Spring Cleaning

I thought it was time for a change... comments on the new template are welcome. I hope Adrian doesn't tell me off! I also hope noone gets confuzzled!

I'm at home sick today because I didn't manage to elude the evil, evil being we call a virus that is thriving in Adrian's system. Viruses are disgusting... why haven't we figured out a way to just get rid of them?!? I vaguely know the answer to that question, but that's not the point! Dammit! So at least one, probably two days less in my pay AGAIN this week. But now I have 4 days to get over whatever is coming (Monday and Tuesday being my pseudo-weekend) and next week will be hectic at work, as well as us moving the following week!

Here's two interesting (hopefully) stories for you:

Story 1.
Claire needs a new watch battery. Claire knows that at work, if the said battery is in stock, it will cost somewhere in the vicinity of $1. But because Claire isn't sure if it is in stock and also doesn't want to damage her watch, she takes her watch to Mr Minit in Queensgate and asks for a new battery please. Claire has taken $10 with her (that's all she has on her, having left the rest of her wallet in the car in order to not succumb to the forces of evil) but forgoes asking how much the battery will cost, because she presumes that it will be around $5 at most. Man talks to stranger while fitting new battery (how rude) and within 30 seconds he has put Claire's watch on the counter. The following ensues:
- "Thats $14.90 please".
- "Woah, are you serious? Um.. I only have $10, that's all I have."
- "It's because we guarantee them for two years".
- [WTF? For $15??] "What am I supposed to do?"
- "You can just bring the rest back later."
- [WTF?!] "Um, no, I mean that price is ridiculous. Are you able to take the battery out?"
- "Yeah, sure".
Watch is back on counter with original battery. Claire is angry.
Back at work, Claire checks stock on the battery. Hurrah! There are 23 in stock. Claire purchases said battery, which retails at $3.98 for the staff price of 30 cents! Awesome.
MORAL: Don't go to Mr Minit. We can change your watch batteries at DSE, unless you have a very complicated watch. Go DSE!

Story 2.
I'll leave the fancy writing style behind here, because this story is a little longer. So, you have a little bit of info about our dealings with the Holiday Shoppe Johnsonville re. bridal registry. Before we paid any deposits, they told us that we would be able to leave the balance of our honeymoon total until 2 weeks before honeymoon, in order for guests to contribute to the holiday. Yay! We thought that was a pretty good deal, so we decided to go with the planned holiday and paid all our deposits (both airfare and cruise). Then in July we were told we had to pay for the entire airfare to confirm our seats. So we did. Then we were told that we have to pay for the entire cruise before the end of October to confirm our cabin (huh? wasn't that what the deposit is for? Anyway, that's beside the point.) OK, well thats fair enough. [audible click, click as cogs are turning...] But hang on, then what happens to the money our guests contribute, if we've already paid for our entire honeymoon? Agents response: It gets made into Holiday Shoppe credit. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? You mean that you're going to STEAL our wedding gifts and make us spend it with you???!! Furio Claire. Especially when we'd already decided that the post-deposit service was suffieciently bad for us to not want to ever book with you again. Hence, having all the bridal registry cards already printed, we decided to simply not use them, and Mum has organised an account for guests to pay in to instead. I hope that's ok with everyone. The HSJ have since said that Agent made a mistake, since she's relatively new, and that they will actually give us whatever money is left over in a refund cheque. But it's just too much hassle, and we don't trust them anymore. It all feels too uncomfortable! Grr.
MORAL: Well, I must admit I have been telling everyone not to go to the Holiday Shoppe at all, but it turns out that it's just the Johnsonville branch that you should avoid!

Hooh, that's a big rant.

I'm listening to Brooke Fraser, she continues to amaze me.
Currently trying to decide what to get Dad for his birthday! Keep writing those guestbook signings!

xxx