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10709. alistairConnor - 8/8/2004 11:22:09 PM I would have put it northeast, but what do I know. I've never been as far north as Manchester.
Which is about as far north as we'll get this time. Not actually to Manchester, but to the Welsh border. 10710. alistairConnor - 8/8/2004 11:23:38 PM There is another little Swede - a girl this time.
Lucky for the Scandos that they have enthusiastic immigrants to boost their birth rate for them.
Who's going to pay for your long, happy, expensive retirement Pelle? New Swedes. 10711. PelleNilsson - 8/8/2004 11:47:34 PM If Nottingham is north-east of Liverpool it is in Northern Ireland.
So what is your itinerary, alistair?. To Chester? Lovely city. 10712. alistairConnor - 8/9/2004 12:06:43 AM Unless it's moved recently, Northern Ireland is to the northwest of Liverpool.
No, actually, we're not going as far north as Chester, or Manchester. We'll be going to Oswestry, which is a bit west of Birmingham, we'll be staying with friends for a couple of days. We'll be taking the ferry from Cherbourg to Poole, and going back Plymouth to Roscoff, just for variety. I've reserved three days in a camping ground at Crystal Palace, in the suburbs of London, twenty minutes by train from the middle of town.
We'll get to see at least one open-air Shakespeare, plus whatever's on at the Globe. Visit some castles. Fun stuff for the kids. Language immersion, get some CDs and videos. 10713. Ms. No - 8/9/2004 12:08:11 AM "Nottingham is close to the centre of England at the heart of the East Midlands. It is approximately 120 miles from London and 50 miles north of Birmingham."
Nottingham 10714. alistairConnor - 8/9/2004 12:43:10 AM So the answer, Judith, is yes. 10715. judithathome - 8/9/2004 5:17:45 AM Thanks....everyone.
We'll get to see at least one open-air Shakespeare, plus whatever's on at the Globe
Say Hi to Kevin Spacey for me! 10716. arkymalarky - 8/9/2004 7:12:48 AM I feel guilty for how much I'm enjoying this wine you and Keoni left, Judith.
And I meant to tell you, Mose said the other day that you and Keoni "give great presents!"
She's packing to move back Saturday. I've got a meeting out of town so I won't be able to help her. I have a workshop tomorrow and work all week. Kids start back the 19th.
It has begun. I'm having to beat myself to get going. I don't want to go to a job any more. I want to be Arky@Home. The students could come here. Or I could teach them from the computer. Anything that didn't require getting dressed "up" (meaning combed hair and something other than house shoes) and into a car. 10717. judithathome - 8/9/2004 8:26:09 AM Glad you like the wine, Arky, but be advised: I can only vouch for two of the bottles. The stuff fom Greece was all Keoni's idea...we'd never had it before. 10718. prolph - 8/9/2004 9:20:48 AM Heads up, so to speak, Persied meteor showers late night August11 to
morning of 12th. cresent moon nearly new moon and predic ted to be a
great shower. 10719. arkymalarky - 8/9/2004 9:47:01 AM It's good stuff. Tell him he was right on. I just finished it off. ;-)
Hey Patsy! I always forget to stay up for that. I'm going to really make an effort to this year. My hours have been turned around all summer, so it shouldn't be hard. 10720. Magoseph - 8/9/2004 10:58:36 PM Is Mac on vacation, or is he too busy?
Hello, everyone. 10721. alistairconnor - 8/9/2004 11:23:43 PM He said something about Paris. But wasn't that next week? 10722. judithathome - 8/9/2004 11:24:03 PM Good morning...tonight is our village council meeting. Gonna wear the Village Idiots Don't Forget shirts with all the others who are expressing our disgust with the three councilmen who fired our police chief. So far, almost half our police force has resigned.
10723. wabbit - 8/10/2004 12:04:13 AM It's going to be raining here Wednesday-Friday. No Perseids for me. I may go out late tonight/early tomorrow to see if anything is visible. 10724. Ms. No - 8/10/2004 3:09:25 AM Never, ever, ever go to Ikea on a weekend afternoon.
I must remember this in future. I had a couple of items to return --- I bought some silverware and a rack and potholders because I couldn't find the box mine were in. Naturally, the moment I got home with my purchases I found the box.
Not a big deal. Returns are easy at Ikea if you have your receipt. Walk in, take a number, return your items, leave.
I also needed a shelving unit for the bathroom. I knew exactly which one. So, I took a number in Customer service for my returns then headed up to the showroom figuring the timing would be perfect for me to shop and wait at the same time. I didn't get lost in the rabbit warren of the display rooms although I'm sure I didn't take the most direct route to the item I needed.
Found what I needed and headed to the self-serve warehouse only to find that it was a full-serve item.
uh-oh.
Now, I'd already begun to get a little irritated by the sheer numbers of people in the store wandering around aimlessly. I'm a purposeful shopper most of the time. I know what I want, I find out where it is, I go get it and I check out. I'm not a meanderer.
I had no idea what "full serve" entailed. It's not complicated but it meant that I had to wait in line and check in with a salesperson who put my order through to the non-self serve warehouse.
This took just enough time that I missed them calling my number in Customer service by 5 numbers. I might have tried to weasel my way in, but that's not really my style and, besides, I'd been told that it would be probably half an hour before they could get my order up from the full-serve warehouse.
So I took another number in Customer Service and went over to check in at the Full Serve counter. 10725. Ms. No - 8/10/2004 3:26:53 AM The Full Serve or Furniture Pick-Up area was chaos. It took nearly ten minutes of standing in what sort of looked like a line to find out that there was another counter entirely that I needed to go to ---- where no one was standing waiting to be helped --- in order to get a Pick-Up number.
So I got that and all the while a guy halfway down the warehouse is shouting numbers into a bullhorn while a frazzled girl is shouting over him and drowning out the numbers trying to instruct people to initially check in at the other counter while this crowd of people try to find out if their number has been called yet.
So, the guy in the warehouse is totally oblivious and making a racket which nobody can decifer, hoardes of anxious, tired shoppers are milling around all trying to find out if their number has been called and grouping up around this girl who not only can't pay attention to what numbers are called, but isn't even listening as is apparent by how often she ignores the call and shouts over it to give useless instructions over and over again while simultaneously trying with ill-grace to run searches (on foot) for the folks gathered around her demanding their items.
I back carefully away and go sit in Customer Service and wait to be called. I get an earfull from a man and his wife complaining about how Ikea is always like this and the products are crap and they always end up waiting in line blah blah blah. My first thought was that I had never had any kind of difficulties at all with the products or the service or my shopping experience. My second thought was why, if they were so dissatisfied did they keep coming back?
So, my number for Customer Service is called and I am swiftly and pleasantly assisted but in the middle of it my other number is called. The CS agent tells me to go ahead and get my pick-up and come back to her when I'm ready.
10726. Ms. No - 8/10/2004 3:27:23 AM I go back over to Pick-Up and confusion and irritation there. The girl running the front is even more irritable and less efficient than the last time I was there. It takes nearly five minutes before I can even get her attention. She writes down my number, hands it off to another person in the warehouse and then returns to her station while I stand there waiting for I don't know what.
Ten minutes of that and I figure they can wait on me to finish with Customer Service. I go and get my refund in two minutes and head back over to Pick-Up which I'm beginning to regard as the 5th circle of Hell.
This time I notice that there's actually a waiting area in which no one is sitting, where the numbers called are displayed on a screen. My number is not there. I find a wandering employee and ask if he'll check on my number. He returns nearly immediately to inform me that my number is not up. I sit and wait and watch the board.
But I'm thirsty so I walk over to the bistro and get a soda. Still not hearing my number. I browse through the little market. Still no number.
I go back to the waiting area and look at the board. The numbers have no changed at all even though there is a constant stream of them being called out over the bullhorn.
I check my watch. I've been waiting for this item for over an hour. I notice that the girl at the front is being relieved and replaced by two folks who look calm and determined and effective.
I march up and present my number "I'm sorry to be a bother, but I've been waiting over an hour for this item and the numbers on the display haven't changed at all. Could you check on this?"
Page an employee, hand him the receipt and send him off into the holding area where delivered items are awaiting pick-up.
10727. Ms. No - 8/10/2004 3:27:26 AM Voila! My single box is sitting waiting right there. It's been there for quite some time. I've been seeing it sitting there. Obviously the stressed out girl dropped the ball earlier when I asked about it.
So I wheel my box out to the parking area, leave it with the attendant who gives me yet another number, retrieve my car and then load the box into it.
Total time spent 2.5 hours. If I'd gone during the week after 8pm like I usually do it would've taken 30 minutes.
Never go to Ikea on a weekend afternoon. 10728. Ms. No - 8/10/2004 3:34:03 AM I'm quite pleased with my shelving unit, though.
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