Can You Hear Me Now?

I do have a happy picture, but first I need to get some complaining off my chest. I’ve had a bad few days with delivery services and I need to VENT.

For starters, my mat table/platform still isn’t here. It was supposed to be here last week. In fact, one of the customer service reps, when she called to confirm my order and freight costs, told me it would be here “next week”, which was the week before last. The website said 10 days shipping when I ordered, and two different customer service people I spoke to said the same thing. So where is it? I called them late last week to ask about it, and was told “oh, that item ships in FOUR to SIX WEEKS”. Excuse me??? She didn’t care that the website and two other people told me differently. I wrote a nasty email to them last week, and since they haven’t responded, I followed it up today. I’m pissed.

One of the reasons I’m pissed, is that I can’t use my Chi Machine without that platform. The Chi Machine that finally arrived yesterday, which would have been here last week, if my friggin’ apartment buzzer worked. It has been out of order for almost two weeks. The first time UPS attempted delivery of my Chi Machine, they assumed I wasn’t home, when I was. I saw the notice on my mailbox. So the next time they attempted delivery, I saw them drive up, and went right to my buzzer to unlock the door (that part works, I just can’t hear buzzes and talk). He did not realize I was unlocking the door for him, I guess, because he left. I went to my patio doors as fast as I could and yelled “HEY, UPS GUY!!” as loud as I could and waved at him getting into his truck, but nothing. If I could run, of course, I could have gotten his attention. So I was left with another notice and rather than have them attempt delivery again with the same results, I asked them to leave it for pick-up and my dad was able to get it for me yesterday.

Of course, I asked my office when, exactly, they planned to fix the buzzers, and their answer is, as always, a resounding “we’re on it”. Sure. They said the same thing about my leaky taps and it took 2 weeks and 3 phone calls (and a zillion litres of water wasted) to get that fixed. You know what my landlord said, when I expressed my concern about the amount of water being wasted (as it wasn’t just dripping, it was full-on RUNNING)? “Oh, no, it’s not wasting water. It’s good for the pipes, it cleans them out”. Hm.

Also, on Friday, my groceries never showed up. They “deliver until 10:00 pm” so I literally watched the window all day and night for them (and for UPS/Chi Machine… argh!) and nothing. It was a long weekend, so my phone call and email was not responded to until Tuesday, with an “according to our records, they were delivered at 4:00 pm.” Uh, NO. To this day she swears she doesn’t know what happened (please… as if the driver doesn’t know if my bin is still in his van, or where he delivered it instead of me? I get the same delivery guy every week!) At least they are giving me a credit (they charge your credit card automatically every week) but that still leaves me short a few food items I wanted and can’t get any other way.

Let’s see, what else can I bitch about… oh, at 4:00 am Tuesday morning I was startled awake by a loud banging on my bedroom window (which was open a tad) and a guy yelling at me. I was pretty much scared shitless, frozen… you know, when someone is at your window, and your bed is RIGHT THERE, it feels like they are standing right next to you with nothing in between. I could tell by his voice and the outline of his ball cap that it was one of the three Jamaican dudes that live in the complex and have caused many problems for my neighbour Richard (scared him into moving out, he is looking for a new place). I tried to yell “I’m calling 9-1-1!” but all that came out was a stifled attempt at that sentence as I picked up my phone and started dialing. He mocked me with a “oooooohhhh I’m calling 9-1-1!” and kept banging, until he could hear that I was actually on the phone with the police, describing him. Then he was gone, but the police said they’d send a car out anyway, in case he was wandering around looking for a place to break into.

I did not fall back asleep without the aid of a sleeping pill, I’m not ashamed to say.

I called the office today and told them what happened, so they are aware these guys are causing problems and scaring the shit out of people. They park their vehicle(s) in the stall beside mine, and I swear I have already seen 5 different vehicles parked there this week. They’ve scared Richard into looking for another place by throwing things at his patio doors, hanging out on his patio being jerks when he is right there in the living room, and taping dirty underwear to his door with a note that said “look out, whitey”. Classy. Richard also has MS and is in need of subsidized/accessible housing, so I’m not sure how soon he will be able to move. He is working with Calgary Housing to find something. I hope it doesn’t come to that with me, that this was a one-off incident, and those guys will move along and move out on their own like the drug dealers across the hall from me did awhile back.

Ahhh, life in ‘da Hood.

And on a happy note,

Super thin crust, pineapple, green peppers, diced tomatoes and “easy on the cheese”. My new fave, a step up from “Pepperoni Lover’s”.