Wally World Stinks (and Micky D's and ATT and ...)

I actually am trying not to be angry (AGAIN) over yet another Wal-Mart incident! I hate the store anyways- so what happened today wasn't all that shocking, I think it is more their attitude of "We don't care if we screw you over because there are lots of other people out there!". We made it here to Logan, Utah (which is a really nice city nestled in the Northern part of Utah) and decided that since we are on our last presentation and motel stay (thank goodness) that we would eat a good dinner (Olive Garden) and cruise the main street to see what was in Logan.

When we happened to see a Wal-Mart sign we decided to brave the store as we knew that they had a few items we needed. While visiting the toy department (because you ALWAYS have to visit that department so the kids will chill out) we saw the spinning globe lights and the all three tags below them read 88 Cents. We thought that was cool and added 20 of them to our cart. When we went to check out they rang up for $3.97!!! A huge difference. So they lady was going to override (which she should have seeing the entire display was mispriced and NOT my problem) the price for us. Well a supervisor was called, went and looked and brought all the tags over to "prove" that we were wrong and she was right. Now, I don't care about the price thing- whatever, but her attitude was rude, obnoxious, and irritated. As we left, my wife and I decided that we are going to start looking at other stores to support as Wal-Mart already owns most of the free world. So should you feel inclined- I urge you to also look for other stores to support. Maybe if enough of us get off the "Wal-Mart Addiction" we CAN make a diference in thier bottom line. I mean honestly, we have shopped at Target this week- I think they have just as good of prices and thier store is cleaner, people actually know what they are talking about, and you can find things you need that are IN STOCK!

So that is my rant on Wal-Mart.

I did hear back from McDonald's in Salt Lake today. That lady was also rude and unhelpful. All she said after I explained the problem was "I will pass that on to the owners". I said a lot of things (nothing my mother would be ashamed of) all to the same answer of "I understand, I will pass that on". I told her all she was was a shield for the owners so that they wouldn't have to hear how customers truly felt. I guess that is their problem as well. We refuse to ever eat at McDonald's again. (Which is truly ok as their food is D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G!!!!! :))

I guess I sound like a grouchy old man with all the issues. I could even tell you about my trauma with AT&T Cellular Service today as well, but I am still working on that.

Sometimes I just want to scream- WHY ME???? Why do I always get SCREWED over? But I do know that there are reasons beyond my understanding. So, deep breath, and moving on! :)

Tomorrow I am FINALLY finished with CORE Academy and I can focus on getting my classroom ready to go. YEA! And the count down timer will be at ZERO before anyone knows what hit them!

Check out my other blog if you get a minute (teachertechhelper.blogspot.com). I will be adding more posts as soon as I get home and life back to normal!

Thanks for reading,
Later...

Home Again (with a little detour and tragic story as an added bonus)

Well,
After a awesome presentation yesterday (probably the best I have ever done), I was basking in the glow of doing well when it hit me I was in BIG, and I mean REALLY BIG trouble. I realized in that moment, like many of you may have experienced, that something was amiss with my materials. I only had 5 books and 5 bags of dice to give away instead of the 30 that I needed for my next presentation. Now, if you know anything about me at all, you will realize that this is really going to put a cramp in my day. The needed materials are 180 miles away and that means 3 hours of driving ONE WAY to pick them up. I really don't want to drive and get them and I really just want them to appear in my box for the next day. I go in to total meltdown mode. I am freaking out (not in the yelling and running around screaming way- I usually don't do that- just with mice). I go to the big bosses assistant and ask what am I supposed to do. She wasn't sure I was serious. Well, then she was almost laughing. She called Max, who is the director of CORE Academy to see what needed to be done. He asked if we could get them mailed to the next school because it would be cheaper than paying to have me drive home and get them (which would not be fun). I called my parents and good thing I called when I did. They were gasing up their truck and getting ready to head out of town. They went to my house, counted out the materials I needed and sent them Priority Mail. Now, don't think this means that I stopped freaking out. If my materials don't arrive then I can't give the participants their "gifts" and then they will not be happy! I can't even TELL them they are going to be getting them in case they don't arrive in time. This causes me GREAT stress as I like things to be PREFECT. The good news is that I didn't have to drive home to get the materials, the bad news is that I am at the mercy of the USPS- not that that is always a bad thing.
We met my sister at D.I. again (yep, that's right) and browse for a while. Then we headed over the the AT&T spring Store to ask for my NEA (National Education Association) discount and possibly get new phones. Well, we got new phones. The SAMSUNG SGH-A737 I like it. I don't like adding the contacts all over again- our old phones SIM cards wouldn't let us save them. I even got a discount on my service. We then went to Robert's Crafts again, I have already shared my feelings on that (See an older post), then came home to relax and visit.
My sister decided she needed to go to the store (a.k.a Wal-Mart- which I hate) for some bread so we could have french toast- yummy! While we were there I picked up a blue tooth headset for my wife (as our new phones do not have a headphone jack that is regular- you need a "special" headset for Samsung phones) and two 2GB Mini-SD cards to put music and ringtones on our phones. That was nice.
After that it was MarioKart mainia until all hours of the night and then sleep- oh beautiful sleep- sleep that I am lacking in a major way! Anyways, we woke up by 7:30 this morning so that the AC repair man could come and fix the AC unit in my sister apartment. And, by way of note- no wetness either. I just checked on-line and it said that my materials were delievered, but when I called they said they don't have them yet. They have been delievered to the post office in the town, they just aren't at the school yet. I SO hope they are there by 3:50 pm for I am still in FREAK OUT mode and want it to go away.
I am thankful that we are heading home today. I need a break from the stress of CORE Academy and traveling (and so does my Credit Card).
I am excited to share the story of the bead and my daughter one of these days, for it is a very interesting and unique tale of a 5 year-old girl.
I need to go and shower and get ready to leave. It is an hour drive to the next location and we need to stop and get fuel before we go to the next school as well.
So, I will sign off for now. I will let you know about the story of the materials later tonight or tomorrow.
later...