iseecerulean

I didn't care for the ending, but it's visually fantastic, I like the imagery.

I just found the neatest half scale furniture kit shop...but I just wrote a big check for a new car, so can't spend money on furniture.

Bits & Kits

But that's probably a good thing, because I've already got more furniture than I need to fill the Fairfield...and my new car has seat warmers, so it was totally worth it.

I'm still working on Susan's surprise Halloween present.  I hope to get it finished this weekend, but since it always takes longer than I think it should, I probably won't.

SIgh...same thing I said last weekend but I lost my enthusiasm after my electrician and I worked out the lighting...what I wanted and thought I was going to get were different than what he thought I wanted and what I got.

It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a perfect spiderweb in my garden...

In early August I ordered a piece I need for Susan's surprise Halloween project from a craft store online...let's just call it a wooden elephant.  It wasn't a typical online store, it was a small mom & pop place for which I had to write down what I wanted on a form, then fax it to them.  After three weeks my elephant hadn't arrived, and since I hadn't written down the name of the store I couldn't remember where I had ordered it (no email confirmation on a faxed order)...but since my credit card hadn't been charged I wasn't too worried, just miffed about the lost time.

I placed another order with a different online store for the same elephant, a second, smaller, more expensive elephant, plus a couple of saw blades, some table legs and three pieces of wooden trim.  I placed the order on August 29th.  A couple of weeks later I was going to write them a note, because I hadn't received the elephants yet, but there was a shipping notification email from the USPS in my email..from the shipping department at my home address to my name at my home address...I assumed it was my order, even though I specified UPS shipping on my order form, so didn't email the store.

On Saturday (September 18th), my order arrived.

Every other time I've bought trim online it's arrived wrapped in bubble wrap.  This was loosely wrapped in a large piece of crumpled paper, I'm surprised the trim wasn't more damaged than just bent/snapped in half.  I only got two pieces of trim, the third was crossed off on my packing list and I wasn't charged, so I assume it was out of stock. 

I was charged a $5.00 fee because my credit card was declined...there is a note that I gave them an invalid CVN...I can't check because it's not on the copy of the order confirmation that I saved.  But..no call or email from them, when they had my contact information.  I checked their store policies this morning and the only fee I can find is a $30 fee for a credit card chargeback, no fee for a declined card.

I got the wrong sized saw blades, which isn't entirely their fault, it's partly mine, because I ordered by picture instead of by description, and they have the picture of the 1" deep blade for the 3/4" deep blade item...with the full description on the search page, not on the item page, so you can't tell when you add it to your cart.

The elephants and table legs are fine, though.

So...the broken trim is worth $3.29 and the credit card fee, which may or may not be my fault, is $5.00...and it's not worth the cost of return shipping to exchange the $7.00 in saw blades.  I'm trying to decide if it's worth the time and hassle to contact them.  Though they did charge me $9.00 for UPS shipping then sent it via USPS, which they charge $5.00 for, according to their shipping policies.

I followed a blog I read to another blog, then to here.  Cool.

Miniature World Heritage Buildings at Tobu World Square

...on this quilt.

(I didn't ask the owner of the picture for permission because Melinda would have kicked my butt for calling her this early in the morning...but I don't think she'll mind that I posted it.)

This has got to be the most boring blog ever lately.  Sorry.

I'm making great progress on Susan's Halloween present surprise, I should meet my end of the month deadline...and it's looking good, if I do say so myself.

I bought my new car today, a black 2006 Volvo S60.  I love it...especially the seat warmers and the moonroof.  It's pretty sexy.

I was going to have Matthew take a picture of me with new ride, but it's dreary, cold and rainy, so I stole a picture from google image search instead.  Updated with my own picture.

I've got nothing to report on my project... just wanted everyone to know not to worry. 

Our power is back on, which is good, because the temperature dropped down into the low 50s last night...I had Matthew turn the furnace on so I wouldn't freeze my toes off.

The damage to my car is not too bad, considering that a tree fell on it.  It looks like I'll have to have the hood and one front fender replaced, and some scratches buffed out in lots of other places.  The windshield is intact and the car is drivable....I'm waiting for an insurance adjuster to come take a look at it so that I can get it fixed.  It needs to be fixed soon, because the top of the fender is bent over the edge of the hood, so that the hood won't open.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the center of the hood, where the big scratches are, is indented quite a bit.  The scratches continue across the hood and the front bumper, around to the other fender and side mirror.

Kate was miffed...this car is going to be hers as soon as I decide what I'm going to buy for my new ride.  I was going to get a Mini Cooper, but the nearest dealer is a two and a half hour drive away, so any time the Mini would need any kind of warranty work I'd have to drive or haul it down there.  We're going to go this weekend to look for something new...would be good timing to have the new one to drive while this one is in the shop.

I'm posting before I leave work today because I'm not sure how many days it will be until I can post again.  We're having severe windstorms in Michigan, the power is out at my house, and there is no estimate as to when it will be repaired.  Plus, a tree fell on my car.