Bad Week

When I was young, I sometimes wanted to do my brother bodily injury. When I envisioned it, though, I didn't picture him falling off my roof after working on my swamp cooler. Oy! Yes, he came over and took a look at the hated swamp cooler. As he was coming down the ladder, it started shaking, and I could see that he was going to fall. So I moved beneath him to try and break the fall. It sort of worked. He fell about seven feet from the roof to my balcony (if you can call it that). His glasses flew off, but I don't think he hit his head, and I don't think he hit as hard as he could have. But I still feel terrible about it.

And what did he do? Well, he is a man. He got up, got his glasses, went to the store, returned with supplies, and went back up on the roof! This time we made sure I or my nephew anchored the ladder. I kept asking if he was OK, and he said he was. I wasn't sure what else to do.

As for the swamp cooler, he is coming back tomorrow after the water evaporates and the caulking cures (his words; I'm not entirely sure what it means). He think he can repair it enough to last through the year, but I'll definitely need something next year, he says.

As for the other weird news of the week, my laptop supposedly shipped June 30, and I received an e-mail message saying I should receive it in one to five business days. Tomorrow marks the fifth business day, and I have to admit I'm feeling extremely impatient. I checked the order status yesterday, then checked it again today. Nothing new besides the fact that it shipped.
So, I e-mailed their customer service to find out if I could get a tracking number. I received an automated reply asking if I wanted a tracking number. If so, I could (1) check the order status online and get the tracking number there, (2) call the 1-800 number to get it, or, if neither of those works, (3) do their online chat with a representative.

Here's my question. If they get enough requests for a tracking number that they need to set up an automated e-mail system telling people how to get it, then WHY don't they simply provide the number to begin with? By the way, calling the 1-800 number didn't help, as it was an automated system and gave me the same information as the online order status. The order has shipped. Um, duh.

The thing is, I would have been fine if I'd had a shipping number and knew that the order wasn't coming until tomorrow. I'd have been fine if it wasn't coming until Monday or Tuesday, as long as I knew about it. But the one to five business days thing along with the ridiculous process to try and get a tracking number is absurd. Did I do the online chat? No, why bother? Based on one to five shipping days, I'll get the laptop tomorrow and the case on Monday. Why waste time when even they probably won't be able to give me an answer?

OK, I hope I've finished complaining for now. Tomorrow I will try to return you to your regularly scheduled book blog. I've got some books to blog about.