Store credit only.

I was cleaning the house the other day when the phone rang. It was Doug. “Did you know Burlington Coat Factory does not give refunds?” he asked. “Uh… no, I didn’t know that,” I replied. “Well, they don’t,” he said, “They give store credit, that’s all.” Uh, oh, I recognized that tone of voice. It was the “I’m-just-faking-calm” voice and it sounded like it was just about to stop faking.

See, last week he and I went to Burlington to buy him a jacket for work; one he could wear on the flight line when it was raining. So he found this red and black jacket that he liked and I thought was ok. In the store, it made him look like a football coach. But, funny thing about trying on things in stores, half the time you get those things home and they look totally different. And so it was with this jacket. When he tried it on here, the football coach disappeared and big, white rapper guy showed up. Needless to say, we agreed, he should take that back. And now we're back to the phone call.

“Well, that’s ok,” I said about the store credit, “you can use that.” Wrong! Calm voice gone. “I don’t want store credit! I want my money back!” Now, all I was thinking was “Poor, Sarah. She’s standing there with maniac man while he tries to force the manager to change the store policy.” Well, it didn’t work, at least not yet. (Sarah told me later that she thought it was funny....she agreed it was a stupid policy) In the meantime, I did e-mail Burlington to ask why they offer a full cash refund in their online store but not their “real” stores. They sent me a nice form letter that said, “We do not offer cash refunds or credit charges to credit cards. We do however offer a store credit.” So I sent the e-mail back and said, “That was not my question. My question was……..” They never e-mailed me back. Doug is still going to call their corporate office. He insists that he’ll get his money back. But don’t be too surprised if you see a crazy guy in front of Burlington with a boycott sign.

I never get sick....

at least that's what I always say. And it's been true, up until now. I used to never get to call-in to work because well, I was never sick. The last time I had a cold was at least two years ago if not more. I mean it's been so long...I can't even remember. The girls and Doug are always "fighting off something". Me....never "fighting off" anything. But at this point I really do need the tissue attached to my head. And I'm going to blame my friend Debi. I know it's impossible to catch a cold over the phone but that's what I'm claiming. You see, Thursday morning my friend Debi called saying she didn't feel like doing anything because she had a cold. And I was like, "Wow, you keep getting all these colds. Don't you think it's because you work in a medical office." Not this time she says....she caught it from her daughter. And that was that. Well, by that evening my throat was feeling a little scratchy but I was blaming it on yelling at Billy when he chased a cat outside. The scratchiness, though, never got better. And by Friday evening I was full blown sick. What's up with that? So, I've spent two days all holed up on the couch with cough drops, tissues, my water bottle, and the remote control. I don't like being sick but..... I have to say, I do like everyone saying "Can I get you anything?" and "Is there anything you need?" and "No, it's ok, you can watch whatever you want to." Heh, heh, heh....yep...I could get used to that.

Billy's little sweater.....

was originally to keep him from messing with his stitches. It served a dual purpose though; it also made him easier to look at. Now that his stitches are all out, his sweater is serving to keep his little furless body warm. (and it makes him handsome, don't you think!)

AAAHHH!

Please know this….I love my psychology professor, Dr. B (I’ll call her that for privacy)….she is an incredibly unique and interesting woman. She has sat under some of the most renowned psychology professors in the world. She has wisdom and experience that I can not even fathom. But…….. She. Drives. Me. Crazy.!

Like today, we watched a movie in class. And that’s all we got to do, was watch. We would have liked to have listened, too....BUT...for some reason, Dr. B felt she must narrate this film…. play by play. She would say….this is the part where she’s thinking of her past….this is the part where she is younger….this is the part where she meets her friends….and in between these announcements she would give a brief discourse on why that scene was important. She did all of this WHILE the movie was still going. Then she would stop and give us just enough time to get re-interested in the movie and she would start narrating again.

The whole time I heard the constant drone of blah, blah, blah, from Dr. B in one ear and blah, blah, blah, from the actors in the other. This was the MOST frustrating experience I’ve had in a while. I would've just blocked everything out except we were told we would have to write a reaction paper at the end of the film. It turned out that Dr. B changed her mind about the paper (she does that often) and I was REALLY glad because all mine would have said was ……..AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!(I just had to get that off my chest)