In case you missed it in yesterday’s comments, Cat let us know that the Extreme Coupon-ing “mustard lady” J’aime was committing fraud, and you can read more about it here. Innnnteresting. And like Aimee said, no WONDER J’aime was so nervous at the register!
It never occurred to me that you could commit fraud like that with coupons – and it amazes me that anyone thinks you can get away with anything EVER these days.
Yesterday I did a run to Sam’s to stock up on the many things we’ve run out of in the two months since I had surgery. I left the house at 6:45 am because I have the super-special-fancy “business” membership, and we “business” and “gold” members can go into a relatively deserted Sam’s Club and wander around for a full three hours before the regular “household” account-having peasants can get in. It is SO DAMN NICE to be able to go into Sam’s, get what I need, and get the hell out of there without having to dodge other people.
When I left Sam’s, I had to swing by Target to buy a few things, and I got there just as the store opened (I think. I’m assuming it still opens at 8.) I browsed a little, picked up a few things, put a few things back, and then stood in line to check out.
The cashier, to my dismay, was feeling super chatty. She commented on each and every item I bought, she asked how many cats we have (I was buying a couple of cat beds SHUT UP IT WAS A GOOD PRICE) and I lied and said we had three (I usually lie, because it’s nicer than telling the questioner that it’s none of their damn bidness, unless I’m caught off guard), then she started telling some long and involved story about how she had cats when she was growing up, but she was really more of a dog person and so she had two dogs and they were (some sort of breed I am unfamiliar with) and they like to (do something fascinating) and she likes to (laugh/ cry/ take pictures and send them to her friends) and I enjoy a nice chat with complete strangers and all, but it was getting on toward 8:45 and I was starting to get hungry, and all I wanted to do was check out and go home (which is a half hour drive) and eat breakfast.
What the voice in my brain really really wanted me to do was say “Lady, this has ceased to be interesting to me” and then walk away. And I was concentrating so hard on NOT saying or doing that, that I completely lost the thread of what she was yammering about, and the next thing I knew, she was smiling expectantly at me. All I could do was smile brightly, and say “Well! That sounds fun! You have a great day!” and turn and walk off.
This is the sort of thing that really worries me. When I’m 80 years old and I’ve lost the ability to stop the obnoxious stuff I’m thinking from falling out my mouth, people are either going to hate my guts (“Did you HEAR what that old lady said to me? What a rude bitch!”) or think I’m funny as shit (“Did you HEAR what that old lady said to me? What a hoot!”)
I am, of course, hoping for the latter.
Yesterday, for the first time in two and a half weeks, I vacuumed the foster room. The amount of loose cat hair in there was just appalling. I hadn’t vacuumed before yesterday because I didn’t want to traumatize the babies or Maggie. But I was getting desperate, so I figured it was time. It was pretty simple – I just went in, picked up the McMao cave, carried it into the closet (it’s a big closet). Maggie followed us in, I turned on the light, and then closed the door. It took me about ten minutes to vacuum the room, then I put the cave back where it belonged, Maggie followed me back out, and I closed the closet door again. Mission accomplished!
Someone asked in yesterday’s comments when the kittens’ ears will stand up on their heads. I did a quick glance back through Kara’s kittens’ pictures, and this was River (who is now Nate) at three weeks old:
So I’m going to guess that it should happen in the next week or so.
Someone else asked when it’ll be time to offer the kittens a slurry to help them wean. I’m going to start offering them canned kitten food around four to five weeks, since mothers generally starting weaning their kittens at five to six weeks. Maggie gets some canned kitten food in the morning and again in the evening, so if any of the kittens show interest before that, I’ll of course offer them some.
This right here is Declan. Declan is the explorer of the litter. When I walk into the room, he immediately comes to the “door” of the McMao cave, and sticks his head out. The threshhold of the doorway is just a bit too high for them to get out, but he tries. Then he looks sadly at me until I lift him out so that he can explore.
Explorer Declan discovers the pink feathered cat toy.
It smells purrrrty.
Fergus Simon and the belly rub.
“What you doin’, lady?”
I love how happy they get when they discover Maggie.
I wouldn’t ordinarily post this, as Jake’s just a blur, but the look on Tommy’s face is CRACKING ME UP.
The gray boys sure do love that Tommy.
Previously
2010: Today, I slack.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: “I’m not looking smug, I’m looking RUEFUL,” I said.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: “Bessie, Jayson Blair is black.”
2003: No entry.
2002: I hate it when there’s a web page touting some wonderful product, but you CANNOT place an online order.
2001: SIR! RECRUIT BITCHYPOO IS DONE WITH HER ENTRY AND READY TO POST IT, SIR!
2000: we watched the ultra-crappy End of Days last night
Squeal of delight to see my baby Nate! He was three weeks old in that photo and he just had his three year birthday on Sunday. The babies are all precious. Maggie is a pro.
Who doesn’t love Tommy??
Aaah, but Loony Jake just looks all the loonier for the blur :)! That J’aime woman….sheesh, I mean, there are good enough deals to be had without doing what she appears to be doing (coupon decoding, i.e. matching the upc on the coupons to a different item than what’s stated on the coupon so the coupon goes through the register without beeping). Apparently she is reaping the whirlwind from her tactics, which are big no-no’s when couponing….can you say “fraud”. But, sweet kittehs are truly the good things, especially my boy Declan……squeeeeeee!
EVERYBODY LOVES THE TOMMY!!! Hugs and kisses to all…
Clearly, Tommy disapproves.
I don’t care for personal questions from store clerks (or any other strangers), either, so I would have lied about the number of cats too. Why give her an opening and encourage even more inane babbling? You were very nice about it.
I absolutely cannot shop while ravenous…I’ll snap necks.
McMao wee ones getting noticeably bigger every day. Glad you’re getting lots of pictures because they’re gonna be big as Maggie before we know it.
Maggie looks like she wants to tell her kid, “hurry up already, got things to do.”
Those babies are so stinkin’ cute! I’m wondering if they have short hair with baby fuzz or are they going to be long haired kitties?
I don’t know how anyone could go to Sams club and NOT get a slice of cheese pizza on the way out.Do they have pizza at 8:45 A.M.? (note to self:must go to Sams club when I get home to the USA!)
I think it’s some kind of rule or something, when cat ladies get senile they’re hoots not bitches. Something to look forward to 🙂
The look on Maggie’s face in the pic with the lone baby nursing is cracking me UP. “I used to have a career, a social life. I went to shows, went for drinks with my friends, and I could go to bed and get up whenever I damn well pleased. Where did it all go so wrong?”
And you are a FAR stronger person than I if you can shop on an empty stomach. The last time I did it, I came home with *three* different kinds of ice cream, frozen pizza, cheese sticks, strudel from the bakery, and some ridiculously expensive fancy nut snacks – NONE of which I ever buy in ordinary, non-starving circumstances.
Completely agree on not shopping when hungry. In stronger moments I have handed a couple of junk/dessert items to be put back to the cashier and said, “Sorry, I went a little crazy today.” There were several others I was buying.
Knowing nothing about wee baby kittens so I must ask: why do the ears take so long to stand up?
What the voice in my brain really really wanted me to do was say “Lady, this has ceased to be interesting to me” and then walk away.
I am known in my family for being very long-winded (I bet you never would have guessed, huh?) and my brother’s mind was usually a step or two ahead of everyone else’s. (Also a few steps to the side, but I digress.) He had no patience for my detail-laden tales, and when he reached saturation point, he would do a perfect imitation of Mike Meyers as Dieter (from the “Sprockets” skits Saturday Night Live, the German talk show host who occasionally let people touch his monkey) and say, “Your story grows tiresome,” and just walk off. (“Tiresome” was always pronounced as “TAAAAAHR-sum.”)
It stings to be cut off mid-anecdote, but to have it done in such a hilarious way makes it almost worthwhile.
Every day I get my cute kitten fix and then chose one photo to be on the desktop for the day.
saturday night live does a sketch about a TARGET cashier who comments on every item her customers buy. she doesn’t shut up, ever. each time she always ends up leaving the register to go get an item for herself. the character is played by kristin wiig (sp?).
did you see any tv cameras around, because i think you went through her line. i immediately thought about it when i read your entry!
My (black) cat Taco makes the same face Tommy is making all the time. What a hoot! 😀
The little kittehs are adorable and growing so fast!
I am trying to figure out how J’aime could even do the coupon fraud. More than once I have had a coupon for an item, and i have accidentally gotten the wrong size and the register would kick it back saying that i coulnd’t use that coupon for that item. I would have the correct brand just the wrong size, so i am trying to figure out how she was able to get items of the correct brand but of the wrong size and still have the coupons work, or the correct brand but a different item. i never even knew coupon fraud existed. I hope that the show will air a correction, telling people that what she did was wrong. It makes the overall prices higher in the long run, for us who do use the coupons correctly or just forgo them all together and just wait for the sales.
Last year I was at Walmart and had a nasty grouchy cashier. I was buying a lot (mostly household supplies) having not been out for a while for various reasons. Other People seemed to be buying a lot that day too. She growled, “Where are people getting all this money?” “Tax returns?” I guessed. I was thinking, Be glad people have the money to shop so you have a job, you crabby bitch. And I used to BE a cashier.