Half, big number

So for Valentine’s day I tried to cover the bases.  I got Ali a card with a gift card to GAP, one her favorite places to shop, I picked up Hungry Howie’s pizza on the way home, her favorite meal and had flowers delivered by Proflowers.  When Ali got the flowers she texted me to thank me.  I told her there were supposed to be 100 flowers.  She told me the flowers were pretty but they weren’t 100 of them.

When I got home it was obvious there were nowhere near 100 flowers, I doubt there was half that.  So of course I was ready to contact the bait and switch masters, Proflowers.com,  instantly.  On their website, they have a nice big blurb about a 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE.  However nowhere on their site will you find a link that allows you to do anything if you aren’t satisfied, how convenient.

So I had no choice but to call up their 800 number where I got to sit on hold for at least 20 minutes.  I couldn’t help but think this was standard procedure with Proflowers. If you call in with an order problem, they throw you in a mandatory queue, hoping the impatient will just say “F it, and hang up” Well I wasn’t about to hang up considering my resentment from their deceptive marketing practices.  If I am going to get ridiculously overcharged for shipping on flowers, I expect to at least get the amount of flowers I paid for.

So finally, just as my ear was going numb and madness was setting in from hearing the same pre-recorded message 165 times, a pleasant woman answered the phone.  After giving her my order number she asked what the problem was.  I told her that my 100 bloom arrangement was somewhere around 50 blooms short.

The rep immediately apologized for the problem.  Her first remediation attempt was to send out another full arrangement at no charge.  The only problem was the earliest that would arrive is Thursday, when we will be out of town.  I then asked if they could be sent after we get back, for some reason that wasn’t possible.

Then the woman asked if I just wanted a partial refund.  She said she could take off the $20 in bullshit shipping charges. (I added the bullshit part)  That seemed fine to me.  After all the flowers themselves were quite nice, there just weren’t enough of them.  I hung up satisfied with the resolution.  Of course I also filed it away in my mental cabinet for future use.  I think I may be having more “problems” with my Proflowers orders in the future.

We got word of our expected tax refund yesterday, once again it is a sizable chunk of change.  The primary target for the money will be to finally pay off the Camry to clear the way for a Camaro purchase sometime in 2011.

Speaking of sizable, that is what my number on the scale is becoming.  I don’t quite get it, I have been running longer distance than ever before and still hitting the gym 5 times in a typical week as well as my various body weight routines at home.  The other night before my shower the scale actually clicked in at 190 lbs.

Now with my 6′ 3″ frame you would think 190 isn’t a bad number at all and to be honest I don’t think I have anything resembling a roll around my middle.  Still, that number set off the alarm, time to buckle down.  When I was hardcore into 300’s in the 2007-2008 timeframe my weight got down as low as 175 pounds.  15 pounds is a big jump.

Perhaps the gain is a result of falling into that classic trap, you do major exercise and use that as an excuse to eat more than normal.  You “earned” the gluttony.  Well perhaps that and the dreaded, inevitable metabolic slow down that occurs as you slowly fade away into the dark tunnel of old age.  Whatever the cause, I don’t plan to go down easily.  I will step up my efforts both physically and at the dinner table to stave off the effects of aging as long as possible.

I have a ton to get done before we head out, ugh.