Happiness is a Cool Front

Update on the Lowes Situation: I called their consumer support number and had a very nice conversation with a operator who felt my pain. I told her everything, from the discovering the delivery fee to my epiphany about my price point to my declaration of love to my front loader to the two stooges who delivered the machine, to the manager who came to fix it and didn’t, to my dissatisfaction with the outcomes of my phone calls back to the mother ship and the machines ultimate sinking at sea .

She told me that it sounds like I got a raw deal and that she was going to send on the (lengthy) transcript of our conversation to the stores “senior management” and that within the next 24 hours the stores senior manager or someone who works withe the senior management will be getting with me . My lemon might get turned into lemon aid.

I’ll let you know what happens.

Shockingly, there are other things going on in my life. For instance, we had an unscheduled fire drill the other day, and while we were standing around, one by one, we noticed we were cold. Yesterday? I wore pants to work! I’ve worn skirts every day since last May as way to counter act the heat, and it worked, I was comfortable nearly all the time. The thing with pants though also raises the dreaded specter of hard shoes and stockings. I miss going barefoot all ready. But it is getting cooler, I went out Yesterday morning with the dog and it was nippy.

Daisy, for her part welcomes our new cooler weather overlords. Another sign it’s getting cooler, the parking lot at the park is full at 5pm and the place is full of dogs. I’ve seen people over the last few days that I haven’t seen since last spring. Everyone is emerging from their summer hibernation and getting back to their real lives.

For months at 5pm the lot would be all but empty and all three dogs would be panting under the picnic table or face down in a water jug. Two cooler days in a row and all of a sudden they are remembering that tennis balls have uses in addition to being gnawed on. The dogs seem really surprised to find themselves running and playing - after months of just panting .They were just, so, so pathetic. The other night they staged a little homecoming parade that snaked all the way around the park and culminated with a crowning of a King, a yellow lab named Clifford and a Queen, a young bulldog mix named Emma - followed by a catered dinner and dancing.

It hasn’t gotten cool enough for The Kitty to remember that I have uses other than as a kibble provider. In a month or so he’s going to break up with the futon and be my very best friend ever. It is a double edged sword though, I’m pretty sure I started watching CSI Miami because he was sleeping on the remote and I didn’t want to disturb him. It also makes it hard to do stuff around the house, he jumps up and suddenly I just can’t get up and empty the dishwasher or fold that laundry like I was planning. It’s like “Yep, here I go to do some chores! Oh, damn the Kitty is asleep in my lap! Guess I’ll have to watch the last few minutes of Two and a Half Men instead! and I really wanted to vacuum the hallway too!”. But it’s okay, I’m willing to make the sacrifice for my pets.