Hallelujah!!!!

 

I've been talking about positivity in our lives and how important it is. And it is  --  we need that little glimmer of hope to get us through the bad days. 

Well, this UPS business has put my positivity to the test. BIG TIME. I don't how many people I've spoken to. I was switched from department to department. Case numbers were created and then never referred to. I tried to escalate the issue and failed. My calls were transferred, and phones rang and rang with no one to answer them. Some of the agents were downright rude; some of them tried to help but had no authority. 

At last, the stars aligned, and guess what??? 

I noticed that they did NOT send the package overnight. At this point, I don't care. I'm just relieved that it's on the way. And I'm sure the editor is, as well. I don't know if they can hold off their deadline. If not, the quilt will go into another issue. 

Never mind that it took me several days to realize there was a problem, then almost a week to figure out how to get the documents to the right department, and now they have had the requested information for close to a week. A total SNAFU, if I may say so. The package was picked up on September 3 -- it will take THREE WEEKS to arrive. Thanks, UPS. 

At this point, I seem to have that tracking number memorized! I wonder why? 

I tried to be positive, and if someone said, YES, this should be resolved and sent tomorrow, I believed them. Then I started to get suspicious and downright untrusting. However, the agent I spoke to yesterday appeared to actually care about my package. He put me on hold while attempting to transfer me to his supervisor, and he kept coming back to explain what was happening. Then he said that he would have the supervisor call me back. Well, you can imagine that I didn't believe him at all. Well, believe it or not, the supervisor did call me back. It took him about 20 minutes, not the 5 promised, but I can live with that. 

Then he promised to send me an e-mail with an update before his shift ended at 9 PM. I was losing faith as the hours ticked by, but at 8:30, he sent me a note and said he thought it should be OK, but no guarantee. Hey -- this is a shift supervisor in a call center (I think in Mexico), and the brokerage house is in Canada. But he followed up, which is more than I can say for anyone else at UPS. 

And at 11:00 PM, I received the notes you saw above. I'll be sending this supervisor a nice e-mail this morning. As for UPS itself? Well, they are going to get a piece of my mind. But here's the thing --- try to find an address of the company or find a place to log a complaint. Yep -- I looked yesterday and NOTHING. I can find a UPS store address, but that's not what I want. 

I was on the phone for at least three hours in total yesterday regarding this issue, and who knows how many hours before that! I'm sure that it will take a bit of research to get an address. But I'm asking (no DEMANDING) compensation for the amount of time I wasted on this issue. I don't want money - I want FREE shipping for ONE YEAR. I have no qualms to ask for that - let's see how they respond. 

Yep-- there will be more boxes going to the US. I'm working on getting fabric from a fabric company right now for the next quilt, which is due in November. Oh my -- a gorgeous collection, but that's all I can say!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this never happens again. The most frustrating part -- OK -- the ENTIRE episode has been downright frustrating, but I never received a response as to why it took so long to clear customs. 

Speaking of frustrating, I watched a news clip last night about the people who lived in Lytton, BC. The small town burned to the ground with barely any notice. Most residents have not been able to go back to look for anything in their properties. Now my delivery issue pales in comparison to that level of frustration. I'd be beyond hope at this point if I were one of the residents. I'm so sick of "officials" who have to ensure that everything is 100% safe. Good grief -- we are NOT children. 

And while I tried to maintain a positive outlook, I know that it weighed heavily on my mind, and I haven't been nearly as productive as I should have been. Now with a super busy week looming, I'm way behind. So it's going to be a challenge, but we will make it all happen. That's one thing where I do differ from a lot of people. If something happens, well, instead of saying, I can't do this because of that -- I just forge ahead, intending to get BOTH this AND that done. 

But I will say that even I am looking forward to a quiet moment, which won't happen for two weeks. That little oasis of calm on my calendar will keep me going for the next two weeks. Then I have two completely free weekends. 

Oh, that worked out, but my FitBit didn't update to the Virtual Challenges last night. Sigh.......

OK -- let's get some exciting pictures in here for your entertainment. 

We had our Tula Pink class last Friday. I assigned the second to last set of 10 blocks. Here are my blocks - I'm still working backward with some of the colors to make the Color Grid setting to my liking. 

My set of ten blocks for the Tula Pink sampler quilt

Here's what my quilt currently looks like. I have some of the black sashing sewn to the blocks. I think I might need one more green block in the fifth row from the bottom. There are TEN blocks left to sew, and then I can get this thing together. As much as this has been a cheery sight all year, I would really like the use of that design wall!

My Tula Pink City Sampler quilt

Let's have a look at what the class is doing.

Barb is also working on the Color Grid version of the quilt, and here are her blocks. It's looking awesome!!! 

Barb

Carol has the next set of 10 blocks done. She's sewing the sashing as she sews the blocks, which is a good thing. It will not be fun if you wait until the end. I love that middle block -- it reminds me of a funky piano keyboard. 

Carol

Here are two sets of blocks from Corrie. She's also doing the Color Grid setting. We haven't seen her blocks set out yet, but I love the nice saturated colors. 

Corrie

Corrie

And then comes the issue of what color of sashing to put between the blocks. Should she go with dark grey? 

Dark grey for sashing?

How about the white? 

White for sashing?

Or what about the medium grey?

Or medium grey?

We eliminated the medium grey, and it's a toss-up between the dark grey and the white. It's a big challenge since it will affect the final look of the quilt. We learned a LOT about that this past weekend with Boho Heart, Wanderers Wife, and Long Time Gone. 

Liz has another set of gorgeous blocks. I believe she also wants to make the Color Grid setting, so she will have to lay this out to see what colors she needs to make. 

Liz

Monica is making the Sliding Scale quilt, so she needed fewer than 100 blocks. She is using a pink solid for the sashing, and it's looking awesome. 

Monica

Monica

And some more of her blocks that are not sewn into rows yet. 

Monica

Sharon is working on the Sky Line version of the quilt and is madly sewing her blocks in columns, not rows. 

Sharon

We have many more people in the class, but some of them haven't sent in new pictures in a while. This is a super simple quilt (other than choosing colors for the blocks), so I hope that everyone will get up-to-date and we'll have a big show and tell in November when we hold our last class. 

Isn't that super exciting????  WAIT -- anything today is going to be exciting. Even sweeping the kitchen floor -- that's going to be exciting. It's raining outside -- I'm excited! It's amazing how getting this delivery issue off my head has changed my entire outlook on the day! No frustrating phone call. WOW!!!!

Oh, I do have to say that something good did happen during the day. I had to take my MIL to the hospital for a follow-up appointment. It was the second time in two weeks. I drop her off at the door and then park the car. Hmmm -- people must not like parking beside the posts because BOTH times, I snagged this parking spot. 

A nice little parking spot

See how much room there is for my little car. But look at this -- it was literally right in front of the exit and the pay station. Now, how cool was that? I could have parked further away to get more steps, but I didn't. I still walked close to 14 KM yesterday, so I didn't need extra steps!

Right in front of the pay station and the exit

Well, on that HAPPY note, it's time to get the day started. There are two small accessories for one of the sewing machines that I NEED today, but I can't find them. What the heck have I done with them? But you know what? I'm use something else -- I don't care! Today is a GLORIOUS day!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!