Bread, sweet bread.

2003-04-25 - 1:07 p.m.

Bread.... pasta... rice..... BRING IT ON!!! Passover is over! It took the whole evening and morning to switch the kitchen back, but boy, that first warm Challa this morning was totally worth it!!!! I don't even eat much, I only had one slice, but yummy!!!!!

Hubby and I are going away for the weekend to a B&B in Vermont. It's a dog-friendly B&B, so Mortimer is coming with us! He doesn't quite know what to make of it so far, we keep telling him we're going on vacation, but in his dog-mind, that means boarding at Nick or Kim's house. He is in for quite a treat... This was meant to be a first anniversary trip later in May, but with the store moving, we moved it up a bit. I'm pretty excited, 'cause it'll be fun to go away with the dog AND be able to have dinner on our own while he is being looked after.

Also, 2 words for you: JCrew Outlet. That's all that needs to be said. And of course, Old Navy, which we don't have in Quebec....

Someone I know on the net sent me some very good news this morning. I can't tell you who or what the news is, but it's very exciting.... you know who you are, I'm thinking of you!!!!

Fun Facts about me

It's Friday, let's try to entertain everyone a little:

-I speak 4 languages fluently and have a basic knowledge of 2 more.

-I'm a very strong swimmer, but I hate swimming! And I don't know how to dive, at all, not even from the edge of the pool....

-I'm terrified of heights and I cannot take escalators that go down in open spaces (ie malls, stores, subways)

-I only put ketchup on my grilled-cheese sandwiches and on old-fashion french fries (thick and greasy)

-I once spent the night in the Vienna train station after seing Cats in German. Those darn Austrian trains are always on time and I just had to have one more piece of Sacher Torte....

Well, have a good weekend one and all. Back on Tuesday after my little getaway in Vermont!

Anything to add? 2

life is in the way of TV

2003-04-24 - 10:45 a.m.

I kid you not, it snowed this morning... What the heck is going on???

Happy news! We went to court this morning and were approved to adopt internationally. This is just a bureaucratic procedure, we'll need the papers to move ahead and are still 8 months away from any actual adoption, but hey! It's happy news!

Skewed Priorities Sometimes, I just don't know where my head is.... I let TV take up way too much of my time... I was so thrilled to see Carmen get booted off AI last night, I couldn't wait to read Cootiehog's take on it. But she had a baby last night! How exciting for her! Except, I was totally bummed that there was no recap of the show.... Bad, bad girl!

And my incredibly loyal employee, who hasn't missed on day of work in the 19 months she's been with me is having her graduation fashion show tonight. She gave me a ticket. And for a moment, I actually tought: "I can't go, Thursday is huge TV night". I have a vcr AND a TIVO, it's really not a big deal to go out, but for a moment there, I was seriously considering it....

I would never actually let TV interfere with anything, but there is always that one second in my head when I think about the conflict between life and my TV schedule....

Anything to add? 1

Do right by me.

2003-04-23 - 4:25 p.m.

It won't stop raining and it's starting to piss me off.... I'm grumpy today. I dropped my car off at the dealer to put on my summer tires, balance the wheels and change the oil. I dropped it off before 8 AM and requested to have it back by 2PM (When I made the appointment last week). They said no problem. The guy even put 1PM in the computer so it would be all washed and ready to go by the time I got there.

Ya, right! I called at 1:30 before getting in a cab and heading over there. Well, hum, don't come quite yet, more like 2:30.... That's not what we agreed upon people! I gotta go to work! They weren't even apologetic or anything. I guess it's Karma biting me back for not changing the magnets yesterday.....

I have to admit that I've been on a Quest lately. I demand to get the level of service that I pay for. I complain to managers, I write letters, I call head offices. I am tired of just walking away unsatisfied. I'm very reasonable in my expectations. I, for one, would not return to a store if I dropped a magnet on the floor! But when our satelite receiver burned out for the third time in one year and they told us it was no longer under warranty, I didn't give up until we had a new unit, checked by the supervisor of technical services in person.

My car is new from last July. It's not a cheap car. Not a luxury car either, but not a cheap car. So when I take it to the dealer to have basic work done on it, I expect to be able to get it back when they promised. I could have gone any other day, I have a very flexible schedule. I told them that when I made the appointment and told them to schedule me on a day when I could get the car by 2PM. The head of the service department will be hearing from me, I just haven't decided if it will be by phone or by mail yet....

We ordered plain cheese pizza a few weeks back. It came quickly and was still warm when it arrived, but there was no cheese on it. OK, OK, there was *some* cheese, but really, you had to use a magnifiying glass. So I emailed the head office. The next day, the manager of the pizza outlet delivered a fresh pie with extra cheese. A week later, the head office send me a gift certificate for yet another pizza. I will continue to order from them and will tell anyone around here to do the same. They did right by me.

I get it. you don't need to tell me. I should have just exchanged the stupid magnet....

Weird searches that have brought people here:

Matza Cake

Knee High Boots for big calfs!!!!

Anything to add? 0

Not-So Super Strong Magnutz

2003-04-22 - 1:01 p.m.

AAARRRRGGHHH!!!!

This customer just came in. She bought a set of 3 Super Strong Magnutz from us last week. She liked them so much, she came back on Friday and bought another set. 3 magnets for 12$ (canadian dollars). It's the going rate for Super Strong Magnutz.

Well, one of the magnets is broken. She dropped it on the floor and the magnet part poped out of the plastic part. She wants me to exchange it.... There is no Warranty on magnets.... I'm a little gift store. I'm sorry the magnet broke *when it fell on the floor*, but it is not my responsability to exchange it! She doesn't have the box, she didn't bring the other two..... Just the broken one.

She kept telling me that the magnet was worth 4 dollars and for that price, I should quickly exchange it. I tried to explain to her there is no warranty. The magnet wasn't broken when she left the store. If she really wants, she should send it to the company that made it.

She became really pissed off. She started screaming, threatening to boycott my store and tell everyone to boycott my store. A few minutes later, she's still going at it and two young girls walk into the store. She starts telling them this is a terrible store, they shouldn't shop here. I grab a box of magnets from the shelf, take out the turquoise Super Strong Magnutz and give it to her.

I know I should have just done that 10 minutes earlier, avoided the whole incident. But I just couldn't. I hate people who try to take advantage of me. She *dropped* the magnet. that's not MY fault. Honestly, a little crazy glue and the thing is fixed. As a matter of fact, that's exactely what I just did, stuck it back in the box I opened for her and Voila!

I don't know how many people this woman knows, or whether anyone would actually listen to a nut like her, but I didn't want to take a chance. Although given how pissed-off she was when she left, I'm sure she'll still bad mouth me. She kept insisting I couldn't be the owner, that the girl who sold her the magnets was much nicer. How's that logical?

I'm the owner, I make the rules. I'm very nice, I just don't like people pushing my buttons. She kept bringing up the price of the magnet. Lady, I didn't make you buy the freaking magnets! You didn't object to the price the first time you bought them, you didn't object the SECOND time you bought them.... YOU DROPPED IT ON THE FLOOR!!!!!!

AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!

Anything to add? 1

what should I do with my life?

2003-04-22 - 11:08 a.m.

I've been reading Po Bronson's What Should I do With My Life?. I know, I know, it's been hot for a while now, but I gave it to my husband as a gift a few months back, so I was waiting for him to be done before I started it. I got my hands on it 2 days ago and I'm almost done!

I want to Google everyone's name and see what they are up to now! I'm feeling very inspired and energized by the book. The weird thing is, I've already had my major life change. I've mentioned this before, I use to be in PR and Communications. I loved my job, just hated the people I worked for. So I quit. Just up and left. I did a year of volunteer work at an afterschool program, but I wanted to do something that would actually eventually bring money, so my husband and I started the store. We both really like it. It's fun, the hours are easy, I get to use my creativity all the time by picking the stock and making some myself.

But reading the book is somehow validating my choices. I've never felt the need to explain myself to anyone, I'm a pretty self-sufficient person that way. But reading all these stories, It's really making me feel that we made the right decision for us.

The best part about the book is that not all the people are finding the right outlet for them. Some are still searching, some are giving up. I guess that's why I'm so hooked: life is like that, some people find their true calling, some never do, despite their search. If the book was full of happy endings, there would be no hope for the rest of us!

Anything to add? 0


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