Friday, April 17, 2009

Weight Watchers Results - Week 6

Hi there and welcome to this issue of Weight Watchers Results!

So the gym has come to bite us in the hineys. We were warned that if we continued to go to the gym everyday, our weigh-in results would not be accurate. Well, they were right. Last night, Sarah and I both lost zero pounds. Sorta sad, sorta not. We get it. Sarah worked out twice on Wednesday and could barely walk. The WW website says not to weigh in if your muscles are sore so we were both in default. So now comes the decision.

Do we keep going to WW even if we are religious gym-goers? We battled with this decision all day yesterday. I mean, what's the point to pay $60 each if the scale is going to be inaccurate? So, Sarah decided that last night would be her last WW meeting. I decided to pay for one more set for me so I have three more weigh-ins to go and I will probably be done.

We really have a sync and a rhythm now for our workouts. I worked my arms last night like it was my job. I could barely move when I got home, plus I felt like I was going to puke everywhere. Sounds great, huh? We are going to continue to use WW principals and the point system. There's just no need to pay to use a scale. So this is where we are. We braced ourselves for this kind of weigh-in so we wouldn't be disappointed. But not to worry faithful readers, I will continue to post weight-loss benchmarks for us.

For example, even though I "lost no weight" last night, I have now moved into the third notch on my belt. I haven't seen the third notch in QUITE SOME TIME. I was on the first notch for a long time, then made it to the second notch and stayed there for a really long time, then I just recently moved to number three! Sarah's shorts (that she just bought a couple weekends ago) were absolutely about to fall off last night. In fact, they did fall off in the kitchen while she was making Celie's juice. What a great feeling.

I had to sing at a funeral this week and I wore a basic navy suit. This is the same suit I've had for some time and the pants have always been a little snug - even 5 years ago (I know, it's an old suit - but it still looks so good!) but not anymore. I couldn't believe it actually. I thought, "wow, I've never even needed a belt with these pants before (not that I would wear pants without a belt. The thought of that actually gives me the same reaction as forgetting to put on deodorant or brush my teeth.) but now, I have to wear a belt.

I'm not gonna lie - it's a good feeling.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Mario and the Case of the Missing Argyle

The last time we were in Destin I saw something I had to have. It was an article of clothing. Before I tell you what it was I need to be honest about a few things: 1) this is going to make me sound like a total nerd; 2) this is going to make me sound like a total sissy-pants. It’s fine. I’m aware.

The article of clothing was a sweater………………….…vest. Yes, a sweater vest. Mock me all you want, but I loved it and I needed it. It was in my most favorite store on the planet which meant it was ENTIRELY too expensive full price (which it was). This was all about a month ago.

A co-worker of mine recently sent me a gift certificate to BB for taking on all her work while she was on maternity leave (so nice of her). I was PUMPED because I knew the sweater vest would be mine. So last Tuesday I decided to call BB and just inquire on the price of the sweater vest (Lord, the fact that I keep typing “sweater vest” is making me more and more sad – but it really is a nice looking sweater vest. I mean, it’s pink, navy and light blue for crying out loud. Clearly a must have.) So I call and speak with Mario.

Mistake number one!

Eureka! It’s on sale, plus an extra 15% off!!! You see, the Lord wanted me to have it. So I ask Mario if he still has it. He says no. I was sad. He said, “but I do have one that’s a brownish-pink with navy and light blue.” I thought, “brownish-pink has the word “mauve” written all over it and I AM NOT WEARING A MAUVE SWEATER VEST thank you very much. Now that would be absurd. So I began to inquire further about the mauve sweater vest. Well, turns out Mario is color blind because it was the one I originally saw a month ago.

Brownish-pink? Come on Mario.

So I tell Mario that I want it and please ship it over to me. I’ve worked in retail for a period of time during my college years and I know how this whole “charge send” thing works. It’s a series of simple steps:

1) You identify you have the merch.
2) The other sales associate confirms with the customer – making sure they still want it.
3) If yes, you ring up the merch in your store
4) The other sales associate puts the customer on the phone and you give them tender
5) After the sale is complete, you box up the merch and get it ready for UPS or FedEx.

It’s really quite simple. Well, apparently not to Mario. He took my info and hung up with me. Moments later, he called back saying there was something wrong with the gift card. I read him the number again. He hung up. He called back saying I owed $2.00 more. I gave him my debit card. He hung up.

MARIO. JUST KEEP ME ON THE PHONE.

Finally, he called back. All was well. The sweater vest was shipping out Wednesday. I would have it Thursday. I thought this is great. I’ll debut my new sweater vest for Easter!!! (that was just for comedic effect. I really wasn’t excited about wearing my sweater vest for Easter……….I don’t think.)

Thursday came. No vest. Friday came. No vest. I called BB again and explained the problem. I was told that the store manager wouldn’t approve for shipping because I wasn’t charged for shipping. OY! Mario didn’t tell me any of this. In addition to his deficiency in using a cash register, he clearly has problems with a phone too. So, I’m sorta angry because I had already set myself up that I was wearing it on Easter and now I was back to square one.

So, I’m totally irritated and the manager on duty tells me that he will schedule me a Saturday FedEx delivery. LOL. I say to him, “it won’t happen.” He says, “sure it will – the option is right here.” I say, “Sure it’ll happen if you want to spend $300 for a delivery that never happens on Saturday in Port St. Nowhere.” So now the manager is perplexed and doesn’t really know what to do.

In all my years at shopping at BB, this has never happened. They’re one of the only stores that still “get” customer service. They go above and beyond every single time. Everyone but Mario. I know it’s a one-off incident, but it all could have been avoided with a simple phone call back to me. By this point, I was thinking of plan B. I have a friend who lives in PC Beach, but works in Destin. She could pick it up and bring it to PC Beach and I could pick it up from her house. I thought that made sense.

BB calls me back and they have a sales associate (Ben) who is traveling to Jacksonville who will deliver it to me.

At this point, I can’t stop laughing because this is all over a SWEATER VEST!!!!!! The one I “had to have,” remember? I really can’t stop laughing. What store sends someone to hand deliver your shipment? I thought, “well, ok. If you insist.” So I met Ben just north of Wewa at a cute little Episcopal Church (shout out to St. James). I felt like it was a drug deal going down in front of a church.

Now, to top everything off – not only did these people think that I was probably the most high-maintenance, difficult, bratty guy they’d ever met, but I come driving up to meet him in Sarah’s convertible VW beetle (YELLOW) with her hot pink rhinestone flower in the bud vase and her head scarf tied around the bar on the passenger side. Oh, not to mention the flower light covers.
Ben just sorta looked at me. I had nothing to say to him except, “thank you, I really, really appreciate this.” His reply was, “uh huh.”

All for this must-have sweater vest.

This is the story of my life.

I can’t win.

A sweater vest.

Sigh.