Never Settle

I survived 8 more days of quarantine since my last post which included one visit to the supermarket. I was trying t be strategic about my visit. I decided that I would go early to get in as soon they opened but JoBear decided that he was going to sleep late so that plan had to be scrapped. I decided on another course on action. Go in the middle of the day when it is hotter with the hope that because of the temperature not man people would be there at that time.

When I arrived at the supermarket, there was a line so I joined it. Only to realize afterwards that they were handing out numbers. The person handing out the numbers was seated at the entrance to the supermarket, expecting you to read his mind so that you know that you should retrieve a number, since if you see a line your instinct is to just join it which is what I did. This meant that persons who arrived after me got numbers ahead of mine and went into the supermarket before me. Even though there was a line, it was not one of those stretch around the block kind of lines so the wait was not that long. I stood in the sun with my trusty mini umbrella from H&M. It is small enough to hold in my cross body bag and gives just enough sun protection. It has become one of my can’t live without items during this pandemic. More info to follow on this.

I went back to work the day after the quarantine period ended. On the one hand I was glad to be getting out of the house. But on the other hand I was afraid that this was going to be it. The virus was going to find me, once I set foot outside.

Sometimes the universe throws us curve balls. We may never understand why all the time, but they come. I had one such thrown my way last Friday. Long story short, my purse and phone were stolen from my desk at my office. Yes you read that correctly… from my office. Sometimes, truth is in fact stranger than fiction. The thief made off with all my bank cards, id, trn card, and some other items, as well as some cash.  I cancelled what needed to be cancelled, but not before having one of those conversations with NCB where I get exasperated.

Monday started pleasantly enough but things started going downhill as I made my way to Scotiabank to get a replacement debit card. First I went to Cross Roads and it was closed. I headed to Oxford Road and I was optimistic about things as the parking lot was nearly full of cars. After I parked and walked in I realized that they were not in fact open. So I headed to Liguanea. There was a long line but I was asked to join a line for non-cash transactions which was not very long. After 2 hours of waiting in the hot sun with my trusty H&M brollie, and not moving an inch while seeing persons just walk up to the door and be let in, it was time for drastic measures. For those of you reading this who know me, you would probably say I am the quiet one, I speak softly and you may never have heard me raise my voice. I shouted at the rep, i asked for the manager, I stood my ground and refused to be brushed off. This got me in the door shortly after and I managed to complete my transaction and get a new card.

One card replaced, many more to go. I am being optimistic and thinking that the contents of my purse, will be recovered, before I go and stand in any other long lines. I hope that the thief needed the money more than I do and that it was not used for frivolous things.

I don’t usually get too attached to material things, but I am disappointed that this was how my relationship with my One Plus Three ended. I got this phone in 2016. I was in the process of scientific inquiry trying to determine just how long it would last under moderate use. Lately it had seemed to be losing its charge a little quicker than normally but otherwise it was fine. I was even going to get a new case. It was in my amazon cart and everything. This was the longest I had ever had a phone, possibly including those indestructible ones of yesteryear. I dropped it many times without fear. It would fall and people would gasp and I would drop it again so they would see that I did not have anything to worry about and I have also been trying to live by the tagline “Never Settle”.

These few weeks have been a trip and there were a few lessons learnt:

1. There are other things to worry about other than Covid-19, like getting robbed.
2. While this pandemic continues and the measures put in place continue to be observed, it doesn’t hurt to have a small, light brollie for those long waits in line.
3. Never Settle for mediocre customer service.
4. Sometimes shouting helps.
5. Don’t forget what is most important. In most cases, it is not things.

 

 

 

 

Quarantine Day 4

I left my house for the first time since we were placed on lock down. First I went to purchase petrol. There were definitely more persons than normal at the gas station. In fact there was a line to get into the convenience store.

Later in the afternoon I drove to Portmore to collect a few things that someone who works in Portmore brought across for me from Kingston. The lines for the grocery stores and supermarkets that I encountered were long. That mission accomplished I made my way in the direction of home but I had one thing left to do.

Ordinarily we would purchase drinking water at Blake’s Water Store in Portmore but I figured that would definitely have been a no go. My brother in law had gone to Angels earlier in the morning and he noticed that there was a water filling station at a gas station there. I made my way to Angels and got the water. The convenience store was definitely busier than an average Saturday but there was no line to get in. The staff were all wearing masks and your hands were sanitized at the door. There was however a line to get into the Tastee at the location.

Most persons that I encountered were wearing their masks as per the Order, but there were still some persons without masks or who had them on but they were wearing them properly.

In other news, my delivery of produce has yet to arrive and I have had zero luck with getting in touch with the farmer. Sampars website is still not up. Dropoffs at the border may be the next best thing as long as we aren’t all placed on lock down.