Wednesday December 8

[Bethers]

Judy, I'm afraid to say it, but I've not gotten any bites for a few days. I feel so lucky that with all the ones I've gotten the past couple weeks, they are an inconvenience but nothing compared to what they do to you.

On another note, I was fine all day without my AC, but just turned it on because when the temp and humidity levels are the same in here at around 72, I'll never get to sleep. So I'm hoping having the AC on for a bit will bring both down. I must admit, my skin is liking the higher humidity, though. Ty sleeps no matter what but he isn't coming under the covers like normal.

[BarbaraRose]

Today was quiet and relaxing at work! Yay! They fired the crazy lady and a new guy yesterday. The crazy lady was caught stealing joints! The guy was just doing sloppy work. So things were calmer today and a lot got done and it got done right!

Stopped at Lowe's to get some ornament hooks. They were pretty much out of most Christmas stuff but had the few things left that I needed, including a timer for the lights. Turns out I didn't buy enough hooks since I ran out before I got the tree completely decorated. Will have to pick up more tomorrow.

I have a haircut to do tomorrow after work too. And two more on Sunday.

Supposed to be a little rain tomorrow but mostly windy. Will have to close the porch windows to keep the dust out before I leave for work.

Got my taxes (first half) paid tonight as well as my annual registration for my Jeep. The registration for the park model is due at the end of January so I have time to get that paid yet.

Have a good night!

[monik7]

I’ve had wonderful service at my home from USPS. The problem is FedEx SmartPost. I doubt I’ll use them again or any company that ships via FedEx SmartPost. Three times in a row from a company I’ve bought from in the past before they started using FedEx SmartPost, it’s taken 2+ weeks to ship from the Los Angeles area to the San Francisco Bay Area (311 miles if they go via direct route). Orders at first seem to take 8-10 days and first go to Sacramento (371 miles) which is crazy. Then it can take a week (or more) from Sacramento to the Bay Area (64 miles) and my home for a total of 435 miles (instead of 311). Not very “smart” in my opinion. Also, in the beginning they give a delivery date usually 7 days out. However, when that day comes and the delivery doesn’t arrive, it changes to “delivery pending” and stays that way until your delivery finally shows up usually at least 7 additional days. Maybe a horse and wagon could make it faster. I think they may be hoping their customers will instead choose express shipping at $11.99. No way!
Sandi

[IrishIroamed]

Just an FYI...In my IT job I had to wear many hats. One was supporting our shipping system which allowed our export department to choose a specific carrier based on destination, weight, package dimensions and "shopping" for the best rate, all within one shipping system. The carriers we used were USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL and TNT, and our destinations were world wide. We also had stand alone PCs for each carrier, if needed.

Both UPS and FedEx have options where packages are bulk shipped, routed and then delivery is actually handled by USPS, not the carrier itself. SmartPost is one of these bulk shipment options. It's not necessarily designed for speed of delivery, but for low shipping charges which are billed to the customer. The 'Smart" part is the rate, not the delivery time.

As they say on TV "the more you know".

[monik7]

Both UPS and FedEx have options where packages are bulk shipped, routed and then delivery is actually handled by USPS, not the carrier itself. SmartPost is one of these bulk shipment options. It's not necessarily designed for speed of delivery, but for low shipping charges which are billed to the customer. The 'Smart" part is the rate, not the delivery time.

Cheryl, in this case, the cheap, takes 2 weeks or more shipping time is the free shipping (worst) choice of the vendor. The only other choice for the consumer is the $11.99 I mentioned. The thing is, thankfully I’ve found several vendors of equal or better products in quality and cheaper price that still offer free shipping and deliver by USPS or a combination of DHL/USPS and one is located 250 miles farther away than the one in Los Angeles. It pays to shop around and find something better when companies get greedy. The other frustrating thing is when my delivery went over 2 weeks I called FedEx to find out what was going on. All they would say was to call the company I ordered from and would give me no other information. With this vendor you go into it blindly because FedEx tells you in the beginning delivery will be in 7 days but with my 3 orders, all have gone over 2 weeks. In addition, on that 7th day when the orders were supposed to be delivered, I always stayed home to be sure to pick it up off the porch so it wouldn’t be stolen. Three times I waited all day only to find out from FedEx around 6:00 pm that the delivery was now “pending.” They shouldn’t say 7 days if they have no intention of delivering in 7 days. Can you tell how much I dislike FedEx?
Sandi

[Bethers]

My problem with FedEx has been with packages they deliver. Not the service transferred to the post office. They give me a delivery date a week out, then I get a notice it's coming early. Then it doesn't arrive on the new date, and like Sandi it's pending somewhere ... Usually only a few hours away, where it sits for two or three days and doesn't even get here on it's originally scheduled date. When it finally leaves that location sometime during the night it appears the next day. Terrible service and they give no reasons, excuses. I've actually gotten money from two companies because of their bad service.