I ordered 6 stackable wooden bins from Target on line and arranged to pick them up in the store. About two weeks later I got an email that said the order was “incomplete”. It didn’t say we have three bins and you can pick them up NOW. A few days went by while I waited for a follow-up. None came. I called the customer service no. and an automated voice gave me three options. I chose option 3 for “orders”. The voice said that was an invalid selection. Even though the other two options weren’t what I wanted, I chose them in turn and each time the voice said that was an invalid selection. I retried the no. yesterday, out of curiosity, and this non response was still going on. You can’t get there from here.

Then I got an e mail from Target to tell me it was a final notice that unless I picked up my order, the remaining bins would be returned to stock. Since I get about 150 e mails a day, I didn’t see this right away. I immediately ran to the store and was told that I was too late, the items had been sent back to stock. I reordered with the store clerk for delivery to my home, free. I hope this solves it as it eliminates the stupid element from their system. And I wrote them an irate letter with several pithy suggestions.

Ed and I will visit a friend from his Kenyon College days, a cardiologist, in North Carolina soon. We will have Dana, Ed’s cousin, house sit and look after the kitties, but I am worried because Ziggy won’t eat his morning food. He does, however, eat dry food later on. To get him to eat in the morning, I put some wet food on my fingers and smear his mouth. He licks it off and then starts eating. Can I get Dana to trick him like this? I don’t know.

Anyway, though the departure date is not imminent, I am packing now. Gone are the days when a lipstick and a comb would do it. I have a list a mile long. Why can’t you get mouth wash in travel size? Since we are driving, I guess it doesn’t matter. Air travel is a lot more complicated. I wonder if you still have to take your shoes off to go through the check point.

Meanwhile, the pool guy was here today, working with the pool door propped open. I have asked them not to do that because Max is a wanderer. He said he didn’t see the cat. I made him close the door. I checked and thought I saw Max lying next to the Turkish day bed, so I sealed off the pool cat door until the pool guy was gone. Later when I checked again, Max was gone. I hunted for him with no luck. I began to second guess myself … did I really see him next to the daybed, or did he get out? Max has a habit of chirping when I go near him, wherever he is. He’s saying, “here I am, pet me”. I looked everywhere, no chirps. I made myself sick with worry. Finally he showed up. Ed said I must have missed a spot. I need to put a device on him so I can I can beep his location.

A guy came by today to give us a quote for dealing with the lawn and the bushes. We already have a lawn company, but that’s all they do. We have lots of flowering bushes and they need trimming and we can’t do it. I know when I used to trim the bougainvillea, I’d have to rest the whole next day. And I needed a tall ladder for the top and, all by itself, lugging a large ladder is tiring. The guy quoted what Ed thought was a high price, but finally decided it wasn’t, so I will call him and tell him to start. We have more lawn and more bushes than most, so I never thought the price was high.

Meanwhile, every 10 minutes, I realize that it would be a good idea to add so–and-so to the contacts list on my iPhone, so I do it. I love that I can just tell Siri to call anyone. The phone is becoming the obbligato to my life. Who knew?

xx, Teal