Is it just me?

So it's been a while - and oooohhhhh, how I've missed my blog. After having a positively busy week (with the exception, of course, being the ever popular Valentine's Day on which I had no date), I have finally found time to blog again!

Sidenote - Valentine's Day was actually pretty good this year so I'm in no way, shape or form complaining about my lack of date. I started out the day with an interesting observation that Valentine's Day actually has the same initials as a sick STD, which was funny enough to send via text to everyone that I know, of course. . . or so I thought! Then I spent the night making waffles and having an intense run-in with a girl at an ice cream place (her name was Sarah and she was awful at her job, ranting and raving like she may die before the night was through) all while hanging out with my unbelievably rad friends. All I have to say is good times.
Back to the blog. . .

So I work in West Valley which is affectionately known as the arm pit of Salt Lake Valley because of it's often pungent aroma from the lake effect and/or the homeless people scattered throughout as well as it's high crime rate. There are more cheap cars with free-spinning wheels per capita in West Valley than anywhere in the US (OK, that's a made-up statistic but it's probably pretty close). Bottom line, it's kind of a trash hole.

Anyway, because I work in West Valley I often find myself needing to patron the business establishments in the city during my lunch hour. In addition to going on the ever-popular hunt for food, a girl has got to run errands occasionally. I try to use my lunch hour for the greater good and check-off some nagging items on my to-do list. You know, pick up film, fill up the gas tank, get a baby shower gift, etc.

Today was just one of those days where I had to set out to accomplish something on my lunch hour. The Mission: to get copies made. The Target: Staples. Estimated Completion Time: 25 minutes (and I really think that was generous?) Lesson Learned: I now know that I should have listened to Stephanie and gone to Kinkos. I was wrong. Synopsis: Did you know that copiers have a hard time with card stock? Well they do. At least this one. . . ok two. . . did. Why would they have problems at a place that offers you card stock to copy on? Because I'm me and they can't ever NOT have problems. My copies jammed the first machine and wouldn't work in the second machine so the copy girl (so she came to be known) went back to the first machine. Then, the battle became which side went which direction and face up or down in order to do two-sided copies. Do you think if you work at a copy place, you would generally pick up on something like that after a day or so? I would think so. . but then I don't make copies for a living. I quickly realized it was not the task itself that was difficult. It was the competent worker that made it so. Final Time for Completion: 1 hour. That's right, 1 hour and 20 copies later. . . I was on my way back to work having not accomplished the other lunchtime errands I had to get done.

So, this little escapade got me thinking about the last 6 months of errand running and the trouble that I've had getting things done. I stated wondering: Is it me? Am I an incompetent consumer? Do I not know how to shop correctly? Am I searching for the impossible when I shop? Then my senses kicked in. Pish, posh. I have a blackbelt in shopping and a second one in customer service. I can shop. I'm not looking for shoes at Staples. I'm looking for copies dang it! Not unreasonable. So maybe it's the high standards that I have set that make anything less than great an abysmal failure? Read on and you decide if my complaints are unwarranted. I've made a list of these fiascoes below:

Tried to get a new cell phone from Cingular only after they sent me a text with an offer for a free upgrade. The guy that worked there asked me 'what I wanted' when I walked in. . Bad start. Did they have the phone? Nope. Did the guy even know what I was talking about? Nope. Did he try to give me their regular free phones that they have in a crate in the box? Yes he did. Does that sound like an upgrade? I didn't think so either.

Went to Quiznos to get a delicious salad that is an important part of their menu. You know what they were out of? Lettuce. Salad minus lettuce equals disappointment.

Second trip to Quiznos a couple of months later, this time looking for a delicious toasted sub. That selling point IS Quiznos, is it not? Well, to my dismay, the oven was broken. No toasty for me or my com padres. Toasted is Quiznos, Quiznos is toasted. What the crap? Quiznos is to toasted like lettuce is to salad. . .

Meineke, oil change. Left my car at the Meineke in West Valley while we went to lunch down the street. I came back an hour later to pick up my car and here's the conversation that took place: Carlee: 'Is my car done?' Meineke Man: 'We're waiting on the oil.' Carlee: 'Huh?' Meineke Man: 'We are out of oil. We've got some being delivered.' How does a place like that run out of oil? They must have been expecting me. After waiting for another 15 minutes I finally asked 'Where is the oil being delivered from?' Meineke Man: 'Oh, right there from Pep Boys.' During this time, Meineke Man was point across the parking lot to their neighboring store Pep Boys. Did anyone walk over there an get the oil? Nope. They were content waiting for it to be delivered. . .and it was. 10 minutes later, we watched as the Pep Boys driver loaded the oil in the back of a truck and DROVE it across the parking lot. Yep. . . it was amazing.

Ok, so now the question. . .am I crazy in thinking that this is an odd chain of events? Does this stuff happen often? It seems like I am going all of the right places to accomplish the things I am trying to get done but nothing seems to be working. What can you do?