Excitement waning... frustration growing!

Why is it when I really need something to arrive in timely fashion, it takes weeks and weeks????

My fabric and NPI threads for my hearts sampler... still not here. 3 weeks now. My Belle Soie? 3 weeks on Monday. My personal stash? Still AWOL after 3 weeks. ARGH! It's annoying that USPS First Class mail doesn't include tracking!!!

While I'm ranting I'd like to include a few more for good measure...

First, ebay. What the heck is up with ebay? I was trying to bid on an item the other day. It took so long for the page to refresh and bring up the bid now option, that the auction ended before it loaded. It's been really slow like that since they changed their display format a few months ago. I have the latest versions of IE, Firefox and Google Chrome and it does it on all of them. I have a quad core, 3GB of RAM and a 2GB video card running Windows 7 - so it isn't my computer speed. It also did this on XP, so it's not the operating system. And I have a 5 meg internet connection, so that's not the issue either. It's ebay. Why the heck did they have to ruin it???

While on the topic of ebay, I have a few pet peeves about sellers on ebay.

1. I buy a fair number of silk threads and yarns on ebay, so most of my searches include the word "silk". Rayon is not silk. Anchor is not silk. DMC is not silk. Why the heck do people list something as a lot of "embroidery silks" and then in the description say "100 skeins of anchor cotton threads". Cotton isn't silk, it's misrepresentation and it's annoying as all get out. Further to this point - don't list "art silk" as 100% silk thread. Art silk is rayon, sometimes containing a small percentage of silk, but generally mostly rayon. Lugana, Jobelan and Aida are not linen. Linen is not a broad spectrum term for cross stitch fabric. Linen is linen. If you truly don't know what it is you're listing, then put good closeup pictures of the labels and/or what the labels have written on them in the description.

2. Shipping. What does it matter if you have to ship outside of the US? I'm paying for the shipping, so what's the issue? International shipping generally involves a little slip of paper that you have to fill out - what the item is and it's value. Less than a minute to fill out. Apparently this is too much of a hassle for some people to do. It annoys me because lots of times I'll see an auction I'd like to bid on, then see "no international shipping" and the item goes for a lot less than I would have bid on it. I figure it serves the person right, if you won't ship to me, you deserve to get a piddly amount for your auction.

Finally - 3. List things in the right category. If I want to look at cross stitch kits, I'll go to the category called cross stitch kits. I get so sick of going to check out cross stitch floss only to have a huge section of listings for cross stitch charts or kits - most of which are from a couple of Chinese companies, and most of which are copyright infringing rip offs of other companies' designs. If I want machine embroidery thread, why the heck would I click on hand embroidery thread? Put the stupid listing in machine embroidery thread!! GRRR

But, enough about ebay. My next rant... customers. One of these days I'm going to snap and say one or all of the following:
1. I only have two hands, and I'm already using them with the customer that is three people ahead of you in line, but if you insist on butting in and interrupting, I'll gladly sprout a third arm out my butt to slice your meat for you right this second.
2. Clearing your throat six times, crossing your arms and tapping your foot isn't going to speed me up, especially when I've already told you that I'll be with you in just one moment, I need sanitize the equipment. I have food safety standards I have to adhere to, but if you want e-coli, I'd be happy to serve you right this second.
3. I work in the deli department, as indicated by the big huge sign over my head that says DELI. Much as I'd like to be omnipotent in this store, I can't slice your bread for you. See that big sign over there that says BAKERY? They'd be happy to help you with that. Nor do I have the equipment to core your pineapple, steam your lobster or cut you a prime rib roast. I'm good, but I'm not that good.
4. The fact that all the lights in the department are turned off and you don't see any staff in it is a good indication that the department isn't open yet, but by all means, stand there and peer into the dark counter for the next fifteen minutes until someone notices you're there and informs you that the department isn't open yet.
5. I don't even have the time to empty my dangerously full bladder at the moment, but sure, I'll give you a guided tour of the store and be your personal shopper for the next half an hour. It's what I live for.
6. Please continue talking on your cell phone while I'm trying to take your order. While you're at it, can you hold your hand up to me or shush me so that you can talk? I really love it when you do that. I live to serve you and have nothing better to do than to wait for you to finish.
7. No, the chickens aren't ready. It's six o'clock in the morning. If you'd like one right this minute, I can use my trusty blowtorch and cook one for you. Just wait right there a moment. OR No, the chickens aren't ready. I'm terribly sorry, in future I'll plan my day around your need for chicken at six o'clock in the morning. OR Yes, the chickens are right in front of you, but they're only visible after ten AM.

There are lots more of those, but those are the ones that spring to mind at the moment. I have actually used the last one about invisible chickens before. Luckily the customer had a good sense of humour!

I'm in a bad mood. I had a rough day at work, and a couple of us are getting really ticked off with other people not pulling their weight. To make matters worse, said person then had the nerve to complain about how tired she was after a very busy day. What busy day? You served 10 customers and made a couple of pizzas in 7 hours. The rest of us served a hundred or more each and did 3 times the production you did!!!!

I'm sleep deprived too - I blame the Olympics, I have to see what happens even though I know I have to be up early for work. I figure it's only once every 4 years, so I'll live with being grumpy for a couple weeks. Thankfully, I have a day off tomorrow and I can sleep in.

And I don't know what I did, but my right shoulder is screaming in pain. I want to go relax and stitch, but I have a feeling it's going to hurt too much. :( I'm sure as heck going to try though.