Dee, Off_Topic ™

I live in America.  Born and raised in the United States.  I speak American; always have.  To many outside of America it's known as English.

When I call American companies I should not be required to PRESS 1 to speak to an English speaking employee.  It should be automatic.  (This includes when calling the IRS and Social Security -- two government agencies)

When I'm shopping in local stores within the United States borders, I should hear English music.  (Thanks anyways, Sears, but if I wanted to hear songs in another language I'll put some Opera on -- there's nothing wrong to listening to the fine arts!)

When I'm watching the World Series I should see/hear commercials in English; especially when the company is selling "American" products.  (Right, Chevrolet?)

I DO NOT LIVE IN MEXICO.  SPANISH is NOT our native language!

When my great grandparents arrived in the United States they had to learn how to speak English.  When did this practice stop? 

I'd like to see a phone number I can dial where pressing 1 alerts all of our elected officials to get ENGLISH as our NATIVE language passed.  I'm tired of wondering if I took a wrong turn some where and accidentally wound up living in Mexico!

crochetwithdee at 9:30:17 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 1 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I'm not a huge fan of Walmart.  I don't like the reports I've seen/read about their business practices.  So, whenever possible I shop elsewhere.

For years I have done my toy shopping at ToysRUs.  I'd help my children register their yearly Holiday Wish Lists with them, and purchase many gifts there for my children as well as gifts for the many birthday parties my children attend annually.  My children and I were, until today, true "ToysRUs" kids.

What happened today was most upsetting.  We went to exchange two items they had received as gifts.  After being so good today at a function I had to attend, they were really excited to find out we were going to our local ToysRUs afterwards.  They knew instantly what they wanted.  With the exchange and their Good Report Card Money, she wanted a new bike.  He wanted to load up on new Baseball Cards & all the accessories that went with it.

Upon arrival we brought the items to be returned the Customer Service Desk and waited in line for about 10 minutes.  What happened from that point was humiliating and infuriating.  It seems that ToysRUs has a new policy.  No receipt means no returns.  Ok; I get that.  I wasn't returning, I was exchanging.  Well, now their policy is No receipt, no exchanges.  Period.

When I asked to speak to the store manager a girl who looked to be barely out of high school said she was the District Manager and began belittling me in front of about 15 other adults waiting in line -- AND in front of my children.  I asked to speak to her manager and was advised I'd have to "go home and call the 1800toysrus number."

I advised this young lady of my purchasing power (as most parents have) and that I will not be bringing any of my future business -- be it at one of their stores, or online -- from them EVER again if this was their business practice.  She could care less.  (If I'm just one of their customers treated this way is it any wonder why they're crying the profit blues??)

So I drove across town, entered our local Walmart and found they were more than happy to make the exchange.  And not only did they happily make the exchange, but they were also really happy to take the extra money I spent there too.  On toys!

I did call the toysrus number tonight and voiced my complaint not only with their new policy, but in also the way I was treated.  No one should be humiliated in public for (God forbid) not having a receipt! (They were current toys and I was more than willing to exchange them at a sale price, or with a restocking fee associated.)  I was advised that I should expect a call from their corporate office within the next 48 hours.  We'll see what develops.

But in the meantime, you won't see me with or without my children shopping at ToysRUs.  I'll take our business elsewhere -- where it's appreciated.


UPDATE: June 23 1PM:  Toysrus Corporate called and asked the same questions I was asked last night when I registered my complaint with them.  Their representative said they're making a report to pass it along.  Hmmm, I was told that last night when I called; I wonder how many reports it takes to get an issue resolved??  Just as the rep was wrapping up the call I decided to ask if I'd get another call to hear how they resolved my complaint at their headquarters.  It took her a moment then she said, "I'll put a comment here that you want to be contacted again." 

crochetwithdee at 9:39:24 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

I've been waiting to see just how much more profits the oil companies would report -- especially after the Hurricanes, and the gas prices we're still paying at the pump.  You see, I haven't forgotten that greed is in play here.  Nope, each time I fill up at the pump, and now each time I purchase food for my family, (based on a recent news article stating groceries will immediately cost us 3.9% more due to fuel prices) I am reminded.

So, is it a surprise to you that Exxon/Mobile just reported a 10 BILLION DOLLAR profit for it's third quarter? 

                                 TEN BILLION DOLLARS!

The article, "Oil Executives Defend Profits" by H. Josef Hebert" stated, "Together the companies earned more than $25 billion in profits in the July-September quarter as the price of crude oil hit $70 a barrel and gasoline surged to record levels after the disruptions of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita."

There is a "growing suspicion that oil companies are taking unfair advantage," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said as the hearing opened in a packed Senate committee room.

"The oil companies owe the country an explanation," he said."

Yes, they most certainly do -- and I'll be waiting to hear the answer.  And it better be good!

crochetwithdee at 10:39:30 AM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

I'm watching a bit of television when a commercial comes on; one of the individuals has some huge holes.

I'm at the grocer store checking out; I look at my cashier's face and can see right through him to see the other cashier lanes as clear as day.

I'm over there at Blog Explosion surfing some "new to me" blogs when I come across one that has an entry on nothing but holes; stretched holes.

I remember being "one of the first," being "the trendsetter" to have more than one piercing in each of my earlobes.  I was daring -- I had two in each ear.  I was eighteen.  I did it for me, not to start a trend.  And that was the end of my "wildness."  I didn't do anything other than that to mark my individuality.

Today the trend is to get those rings that stretch the earlobes down to your knees.  I recall seeing that look in the National Geographic back when I was a kid.  I like the National Geographic magazine, you can learn a lot from it.  The tribe they featured did it as it was a part of their custom; their heritage.

I just don't know why American's are doing it.  If you factor gravity that comes with aging, I can't help but wonder what these kids will look like when they're 90.  I envision their grandchildren jumping "rope" with the grandparent's sagging earlobes -- gravity having stretched to the length of a bus.

I just don't see what the appeal is.  I'll stick to my double ear piercings, thank you.

crochetwithdee at 3:21:51 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Have you seen the new DHL commercial?  It's about the lack of customer service and how they are "on it" to deliver the customer service that seems to be lacking in our lives.  I've noticed a decline in customer service just strolling around the big department stores -- try finding an employee and asking for help!

Today I went shopping at Kohls.  They advertised a sale, I went, they were out of stock.  (Of course it took nearly a half hour to locate an employee to advise me of this.)  So I bought a different brand at a higher price; some would call this bait & switch. 

With my "other name" product in hand, I then went to another department and found an electronic item I've been keeping an eye on; waiting for it to go on sale.  It wasn't in the advertisement, but there it stood -- on sale!  I loaded it onto my cart, paid for it, and then hauled it into my home.

It took me nearly another half-hour just to get the darn thing out of the box.  There was so much packing I was amazed that my item was actually in the box!  As I spent yet another half-hour assembling it, I discovered the shelving for the unit was manufactured incorrectly.  I can't be cooking with  shelves that are not secured in the oven; I can't afford getting burned!  So I called the manufacturing company and waited on hold for yet another half-hour.

"Ah, yes ma'am, I just bought this oven and the shelves are too short.  They keep falling down."

"When did you buy your oven, did you say?"

"I just bought it.  I just took it out of the box, set it on the counter and started putting it together.  The shelves keep falling down.  Do you have replacement shelves you can send me?"

"No, we make that unit exclusively for Kohls.  You'll need to return it to them."

A conversation that took less than a minute cost me another 45-minutes in taking the thing apart again and repacking it into the box.  I'll have to haul it back to the store tomorrow.  That should be at least another half-hour just waiting in the customer service line.  Hooboy.

Hmmm.  I guess that puts an end to my cooking career, huh?

Kids?  Who's up for Chinese food tonight?  Get me the number for DHL; I want them to deliver it!

crochetwithdee at 6:19:04 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

My nephew is now, home, safe in NY; he arrived yesterday on a Greyhound bus.  He said it was a long ride, but he's happy to be back home.  During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he said he witnessed a lot of crime, but said, mainly, he doesn't blame the people.  They were angry for being left behind; angry for being treated worse than animals.

He said that three days after the hurricane (a FEMA?) truck loaded with food arrived in the area where he was staying.  They started handing out food and then, suddenly stopped.  They told the people to back away from the truck that they were done handing out food for the day; they needed to save the rest of the food still remaining in the truck for the next day.  "You have to remember, Aunt Dee, most those surrounding the truck had nothing to eat since the hurricane hit; they were starving; they were thirsty.

He said he stood there, on the sidelines as he watched the people grow angry. (He survived by eatting canned goods.) The people were so angry to be treated worse than animals that they tipped the truck over and dispersed the spilled goods to all the surrounding people.

Did this story ever make the headlines?  I know know.

But I'd like to know why, if it's true, that a truck filled with food would make people wait an additional day to possibly get a chance at receiving food.  How does one make the decision of WHO should get food and water?  I don't know how to even ponder answering that question. 

But I do want to know WHY all those people were left behind; WHY they were treated so poorly.  Why were there not buses made available?  Trains?  Planes?  Why wasn't the Superdome filled with the National Guard to keep order and an over abundance of food to sustain them?  If you were ever a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout you're taught to be prepared -- why weren't they?

Why did it take over two weeks for us to locate my nephew?  Where is the modern technology to aid those still there to be able to communicate with those outside, still wondering about their well being?

Why was the United States caught off guard?  Why?

crochetwithdee at 12:46:45 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

... coasting!

With the gas prices failing to drop as quickly as they went up I needed to find ways to conserve my gas.  And I'm proud to say that I've been saving something like 100-200 miles worth of gas each week.

No, not by staying home.  And not by combining my trips (I was already doing that prior to this gas price hike mess).  I did it by utilizing the rolling hills of Connecticut.

Let me explain.

I read in an AOL news article that if you're going to be a stop light for an extended time that you should shift into Neutral.  By doing so the engine "rests" a bit and saves a little bit of gas.

So one morning when I was shuffling my children off to school (as a reminder, they do NOT have bus service here), I wondered if the Neutral would work for me if I extended the time more.  So I made mental note where every stop sign and usual "lengthy stay" at stop lights were.  I then made a mental note of if I was coming down one of the rollling hills or was going up. 

What resulted is a savings of 20-40 miles of coasting in Neutral per day!  Once I arrive at a stop, I pop back into drive until the next opportunity to coast.  This means I'm saving (at $3.29 gal) from $16 -$32 of hard earned money per week ... and that adds up!

Just think if we were all able to utilize hills ... it would be music to our wallets!

crochetwithdee at 9:42:34 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Well I did it.  I canceled my AOL by Phone service this evening because it's a broken product.  It hasn't worked for months, and the AOL Online Service was useless.  I'm a bit frustrated with all the hoops I had to go through, but finally, after I provided the magic words, 'I want to cancel' I was given the number 866 265 4415 to call. 

Their phone rep, Mark, seemed concerned that AOL has been aware of the issue (I read the email AOL sent me stating so), and he helped me cancel the service and get credit for the past few months.

The sad part about the whole thing, besides the online *help* service lacking the ability to actually help me, is that I LIKED the option of phoning in journal entries.  The whole reason I signed up for it was so I could go on the road and introduce the voices of those who enjoy my field of employment as much as I do.  I want to add that element of excitement to my blog, to the fiber world I enjoy so much.

I think I'll wait a few months and try signing up for it again and see if it's fixed.  Let's hope so.

crochetwithdee at 6:06:22 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Everyone's focus has been on the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina Survivors.  I heard on the news last night that Walmart pledged 23 million to the survivors, and my local grocer, Shaws, pledged some 11 million.  I think that's great.

But tell me this quote from former First Lady Barbara Bush isn't true:

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace." "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

Is she saying that being uprooted from your home, over crowded into a superdome with no supplies, being separated from your loved ones, and then shuffled further away from loved ones to various locations around the country is better for the underprivileged????  Is she saying that the underprivlieged have it better now than they ever did??

Mrs. Bush, I think you owe all of those people an apology!

*quote is from article, "New Orleans Starts to Pump Out Floodwaters" By DOUG SIMPSON, AP (Sept 6, '05)

crochetwithdee at 11:34:51 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

I know it's time to redye my hair.  Roots to my platinum blond childhood days resurfaced this morning when I went to turn the stove on and failed to double check I had the right burner on.  As a result I made a grave error:  I ruined my favorite cutting board I picked up on sale earlier this year. 

And as misfortune would have it, it's made of plastic.  So my first thought, besides thinking "Uh! It's stinking up the whole house!," is what it's going to cost me to replace it.

Did I think in terms of money?

No.  Not really.

I thought in terms of gallons of gas.

Weird.

I figure a drive into town would cost me at least two gallons of gas.  And now, as of yesterday, that it's gone up another twenty cents ($3.09/gal).  I figure it can wait to be replaced.

That's not the first time I thought this way.  I was thinking like this a lot yesterday too ... but mostly when my husband called to reconfirm that I wanted my boxes of items for the Hurricane Katrina survivors shipped.  I had already done the calling around trying to see if there are local drop off areas, but the closest one is in Waterbury.  Hmmm.  "Yeah, I'm sure.  Ship it.  The drive to Waterbury is about 6 or 7 gallons of gas."  Thankfully he's in the shipping business or it would have cost 2 gallons just to drop off the boxes.

The news stated last night to expect gas prices to stay in the $3-$4 a gallon for the next six to eight weeks.  I'm thinking it's time to buy a horse.

crochetwithdee at 9:40:13 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own