Bring back my old Woolworth's - PLEASE!!

I'm quite bummed, today.
Yep, I went shopping again and I really miss my old stores. You know, those treasure troves like Woolworth's, Murphy's, Kresgee's, and especially a little local joint known as the "Dixie 5 and 10".

Oh, I realize things would be more like $10 and $20 these days but, maybe, just maybe, they'd actually have what I went for. Oh, and maybe the item would even be easy to find within the store and, if not, there'd be a smiling clerk who'd be glad to show you where to find it. Heck, I'd even settle for an old Ames or Murphy Mart, even with their slow check outs and grumpy help!

Once again, I was forced to visit Walmart in search of a few items that just aren't easy to get elsewhere. Surprise! Surprise! They didn't have three out of the five items! (Yes, I AM being sarcastic.) In their effort to be all things to all people, they have greatly cut back in a number of areas in order to expand in others. I know they were revamping their product line to accommodate those who had "stepped down" to the Walmart level due to the economy but some of those folks have either recovered and gone back to Macy's or simply accepted their current lot in life. They're learning to be satisfied with the same mediocrity that us regular Walmart shoppers are used to.

They no longer carry the individual dose packs of natural tears I used to buy. I liked their brand but they now only have the name brands. Those cost twice as much. I'll have to stop at CVS or Walgreen's for the store brands. They've cut their "new" craft department yet again so they also didn't have the ribbon I needed. (They had it last week.) Nor did they have the thread I needed. The clerk told me they are eliminating the fabric department completely within the next week or two and will then only carry 12 colors of sewing thread in the craft section. This is a Super Walmart. In the last year or so, they eliminated all the fabric departments in the regular Wlamarts here but had left them in the Supers. So much for that! On the up side, all of the notions they did have were 50% off today!

This has been one of those weeks. I went to my AC Moore on Tuesday as they were carrying Hanes onesies with the T-shirts for painting and other adornment. They've discontinued that practice. They've also stopped carrying the fabric paints I use. Another wasted trip! The Michaels around the corner only carries Gerbers and my customer had specifically requested I NOT use Gerbers! Okay, so I'd go to Target and pick up a Circo brand. No problem.

That Target recently remodeled to become a Target Greatland (these fall between regular Targets and Super Targets). It's the first time I've been in since the remodel was finished. I hate the new store!! They've tried to go more upscale and it just doesn't look like it works. They've squeezed way too much into way too little space. You can't pass another shopper in an aisle. What's worse is what they've done to the baby department! They've eliminated most of the Circo baby items and switched to, you guessed it, Gerbers! (I could get them at Walmart!) I was soooo depressed. I've always loved the unique designs and color combinations they offered in onesies, sleepers, gowns, etc. for babies. Again, on the upside - what Circo items they had left were greatly discounted and I bought a few things for an upcoming arrival in the family!

They've eliminated their old snack bar, too. Now there's a Pizza Hut Express and a Starbucks in its place. Guess I won't be grabbing lunch there anymore. (Walmart is down to just a Dunkin' Donuts!) I just can't believe, the neighborhood can support four Starbucks in two neighboring shopping centers!! Two of them are less than 500 yards apart!

We no longer have any K-marts in our area. Shopko doesn't exist East of the Mississippi and we've never had Hobby Lobbys in the Mid-Atlantic. I finally found the clothing I was looking for at Kohl's. It was on sale, so I got it for a Walmart type price.

I still miss my all-purpose dime-stores or discount markets. Dollar Tree just doesn't cut it!

Please, Mr. Merchant, stop making "improvements." I loved you just the way you were.

Note to Mr. Walton: Let's not even discuss what you've done to "remodel" the parking lots!! I know you figure if the store is a maze, folks'll buy more as they wander around looking for the check out. Personally, if the parking lot is a maze, I simply go out the first exit I come to and don't buy anything!

The Devil Made Me Do It !!!!

Okay, this one'll be a bit of a rant tonight. Not about the weather (It actually turned out sunny in spite of the "blizzard" forecasts), but about those nuts at the grocery store, again.

So, everybody was predicting heavy snow for this area again. For our immediate neighborhood, the forecasts ran from about 6" right up to 14". They always joke that Baltimoreans all seem to hoard bread, milk, eggs and toilet paper in a storm. I can understand the perishables and those are things we tend to go through quickly but I've never understood why most people don't seem to keep any spare T.P. on hand. I mean, do they calculate out exactly how much their family uses in a week and only buy that much every week? I mean, do they count out the sheets or what?

Now we didn't need any of that stuff, before a storm that may keep us in, we want things like chocolate, pretzels, ice cream and fruit. So, since we were out of bananas, I trekked off to the store. I knew the mad dash would be on, so I set out early.

My preferred grocery store is a stand alone (doesn't share a parking lot with other stores). The lot was about 3/4 full when I arrived. I won't ride around a lot looking for a close space but happened to score one only a few spaces down a prime aisle.

Going into the store, I noted a snazzy new-looking Cadillac parked at the curb in the fire lane. It was not only illegally parked, it completely blocked the cart ramp. That ramp also happens to be the handicapped access ramp that corresponds to the adjacent 12 handicapped spaces. When I came out, 15 minutes later, that Caddie was still blocking the ramp. My order was small so it wasn't a problem for me but there were at least three folks with absolutely full carts that needed to drag them down the entire length of the store ( a pretty great distance) to the ramp at the other entrance and then trek back up the parking lot to their cars. Two of those were elderly ladies parked in handicapped spaces. They should not have been so inconvenienced.

As I pulled out of my space, I saw a very nicely dressed businessman come out of the store and approach the Caddie. He had a small deli bag and a soda bottle in his hand .

So, here's where that devil showed up and gave me a shove. (I don't usually do such things.) I pulled along side the inconsiderate clod's car and called out, in one of my sweeter voices, "Excuse me, can I ask you a question?" He smiled and strolled over and said, "How can I help you?" (Bet he thought I needed directions!)

I know my voice changed when I said, "How come you think you have a right to park there and block the handicapped ramp? Do you know how far folks have to go to get to the other ramp because you're too lazy to actually park?" He looked a little stunned, and held up his lunch, saying, in a very defensive tone, "I was just running in for a few minutes to grab a sandwich."

I came back with, "Well, I just ran in for an entire grocery order. You were there when I went in and there when I came out. What'd you do get a 5-course meal?"

(Okay, maybe I did exaggerate about how big an order I bought.)

There was a little old man with a cane standing there watching this discussion. With that he applauded! This caused Mr. Fancy Driver to simply turn and retreat quickly into his car.

I did actually feel a little embarrassed about this confrontation but then, I was tucked safely inside my big vehicle so I felt a little powerful! Know what? It felt good!

I had reason to go to several other shopping centers that day (not for groceries, though) and, at each one, there were several cars parked at the curb when there were plenty of available spaces on the parking lot. A number of these had folks sitting in them waiting for their partners to finish their shopping and come out. That is just so inconsiderate of the other shoppers. It just causes so much congestion when they do that!

I can understand making things easier on on your companion. I often pull in and drop The Big Guy at the door to save him the walk, however, I then pull down onto the parking lot to park and wait. When I see him come out, I pull back up and pick him up. It's not a difficult concept!

What makes folk think they have a higher authority than everyone else?

Okay, got that off my mind. I feel better now.

Hope y'all have a good day and, please, be considerate of your fellow shoppers. They too have demands on their time and energy and most would rather be doing something else.

Another Rant .....

After many years working with personal injury litigation, I was convinced automated answering systems and voicemail were invented by and for the insurance industry. Now, I am convinced it was a joint effort. The insurance folks must have been joined by government bureaucrats to perfect the system. There have been a lot of hints to such a conspiracy for a while now but after my experiences this week, I am now positive the government was involved.

We have an EZ Pass. For those not located in the maze of toll highways that span the East Coast and the Upper Midwest, an EZ Pass works a lot like an automated debit card to pay tolls without needing to stop at every toll booth along the highway. (In the Illinois/Indiana area this system goes by I-Zoom.)

Basically, one establishes an EZ Pass account and receives a plastic electronic transponder that affixes to the inside of your windshield or dashboard. As you travel through a toll plaza an electronic reader receives a signal from the transponder (often at 60-70 mph) and deducts the amount of the toll from your account. When the account decreases to a certain point, it is automatically replenished by a charge to a registered credit card. The whole purpose of this system is to decrease congestion at toll booths and make such travel easier on the driver.

We’ve had no reason to ever try to contact the EZ Pass office in the four years we’ve had the transponder. That was until this week. Our credit card company had some sort of breach of data with their system and has issued new cards and account numbers. We received the new cards with the advice to change the account number with any automatic billing made to the cards. Seemed easy enough. All this could be done online. Well, that works, IF you can find your account number.


I finally decided to do business the old-fashioned way and called them on the phone. The website gives the phone number. Surprise, it is all automated. Once I managed to bypass the need for an account number, I rolled through numerous questions all answered by pressing “1” or “2”. There is no means to getting to a “live” person. I tried the obvious methods, like pushing “0” or simply not pushing anything. At some point when I made an “incorrect selection” or no selection at all, I would be disconnected. I finally attempted totally unrelated toll facility phone numbers. I reached two different live people who, after hearing what I was trying to do, connected me to the “appropriate” number. Yep, you guessed it. “Welcome to the automated EZ Pass line …” After two hours, I gave up in frustration.

Thursday morning, I set out with new resolve. I would drive to the nearest EZ Pass Service Center located across the nearest toll bridge to my home and take care of all this in person. Please note, that bridge is 19 miles away. (The good news is, we use a local decal-type pass for that bridge. The decal costs the price of one crossing and is good for unlimited crossings for an entire year. The EZ Pass would have cost the full price of a crossing with every use there.) I breezed across the bridge and zipped right into the Service Center. I told them my problem and they brought us right up on the computer. I had the transponder with me, the old credit card, the new credit card and my driver’s license for ID. Things looked promising.

Then, they realized the account is in my husband’s name. I could not make any changes. He had to do it. They could not give me the account number as my name was not on the account. I pointed out he cannot get there during their very limited M-F daytime hours. They said he should do it online. Once again, I explained he would if he had the account number. They suggested he write to the toll facility office to give them permission to deal with me on his behalf. (They do not have an email address for this purpose. One must use snail-mail.) I explained the credit card would change by Monday. They suggested he do it quickly. I was disgusted. I attempted to simply turn in the transponder. We would simply live without it. They can only accept it from him! I was a bit disturbed and left in disgust.


So, many lost hours later and a round trip of 38 miles, I still had not solved the problem. Back at home, I looked up another Service Center location that is actually closer to my husband’s office and stays open later in the evening. He would need to do this himself.That evening, I took another stab at getting to the account online. This time, I checked that we had forgotten the password and needed a new one. They advised one would be sent “shortly.” (“Shortly” is a relative term.) Our mail came very late that evening. What do you know? Our EZ Pass quarterly statement was in that mail! We now had our account number. There was also a notice that a monthly service fee of $1.50 will be charged beginning July 1st for the convenience of using the EZ Pass.

We do not use the Pass for daily commuting. Our use is occasional. There are no savings involved in using the Pass in our state although we do receive discounts on several Virginia and Delaware tolls when the Pass is used. I’m definitely questioning the convenience factor.

Tomorrow, we will be returning the EZ Pass. To be exact, The Big Guy, will be returning his EZ Pass.

Yeah, we’ll be back in that backed up traffic at most toll plazas again. Beep a “hello” should you see us there!