It's a beautiful COOL but still dark day in California. It's probably a good thing I can't sleep in, because then I'd feel guilty about not getting anything done. Not that I actually DO anything!! You would think that someone without really great hearing at this old age would be able to sleep through anything.
I started the day off with this! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!! I usually spend the first hour trying to tidy up. That includes all the dog toys and the six balls that now grace my floor. They must all be available for play at any time because you never know exactly WHICH one is the designated ball-o-the-day.
Time to get to work!! I had one of these blowers in Arizona. Mostly I used it to clean the patio and the garage. I didn't need one here since I had a gardening service that took care of that. Well you know what happened to them. Suddenly it dawned on me I had an even BIGGER patio and garage here. Why not make it easier on myself? Off to Home Depot I went.
I picked up the first blower I saw that looked like my old one. This is NOT it. This is the OLD one. Notice the shape of the battery ... which fits in the charger (along with several other batteries) for the drills and other tools I already have.
Then I picked up this hedge trimmer. Perfect for the roses. Notice the battery and charger are completely different. The box for this was pretty destroyed. No problem they said ... it's all there and we will give you $20 off. Both of these tools will work with the one battery and charger in the box. I bought both and headed home, only to find out the battery would not charge.
So apparently it didn't work for the first buyer and they put it BACK on the shelf to be sold again? When it didn't work? All I got was error messages from the charger. Is it a FULL MOON?
Yup I had to put it all back, tape up the box and return it. Obviously I was not a very happy gardener. I had planned that this battery and charger would be used for BOTH tools. Now I have a blower and NO battery.
I walked over and asked for help in finding what I needed. She stood there talking to her cohort for five minutes before wandering over to tell me that they didn't have a batter and a charger to be sold together. I had to buy them separately at TWICE the cost. I think she saw the steam coming from my ears. I said no thank you. I will return the blower and go to Lowes! I spent all day and three trips that resulted in nothing. Oh yes ... that's the full moon in action!
It didn't stop there. Big sigh!! I ordered TWO bags of parrot food for Jonathan, which by the way has become almost double the price that it was.
Wasn't I surprised when I opened the box to find THIS! Dove food???????? I double checked my order. Yessirree ... it said two packages of PARROT food. This was an Amazon purchase, and lucky for me way back when, I kept their service phone number.
After several tries working through PRESS TWO NOW, I finally got a real person. Too bad they couldn't speak English well enough to be understood. I think they were in India somewhere. She tried to get the seller on the phone (which I later discovered was Petco) ... but it never happened. Geez ... another full moon ray of madness hit my house. How could you make THIS mistake?
No one ever answered the phone, so I THINK the lady said she would leave a call-back message on their FRAUD department phone. WHAT??? We'll see how far that goes!!
In the meantime, this guy right here ... he keeps me sane. Sort of. He puts the ball on the chair so you can flick it off on the floor for him to retrieve. Over and over again. The shaved patch on his back? That's a little growth that cannot be removed. It's been itching a lot, so they shaved it to make it easier to apply anti-itch cream. Poor baby ....... hopefully it stops soon. It definitely doesn't keep him from playing the ball game.
And so what's going on today? My SECOND blower should be delivered around noon. I haven't decided whether to get the hedge trimmer. I feel like that was an omen ... maybe I'm not supposed to have one. And so it goes in sunny California!!
All these battery operated tools rely on a battery that doesn't work after a short period of time. While they are nice when they do recharge, the price for a new battery is insane. Oh and they upgraded them so the old charger won't work for them. Don't think about the lithium, dug by whom, to process them, who is getting rich off of an expensive product with a short shelf life. What a racket. Kind of like the electric cars. Do an image search for "EV graveyard" to see what I mean. They should really have an exchange program for these things. What the hell do I do with these dead batteries laying around? Have gone this route with a drill that now sucks as the new batteries didn't help much & don't hold a charge. I use an extension cord for my new blower.
ReplyDeleteIf you take your old battery to Home Depot or Lowe’s they have a recycle bin. They actually send them to a recycleing center.
DeleteThat is probably true. I have three batteries for three tools I use, which is why I wanted the OLD kind of blower in order to use the same ones. These batteries are now 8 years old and still working great! Just like everything else nowadays though, they build it cheaply so you will buy a new one when it quits.
DeleteI agree this battery operated crap is a pain.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you having to make trips to exchange stuff.
Hopefully you will find one that holds a charge.
Frances:)
I don't know if the problem was the battery or the charger! Imagine using a battery operator lawn mower!
DeleteMr. Ed said You know, they have a liberal return policy and probably put it back on the shelf so you probably got the blower that I returned because I took a part off it I needed for my old one
ReplyDeleteWhen I had my birds, I used to use sunshine seeds. From California I think that changed to the company called sunseed which is available today actually if you look on https://www.chewy.com/?utm_. I’ve heard many good things about that company fair shipping quality product
as for the dog ball use your phone an let Mr. Roomba go under and get it
That's exactly what I think. They put it back on the shelf. No problem though ... it did not have the type of battery I wanted anyway. I'll see if I can find that seed. Jonathan will be happy!!
DeleteGee, if you ONLY KNEW someone in Florida where you can still buy gas operated leaf blowers (which put out way more power) who would be more than happy to send it to you in California. :)
ReplyDeleteWell it just happens ...... LOL. I have gas powered everything else ... but truthfully, they are a pain. The carburetors always need cleaning! With the price of fuel out here, they aren't all that efficient any more!!
DeleteSounds like Dave has an offer for you!!
ReplyDeleteYes it does!!!!! Truth be told, I have my eye on a lawnmower in Nevada!!
DeleteMe I am up early every day, I like the quiet of the house and I like getting things done early not that I do much, I check emails, read some blogs, do a blog post except on Saturday when I don't post and then some housework. Ok who am I kidding I tidy the kitchen, clean the bathroom sink and maybe the loo and then I vacuum, that's all I do.
ReplyDeleteHahaha Joanne .... I too love the early morning quiet. Good for you for at least getting THAT much done!!!
Delete