Sidious, Snoke and Salacious B Crumb’s Sarcastic and Sassy Situation Saloon (Fanfic Social Thread)

I always make sure I pay charges on my credit card within the grace period. I just use it for the convenience (and travel points are an added perk on things I have to buy anyway - I paid for my tickets home next month with points - knock on wood I can go). I do have a line of credit (for emergencies).

I have a dryer full of clean laundry and a sink full of dirty dishes. I should adult since I have to go into the office the next two days, a short weekend (for me), then I have to be in the office most of next week (co-worker is on holiday so I'm in charge of the summer staff).

Have I mentioned I need a vacation?

 

I will absolutely attest to this!!!

Here, if your CC is hacked, you can notify the company and get reimbursed/refunded for monies stolen. Whereas if your debit card is hacked, they can empty your bank account and there is nothing you can do. I have a debit card for small, local things, and one CC for most of my day-to-day purchases or for when I travel. I have another card (my older, longtime card) that I use ONLY for online purchases.

But it is frustrating waiting for a card you KNOW is supposed to be in the mail!

 

Placed an Amazon Prime Wardrobe order two weeks ago. Package was shipped via UPS Wednesday, July 28. I have standing instructions with UPS to redirect all of my packages to the local UPS Store since package services at my university are a pain in the ****ing ***.† UPS intercepted the package in Louisville, applied the new address label at 11:47pm the same day, and then... *crickets*.

After eight straight days with no tracking scans, I finally went out hunting for it today. Visited the UPS Store, they don't have it, but gave me the address of the local hub, which turns out to be the one I pass every time I go to swim lessons.

Drove straight out there and immediately wished I had eaten lunch first because I arrived at 12:15 and the customer center is only open 1pm-6pm. (What?) I stood/sat outside in the sun for 45 minutes until they opened up and then talked to someone inside who looked up the tracking and some additional stuff on their computers, and said that as far as he could see the package was still sitting in Louisville. He advised me to call Amazon.

So after stopping for lunch, I went home and did so. After 25 minutes on the phone with Amazon customer service (about 10 of which was spent on hold while the agent was on the phone with UPS), I was informed that UPS had declared the package lost, meaning it would never be delivered. The customer service agent cleared out the order on my account without charges so that I could place a new order, which I just did.

So hopefully this package gets delivered correctly and I can get some new pants that fit me and my quarantine belly out of it.

†Package office is only open from 9am to 5pm Monday-Friday, which means no weekend deliveries or pickups ever, and if something is delivered at 4:58pm Friday, I have to wait until Monday morning to pick it up. But the worst part is that the delivery companies (UPS, FedEx, and Amazon) read the address as a residential address (which is technically correct) which means their automated scheduling and routing system assumes that they can deliver as late in the evening as they want, so when they inevitably show up at 7:30pm, the door is locked and it goes down as a delivery exception, forcing you to wait longer for your package. In an extreme case, I had Amazon attempt a delivery of a single package three times on three consecutive days after the office closed each day, resulting in the package being returned and refunded as "undeliverable". Since that incident, I actively attempt to divert all incoming packages to alternative pickup points. UPS packages go to a local UPS Store, FedEx packages to the FedEx Office store across the street, and Amazon packages are shipped a nearby Amazon Locker or the Amazon Counter service at a nearby furniture store whenever possible, or if that isn't possible, to my mother's house in the next town over.

 

I'm so sorry to hear. And I know it's not much consolation, but as mav said, hospice will do everything possible to support your dad and you and your family. Again, I'm so sorry.

Thank you, everyone, for the support and suggestions about my situation. I made an appointment with my bank to get some actual hard numbers, and once I've got those, I'm going to have a serious discussion with mom and brother and then proceed from there. Even taking that step is kind of scary, but I know I've got to start somewhere.

Glad things are looking up for you @Briannakin! Hopefully the credit card gets sorted out soon too!

And yikes, that all sounds so frustrating @jcgoble3. Hope your new order gets there quickly and properly. Yay for the water warning being lifted and your application to graduate, though! Almost there, you can do it!

 

You can do it! I believe in you

 

I hope it goes well and that your mom and brother are receptive to the idea. It's scary BUT I know you won't regret it.


Credit card still isnt here and also dealing with another shipping issue... though now that I read JC's, I guess mine isn't that bad! I ordered some emergency insulin pump supplies (with my sister's card), were supposed to come yesterday but they got delayed until today, and I was at the office today. Normally no big deal - they USUALLY leave the package in the lobby... but we all know Murphy's law rules my life. Came home to the dreaded door tag. And this is the shipping company that I HATE driving to their pick up location. All the other ones aren't a big deal but this one I have to drive across town, cross 4 lanes of traffic on the highway and driving in this city is a nightmare in the summer due to all the tourists... but Friday afternoons are particularly bad (and I hate changing lanes, let alone 4).

I pretty much HAVE to pick this up tomorrow. I've kinda plotted out a back-way route to get there (either from my place or the office) - will take longer but I avoid the highway. Package wont be there until noon. I'm needed in the office from 10-4. There's no flipping way I am doing this during rush hour. So I either take off for an hour during work (and I could do it right around noon - I said I'd be around all day for summer staff but no one will mind if I sneak off for my lunch break). OOOORRRR I go after dinner right before they close and hope to GOD they don't close the pick up point early. Question is, is Friday noon traffic or 7pm traffic better or worse?

Sorry. I'm just thinking in text form at this point! Feel free to ignore.

 

We ordered groceries the other day and one of the boxes that came wasn't ours. We called and they just refunded us what we didn't get and told us to keep what we ended up with. But we had ordered a half dozen eggs and half a gallon of milk, which came to us. The other people had ordered 2 dozen eggs and a gallon of milk. We usually only order a quart of milk because we rarely use it, but went with half gallon because it was weirdly cheaper and I want to bake this weekend. So now we're like okay, we're going to be eating a lot of eggs and cereal for the next few weeks!

Yay for the new wheelchair, Bri!! It looks so nice!

This is what I do. I have my main card I use for everything. It has great rewards so that I end up making money from spending money and I pay it off every month. I have a second card as back up that I have one of my cheap reoccurring bills (like Netflix) go to it so it won't go dormant. It also has some rewards and over the years even that small transaction has added up and I've got quite a decent haul. I think I've used it for more than that reoccurring like twice, but both times was when something happened to my main card. I do have a debt card too, but I only use it to get money out of the ATM because it doesn't make me any money.

 

Ha! Make a french-toast bake and freeze it?? That takes up a ton of eggs and milk!

Something similar also happened to me during my last grocery order too. Random case of root beer. I did not order it and it did not show up on my receipt. Figured it wasnt worth it to them or to me trying to take it back. However, I cant drink it, so I bought some vanilla ice cream on my way to work and told the summer staff to make root beer floats as they wish (I think I'm a pretty great boss)!

Speaking of work. My co-worker/manager and I had a much needed conversation (she's going on vacation tomorrow so her filling me in on stuff kinda lead into big picture stuff... and a lot of squealing because she got engaged over the weekend). We both agreed that this summer has been a shavit-show for lack of better words - summer was always going to be hectic but between our other co-worker's injuries and then quitting, COVID, 20th anniversary BS, and the normal summer busyness, we are both struggling. So we are going to try to survive till September (easier for her, she has a week off) and then completely shut down and re-evaluate everything. We are hopefully hiring 2 new permanent people and a lot of stuff that I somehow got stuck with (social media and other admin stuff) will be shifted over to those roles. She knows I'm not happy and they aren't using me - and my qualifications - like they should be.

I also contacted FedEx and got them to attempt another delivery. I'm really hoping it comes tonight because this could all backfire on me (it's going to backfire on me, isnt it? )! If they try to deliver it tomorrow while I'm not home and refuse to leave it, it wont arrive at the pick-up point until Monday. THANKFULLY my sister is home tonight so worst comes to worst, I can borrow some of hers (we dont use the exact same supplies but they are compatible).

 

I just got an automated email from Amazon telling me that my try-on period for the Prime Wardrobe order I was hunting for today has been automatically started and I have seven days to purchase or return everything. Except I can't return anything because UPS lost the package. So it looks like the agent I talked to this afternoon didn't properly cancel the order, so now I have to call Amazon again and get the order fully canceled. I'm not dealing with this until tomorrow because I'm tired.

 

Oh no! That's annoying. You think they would start it when they got confirmation of delivery... which of course they never got. Maybe it was an automated email (obviously) that they forgot to cancel along with the order.

I dont trust those "try on and return what you dont want to buy" boxes. Maybe because I'm lazy and dont like to return stuff so I like to be fairly certain what I am buying will fit (if its clothing) and will work on my body. Thankfully my sewing knowledge means I know how to take my measurements and can judge size charts fairly well.

My package didnt end up coming so I'm resorting to leaving notes by the buzzers in the morning (maybe I'll luck out and it will be delivered in the morning before I have to leave... but I'm not that lucky... clearly!).

 

Normally they do start it upon confirmation of delivery. However, there's apparently code in the system to automatically start the try-on period a certain amount of time after shipping if there is no delivery scan on the tracking. This does make sense, as I have received several packages over the years that didn't get scanned as delivered. Sometimes the driver quickly hands off the package and forgets to scan it (e.g. if it's raining), or sometimes if a package is held at a facility for pickup the final scan might say "picked up" instead of "delivered". You can't complete the purchase until the try-on period is started, so it has to be started eventually. But it's a pain when the package is never going to be delivered.

I've had plenty of good luck with Amazon Prime Wardrobe. My current sandals, water shoes, shorts, swim trunks, and a dress shirt all came through Prime Wardrobe. I usually place an order with two or three different colors, with each color in two sizes, so I can find the right size and compare the colors.

F

 

Okay, I'm asking my mum to collectively un-eye the thread, because everyone here seems to have the evil eye. (Btw @Briannakin she says you have a particularly nasty case of the evil eye and she's going to have to repeat the procedure.) So to everyone and extra to @Mistress_Renata and @amidalachick because you need it even more. We're thinking of you and positive-vibing all the way across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic so intensely that we might cause a tsunami.

Also @mavjade since you have all those eggs and milk I recommend that you try this lemon-blueberry pavlova to use up the eggs and the muhallebi recipe I posted in the foodies' thread for the milk (and if you don't have rose water and mastic, just sub a tsp of finely grated lemon zest). Trust me, you won't regret either; both are a one-way ticket to heaven.

In my little corner of the world, northern Athens is burning along with a considerable chunk of the rest of the country On a completely personal and selfish level it means that we probably won't be able to leave on vacation tomorrow because the main highway to the north is closed and the secondary roads have to remain free of traffic for the people who are evacuating. In the grand scheme of things my vacation plans obviously don't matter, but I don't know how I'm going to survive psychologically if I don't get a proper holiday break after the past two years.

 

These are excellent ideas!!! Thank you!

Ugh, that's so annoying! But Amazon's customer service tends to be pretty good so hopefully if you call back they'll be good about it.

I've used Prime Wardrobe a few times as well and it's great! I never can tell what's actually going to fit me and what's not and I hate clothes shopping in stores. I always end up insanely frustrated (and to be honest, really down on myself) so that system works out well for me. I also do Stitch Fix on occasion and I love it. It's a bit more expensive, but they do a great job picking things out that I probably wouldn't have picked for myself but I end up loving.

 

Ugh. So, even though FedEx said they would make a second delivery attempt… my insulin pump supplies still got sent to the pick up point. I got the phone call around 10:30 and I was like, you know what, screw it, summer staff are fine for 45 mins if I leave and get it. So I did. I have them so it’s one less thing on my mind.

In 2019 I discovered an ethical/environmentally friendly Canadian clothing company (Encircled) so i buy most of my clothes from them…. and Roots (I love my sweat pants). I think I just know what I love and what I can get on my body (living that limited mobility life - dressing myself can be hard). So I know what sizes I am from the few places I buy from, because, yeah, clothes shopping in person is my personal hell.

Noooo! That's horrible on both levels. The guy we share the office with (we don't work together... but we work in the same space) is Search and Rescue and had to run out of here to go do evacuations because a new fire started nearby. On a selfish level I kinda thought, there goes the air quality again.

I know I am in desperate need of a vacation too. That sucks

I’m basically done work I’m just here running out my hour while Summer staff destroy the office. We all work on folding tables (with the exception of me, I get the dining table) but we have an event on Monday so we need all the folding tables for that.

I’m left in charge for 1 day and we’ve already ransacked the office.


EDIT: AHHHHAHAHAHAHA. 5 minutes before I left the office I got a call from one of the summer staff out collecting some equipment needed for this event on Monday... they cant find any of it. We have $28,000 worth of adaptive equipment missing. I'm told them "here are all the storage locations they could be..." - had they checked them all and nope. Then I gave them our CEO and President's numbers, I'm like "These people will know if they got put someplace weird and no one told me and they are in a better position to deal with this if they are missing. This is above my pay-grade; I'm out." And I left.

This was me:


AND MY CREDIT CARD STILL ISNT HERE. If it's not here Monday I'll call. Not much they can do over the weekend anyways.

 

Evia is the second-largest Greek island, the size of Long Island NY. The fire that started on the north-western shore four days ago has now reached the north-eastern shore. The mountains in-between – one of the greenest, most pristine areas of the country – have been reduced to ashes. Northern Athens is still burning, as well as areas of the Peloponnese, Epirus, etc, etc.

There are approx. 150 fires going on and not a single one has been put under control. Not a single government official has apologised. As a matter of fact, the only person who apologised for anything is the captain of the national water polo team, who apologised on TV for not hiding his joy when they got qualified for the final in Tokyo while Greece is burning.

I thought I was too exhausted this year to be angry, but it seems I was mistaken.

At dawn today Mr Chyn dug up his old volunteer fireman fatigues from the back of the closet (they miraculously still fit him) and left to northern Athens.

I'm loading the second car with bottled water and snacks and going to figure out where they transferred the prisoners from the two refugee detention centres they finally decided to evacuate after leaving them for days under a smog of toxic smoke.

Holidays? Never mind, we'll go next year.

 

Sad to hear

 

So the only person who apologized didn't need to apologize. How typical.

Hope Mr. Chyn stays safe and that you can find some peace in all of this. Having never dealt with a wildfire of any kind, I can't imagine the stress.

 

Mr Chyn stay safe fighting those fires. Wildland fires can be worse than house- and factory-fires and I have seen a lot of them

 

First the west coast and now Greece and Turkey. And it was Australia in 2020.

 

Well, Dad passed yesterday. He was in so much pain at the end, it was a release. Now the focus is on making sure Mom's okay. (My brother is doing most of the legal type stuff, I am looking after Mom). My office is still working from home, so I'm going to stay down here with her a while to help her out while she tries to come to terms and figure out what to do with herself now.

The air here on the East coast is very hazy & we're told that it's from all the fires in the west & in Canada... terrible to read the stories. People fleeing their homes, animals displaced, and the poor firefighters risking their lives trying to bring it under control. Prayers for all of them.

@Chyntuck, your poor mother will need a vacation; taking the Evil Eye off everyone will wear her out! Breathe, every one, just breathe... we will all get through this.

 

Wildfires and forest fires happened since well there were trees, but they have almost certainly gotten worse due to climate change, plus poor tree management. Some trees catching on fire is actually a good thing.

that’s why some places do controlled fires now. The problem is human stupidity is causing more than nature can handle.

 

That sucks on all levels. I hope he, the rest of the family, and you all stay safe

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hopy your family and you are OK.

And it's only going to get worst.


Today, I am just taking the day off - mentally, physically, emotionally. I am doing nothing - not even laundry or tidying up. I made a nice breakfast, had a nice bath and a nap, kinda pampered myself, and I just ordered a really early dinner. It's been a bit cooler and overcast today - It's been trying to rain and hopefully it does - just no thunder or lightning!

 

I also declared today a rest day. I went out for lunch with my Mom but otherwise have sat or laid in bed in my apartment doing not much of anything. I just ordered and consumed a Chipotle burrito bowl from GrubHub, which is highly unusual for me (the last time I ordered anything for delivery was April 2020, when you-know-what was shutting everything down).

The only really productive thing I did was renew the domain name for my portfolio website and also register a second domain name that I should have grabbed when I initially set the site up last fall (one character shorter and less confusing), and configure the DNS records for the new domain (all of which combined took about five minutes). There's still a bit of extra work to do next week to make the site work with the new domain (because my security certificate isn't labeled for use with the new domain), but that can be taken care of later.

I'm watching the Olympic men's marathon right now. They've completed 21 miles already with about 5 miles to go.

 

Oh that's so sad.
I hope Mr. Chuntuck stays safe and that things get under control soon! I'm also sorry about your vacation. It's okay to be sad and upset you don't get it, especially after the last year and a half.

I'm so sorry. Make sure to take care of yourself while you are taking care of your mom. Sending you all the love I can.

 

I'm so sorry @Mistress_Renata Take good care of your mother but also of yourself. I'm thinking of you and sending lots of love and hugs and cuddles and sympathy.

I found my refugees yesterday. They piled up most of them in a dungeon here in Athens and moved the rest to another camp.

Meanwhile Mr Chyn found his way to northern Evia where thousands upon thousands of people have been evacuated and are now essentially trapped between the fire and the sea. They're building a firebreaker zone. So I guess I won't be seeing him for a couple of days. (And yes, before anyone asks, I yelled at him when he told me he went there. It's the first time in 35 years that I actually yell at him.)

Spoiler: Evia as seen from Skiathos last night

I realise that this is a "small" fire compared to what is happening in north America, but Greece is a small country, Evia is an island and people are running out of places to go.

Remember the pandemic? Yeah, me neither.