Yeah, I know, it’s not even June yet, but when you’re semi-retired and don’t have a schedule, it can be any day of the week or any day of the year you want to be, can’t it? At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Yesterday afternoon Santa Claus pulled up to our place disguised as the FedEx man and delivered three Honda EU2200i 2200-watt portable inverter generators that I had ordered from Amazon.
And why did they deliver three generators? I originally planned on ordering two, but it’s always better to have a pair and a spare, isn’t it? Actually the third one is for our friend Jim Lewis. We are getting close to hurricane season here in Florida and we didn’t want to wait too long and discover they were out of stock when we needed them.
I was impressed with how fast they got here because when I ordered them late last week I was told they wouldn’t arrive until Friday. I was also impressed with how helpful the young FedEx delivery man was. Because our house sits on a corner lot, our physical address is actually the side with the carport that leads into my office. But the front of the house is where our large parking apron and garage are. Don’t ask me why it’s that way, I’m not the one that numbered the streets around here.
So when he pulled up on the street in front of the carport I asked if he would mind driving around the corner and dropping them off in front of our garage so I wouldn’t have to lug them all that way. He said no problem, he’d carry them over for me. By the time I went through the house and got the garage door open he had one there and was on his way back to his truck to get a second one. That’s good service! I wish all companies went the extra mile for their customers that way.
Speaking of companies that go out of their way to accommodate their customers, the Publix grocery store chain is also one of our favorites, and it is where we do all of our shopping. The stores are always clean and well laid out, their employees go out of their way to be helpful, and they do a lot for the community, such as supporting many charitable causes. Last year, when Hurricane Irma knocked out power to so many in the area, our local Publix had a couple dozen charging cables plugged in so people could come and charge their cell phones and tablets when they needed to at no cost. That doesn’t seem like a big thing, but if there’s no electricity, it means a lot.
Still, even Publix doesn’t get it right all of the time. I read an article yesterday about how a Publix grocery store in South Carolina took it upon themselves to censor a greeting on a cake for a student who graduated Summa Cum Laude (Latin for with great honor). Apparently the software that Publix uses to take orders for their cakes decided that Cum meant… well, you know. After the young man’s mother explained what the message was about, she thought everything was fine. Nope. When they opened the cake at the graduation party, this is what they got. Three dashes instead of the offending word.
Like I said, we like shopping at Publix, but after reading the story, I have to wonder how many of their people graduated Summa Cum Laude. Probably not very many.
I hate to think what those folks would do if they ever saw this chain of convenience stores in the Midwest!
Thought For The Day – I tried to kill a spider with glitter body spray. Now it won’t stop stripping and it says I have to call it Cinnamon
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Your all set with those generators Nick. And what a great delivery guy. Speaking of which, I ordered a tonneau cover for my pickup truck, the local purolator company refused to deliver it with one driver because it was too heavy. It weighted 70 lbs.
Said I had to wait until they could get 2 drivers to go on the delivery. Now I had paid extra for “expedited” shipping so you can imagine my reaction to this news.
I told them I’ll be home all day and can help the driver carry the pkg 3 ft to my truck in the driveway. After being shuffled from one supervisor to another someone with a lick of sense finally got on the phone and said don’t worry I’ll make sure it would be delivered tomorrow, but to my luck it showed up the same day as my phone call.
The driver who always comes to our neighborhood happen to see the package for me, his favorite addressee, and threw it on the truck to deliver. He is a great guy too. Damn the weight he said.
I miss Publix grocery stores, too. And they have the best produce! But Ray has referred to it as Pubix for the 21 years I’ve been with him – making it sound less wonderful a place than it is!
Glad y’all are preparing for those ole hurry canes. But they’re nothing compared to a Midwest tornado, says me, who has lived through several of each. Worst thing about the hurricanes for most places is the lack of power. After, I think, Ivan, it was two weeks. Hot!
Glad you have the generators! Now get a room AC. I bet you already have one. What Ray wouldn’t have given for our MH and her genie in 2004. (I ran home to Mom & dad in Arkansas. Fat girls get hot!).
Glad you’re prepared either way – to run or stay!
There are Kum & Go stores in the midwest. Thousands of them.
JC
Next town over from me is Cumming, Ga.
You mentioned that these are quiet. That would be important to me. I’m still pondering solar (tricky to hook up, somewhat iffy on reliability) vs a small generator.
Unless you plan to do extensive boondocking I don’t believe solar is a good investment. I’ve written blogs comparing the cost in the past. You can buy a heck of a lot of fuel for a generator for what it cost for a solar set up, inverter, and battery bank.