have to laugh because I had to zip into the bush to get one, and ZAP - I was like a magnet to these burrs. They just grabbed my legs in CLUMPS. At least I didn't get wet, and I could easily pull the burrs off my pants. If Murphy had been there - well, that would have been a mess. 

Attacked by thorns!

But both caches were easy to find, and I like easy!!! 

Cache number one

I noticed in the photo above that I got one of the couch cushions in the shot. There were three cushions, so I suspect that they were moved there by people. But amazing how these little hidden spots exist around the city, and no one is really aware of them. You never know what you're going to find in some of these spots.

It's not that you would happen upon this unless you walked into the bush, but people tend to NOT see these little bushy areas!

The second one was close enough by that I could walk to it. It was much smaller, but the container was BRIGHT RED, so that one was easy to find. 

Cache number two

So I've started collecting my points for this month. I need to get 5,895 points. If I only found regular caches, I would need to find 17 more. I'll try to do a combination of traditional and other, and I won't leave it all until the last weekend! 

My monthly point tally

I want to do a couple more earth caches in the city. Although the one where I need to wade across the Credit River? I think I'll leave that one - it might be a tad cold. I had to stick my hand into the pond last week (before it was closed up) to remove pine needles from the pump. My hand was NOT in the water for long, and it was numb from the cold! 

I belong to a small group that messes with mixed media stuff. I'm not good at drabbling in that area, although I'd love to spend more time doing that. We had a super inspirational meeting yesterday, and I have some assignments to do! They won't take long, but I wish I had more time to really play. We don't meet until December when things will have quieted down, so I should be good to play for a couple of hours to develop some very cool projects. 

Yep -- that's the one thing that people do NOT spend enough time doing. Just OPEN playtime with crafts and sewing and quilting or anything! Try new techniques, threads, fabric, or whatever. I don't get a lot of time to do that with the crafts, but I seem to spend hours each week trying something different. Why would I "waste" my time playing with fabric? Because that's how I learn. I learn by making mistakes, by seeing how different combinations, changing up the original, and I may not like how it's supposed to be done -- I might like the way it looks after I play with it. 

We also get a ton of happy mistakes! What will our current generation do when they are NOT allowed to have a lot of free time to play. They are scheduled into so many activities that they don't have time to let their brains learn to be creative!!! I hope things will be different because of the lockdown!

Some people are so paralyzed that they can't start or finish a project. Too afraid of making mistakes. Holy --- I would love to change that. Perhaps I need a workshop where I "force" people to do something out of their comfort zone? Yes - if only there was more time! I'm so glad that's not me, but it used to be me! I needed everything to be perfect, and then somewhere along the line, I lost that feeling, and now I throw caution to the wind! Thankfully!!!

Here's your little assignment of the day -- try something new! Maybe you change the direction of your daily walk. Go left first instead of right - most of us walk in a loop. If you eat the same thing for lunch every day (guilty!!!), try something new. If you're buying fabric and always buy the same style/type -- try doing a project (small) with materials out of your comfort zone! Try a new decorative stitch on your sewing machine! Just do something DIFFERENT today. That will help keep your brain on alert, which is good as we age!

Well, it's going to be another crazy day with THREE presentations. Two in French and one in English. And I have to switch a machine out for each one! Thankfully all the software and my phone are already in French, so I don't have to do that! That's all part of the job!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Can you tell me WHY?

The first order of the day was to try and clear that UPS package that was stuck. And to figure out why this keeps happening? 

I called customer support, and immediately, the customer service rep pushed me through to International shipments, not like last time, where they tried to fix it, and we lost several days because of that. I wasn't going to let them get away with it this time, as I prepared to grill them if they were the right person! I knew better! I patiently waited on the phone and finally got in touch with someone at the International ships. At least, now I knew what was missing and how to ask the appropriate questions. Yes -- the commercial invoice is missing. 

These reps are so quick - they give you a phone number and immediately want to push you on - and I was saying, "wait - WAIT - WAIT!"  I'm still writing the darn thing down -- No -- I didn't let them get away with anything yesterday, but I wasn't satisfied when I was done the call!

So the international rep tells me that yes - the commercial invoice is missing. OK -- so why is that when I filled out the paperwork online? Yes -- I filled out the commercial invoice online. I even created a dummy shipment to explain to him what I had done. Then he asks - Did I print out three copies of the paperwork and include it in the label? No -- I didn't because all I could print was the label. 

Well, that's the problem -- you need to physically print and include THREE copies of the commercial invoice. Now I get that, but so far, all the invoices I've seen do not have a scanning code on them, and if the three copies of the commercial invoice are in the sealed label, how do they know? They seem to know that it's physically not there - but how? 

I tried to get the guy to explain that to me. Does an employee sit there and slice open all the labels to see if the three copies are included? I think not! Is there a scanning code on the paperwork that is generated online? There has to be! But here's the thing -- I've never done this in the past! I've always relied on the online paperwork, and there seemed to be no issues. 

That call took almost 50 minutes, and I didn't get a good answer about how they track that information. And no idea if I know how to resolve it in the future. I will have to watch when I print the label to see if there's a spot to print the commercial invoice. To generate the invoice, I would have had to pay for my dummy shipment yesterday, and I didn't need to know that badly at that moment. 

What drives me crazy is why do I need a commercial invoice for this SAMPLE which will be returned, and no one is exchanging any money for the goods? Can you tell me why??? 

All of the scanning and shipment stuff happens overnight, so I get my e-mail in the morning. I see that the status has changed. 

This is an improvement from yesterday, so I can only hope that the package will get cleared tonight. They tell me it takes 24 - 48 hours to match up the paperwork with the package. So do I call again today to confirm? Or do I waste another day and wait until tomorrow? That's the dilemma about that message!

On the other hand, I had an interesting Zoom session last night. I'm doing a series on the mySewnet embroidery software in French. The first session is always a bit confusing because it's where we explain how all the technology works together -- the WiFi-enabled sewing machine, the embroidery software, the apps on the phone, the mySewnet embroidery library, and Project Creator. All those things can be linked together, and they can talk to each other. And depending on what level of paid or unpaid subscription you have, some things are unlocked, and others are not. 

The question last night was very similar to my UPS question -- why can't I do this? And they swore they had heard someone else say the opposite of what I was saying - of course, on Youtube. So I had to explain, in French, exactly why what she wanted to do was not possible at the level she was willing to pay. Phew!!!  I did it!!  Yes -- I still stumble over some of the verb tenses and some of the words, but I'm getting there and so much more comfortable than I was! Yeah me!!!! I did feel very accomplished when that presentation was done!

Yes -- it's all about making things easier!! I have five more presentations this week - two in French and three in English. I swear that every other one is a different brand or language, so I have to switch out the sewing machines and change the language between each one! I rejigged the film area a wee bit to make that an easier process. Plus, I'm getting faster at the switching!

I'm not sure what I did yesterday as I don't have a lot to show for it! I spent time at the computer, and I did a lot of serging that I'll share with you in a bit. 

But where does the day go? A mystery to me! OH -- I did two presentations, which take at least 1½ hours for each, never mind the setup -- switching languages and machines and all that entails. 

Here's a couple of photos from the neighborhood. There is a row of this kind of tree on the next street, and they are the only ones that go red like this. With the sun shining on it yesterday morning, it was glorious!!

 

Fall colors

And let's not forget the comedian in our house. That would be Murphy. She is very comfortable zipping around the pond and loves to play in that area. To my knowledge, she has never accidentally fallen in the pond. I try to keep her entertained by playing ball a little bit each day. It's not as much fun as the weather gets colder. Well, not as much fun for me, although I don't mind the cold. I usually throw the ball into those bushes behind her, and she has to search for the ball. 

The little devil - there are times (many) when she intentionally drops the ball into the pond. Then she proceeds to sit on the rock and gives a little bark - "MOM - help me. The ball is in the pond. I'm not allowed in the pond, so you have to get the ball!" And she knows, I'll get it. So who has trained whom? 

MOM - the balls fell in the pond! Help!

I see I have other business with UPS. I have a package coming from the US - stuff for the long arm that I couldn't get in Canada, and I see that I have to pay. I suspect that is the HST. So I need to fix that this morning so it can seamlessly come across the border. OK -- so that is paid. I love how easy it is to pay for things online. 

It was brokerage fees, not HST. And in addition to paying the brokerage fee, there is a flat Government fee of $10 - what is that all about? I swear -- if someone can take a flat fee - they will. And what are we going to say? NO - I don't want to pay that? The joys of shipping across country borders - I do it only when necessary!

OH -- I have something quilt-related for you!! Check out the latest issue of QUILTsocial online. It's filled with a lot of my work and some great tutorials for machine embroidery. BE sure to look at it online, or you can download it and save it!! And best of all - it's FREE. You have to see the postcard that I created for Heather when she moved up north. It's on the cover!!!

Well, it's Wednesday, and I'm off to spin class this morning! It's going to be a BUSY day!!! Several appointments are booked, both online and in-person (MIL - physio and I'm the designated driver today) and one presentation tonight.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Hallelujah!!!!

 

I've been talking about positivity in our lives and how important it is. And it is  --  we need that little glimmer of hope to get us through the bad days. 

Well, this UPS business has put my positivity to the test. BIG TIME. I don't how many people I've spoken to. I was switched from department to department. Case numbers were created and then never referred to. I tried to escalate the issue and failed. My calls were transferred, and phones rang and rang with no one to answer them. Some of the agents were downright rude; some of them tried to help but had no authority. 

At last, the stars aligned, and guess what??? 

I noticed that they did NOT send the package overnight. At this point, I don't care. I'm just relieved that it's on the way. And I'm sure the editor is, as well. I don't know if they can hold off their deadline. If not, the quilt will go into another issue. 

Never mind that it took me several days to realize there was a problem, then almost a week to figure out how to get the documents to the right department, and now they have had the requested information for close to a week. A total SNAFU, if I may say so. The package was picked up on September 3 -- it will take THREE WEEKS to arrive. Thanks, UPS. 

At this point, I seem to have that tracking number memorized! I wonder why? 

I tried to be positive, and if someone said, YES, this should be resolved and sent tomorrow, I believed them. Then I started to get suspicious and downright untrusting. However, the agent I spoke to yesterday appeared to actually care about my package. He put me on hold while attempting to transfer me to his supervisor, and he kept coming back to explain what was happening. Then he said that he would have the supervisor call me back. Well, you can imagine that I didn't believe him at all. Well, believe it or not, the supervisor did call me back. It took him about 20 minutes, not the 5 promised, but I can live with that. 

Then he promised to send me an e-mail with an update before his shift ended at 9 PM. I was losing faith as the hours ticked by, but at 8:30, he sent me a note and said he thought it should be OK, but no guarantee. Hey -- this is a shift supervisor in a call center (I think in Mexico), and the brokerage house is in Canada. But he followed up, which is more than I can say for anyone else at UPS. 

And at 11:00 PM, I received the notes you saw above. I'll be sending this supervisor a nice e-mail this morning. As for UPS itself? Well, they are going to get a piece of my mind. But here's the thing --- try to find an address of the company or find a place to log a complaint. Yep -- I looked yesterday and NOTHING. I can find a UPS store address, but that's not what I want. 

I was on the phone for at least three hours in total yesterday regarding this issue, and who knows how many hours before that! I'm sure that it will take a bit of research to get an address. But I'm asking (no DEMANDING) compensation for the amount of time I wasted on this issue. I don't want money - I want FREE shipping for ONE YEAR. I have no qualms to ask for that - let's see how they respond. 

Yep-- there will be more boxes going to the US. I'm working on getting fabric from a fabric company right now for the next quilt, which is due in November. Oh my -- a gorgeous collection, but that's all I can say!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this never happens again. The most frustrating part -- OK -- the ENTIRE episode has been downright frustrating, but I never received a response as to why it took so long to clear customs. 

Speaking of frustrating, I watched a news clip last night about the people who lived in Lytton, BC. The small town burned to the ground with barely any notice. Most residents have not been able to go back to look for anything in their properties. Now my delivery issue pales in comparison to that level of frustration. I'd be beyond hope at this point if I were one of the residents. I'm so sick of "officials" who have to ensure that everything is 100% safe. Good grief -- we are NOT children. 

And while I tried to maintain a positive outlook, I know that it weighed heavily on my mind, and I haven't been nearly as productive as I should have been. Now with a super busy week looming, I'm way behind. So it's going to be a challenge, but we will make it all happen. That's one thing where I do differ from a lot of people. If something happens, well, instead of saying, I can't do this because of that -- I just forge ahead, intending to get BOTH this AND that done. 

But I will say that even I am looking forward to a quiet moment, which won't happen for two weeks. That little oasis of calm on my calendar will keep me going for the next two weeks. Then I have two completely free weekends. 

Oh, that worked out, but my FitBit didn't update to the Virtual Challenges last night. Sigh.......

OK -- let's get some exciting pictures in here for your entertainment. 

We had our Tula Pink class last Friday. I assigned the second to last set of 10 blocks. Here are my blocks - I'm still working backward with some of the colors to make the Color Grid setting to my liking. 

My set of ten blocks for the Tula Pink sampler quilt

Here's what my quilt currently looks like. I have some of the black sashing sewn to the blocks. I think I might need one more green block in the fifth row from the bottom. There are TEN blocks left to sew, and then I can get this thing together. As much as this has been a cheery sight all year, I would really like the use of that design wall!

My Tula Pink City Sampler quilt

Let's have a look at what the class is doing.

Barb is also working on the Color Grid version of the quilt, and here are her blocks. It's looking awesome!!! 

Barb

Carol has the next set of 10 blocks done. She's sewing the sashing as she sews the blocks, which is a good thing. It will not be fun if you wait until the end. I love that middle block -- it reminds me of a funky piano keyboard. 

Carol

Here are two sets of blocks from Corrie. She's also doing the Color Grid setting. We haven't seen her blocks set out yet, but I love the nice saturated colors. 

Corrie

Corrie

And then comes the issue of what color of sashing to put between the blocks. Should she go with dark grey? 

Dark grey for sashing?

How about the white? 

White for sashing?

Or what about the medium grey?

Or medium grey?

We eliminated the medium grey, and it's a toss-up between the dark grey and the white. It's a big challenge since it will affect the final look of the quilt. We learned a LOT about that this past weekend with Boho Heart, Wanderers Wife, and Long Time Gone. 

Liz has another set of gorgeous blocks. I believe she also wants to make the Color Grid setting, so she will have to lay this out to see what colors she needs to make. 

Liz

Monica is making the Sliding Scale quilt, so she needed fewer than 100 blocks. She is using a pink solid for the sashing, and it's looking awesome. 

Monica

Monica

And some more of her blocks that are not sewn into rows yet. 

Monica

Sharon is working on the Sky Line version of the quilt and is madly sewing her blocks in columns, not rows. 

Sharon

We have many more people in the class, but some of them haven't sent in new pictures in a while. This is a super simple quilt (other than choosing colors for the blocks), so I hope that everyone will get up-to-date and we'll have a big show and tell in November when we hold our last class. 

Isn't that super exciting????  WAIT -- anything today is going to be exciting. Even sweeping the kitchen floor -- that's going to be exciting. It's raining outside -- I'm excited! It's amazing how getting this delivery issue off my head has changed my entire outlook on the day! No frustrating phone call. WOW!!!!

Oh, I do have to say that something good did happen during the day. I had to take my MIL to the hospital for a follow-up appointment. It was the second time in two weeks. I drop her off at the door and then park the car. Hmmm -- people must not like parking beside the posts because BOTH times, I snagged this parking spot. 

A nice little parking spot

See how much room there is for my little car. But look at this -- it was literally right in front of the exit and the pay station. Now, how cool was that? I could have parked further away to get more steps, but I didn't. I still walked close to 14 KM yesterday, so I didn't need extra steps!

Right in front of the pay station and the exit

Well, on that HAPPY note, it's time to get the day started. There are two small accessories for one of the sewing machines that I NEED today, but I can't find them. What the heck have I done with them? But you know what? I'm use something else -- I don't care! Today is a GLORIOUS day!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Published!

 Oh my --- I should check the source of my photos before I post them! That photo of the quilt on the runway? According to M in a conversation later in the day -- that was the MOST FAMOUS couple in the world at the moment. OH  -- I could sit beside the most popular person in the world on a plane and not even realize. That's how much I don't really care about celebrities. They are people just like us, and really - do they deserve more attention? I don't have time!

Here's a link for the Met Gala. They wore all kinds of outrageous outfits, including Rihanna in Balenciaga Couture, Maria Tash, Thelma West, and BVLGARI jewelry A$AP Rocky in ERL. I stole this photo from the website. But if it happens to be pulled, scroll down that link to near the bottom. 

The most famous couple in the world

I think that's hysterical!!!!  

And here's a link to the story behind that jacket - er - I mean quilt that A$AP wore. Oh, my--- will the wonders of the world will never cease! I completely do NOT get the memory quilt thing. This is NOT a memory quilt. The writing in that article is atrocious, and I don't think anyone (the designer, the writer) knows diddly squat about quilts. That is NOT a scrappy quilt - well, maybe a coordinated scrap quilt, but that is NOT made from bits of other quilts and the bathrobe? I doubt it. 

Why or why do I not sleep well on Tuesday nights? Well, I know why I didn't sleep well yesterday. I was mad enough to SPIT! I sent a package via UPS on September 3. Normally it takes 5 business days, and I've never had an issue with UPS. The service has been exemplary. Well, they have screwed up big-time - enough to make up for all the good service, and I shall be writing them a letter to that effect. 

In a nutshell, the package went without a commercial invoice. That was my fault. The tracking states SEVERAL times that they have initiated contact with the sender (ME) to correct this issue. Never received a phone call or an email ONCE. I called on September 9 once I realized there was an issue. The package sat in the warehouse for FOUR days before an exception e-mail was even sent. FOUR DAYS!!!

To make matters worse, I sent the commercial invoice on the 9th. Then yesterday (now the 13th), I made FOUR different phone calls. Yes, we have the invoice; things should move. Yes, we have the invoice. OH NO -- that was not the right e-mail; it needs to be this. And a half-hour later I called again because despite repeating the e-mail at least 10 times because I didn't believe the customer service agent, I was told that none of the e-mails I was told to use was the right one because the package was going to the US, not Canada. 

You have to be KIDDING ME!! It should have been pretty clear to anyone as this package was stopped because all shipments to the US require a commercial invoice. In Canada, that's not required. UPS --- you may be good at shipping stuff, but your customer service agents are NOT WELL trained at all. 

I'm about to call again, and I'm afraid. Actually, I'll check the tracking service first. No change meaning that no one processed the invoice overnight. It would have been faster to drive to the depot to pick up the box and reship it. Good grief --- I wonder if this quilt will even make it. I'm a tad upset, to say the least!

On top of that, I was tired. But I remained polite -- angry but polite. I had done three intense presentations in the day. The software one is always intense, and my mouse was not behaving like it should, so that was a challenge. The afternoon presentation went well, and then a French one in the evening. My brain was a bit taxed during that one -- loads of questions. It's one thing to blather on yourself, but quite another to comprehend and answer questions! But we muddled through. 

OH MY GOSH  -- a eureka moment. I thought I had two presentations today, and one of them was at 10 AM. But no -- that one is tomorrow which is good because I'm off to spin class this morning. 

In my own little celebrity world, this is the latest issue of A Needle Pulling Thread. I believe it's issue 56.  Support Canadian designers!!! 

A Needle Pulling Thread

The theme was Neutral with a POP of color, and this is my project. Those blocks were SCRAPS from some other project which I still do not know where they came from. Shoot -- I cannot find the blog post - but I'll find it for tomorrow. I had enough blocks to make TWO runners. So I added a pop of color to both of them. 

My table runners

Check it out, and how about that cover quilt? It's gorgeous! 

And I got some mail yesterday!! I received my medal for walking the Appalachian Trail! I really need to get my holder on the wall so I can admire them all! This is all through The Conquer Virtual Challenges, and it's the best motivator in the world to get off my butt and get out and walk. Even if I'm busy, even if I'm tired, even if the weather is crap. I see so many people who make their grandchildren, their own children, neighbors, husbands, or anything else but themselves a priority. Hey -- if you are constantly running for others -- where's the enjoyment of life? Take pride in yourself and do things for YOU!!!!

The Appalachian Trail medal

And I had to laugh yesterday as I was walking Lexi down a busy street. Shoulders back (smaller muffin top), nose breathing (easy to wear a little smile), head held high (taller), and carrying a little blue bag of poop! It was hilarious, and I hope people wondered what was going on!

Phew -- I've got time when I get back from the gym to regroup, call UPS, and follow up with stuff from yesterday before I start work! I did get some writing done yesterday, took pictures, but I don't think I even turned the sewing machine on. Well, not to sew - it was on for my presentations!

On that note, have a super day!

Ciao!!!