A friend called me last night to ensure
that I hadn't dropped off the face of the earth, as my emails were
bouncing back to her and I wasn't writing in my blog at all. So,
just to clarify, I still circle the sun along with everyone else but
have been very busy, and pretty lazy, therefore no blogging. (Also,
I have very little to say!). As for my emails...hope my spam is
bouncing back as well!!
As long as I am here I will share some
excitement I had on Sunday. A bear, a big brown bear, a big brown
man-eating bear ran through my back yard! It was just barreling
along, so something had spooked it, and fortunately it didn't stop
for a snack of hysterical woman and small child (Owen was with me).
It headed up into the coulee behind the neighbour's and I haven't
seen him since. When I called the now named Ministry of Environment
on Monday I was told that bear was also sighted at the Mackie Hill.
Later on, I heard that a bear was tracked from Katepwa to this area –
but still remains at large. I just hope if there are resident bears
they chase the cougars away and not the deer. My garden is coming up
so nicely and the dear deer do so enjoy that – I haven't had a
freshly picked home grown beet since 2007. Stupid *%*&^!! deer.
We had to order a part from the USA
last week and it is being shipped UPS. I hate UPS. First of all,
they conveniently give you a tracking number and a website to watch
your shipment make its circuitous way through several states, past
the Canadian border, into Winnipeg and then Regina where it promptly
disappears! There is, conveniently, a toll free number to call to
check on your package. Once dialed you get several options, none of
which say “to find your package once it gets to Regina press...”.
Anyway, knowing full well it will be futile, I press 0 to speak to an
agent. Who is located in the Asia Pacific call office.
He doesn't know Regina, much less Fort
Qu'Appelle, even less the RM of North Qu'Appelle. He tells me that
the package will be delivered between 10:00 – 2:00 to my home. I
tell him that UPS will not deliver to the RM. He asks what is an RM.
I give a brief educational summation of the various Geo-political
designations in the province of Saskatchewan. He asks where is
Saskatchewan. I say Canada. He says Canada like it was some kind of
multi syllable disease.
This is where the conversation goes
distinctly astray and I ask him a few questions like – how can you
be customer support if you don't even have any idea where I live, or
where my package will be delivered? He assures me that he has
resources to help him. I suggest he tap into those resources now.
He agrees.
Five minutes on hold and he comes back
on to say the drop off station is the Tempo gas station on Broadway
street. I tell him the Tempo gas station on Broadway Street has been
shut down for several years.
Hmmmm....then he will use his email
resources to contact UPS in Regina for the information needed. Could
I contact the UPS station in Regina myself?? (I know, dumb
question). Of course not. That would be entirely too convenient.
UPS prides itself on ALMOST being convenient not on actually BEING
convenient. I listen as his keyboard clicks away with his email. He
assures me someone will contact me with the information. I ask him
if it will be a real person who calls me. He assures me that it will
be a real person, who is aware of the urgency of the situation.
Knowing full well that this is a lie, I thank him and hang up.
Twenty minutes later my phone rings and
it is a recorded message saying that my package will be delivered
between 10:00 – 2:00 to my home address. The recorded message cuts
out once the useless information has been passed along and I hear
dial tone in my ear. I hate UPS.
/bye
