Reviewing my purchase for Macy's

Macy's sent me an e-mail asking if I wanted to review my recent on-line purchase.  Do I?  In the words of Sarah Palin, you betcha!  But before I could review  said recent purchase, I had to log in.  I have a passionate desire not to log in to anyone's site.  I don't want to remember 1,000 passwords, some of which contain letters as well as numbers, other of which are case-sensitive, and so on.  I don't want to marry Macy's, I don't even want a relationship other than this:  you sell me stuff, I pay for it.  Even that is too much.

So my dear readers are going to have to read my review of my recent purchase, because I am brimming with the desire to tell all. Here goes:

I should mention here that I am one of Macy's favorite customers.  They tell me so repeatedly. So special am I that they keep sending me special offers only for their  favorite customers.!!!

I bought three pieces of jewelry from aforementioned Macy's website.  They were tiny, but came in a huge padded envelope.  One was a gold necklace which had looked okay on the website, but resembled dental floss in person.  I decided to return it to my local Macy's store.  I took the necklace, with tag attached, and enclosed in a little tiny baggie, and put it in my purse.  The envelope wouldn't fit in my purse, so I left it home.

The clerk at the jewelry counter claimed to be unable to take the necklace because I didn't have the packaging.  Even though I had charged it to my Macy's card.  She claimed to be unable to look it up in my account.  I figured she really didn't want to go to the trouble, but I was too polite or stupid to say so.   So I tucked the little tiny thing back into my purse.  I knew in my heart that I would lose the thing before I could manage to return with the bulky envelope.  In the words of P G Wodehouse, it had the stark inevitability of a Greek tragedy.  And so it proved to be.

Went home.  Got envelope.  Returned to Macy's jewelry counter.  No little tiny baggie.

So now I'm mad as hell at Macy's, but even madder at myself for being so stupid and gormless.  It's a lose-lose proposition.

Tendentious

This article, linked by instapundit, is tendentious.    Definition of tendentious:

having or showing an intentional tendency or bias, esp a controversial one.

Is all of America turning into Detroit? Hell, no.  Not even close.  The author cites a number of distressing problems in an  attempt to prove that we are going down the tubes.  In his zeal to make his point, he is mixing apples and oranges and throwing in a grapefruit or two and maybe a papaya.

The second most dangerous city in the United States - Camden, N.J. - is about to lay off about half its police.

I hardly know where to start taking this one to pieces:  1)  Camden has been a hellhole for ages; 2)  Some of those policemen are unemployables who are assigned to sit around the courthouse all day and never have any effect on crime; 3)This is an old game--those in charge want to make the citizenry feel their pain so that someone, somewhere, will give them more money; 4) Police in New Jersey are overpaid and have benefits the average working stiff would die for.

I could go on, but I'll let someone else have a go.  Read the article.

Late-breaking:  Linked by instapundit! 

A day that will live in infamy

December 7, 1941.

Good jobs for writers

Another shameful story from higher education, the Potemkin Village du jour.

Ugliest gift of 2010--so far

For only $49.95 it can be yours. From Nordstrom.

Flower cloes-ups by genius grandson

Taken with an iPhone.

My grandson's airplanes

Sorting silver

I spent part of today sorting and putting away the silver we used Thanksgiving. We were expecting 11 people, so we had to use silver from several different sets. In the event, we only had 8, so I could have made do with my grandmother's beautiful Tuileries sterling. It's 106 years old, the pattern having been brought out in 1904.

Yesterday everyone went home, and I felt rather blah. Decided to eat a cup of tomato soup and the rest of the pumpkin pie for supper. I knew it wasn't a good idea, but there was no stopping me. The ensuing tummy trouble was my reward.

Today I put together some leftover mushrooms, parsley, chicken broth and heavy cream which made a nice soup for Mr Charm and me. Stomach still grumbling.

The oh so politically correct carrying on about McDonald's reminded me of the days before Mickey D existed. People still had to eat; they just never knew where to eat in strange towns without encountering appallingly bad food. When we went on trips, especially driving to Florida, we were taking a risk with our lives and those of our children; the food was that awful. Breakfasts were the worst. Eggs cooked in rancid bacon grease, sausages made of God knows what and dishwater coffee. We were glad when McDonald's came along and we could buy a breakfast sandwich and a decent cup of coffee and know we were not risking food poisoning.

Coffee was usually bad everywhere in the old days. People have gotten used to getting decent coffee almost everywhere and don't remember the overcooked or weak brew we encountered in almost every restaurant except the really posh ones.

Longwood Gardens Conservatory. Photos taken by my 9-year-old grandson with an iPhone.

Two of our Thanksgiving desserts

Thanksgiving message

Gratitude is good for you.

Green bottles

Roses in November

Global warming--what's not to like?

Osama bin Laden appoints new second in command

He appears to be a man of mystery:

.Little is known about the shadowy al-Adel, who is also known by the names Muhammad al-Makkawi and Ibrahim al-Madani. Born in Egypt, al-Adel is said to have served as a colonel in its Special Forces.

I don't suppose we will get any more information about him, unless one of the fatheads on Sixty Minutes scores an on-air interview with him.  I don't look forward to this event.  I can certainly picture Mike Wallace trying to explore his human side, asking him about his hobby--collecting  fountain pens, perhaps, or bowling--his preference in beverages (decaf mint tea?) and how he is so busy running JihadsRUs that he doesn't get to spend as much time as he would like with the wife and kids.

I'm thinking of retiring from blogging

See, I've just won a lot of money and won't need the Adsense income:

Coca-Cola Prom

230 Lyndhurst Road

Lyndhurst

Johannesburg

South Africa

2192

We wish to notify you that your email address was generated during the FIFA Soccer world cup finals in South Africa and has won you $1,220,000.00 USD (ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) to claim prize (Tel) 0027-71-578 -9360, email or sms your contact details to (SMS) 0027-78-774-8482 or Email:  shawnzulu@msn.com or gracejones@bol.com.br

Contact Person. Shawn Zulu (For your Payment Process)

Your Ref No: FIFA2010/00453EURO.

Kindly email us the below details.

Full Names:

Sex:

City:

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Age:

Email:

Ref No:

Note: if ever you are under 18, you will be automatically disqualified unless you provide us with the information of someone who is above 18 years of age.

We Congratulates you on behalf of FIFA and its Partner for making FIFA2010 successful.

This is brought to by the FIFA Partners below:

 

·       

And they didn't even ask for my bank account number--it must be authentic, right?

I especially like the name, Shawn Zulu.

I hope not...

but I fear this is true.

We have government without limits, unelected rulers, law enforcement without law, citizens without rights, courts without justice, and a vast pretense of "necessity" and "the consent of the governed" to cover all. Interest groups exist to promote each of these things, and in the usual case are opposed only by a vague and incoherent sense that "things have gotten out of hand." Every two years, we troop to the polls to elect new executives, legislators, and judges...yet no matter whom our ballots elevate, things remain "out of hand," if indeed they don't grow even more so. 

Celebrating Remembrance Day

British Muslims ruin sacred day.

Why don't they celebrate their rejection of British culture by returning their welfare checks?

Decorating from the Good Will

Thanks, Tony

Don't buy into the Muslim narrative.

Vase

This is a vase I got at Good Will. I think it is called "end of day." Does anyone know?