I was given some orders...
Mar. 29th, 2005 01:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naruki_oniPick up 5, not 4, 5 tubes of EAU Thermale Avene Cleanance K Oil-control lotion and ship them to Japan posthaste. I was given the CVS contact information for Boston, with the suggestion of finding a closer CVS if possible so I wouldn't have to drive down there. Getting them to ship was a third suggestion, though one that turned out to be in vain: CVS won't ship to my home.
So I check Avene's website store locator links. There are about 20 CVS stores in Mass, 2 in New Hampshire. They don't appear to sell their products anywhere else. They also don't have a nice quick link to Map Quest, so I had to cut and paste the zip codes from one browser window to the other about 22 times to see which store is closest to me.
Salem, NH is the winner. I print out the map with directions and call the store to confirm that they have what I need. They do, and in fact they will hold them for me. How nice! Off I go.
22 miles later as I'm nearing my destination I have a thought. That thought is that my destination is the center of the zip code. Yes, that's right. I didn't put the street address into Map Quest, just the zip code. Doh!
So I stop at Dunkin Donuts and ask for directions. Purely out of guilt, mind you, not from an uncontrollable sweet tooth, I also purchase a drink and a muffin. Sadly, they aren't really sure where the CVS is but the give me a road and say they think it's there.
It's not, but I found a PetCo and picked up some much needed kitty supplies. Then I call CVS (fortunately I'd used my cell phone the first time and still had their number) and get directions. I was less than a mile away as it turns out. They were inside some mall. Yay!
I arrive and ask for the products. What products? The products I called about and had set aside for me. Who'd you call? Beats me. What products? The oil things - I think I see them over there against the wall.
We go to the cosmetic wall and there is a sampler and one tube. Um. She checks the computer to see how many tubes are supposed to be in the store: 6. That's the one on the wall and 5 missing ones. There is no note from the mystery clerk and nothing stored wherever set aside products are usually stored. Hmm.
Did you call this store or the other one? Well, I called the one in Salem. This one or the other one? I think it was this one, since I hit redial and got directions that brought me here, but I left my cell phone in the car so I don't know the number.
The manager (who was in street clothes and seemingly on her way out) waited to help me, as well. She said the other store doesn't carry that product, and the only other CVS that does is far away (confirming what the Internet told me). Must have been this store, then,
The extra stock is nowhere to be found. Well, can you come back in a few days when we have more? Sure, but in the meantime I'll just take this one remaining tube - it's an emergency.
At the checkout counter ringing up the tube and some candy (hee hee), I glance at the cigarettes behind the cashier. Top shelf, a note scribbled on a piece of paper covering some boxes. My name on the note.
He he he. That mystery clerk hid the damn things right in plain sight. Gotta love her.
So I check Avene's website store locator links. There are about 20 CVS stores in Mass, 2 in New Hampshire. They don't appear to sell their products anywhere else. They also don't have a nice quick link to Map Quest, so I had to cut and paste the zip codes from one browser window to the other about 22 times to see which store is closest to me.
Salem, NH is the winner. I print out the map with directions and call the store to confirm that they have what I need. They do, and in fact they will hold them for me. How nice! Off I go.
22 miles later as I'm nearing my destination I have a thought. That thought is that my destination is the center of the zip code. Yes, that's right. I didn't put the street address into Map Quest, just the zip code. Doh!
So I stop at Dunkin Donuts and ask for directions. Purely out of guilt, mind you, not from an uncontrollable sweet tooth, I also purchase a drink and a muffin. Sadly, they aren't really sure where the CVS is but the give me a road and say they think it's there.
It's not, but I found a PetCo and picked up some much needed kitty supplies. Then I call CVS (fortunately I'd used my cell phone the first time and still had their number) and get directions. I was less than a mile away as it turns out. They were inside some mall. Yay!
I arrive and ask for the products. What products? The products I called about and had set aside for me. Who'd you call? Beats me. What products? The oil things - I think I see them over there against the wall.
We go to the cosmetic wall and there is a sampler and one tube. Um. She checks the computer to see how many tubes are supposed to be in the store: 6. That's the one on the wall and 5 missing ones. There is no note from the mystery clerk and nothing stored wherever set aside products are usually stored. Hmm.
Did you call this store or the other one? Well, I called the one in Salem. This one or the other one? I think it was this one, since I hit redial and got directions that brought me here, but I left my cell phone in the car so I don't know the number.
The manager (who was in street clothes and seemingly on her way out) waited to help me, as well. She said the other store doesn't carry that product, and the only other CVS that does is far away (confirming what the Internet told me). Must have been this store, then,
The extra stock is nowhere to be found. Well, can you come back in a few days when we have more? Sure, but in the meantime I'll just take this one remaining tube - it's an emergency.
At the checkout counter ringing up the tube and some candy (hee hee), I glance at the cigarettes behind the cashier. Top shelf, a note scribbled on a piece of paper covering some boxes. My name on the note.
He he he. That mystery clerk hid the damn things right in plain sight. Gotta love her.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
What an adventure!
Date: 2005-03-28 11:09 pm (UTC)Yep. Gotta love a sane mind (as in *mystery clerk*) :-D!
Thanks for sharing!
Check your facts...
Date: 2005-03-28 11:21 pm (UTC)I did note the name of the product. The "What product" questions were supposed to be read as from the clerk asking "where are they", not me asking "what products should I get".
There was a brief clash of pronunciations over the name of the product. I didn't know the "proper" pronunciation of "Avene", so she seemed very confused about whether I meant the one I kept pointing to on the wall or some other product that apparently sounded like it that was not on the wall where I kept pointing and saying, "No, THAT one is the one that I mean, however you pronounce it".
But I did know the name. I don't use it, but I knew the name.
And why write down the name of a drug store clerk? They have several, and any one of them will be able to help me - especially as I had given them my name and number and they said "we'll put it aside for you - just come to the cashier".
No, the zip code is the thing that bugs me. I can forgive myself a bit because I _did_ just go through about 25 different searches (next time I write that will be an even bigger number). I was under a deadline and had to hurry. But I make planning mistakes like that all the time.
My SO, though, _she_ is bad. The word "planning" is not in her vocabulary. (I think she has puranningu.) But she still sucks at it. She just has a really good memory, dammit.
Re: Check your facts...
Date: 2005-03-28 11:39 pm (UTC)She has - what?! Good memory is of course extremely helpful :-).
and never mind - I was just pulling your leg a little.
AND: DiGriz got disabled. For posting a link to a pic of children killed in war - in a gun thread. I am quite angry...
So don't go lecturing me on emotional reactions at this moment, if at all possible...
Time for a little nap.
Date: 2005-03-28 11:58 pm (UTC)Re: Time for a little nap.
Date: 2005-03-29 12:02 am (UTC)I just want you to know
Date: 2005-03-29 05:38 pm (UTC)For some reason I had this visual that your cat rode along with you in the passenger seat.
Cat_Oni: Any luck finding that tube of oil thingy?
Naruki: Nope, Dunkin didn't have directions
Cat_Oni: That's what you get for not stopping at Krispy Kreme asshat. Where's my muffin anyway?
Naruki: oh, sorry. There were no cat safe muffins this time. Maybe next time.
Cat_Oni: What a load of crap. At least get me some kitty litter. Its getting deep in here.
Naruki: hmm, there's a Petco across the street. We will stop there.
Cat_Oni: Why not the Target over there?
Naruki: Because Petco is where the pets go silly.
I almost said Wal-Mart, but I figured your cat had class. :P
no subject
Date: 2005-03-31 10:28 am (UTC)There were many mornings I would wake up early on my own and just not get out of bed because I knew I had no shot at the bathroom. I would get out of bed at 7:50, usually already awake and just waiting for the alarm to go off, get a bowl of cereal, and watch a couple of Tom and Jerry cartoons. Usually my sister was done fixing her hair and putting on her makeup by 8:00 at which time I would shower, brush my teeth, get dressed and be in class on time.
My parents had long taught me that if music wasn't country or gospel it was evil. During high school I was coming out of my not listen to anything shell and was adopting rock but I despised modern "country" music. My sister knew this. Since my mother left for work around 5:00 she knew we were the only two at home when my dad was working the appropriate shifts. EVERY MORNING about 5:30 my sister would put her tape of Escape Clubs Wild Wild West(sample enclosed) and blast it at high volumes just to tick me off. After about a week of this I got tired of it. I stole her tape out of her stereo, and instead of destroying it I hid it. I came up with an ingenious hiding spot. My mom had a wallmounted basket over the toilet at my eye level with fake flowers in it. This had been there since about the time we moved into the house 12 years earlier. I put the tape in there where you could see it rather plainly.
To say the least my sister was pissed that I stole her tape. Every time she asked me where it was I would say "If you were a guy you would know". It's funny to, because a couple of my friends asked why there was a tape in that basket and I told them, and told them to keep quiet. My sister never did find it, finally after about a month and a half I gave it back on the condition she didn't blast it at 5:30 anymore. She didn't. She found a new one.
She's got taste...
Date: 2005-03-31 11:55 am (UTC)Re: She's got taste...
Date: 2005-04-07 07:51 am (UTC)A couple of times it wasn't a leak. Those mornings required physical extraction and door locking with a constant "When are you going to be out? I gotta fix my hair, I'm going to be late for school." coming through the door. I only had to do that a couple of times, but dammit it had to be done.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-16 06:08 am (UTC)