random thoughts – Day 1,458 – (Thursday) – quirks and such

Ugh. Engine light.

It’s been a week with several quirky things swirling around. It started last week with the car’s “Service Engine” light coming on. A call to the Jeep dealership in an attempt to schedule a service appointment resulted in a headache of automated menu option nonsense. I bailed in annoyance.

Tuesday, after delivering my 4x4 piece for the upcoming fundraiser event, I was all hot to make more of them. Before going to bed, I ordered a pack of nine four-inch square canvases and a pair of slip-on sneakers. The items were all due to deliver today.

More prints in the small size were ordered before work and ready for pickup after work on Wednesday. After grabbing the prints and not checking them in the store, there was a stop at Market Basket for raspberry tea. An Irish Soda Bread was also bought, because every year at this time I buy one. 

The other thing that happens every year at this time, is I wonder why I keep buying Irish Soda Bread, because it turns out I don’t really like it. It’s dry. It falls apart while being sliced and I end up trying to glue it back together with butter. It doesn’t even taste that good to me. I could have bought a lovely pie for Pi Day today instead, but no, I chose the dumb bread. It's highly likely the same thing will play out next year at this time.

At home, the 4” by 4” photos were checked and discovered to be printed on 4” by 6” paper with a two-inch white space on one end, which sucked because the smaller, nonstandard sized prints actually cost quite a bit more than the standard size. It was annoying enough that I called the store. The clerk was really nice and said I could stop in and they would trim them to the right size, which sounded better than me hacking at them with scissors or my abused and crappy utility knife.

Today, there was a quick away from keyboard (AFK!) midday trip to an auto parts store for their free Check Engine Light diagnosis. The check engine issue was diagnosed and the problem resolved with advice to keep an eye on it, and if it comes back on, to bring the printout to the Jeep service department. 

The auto parts purveyor is across the street from the photo place. The photos were trimmed and I was headed back to the desk. I saw three vintage convertibles on the roads in 20 minutes on a sunny, 60-degree late winter day. It was thrilling to spend a half hour away from the desk, away from the home office, and out in the world, solving my tiny life problems.

Cute, but  not quite as described or depicted.

Amazon delivered on time as promised. The sneakers fit great, but aren’t quite as glorious as described. The “superior canvas material” in the product description is closer to a mediocre decorative tapestry fabric and the print is busier than was pictured. Not horrible, still cute, just not quite as described. 

The real surprise was in the box allegedly holding the small canvases. Instead of nine 4” by 4” canvases, the box held three 4” by 12” canvases. Same total surface area of 144”, but no, no, not the same at all. 

A return and a replacement with the correct item were requested. The original and incorrect order placed at 10:00 at night delivered in less than two full days, but the replacement order made at 5:00 will take three days. What the heck, Amazon?

After a quick supper of leftover pizza foraged from the freezer, instead of working on canvases as planned, a trip was made to Kohl’s to deliver the canvases for the return trip to Amazon. While at the store, there was some shopping done, because, duh. It’s been ages since I last browsed, and the store wasn’t very busy and the displays were neat, so it was quite pleasant.

There were fashion surprises on the racks, including the apparent return of pleat-front pants. Ugh. They looked awful on most body types that weren’t shaped like breadsticks in the 80s and I bet they’ll look awful on most body shapes again. Pass. There were cute shoes at great clearance prices but not my size. Slight sadness.

The victorious score was a pair of flare leg, trouser style jeans that remind me of some I had and loved in high school, and a pair of light brown pants that will work with the new brown loafers for office-office days. There was a gift card from Christmas in my wallet, so the cash outlay was less than the cost of a fancy coffee shop drink.

Despite not being able to play with a bunch of small canvases as planned, the night was still a good one. I hope my interest in the small canvas project lasts beyond the Sunday delivery, which was the original projected completion date. We’ll see.