I am perturbed. As the 4 of you who read my blog (lol) might remember, I related my wish of getting our whole house sided by mistake. Well, that wish partially came true yesterday, but then it fell flat. The workers showed up to side our house and started tearing off our old siding, but not the old insulating foam board underneath. That was the first clue something was wrong. The next came when we discovered that the new siding wasn't the right color. It wasn't the "Industry Favorite for over 30 years" Colonial Yellow (ack!), it was Country Cream. We liked it better, but since they started tearing off on the correct sides of the house we decided we'd better say something. Especially since they were going to use the old foam board and not fresh stuff. (Had they started on the wrong sides we would have just kept quiet, lol) So we called, they came out, and it was determined that a mistake had been made (duh!) and they would get our correct material out to us as soon as possible. Serious eye-rolling happening here!
Since I'm on a roll, here: have I mentioned how much I hate FedEx? And I really hate FedEx SmartPost. Smartpost is where FedEx picks up the shipment and delivers it to the closest designated US Postal Service hub to the recipient's city. I think the US Postal Service hates FedEx too and I think that they unload and distribute those pallets last! That's my theory anyway. Why else would a package sit at the post office for 3 days before it goes out for delivery? I currently have Shipment 2 of 2 of art supplies sitting at the post office (since yesterday morning!) and won't be delivered until tomorrow. I received shipment 1 the day before yesterday and they were both shipped the same day, about 4 hours apart. That's just poor time management and bad organizational skills, that is! Shipping is the only negative I have regarding the online store where I get my art supplies (dickblick.com).
Speaking of art supplies, there is this cool program called ArtSnacks which for $20 a month or $200 a year they will send you a box filled with different art supplies each month. How cool is that? I haven't signed up yet, but I think I will. I just have to wait until September because we have vehicle tags at the end of this month (July), and my husband's and soon-to-be 13 year old's birthdays in the first part of August and then school starts back up towards the end of August.
Because I have already established a platform for gripes and complaints (my son calls it "ventilating" - I think he means "venting, lol), I am going to finish up with my thoughts on the backward way they do vehicle registration around here. First let me say that back in the town I am from, and for that matter most cities and towns in California, when you bring your paperwork in to register a vehicle, from that point going forward is when your yearly registration fees are due. If you purchase a used car, the license plate stays with the car unless it is a personalized plate, or you just want it, and then that car gets registered in the new owners name under that vehicle's VIN and plate numbers. Makes sense, right? Right, which is why we don't do it that way around here, because doing things sensibly or the way the rest of the civilized world does it would just be silly. What happens here is you pay taxes on the car you just purchased, and you gain a 30 day tag. When you are ready to register it, you pay a pro-rated amount on your registration because (and here's the really stupid part, so pay attention) the first letter of your last name determines what month your yearly registration and taxes are due. And yes, we have to continue paying taxes on that vehicle every year - personal property tax. So, we are J's and we pay in July. Friends of ours are M's so they pay in August. I feel sorry for the A's (January) and the folks at the end of the alphabet because theirs are due in December. Also, your license plate goes with you when you sell your car and buy a new one unless you want a new plate, which I think they charge you additional for that. Now this business of taking your plate with you to your next vehicle causes all kinds of trouble because sometimes the state of Kansas doesn't get transfers right (gasp!) and occasionally (meaning frequently) when law enforcement runs the plate it shows a completely different vehicle. Confusion ensues for the driver and everyone involved. This practice also makes it easier to steal and switch plates form one car to another, for oh say, when your tag is expired and you don't want to get a ticket? This will buy you some time, and people do it around here a lot! Okay, so maybe it's not all that stupid compared to some things, and it might even be better than somewhere else's system. It's just one of those little reminders that I live in a small, quirky town.
Okay enough grumping (ventilating)! I'm leaving you with a snap of two tiny toadstools I discovered in my potted flowers yesterday morning. Aren't they precious? Can you imagine the smallness of the faerie who sits on these or uses them as an umbrella when it rains? All that's missing is for them to be red with little white polka dots :)
Since I'm on a roll, here: have I mentioned how much I hate FedEx? And I really hate FedEx SmartPost. Smartpost is where FedEx picks up the shipment and delivers it to the closest designated US Postal Service hub to the recipient's city. I think the US Postal Service hates FedEx too and I think that they unload and distribute those pallets last! That's my theory anyway. Why else would a package sit at the post office for 3 days before it goes out for delivery? I currently have Shipment 2 of 2 of art supplies sitting at the post office (since yesterday morning!) and won't be delivered until tomorrow. I received shipment 1 the day before yesterday and they were both shipped the same day, about 4 hours apart. That's just poor time management and bad organizational skills, that is! Shipping is the only negative I have regarding the online store where I get my art supplies (dickblick.com).
Speaking of art supplies, there is this cool program called ArtSnacks which for $20 a month or $200 a year they will send you a box filled with different art supplies each month. How cool is that? I haven't signed up yet, but I think I will. I just have to wait until September because we have vehicle tags at the end of this month (July), and my husband's and soon-to-be 13 year old's birthdays in the first part of August and then school starts back up towards the end of August.
Because I have already established a platform for gripes and complaints (my son calls it "ventilating" - I think he means "venting, lol), I am going to finish up with my thoughts on the backward way they do vehicle registration around here. First let me say that back in the town I am from, and for that matter most cities and towns in California, when you bring your paperwork in to register a vehicle, from that point going forward is when your yearly registration fees are due. If you purchase a used car, the license plate stays with the car unless it is a personalized plate, or you just want it, and then that car gets registered in the new owners name under that vehicle's VIN and plate numbers. Makes sense, right? Right, which is why we don't do it that way around here, because doing things sensibly or the way the rest of the civilized world does it would just be silly. What happens here is you pay taxes on the car you just purchased, and you gain a 30 day tag. When you are ready to register it, you pay a pro-rated amount on your registration because (and here's the really stupid part, so pay attention) the first letter of your last name determines what month your yearly registration and taxes are due. And yes, we have to continue paying taxes on that vehicle every year - personal property tax. So, we are J's and we pay in July. Friends of ours are M's so they pay in August. I feel sorry for the A's (January) and the folks at the end of the alphabet because theirs are due in December. Also, your license plate goes with you when you sell your car and buy a new one unless you want a new plate, which I think they charge you additional for that. Now this business of taking your plate with you to your next vehicle causes all kinds of trouble because sometimes the state of Kansas doesn't get transfers right (gasp!) and occasionally (meaning frequently) when law enforcement runs the plate it shows a completely different vehicle. Confusion ensues for the driver and everyone involved. This practice also makes it easier to steal and switch plates form one car to another, for oh say, when your tag is expired and you don't want to get a ticket? This will buy you some time, and people do it around here a lot! Okay, so maybe it's not all that stupid compared to some things, and it might even be better than somewhere else's system. It's just one of those little reminders that I live in a small, quirky town.
 |
| See them? |
 |
| A little bit closer |
No comments:
Post a Comment