This Girl is on Fire ...!

Hello again Friends - hope you are all having a great weekend. What are you all up to?  

Here at Barlow Towers, it has turned out to be another rather expensive week all in all.  

First there was the Great Postal Robbery ... 

I do love a bit of home shopping, don't you?   Back in the UK I was known as the 'QVC Queen' LOL!   This was mainly for craft supplies which were often hard to get or if you could find them at a local store, were an extortionate price.  I also loved buying make up and skincare this way too though, as they still sold the well known brands I liked, except you got to try it in the comfort of your own home in proper lighting (instead of leaving your local department store looking like an extra from an Adam Ant video) for a few weeks - which was long enough to see if your skin liked it too - after which if you decided the Umpa Lumpa look wasn't for you, you could send it back for a full refund.  Love it!  Granted, you had to pay for the postage to send it back, but mine were usually small items (I don't think I EVER returned a craft item, LOL) and I always considered it worth a few pounds in postage (and we still had the convenient of a village Post Office), versus driving into Brighton and battling the hideous traffic, paying an extortionate amount to park and then not finding what I wanted anyway.

Whilst I don't have the need to buy craft items this way anymore (since the USA is definitely a paper crafter's Nirvana), I do still on occasion buy the odd beauty product this way so that I can give them a while to see how my skin reacts.  On this occasion, the foundation I had ordered was WAY too dark (think Ross from friends in the fake tanning fiasco) and so I opted to return it.  Now, the process for returning items here in the United States is generally far easier than it is in the UK as most companies include a bar coded return label with any goods ordered, which you simply just stick on your parcel and leave it in your mailbox, raising the little flag so that postman knows you have something to collect (or if it is too big to fit, you can simply go to the USPS website and ask for them to collect from your porch or wherever - so convenient).  When they have collected it, you will generally then receive an email to confirm they have it and a tracking number so that you can monitor it's safe return.  Once received,  the company you are returning it to will then deduct the cost of your return postage and credit the remainder to your credit card.  A very efficient system I have found and very convenient as actual Post Offices seem to be few and far between here and trekking there with your parcels is a hassle.  A fact that QVC appear to be taking advantage of every which way!  After returning my item via the aforementioned method, I received an email to advise that my item had been safely received and that $12.34 had been credited back to my card ... hang on a minute ... I paid $22.32 for the item, how is it that only $12.34 has been credited back?  I called their customer service number and asked them to confirm how this amount had been made up.  

"Well Madam, the cost of the return was $6.99 ..."

"What?!? ... the shipping and handling cost to send the item to me was only $2.99?"

"Oh yes, well, that's because you used the return shipping label.  We charge $6.99 for the convenience of the return"

WHAT??  

"So more than double the actual cost of postage then?"  Great.  "So are you telling me that if I had written my own label and taken it to the Post Office, then it would have still been $2.99 ... or probably less?" 

"Yes that's right Madam."

Unbelievable.  

"What about the rest?"

"That is the original shipping charge.  QVC's policy is to also deduct the original shipping cost from any return"

**mutters crossly ... "Well at least Dick Turpin wore a bloody mask!"**

"Er ... Have a nice day Madam!"

I think my longstanding affair with QVC may now be well and truly over.   

Then there was the Great Physical Robbery ...

Still cross and muttering to myself about "bloody daylight robbery", I marched out to collect the day's mail from the box at the end of the drive which didn't do anything to improve my mood as it included a bill from the Mayo Clinic for mine and Mr B's recent annual physicals.  Luckily I noticed the wording "Notification only - You will receive an updated invoice after settlement from your Insurance Company" before scanning to the amount at the bottom or I might never have made it back up the driveway!   

Given that we both had the same annual physical, except I think I was in there maybe 10 minutes longer whilst she chatted about the benefits of HRT (more on that in a minute), Mr B's total invoice was $1, 082 and mine was $2,173!!  Comparing the two, it seems that my little 'chat' tipped us into an additional charge for a 45 minute+ appt. and then it seems that the more things they check on your 'routine' blood test, the higher the charge!  Good grief.  What a racket!  As we still haven't reached the magic 'deductible' number on our insurance yet this year,  I can't wait for those bills to drop on the mat! (not)  At least we were aware of the process this year and so had budgeted for such expenses, so it's all good, but just a shock after 50+ years of the good old NHS! I know it has it's flaws, but you sure don't appreciate what you had until you no longer have it! 

The next day was the appointment with the GYN Consultant - nothing sinister apparently which is good but she also recommended I try HRT patches to stop me from spontaneously combusting - bad enough whatever the weather, but in the desert? ... hideous!  She advised me that they did however, carry a risk of blood clots (nice) but that this was very small and I would find them beneficial.  

I came home and did a bit of research on benefits versus risks.  Oh.  It appears that in addition to the more widely known risks of blood clots and breast cancer (minimal for short term use) there is a whole list of 'common' side effects to look forward to such as ...

• headache
• weight gain
• acne
• bloating
• nausea
• leg cramps 
• indigestion

Great.  Hmmm, well maybe I'll just see if there are any helpful tips on helping with the 'tropical moments' without taking medication ... ah, here we are ...

"Avoid the following triggers: caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, heat ..."

Right.  Well, as we live in Arizona, avoiding heat and spicy foods is not exactly realistic so that's those out.  Alcohol?  Are you kidding? This is the home of the Margarita!! Who wants to sit beside the pool with a glass of Ribera (if you could even get that here).  That just leaves the caffeine .... er ... nope.  That's not happening either. 

So .... patches it is then.  I'll report back in a month or so if you're interested (providing I haven't dropped dead from a blood clot that is).

Later that afternoon, just after I had collected Youngest from school and we were headed home,  I was waiting patiently at the junction with one of the main highways, when BANG!!!  We were rear-ended by the car behind!  Brilliant.  After checking that we were both OK, I got out to inspect the damage - not too bad thankfully, one minor scrape on the paintwork and some damage to the bumper - and speak to the other driver.  An ashen-faced young man (who looked no older than Ethan), got out of the car and approached nervously.  It was then I recognized him as one of the students from Ethan's school!  Apparently, he is a Senior so must be at least 17 or 18 but he was tiny and hardly looked a day over 14!  The poor lad was completely mortified and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"I'm so sorry!" he cried.   "I have had the worst day ever and I am late for my tutor class ...!"
I decided it probably wasn't the time to remind him that he would be even later now ... I checked that he was OK and told him not to worry and that at the end of the day cars were just lumps of metal and as long as nobody was hurt that was really all that mattered.  He looked a little more relieved but continued to blather on about how he had only passed his test in March and that this was his first accident ...
"... well, apart from the one I had in the driveway when I got my foot stuck and the car just shot off into the air and I couldn't do anything about it ..."  OK then ....
We examined his car, which didn't appear to be damaged at all - typical - exchanged details (at least I knew where to find him) and then continued on our respective journeys.  I had surmised that he was probably on his parents car insurance or if not, paying an extortionate amount for his own, and despite the inconvenience of getting it all fixed, I still felt sorry for him.  I am sure we have all done stupid things at one time or another, especially as new drivers, whether they resulted in scrapes or we were fortunate to get away with near misses.  I know I have.  Not long after passing my test, I scraped  a parked car whilst simultaneously trying avoid being blinded by the early morning winter sun and wipe the condensation which reappeared as fast as I could wipe it from the inside of my beloved VW Beetle's windscreen!  Whoops!  Let's hope this was his first and last accident on the road and he has at least learned to pay more attention and in future waits for the car in front to move before trying to speed off at a junction!

A few hours later, I received a sheepish text from said boy.
"I'm really sorry about earlier.  Is it OK if my Dad calls you?"  I was waiting for that.
"Sure"
Dad turned out to be a Brit too, who originally hailed from Bournemouth!  Whilst chatting, he also told me that his son 'Lewis Hamilton' had just applied to the University of Brighton!  What are the chances?!  Anyway, thankfully it all got sorted, although I will obviously now have to deal with the phaff of taking the car into the repair shop and all the hassle that comes with **sigh**, but never mind.  No real harm done thank goodness.

This week wasn't all bad though thankfully.  Mr B and I spent a lovely evening out with his team mid week who are all in town for a few days for their annual Travel Conference.  (Co-incidentally there was also a 'Platinum' Margarita featured on the menu, so it would have been rude not to ... LOL) During the evening, I was touched when they presented me with a Hobby Lobby Gift Card as a Thank You for making the monthly Recognition cards for all of their teams, along with a lovely card which they had all signed.  So kind of them all.   As I was opening the cards, the waitress asked if it was my birthday and before I could say anything, someone on the table said yes it was.  The next thing I knew a huge chunk of chocolate cake and ice cream compete with candle appeared on the table and everyone was singing!  Hilarious!  (We all enjoyed the dessert though ;)

Happy Cake Day to me!

Finally, the highlight of my week has been meeting one of my crafting heroes - Becky Higgins, creator of the Project Life scrapbooking system - at the Pinners Conference and Exhibition here in Scottsdale!  As many of you know, preserving our family memories is something I am hugely passionate about and this system has changed my scrapbooking life!  If you missed my post on how I use Project Life to record our family journal and would like to read about that click here to hop on over to my crafty blog (which I have very much neglected of late - soz!)

Hope you all have a good week and stay safe out there people!
TTFN
Bev x

Post Script:

And finally ... The Great Prescription Robbery ...

Just been to the pharmacy to collect my prescription.
"Here we are ma'am.  That will be $365.42 please ..."
"Sorry, WHAT?!?"
"Yes, sorry about that, but it's because you haven't reached your ..."
"Deductible ... yes, I know.  Thanks for that"

See you next time - I'm just off to plant another money tree in the back garden.