November 5 2011

Ah the joys of sleeping until you wake up!  That is one of the great things about being retired.  Now, don’t misunderstand me here, I still set the alarm on my Droid several days a week.  I set it to wake me on Wednesday so that I’m not late for our Men’s Bible Study – although I am nearly always up way before the alarm goes off.  It is also set for Sunday morning for Sunday school and Church.  There is an alarm set to remind me that on Friday mornings we go to breakfast with friends.  Every other Saturday the alarm is set because Ella works mornings on those days.  I also set alarms for various meetings and events that I want/need to attend.  But the idea that (most mornings) I have no place that I HAVE to be, makes me smile.

            Yesterday, Friday, was one of those days that the alarm reminded us that we were having breakfast with friends.  Only one other couple, Harlan & Karen, were there for breakfast.  It was nice to have a smaller group to visit with for a change.  My hearing aids are a help to hearing – however, sometimes it is hard to follow a conversation when several people are talking at the same time.  

`          Harlan is our Sunday school teacher as well as one of the leaders of the Men’s Bible Study.  He is a strong Christian example by all the various ‘works’ that he undertakes.  I admire his intelligence and his studiousness.  Now don’t get me wrong, he has his faults.  He is a control freak who has trouble not ‘butting in’ to what other people are doing if it isn’t done ‘his way’.  To his credit, I have seen him abandon the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” attitude when a sound alternative was presented (enough times).  I told somebody once that I wanted to be just like Harlan, when I grow up. (smile)

           On the way home from breakfast we stopped at the church and dropped off some old software CDs for the next rummage sale.  We also stopped and picked up our mail from the PO Box.  There was a box with Spanish Language Instruction CDs from a company that I had previously ordered a quick and easy Spanish CD from.   These I had not ordered.  I called their customer service number and told them that I did not order nor want these CDs.  They said that they would cancel this and all future orders.  They gave me a return authorization number and informed me to mail m back – at my expense.  I told the representative that I didn’t believe it was my responsibility to pay for return postage on an item that I did not order.  I was informed that when I ordered the original order it was understood that I was to receive further merchandise for trials.

            Because I believe that nothing in the original advertising stated anything about ‘future merchandise’ that it was a fraudulent and deceptive business practice, I sent a complaint to the Iowa Attorney General’s office.  I am however going to send the CDs back at my expense just to settle the issue for now.

Have you been the victim of deceptive advertising or marketing?

            Ella worked yesterday evening at the clubhouse.  While she was working I did our laundry at the clubhouse.  I finished about an hour before the end of her shift.  I came home and watched“Chuck” on TV.  When she was done at work we were scheduled to go for ice cream with friends.  However, when we called to let them know she was off work, they said that they had “sat down and couldn’t get up”.  So, we’re going to go for ice cream around lunch time – assuming that they can get up. (smile)

            Ella works again today (2-8) and again Sunday from 8 to 5.

            It is now 7:30 a.m. and the sun is finally shining through the morning haze.  The Hitch Hiker should start warming now with the solar heat coming through the storm door and windows. 

            I don’t know what I’m going to do the rest of the day.  I’ve already made breakfast and done the dishes.  I’ve read my son’s blog and the RV Travelnewsletter.  By the way, the newsletter contained a link to this video about taking a shower in 2 litters of water.  I don’t know whether I think it is clever or silly. Remember that he is living in an RV where water is something that you need to think about both in ‘having’ and in ‘getting rid’ of.  (I know that I just ended that sentence with a preposition but I’m not going to reconstruct the sentence because you know what I mean.)  Here is the link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmY4k6OBvUE&feature=player_embedded . 

What do you think?  Is it a clever idea?  Or is it just silly?