What can brown do for you?

Here's an update on the UPS fiasco. I call it a fiasco, but Dad would call it "character building"...I return home from errands at 2:15 on Friday so I can be present to sign for my package (I know... I was 15 minutes late). Lo and behold, the FINAL ATTEMPT notice is fluttering in the breeze on my front door. I am floored. So I look online at ups.com, type in my infonotice number and find that I can indeed pick up my package between Monday and Friday next week at the local UPS facility. I am curious where this facility is, so I map it on mapquest (51 minute drive-each way!). I call the 1-800 number to see what are my options, well, it turns out I have exactly 1 hr to reschedule one more redelivery. I explain my situation to the customer service rep about school and pickups, and it basically narrows down to this....the driver's schedule is fluctuating and if I am not here when he makes that final delivery, the package will be returned to GAP. Not willing to risk that, I just suck it up, and decide to drive the 51 minutes each way to pick up my own package, probably wasting 20 dollars of gas, at today's prices, to pick up my measly Gap package. Inside this package I know there are only 3 items of school clothes for my son. One pair of jeans and two something else's. We started school a month ago! I don't even remember what is in there! I am a little perturbed. I may have saved $20 off my $100, but the first delivery was screwed up, with only two of the items I ordered, six items somebody else ordered (from Old Navy), and two completely different person's invoices. (The box looked "re taped" when I received it). I already had to make a trip to the UPS store to return that someone else's stuff, one of original 6 items I ordered was now out of stock, and I had to pay shipping, for what? To sit around waiting for a UPS delivery, then spend $20 on gas and 2 hrs to pick up my "discounted" clothing? So I ask you, what exactly can brown do for you? And I guess everyone knows what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon.

N and E had back-to-back soccer games Saturday morning. They both lost. I guess that's a good thing. Last Saturday both their teams won. This way they both get to learn about sportsmanship and perseverance....at the same time.


Last evening we started Cub Scout popcorn sales. We showed up with our (still wet but) hand-painted posters. (It was a father-son project). Everybody present at the sale had red paint on them by the end of the evening . My apologies to our den. It's amazing how two hours standing out in front of a grocery store can be so much fun! My take on things: my son should probably not choose a career as salesman.
I know you're probably concerned. What about me? What about my popcorn? Well, never fear, for all our out-of-town friends and relatives, there is hope. No need for you to feel left out. If you're not a popcorn person, don't worry, there is chocolate involved in some of the options. If you have a boy scout in your immediate family, we'll call it even. If not, more to follow....