Thirteen on the Thirteenth

13 colorful donuts from AI

 

It’s so lovely when you find a Thursday 13 post full of happy thoughts and uplifting messages. This is not one of them.

1. Last Friday, FedEx said they attempted to deliver my box of cat food from Chewy, but they couldn’t get in. I had no record on my phone that they tried to contact me to buzz the gate open.

2. My friend Lisa came over on Saturday and tried to call me from the directory at the gate. I never received a notification on my phone. She texted instead, and I went downstairs to let her in. We tested the buzz, and my phone stayed silent.

3. On Sunday, I played around with the two apps that control the directory-to-phone system, and one of them wasn’t connecting to the internet. I had to delete and reinstall it. 

4. My daughter called, and my phone stayed silent. I only knew she had called when I received a missed call notification. I was so angry at my phone. No, I didn’t fling it at the wall and smash it to bits because I am mature now (but I thought about it).

5. I changed some settings, restarted my phone, and it seemed okay-ish. I called myself from the downstairs directory on Monday, and my phone rang like it should. My other daughter gave me a test call, and my phone rang like it should. I still don’t trust it though. 

6. In the meantime, FedEx left me a voicemail (I didn’t hear that call either, but my phone was in my purse in another room) and said they made a second attempt to deliver my Chewy box, but they still couldn’t get in. WTF? After three failed attempts, I have to go pick up the box myself in Anaheim. Ughhh!

7. Monday evening, I called the real person who left the FedEx voicemail, and he admitted that FedEx didn’t try to contact me when they showed up and saw the locked gate. (Forget the buzz, they obviously have my actual phone number.) Grrrr! So, the fact that my phone/ gate apps had been upfucked was irrelevant! He promised to send an alert to the area drivers that they had to call me when they returned on Tuesday. 

8. I was so annoyed that I contacted Chewy to complain about FedEx. They were sad and gave me a $25 credit, which is great, but it didn’t exactly solve the problem. I figure if enough people complain, Chewy might switch delivery companies or at least threaten to. Maybe they will. Pet food is Big Biz.

9. Instead of doing something productive like blogging, I looked up local pet places to see if I could just go buy Inky’s food myself and forget about Chewy and FedEx. Two nearby stores have Inky’s food, 12 cans per box just like I get through Chewy, but the catch is that if I don’t set up auto delivery (I wonder who the delivery company is, lol), the price will be higher. I decided that if I have to go pick up my Chewy box in Anaheim, I’ll pay more to buy locally next time and go to the damn store.

10. Don’t get excited, Big Biz haters. When I say local, I am talking about PetCo and PetSmart, not a mom and pop operation cooking up vats of kitty casserole in the kitchen. And I don’t want to hear about making pet food myself ~ even the vet said he doesn’t do it because it’s really complicated to get the exact perfect amino acid mix, and he doesn’t have time. Honestly, idk how cats ever survive in the wild; I guess little mousies have the perfect blend of amino acids for them. Nice of the mice to be such a convenient kitty food source.

11. On Tuesday, I planned to ask one of my coworkers to call my cell phone to see if it would ring when it’s an unknown number. (I unchecked the box that sends the unknowns to voicemail immediately, but I don’t trust it.) We were so busy at work though that I didn’t get the chance to bug someone. Naturally, at the peak of busy, my workstation stopped connecting to the main printer, so I had to restart everything. WHY DON’T THINGS WORK RIGHT?

12. Tuesday afternoon (cue the Moody Blues song) an alert from FedEx popped up on my phone. I instantly flew into a rage, but when I opened it, all it said was that they had delivered my Chewy box. There was a pic of it at my door. They had never buzzed or called! How did they magically get in on the third attempt? Welp, I suppose there are several possibilities, such as the door being opened by someone else. Whatever.

13. On a completely separate note (but not really), on Tuesday I contacted Spectrum to complain about their price increase, and they generously offered me a new and better internet plan for $15 less per month. (Yes, I managed to text with Spectrum while busy.) After I agreed, they said they were sending a new router and modem, and I had to return the old ones. Wednesday I received an alert that the Spectrum package is out for delivery. By fucking FedEx. Just kill me now.