Read the Fine Print

I can be a rather impatient consumer.

If the teenager at the taco place doesn't acknowledge me within a few seconds, I have been known to leave the establishment and drive to another fast food place. Yeah, I know they don't learn anything about customer service from such behavior, but I do feel that stores where employees have been trained in the basics are more deserving of my business. It's the same reason I walked out of the UPS Store a block from my house to drive 5 miles to FedEx last month when I needed to ship a package to my son. It wasn't the wait time, or the long line that discouraged me -- it was the fact that the employee was busy doing some paperwork and didn't even look up to acknowledge any of the potential customers who were standing there with packages. It doesn't take much to make eye contact and say "I'll be with you in a minute."

Two different FedEx employees greeted me as soon as I walked in to their store. That's where I'll be mailing my packages from now on.

Generally, I do a fair amount of research when purchasing big-ticket items. For example, I spent several weeks reading online reviews and comparing specs when I was looking for a new car. I test drove different vehicles, wandered through parking lots looking at models and colors, and even did some life-cycle cost estimates on a spreadsheet. In the end, my ultimate decision was probably driven more by emotion than logic -- I just thought the Fit was totally cute -- but at least I had done some due diligence before making the commitment.

But for smaller investments, I tend to pull the trigger without the same thoroughness. This last weekend, for example, I wasn't able to find the headphones I use for video editing. I knew where they were before Tanner had helped me clean the apartment at Christmas...so I knew they had either been relocated, or he had borrowed them to use while he was staying with his mom. A quick search of my home turned up nothing, so when I was out later in the day and happened to pass by a Guitar Center, I just stopped in to see what it would cost me for a replacement. They had a moderate-quality AKG set on sale for a good price, so without even doing a test listen, I handed the dude my credit card.

Of course, as soon I got home and went to set up the mixer for recording narration, I found that the old 'phones were sitting right there in the bag with the mic cables. Oh well. The new ones are better anyway; maybe I'll use the old ones to listen to the TV while I ride the bike in the living room. With headphones I can crank up the volume without worrying about disturbing the neighbors.

Which reminds me -- it's a little off topic, but my upstairs neighbors have apparently moved out. I'm not sure when they vacated; normally there's an obvious U-Haul in the parking lot for most of a weekend when somebody's moving. I'm not sure how I feel about their departure. They're a nice young couple, and up until a few months ago, had been as quiet as you could expect anyone to be. But then for some inexplicable reason, they acquired two hyper-energetic yappy dogs who seem to hold some sort of racing competition late each evening. I don't hear the humans walking at all, but the somehow a couple of 5-pound dogs can do an uncanny impersonation of a passing freight train.

I suspect the reason they moved is that she is nearly 9 months pregnant. I had wondered how much noisier it would be with a baby added to the mix, but apparently, they concluded that the new family situation would work better in another location. I'm guessing that was best for all concerned.

But that all depends on who else moves in. Somebody was working in the place on Sunday, and he walked back and forth like a sumo wrestler entering the ring. I'm hoping he was just completing some tasks for the new owner, who will actually be a deaf-mute midget with no pets larger than a goldfish.

Anyway, the real point I'm trying to make is that my tendency toward small-item impulse shopping led to a purchasing error on Saturday afternoon. You see, I was finally feeling back to normal after being wiped out by my recent virus...so I went into a condo cleaning frenzy. I wiped down every surface with disinfectant, and cleaned all the mirrors. I washed every single piece of clothing, and all the towels, sheets, and bedspreads. In the process, I discovered that my mattress pad was beginning to show signs of wear.

Later in the day after visiting Guitar Center, I still had some time before my next appointment, so I also stopped by a convenient Target store to get my groceries. After I loaded my cart with the requisite prunes, marshmallows, and peach-mango salsa, I decided to see if they had any mattress pads on sale. They did -- so I threw one of those into the cart as well.

And therein lies today's lesson. Before buying, I did verify that the pad was the correct size...but I totally missed the marking that said it was "waterproof." I did not discover this mistake until I got home and pulled it out of the bag. It made crinkly snappy noises, which one would not expect from a mere hunk of fabric. The waterproof attribute is apparently provided by a sheet of plastic attached to the bottom of the pad. OK, whatever -- I put it on the bed and figured I'd give it a try.

Ooh. Not good. It's not comfortable; it makes the sheets slide around in a funny way, and it makes noise whenever I roll over. I should have read the package more carefully. Back to the store this weekend, I guess.

On the plus side, if crinkly bedding is my largest complaint in life right now, I'd have to say that things are going fairly well. If my new neighbor does actually turn out to be small, quiet, and petless, and if I can get back into my normal exercise routine, I'll be looking at the approach of Spring with great joy. I have sold my old car, and will be getting a tax refund soon. The swim team is doing great, and my job continues to be fun. My life is pretty darn good. I hope yours is as well. Have a great day!