Perpetual Ruminations

A Rough Start.

I made it before midnight, again. Well my time, not WDC, but that's alright.

It was a pretty trying day, but it worked out good even if it started kind of rough. The girls were slow getting up and then ended up missing the bus because they had to get on their phones instead of getting ready. My wife works at the school and left just after the bus usually stops. She asked the girls if they wanted to ride in with her, but they opted to wait for the bus. Why? So they could spend more time on their phones before school. Of course, I didn't know this at the time.

I was just getting my day started when in comes the oldest and tells me that the bus didn't come. I looked at the clock and it was already ten minutes after the bus stop schedule. It kind of upset me how she so quickly decided that the bus didn't come, even though she knew she was running behind and had missed the bus. I started up the truck and started cleaning the snow off so I could take them to school. Imagine the surprise when we turned the corner by the school and seen all the buses leaving.

Next on the agenda was my computer. I had decided to take it in to Best Buy today, since it's under warranty. It's about seventy miles one way,  so I tried doing as much as I could online. Only, when I tried to set up an appointment, I couldn't get the site to comply, it wanted me to go into chat to set it up. I went into chat and after waiting for fifteen minutes and still not having anyone to chat with, I decided I'd just drive in and drop it off. I loaded it up, made sure I had the receipt and extended warranty,  a cup of coffee, and Hannah, our dog. By this time it was a little after ten.

The drive was slower than I would have liked, since it was sleeting a little, had snowed earlier, and was also very foggy. I got to Best Buy about eleven-thirty. I put on my mask and carried everything across the slippery parking lot and into the store. I was greeted right away by a young woman who was more than happy to help me. She took my name, asked about the problem I was having, and checked her schedule, I could bring the computer in at two-thirty.

Of course, I knew it was going to take a while to fix so my plan was simple, drop it off, then once they get it fixed next week, or thereabouts, I would return to pick it up. The young lady confirmed it would be a week or so, but I couldn't leave it without an appointment. This made no sense to me, so I inquired why I would have to make an appointment to drop off my computer to get fixed sometime in the future when they could get to it.

I was trying not to get agitated and she was nice about it. She explained that they were short on help in the repair section so it was taking longer than normal. She also stated that because of the pandemic, they were required to set up all repairs by appointment and could not just let people come in and drop off. I knew it wasn't her policy and that there wasn't anything she could do about it, so all I could do was book the two-thirty slot and thank her for her time. She smiled, apparently she was more use to customers venting their disgruntlement upon her instead of realizing she was doing the best she could. She leaned in closer so the other person at the front couldn't hear, and told me she could get me in at two.

I was back at two and had the computer hauled in. She smiled and verified my name and sent me back to repairs where they looked up my warranty and got some information, slapped a sticker on the computer and said they could look at it there if I wanted to pay for labor, or they could send it in were it should be fully covered under the warranty. Either way it would be about two weeks to get it back again. I picked the free option and was done in about five minutes.

As I was turning to leave, another employee asked if I had everything taken care of. I informed her I did, but wasn't the happiest about not being able to get in without a two hour wait after driving for almost as long to get there on crappy roads. I also informed her that I knew there wasn't anything that could be done about it, except maybe get their scheduling problem corrected online. She surprised me and asked if I could hang out for a few minutes while she checked the site.

After a couple minutes on her tablet, she apologized and said they would get someone working on the problem right away. She also said she could offer me a discount on anything in the store to help over come the long drive and wait. Since I was out my Windows computer and my wife has been using my netbook that is at least ten years old and slower than slow, I decided to look at some computers. I was interested in a laptop for my wife, since I have a nice desktop machine. Most were way more than I wanted to spend, but they had some deals that were withing my purchasing powers. I ended up looking at a Lenovo that went about $600.00 originally but was on sale for 450.00. I asked a few questions about it and it sounded like the computer my wife and I had looked at a couple of times, only a different company.

I was hard pressed to get it, knowing my wife needed one and I could use it until I got mine back, but I just wasn't sure I should spend that much right then. She said she would be right back and returned with a store manager, explaining my long drive, my wait, and how I was interested in this particular computer. She asked if there was any way I could get it for the Black Friday online price. The manager agreed and I ended up buying it for 299.00.

It's kind of funny how being nice and understanding can turn a bad day good.