Poppy Makes a Mess

Marching Band Lullaby

A Garden Hose

We paid for a full inspection before we bought our house. (That info is important in a minute.)


Lately we've had trouble with the washing machine backing up. We have to spin all the laundry twice to get the water out. We had a washing machine repairman come out and he said its our plumbing.


We asked our nephew to help us--who is a fantastic plumber--and he immediately noticed the problem. Someone had used a garden hose to run the water from under the house to the main line. A garden hose.

Is Karma a Bad Driver?

Tonight I almost got hit by a car with a license plate that said, "Karma". It really said that. I keep thinking, "I wonder what that means." Do I have good karma or bad karma. Is karma trying to warn me? Or is Karma actually the name of the driver and she's the one who almost hit me?

The Shoe

Rosie went to the mall to buy a new pair of shoes with her friend. When she showed me the shoes she bought, there was only one shoe in the box! I told her to call the store and let them know we'd be by tomorrow to get the other shoe.

"Hi. I was at your store today and I bought a shoe..." LOLOLOL.

Just for fun we had her try on the shoe and it didn't fit. So we returned the shoe, and will try again.

What do you think is the ratio of shoes sold in pairs to customers that accidentally went home with one shoe? 2 million to 1? 3 million to 1? Its never happened before?

How about these?

• If the shoe fits, wear IT
• She let the shoe drop where it may
• She really stuck her foot in it this time

Oh well, it could happen to anyone. It just doesn't, that's all.

Upstairs Broom

We bought the kids a delux broom today for upstairs where they live. Its red, and is the kind that has the dustpan attached to it. DE-lux!

We gave it to them and said, "Don't use it all in one place now!"

No Thank You Policy

I bought a fish. It was a beta fish in a bowl with rocks, plastic plant, water, and a little beaded decoration on the outside of the bowl. It cost $19.98. It had a sticker on it that said, "$19.98." The cashier did not put the fish in a bowl in a bag. I carried it out so happy in my arms. I bought about 10 things that day.

...

The door greeter asked to see my receipt. It was a pretty short receipt. I handed her the receipt. She looked at the receipt and said, "You ain't paid for it." And she said it about 20 times. I looked at the receipt. What happened was when the cashier swiped the $19.98 ticket, the cash register rung it up as separate items. So the greeter was looking for a $19.98 item, but that wasn't on the receipt. Instead it said, "fish..." and gave a price, "rocks"...and gave a price, "bowl"...and gave a price. You get the idea. The more I tried to explain it to the greeter, the more she insisted I was trying to steal a fish. She called her door greeter friend over, and this person was also convinced I did not pay for the fish.

...

Now I am getting angry. I asked them to call a manager. "Oh we can't call a manager." I replied, "Well if you can't call a manger, then you can't call the police!". I snatched my receipt and fish, and walked out.

...

This has led to our "No thank you" policy.

• Walmart stops shoppers who have unbagged items.
• When I have unbagged items, first, I hold my receipt in my hand so the door greeter has physical, visible evidence that I may have paid for the unbagged item.
• I also have bagged items in the cart, which also serves as evidence I may have paid for the unbagged item.
• When the door greeter asks to see my receipt, I do NOT break stride, and very politely say, "No thank you", and keep on walking.

I secretly hope that someday the greeter calls security. I will demand security call the police. And then I will sue Walmart for what I believe is a civil rights violation. I think it is illegal SEARCH and seizure. I have provided them with two forms of evidence to show I have paid for unbagged items, and therefore they should have no reason to STOP me and SEARCH me. The fact that they don't have stickers or large bags is not my problem.

...

The kids know the deal. When I am shopping with friends, I take charge of the cart if I have an unbagged item and explain what's about to happen. One time my son was really far ahead of me walking out with an unbagged case of gatoraide. He just kept walking. When I passed the greeter I said, "He's with me." She said she needed to see my receipt. I said, "No thank you." That time it didn't think it worked out the way it should have. He has to stay closer to me. When we got to the car, he said next time I have a decision to make. "What decision is that?", I asked. He said, "Whether or not you want to pay for the gatoraide."

The One Cent Mug

Today I went to Walmart to pick up my photo mug I ordered for my husband. I went to the photo counter and was really surprised when the clerk asked me if I wanted to pay for it when I paid for the rest of my groceries. (Walmart is going to trust me to walk around with an unpaid photo mug? That's just crazy talk and the sort of thing that NEVER happens to me.) "Why yes! Thank you! That's so nice of you."

...

I finished shopping, snuck my 12 items through the 10 item checkout line, and the mug rang up as one cent. The cashier looked at me with that, "does that seem right to you?", look on her face, so of course I told her the mug costs more than a penny. I'd just take it back to the photo counter and pay for it there where they'd be able to fix the amount it costs.

...

Hung my head and walked all the way back to the photo counter which of course is on the opposite side of the store, thinking the entire way, "I should have known." It is more like my luck that purchasing a photo mug will involve two trips to the photo counter.

...

The photo counter clerk rang up and it came up as a free item! The clerk replied, "Oh, that's right, you've already paid for it!"

...

Yep, I already forgot that just 4 days earlier I had paid for the photo mug when I ordered it online. The clerk forgot that there is no way to get a photo mug without paying for it in advance. There's nothing else to say, because that's the kind of thing that happens to me all the time.