Jan 16 - unnecessary complications

What a mess up.  I'd prepared the labels for packages going to Jeffrey and Chase -- a few items left at the cottage and Christmas presents respectively -- and switched them.  Of course that meant that a) Jeffrey's package delivered to Chase's post office was short postage, because it was the heavier box.  It had not been delivered, indeed they'd not even received a slip indicating that there was a package.  Yesterday we were trying to get it re-routed to Reading but that proved to be impossible.  Chase's grandmother Susan could have gone to the post office and had it rerouted but we were trying to do this long distance.

So ... Sandy called the MD PO who said that it could be done online.  I went online and no, all you could do is print out a form.  I called the PO and he confirmed that it could only be done via form.  I printed off the form and Sandy went to the NSB PO.  They said no, it could only be rerouted back to sender and we had to call the MD PO to do that.  Sandy called them from the NSB parking lot and, quite huffy, the MD PO said that he'd already told us what we had to do and we had to do it through the NSB PO. Sandy went back inside and eventually they figured out how to do this.  Apparently the package is now on its way back to us.

So ... we paid to mail it.  We'll now pay for the additional postage.  We'll then pay for re-mailing.  Jeffrey will eventually get his shoes; Emma will get her clothes; Sara will get whatever else was in the package !

Then we took delivery of the chair that Sandy ordered, but there were two boxes sitting outside.  We assumed that the smaller box was the ottoman but no, it was an indoor/outdoor gel fireplace.  I'd never heard of such a thing. 

http://www.amazon.com/SEI-Portable-Indoor-Outdoor-Fireplace/dp/B002KQ5C46

I went to Amazon and noted the problem with the delivery.  I suppose that I could have simply listed the thing on Craigslist !  The seller got back to me after a while with the following:

Thank you so much for your email.  We've informed our vendor warehouse about the portable indoor/ outdoor fireplace you received, and will confirm whether the item will be picked-up for return.  Please allow 1 to 2 business days for an update concerning this matter.

Does this mean that they might decide to just leave it here ?  Duh. 

In the meantime I'd been going back and forth with Versacheck about their software.  I produce my own BofA U.S. checks because it's cheaper.  I have a huge box of check stock and crank out a bunch of blank checks whenever I'm running low.  I am running low on TD cheques (Canadian) right now and had gone to the TD site to order some but found that they wanted over $40 for 100 cheques.   So I emailed VC to find out what I needed to purchase from them to be able to do Canadian cheques.

The following is the exchange ... my questions are in bold.

-------------------------------

Hi -- I've had your product for some time producing personal checks for the US.  I also have a Canadian account but could not produce the same format as my TD cheques in Canada.  It's time to reorder cheques from my bank and I was wondering whether your product can produce Canadian cheques ?  If so, do I simply need a Canadian version of the program and use the same stock ?

I understand you would like to discuss your purchase prior to placing an order with Versa Check.  Please contact me to assist you further.  Please keep in mind, for your convenience, you have the option to either email or call me on all future orders.

I'm still waiting for an answer to the question -- what do I need to produce Canadian Cheques.  I already have what I need to produce U.S. checks.  What more do I need for Canada ?

If you have a canadian account then you need to product a canadian check

Sorry, you're still not answering my question.  Yes, I know that I need to produce a Canadian Cheque -- what do I need to purchase from Versa Check to do so ?

No, as long as you have a paper validation print code.

I'm sorry, I don't think that you're reading my questions. I have versacheck for the US and US print stock.  What do I need to purchase from you to produce Canadian Cheques ?

If you don't have canadian check stock, then you need to either purchase canadian check stock from us,  or if you have canadian check stock then only print codes.

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

At that point I gave up and called her.  It seemed like such a simple question.  She immediately asked me what version of the software I had and told me that I needed to buy the upgrade that covered both Canadian and U.S. checks/cheques.  I went online and ordered both the software and some additional stock.  

 

Life is certainly unnecessarily complicated at times !!

 

We had Scottish salmon for dinner.  You could tell by the heavy brogue.  Another day was done.

 

This morning it's cold.  The backyard thermometer read 31F a little while ago.  I know from experience that it reads a little low but regardless, it's cool.  

 

Yesterday I hung the new lamp over the kitchen table and pulled up the ground-level decking that I'll be replacing.  Today I will go to Home Depot and buy the new wood and a couple of bags of Sacrete to make footings rather than simply sticking in the sand like the current setup.   I'm not sure how far I'll get with that project but it's not a big one.

Tomorrow I have another 200k brevet, this one from Jupiter FL.  I've done that brevet before.  There are a huge number of people signed up, perhaps 75.  For me it will be a one-day event -- drive down, do ride, drive back.  It's about 2.5 hours away, just a little further than last week's.  It's not going to be quite as cool as today plus it's further south.

Onward !