Category: Life

Posted in Life

Put it on a gift card

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Today, I had the wonderful pleasurof taking a return to the customer service counter at Walmart. The good news is that the line was short. The bad news is that the person ahead of me didn’t have her act together.

The counter person was stoic, helpful, and efficient. The refund amount for the two small cans of diced tomatoes was $1.76. Why did she need to return those? I have no idea.

Oh, and she wanted the refund put on a gift card. Yes, $1.76 on a Walmart gift card. She did not want cash. Or a credit on her card. She insisted on a gift card.

I couldn’t help but wonder why? Why not cash? Why not a one and a little change? Why not a credit on her Visa? Why even bother with such a small refund?

I have no idea. I don’t know what was going through her mind. I don’t know how much food she had or didn’t have at home. I don’t know where she got those tomatoes.

No harm, no foul. The tomatoes were returned. The gift card got a credit. Everyone walked away happy.

Posted in Life, Through the Bible Devotions

Inside out

Posted on by William Douthwaite

As I’m waiting my turn at the ATM, I notice the gentleman ahead of me has his t-shirt on inside out. So naturally I wondered, “What’s going on here?”

He got up early this morning and dressed in the dark, not seeing that his shirt was inside out. Sometimes in a hurry, I’ll fold my t-shirts inside out. I can turn them right side out later. (Unless I forget or I’m not paying attention or it’s dark?)

There is something offensive on the front of his shirt. Rather than choosing another shirt, he just wore it with the image on the inside for a trip to the bank.

Perhaps he was at a restaurant and got some food on the front of his shirt. He’ll change his shirt when he gets home. But for now, inside out will do.

“I’ll bet I could wear my t-shirt inside out and no one would notice.” There’s only one way to find out.

In any event, noticing something like this prompts me to pay more attention when I’m getting dressed in the morning!

Posted in Life

The TV shows I grew up with

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Daily writing prompt
What TV shows did you watch as a kid?
View all responses

This is such an involved prompt! The more I think about it, the more I remember. A few internet searches spark even more memories.

I’m a boomer who grew up in suburban Philadelphia with four television channels. Channel three was NBC, six was ABC, and ten was
CBS. PBS was channel 12, reserved for Sesame Street, Zoom, and Electric Company.

I’ll start with Saturday morning cartoons. We never missed Bugs Bunny. We loved the Flintstones, Wacky Races, Rocky and Bullwink, Johnny Quest, Scooby Doo, and the Jetsons.

Weekday shows before school included Captain Kangaroo (featuring the dancing gear and Mr. Green Jeans), Gene London, Chief Halftown (indian chiefs were still popular back then), and Sally Star (everyone’s favorite cowgirl). All their shows featured Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

We also loved Popeye, Top Cat, Hong Kong Fooey, Morocco Mole, Go Go Gophers, and Yogi Bear.

Military shows were popular. We watched Rat Patrol (World War II in northern Africa), Combat, Hogan’s Heroes, McHale’s Navy, Gomer Pyle, and F Troop. My friends and I played plenty of military scenarios, pulling wagons while friends fired 50 caliber guns.

We loved western shows like the Rifleman and Bonaza. When I was five or six, I got a rifle just like the one Chuck Connors, the Rifleman.

I never missed cartoon sitcoms like Tennesee Tuxedok, Quickdraw McGraw, Magilla Gorilla. Go Go Gophers, the Archies, and Josie and the Pussycats.

We also watched real sitcoms like Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Bewitched, My Three Sons, the Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, Leave it to Beaver, the Dick Van Dyke Showk Ozzie and Harriet, the Partridge Family, the Brady Bunch, and Mayberry RFD.

Comedy/Variety shows I remember include the Lucy show, the Red Skelton show, the Ed Sullivan Show, the Donna Reed Show, the Carol Burnett Show, and the Jackie Gleason Show.

I also remember adventure shows like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Sea Hunt, and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.

All of the above was in black and white. My dad didn’t get a color TV until after I went to college in 1972. We didn’t have a UHF antenna, so I didn’t watch the original Star Trek til later in life.

If you play a few seconds of any of the above theme songs, I can identify the show. These shows hooked us into don’t miss weekly viewing. We never missed the next episode of our favorite shows.

Posted in Life

So close, yet so far

Posted on by William Douthwaite

(I don’t really have to write much about this picture, do I?)

We stopped at a small coffee shop after a nice sunrise beach walk. Black for me, vanilla latte for her, two whipped cream pup cups, and a chocolate. chip. muffin.

I’ll be honest. I staged this picture. Willow, our Great Dane, is not a jumper. But she can counter surf with the best of them, flicking her lengthy tongue at a butter dish, salad fork, bowl of pasta, bits of gristle from a steak, or some crumbs from my homemade sourdough bread.

I was not cruel. I gave her a few crumbs. But I put the chocolate muffin just out of reach for this visual effect.

Great illustration, right?

So much of what we want seems so close, but it’s just out of reach. If we just had more money, experience, influence, talent, friends, or whatever, we would have what we want. We would be happy. We woulds be satisfied.

It’s always just out of reach, isn’t it?

That muffin would be gone in a moment. Most of the things we pursue only last a moment. We get it, and then we want something else. We’re never satisfied.

It looks so close, but what we want is so far away.

Posted in lessons, Life

A classic: the cookie scam

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Our cottage bakery got an email asking about a cookie order for a corporate event. Other bakers with similar businesses had described these larger-than-usual orders as the real moneymakers.

Our excitement turned to disbelief once we read his request: “25 dozen of a 4-pack of cookies of different flavors with the company logo printed on it.” I did the math and wondered, “Three hundred four-packs?” That’s 1,200 cookies!

Our three-and-a-half inch printed iced cookies start at $4.00 each. He going to spend $4,800 on cookies? That’s too much. Let’s offer 2-1/2 inch cookies at $2.50 each. It would still be a $3,000 order, but maybe that’s what he wants.

That offer was too much for the event budget. He countered, “How about twenty dozen cookies?”

We replied, “We can do 240 three-inch cookies for $3.00 each, a total of $720.”

He was happy with that order. So were we. That’s still a lot of cookies! Could we deliver to the conference venue in a neighboring town? We said we could.

I emailed him the invoice so we could start on the order. He replied, “Can I pay by e-check?” Of course. Our invoice takes you to a payment site with credit card and ACH options.

But his idea of an e-check was totally different than ours. He wanted to write out a check, take a picture of it, and email the picture to us so we could deposit it using our bank’s mobile deposit option.

Red alert! Defcon 5! Danger, Will Robinson! Are you kidding? There’s no way I’m doing that. A picture of a check does work like the real thing, as long as the bank clears it. There’s the catch. It takes up to a week for that kind of deposit to clear.

I learned that this is a set-up for fraud. Someone sends you a check for more than the agreed upon amount. All you have to do is send them a check for the overpayment. But when their check doesn’t clear, they disappear with whatever money you sent them.

I told him I could only take payment through our payment portal. He said he couldn’t do that, but looked forward to working with us in the future. When I looked him up on the corporate website, guess what? No such guy.

This all happened a few months ago. When I looked back at his emails, the first subject line “Cookies Enquiries” should have clued me in from the start. His request for different “flavours” should have tipped me off, too.

Apparently scams and fraud are business as usual for small businesses. Don’t ever let your guard down.

Posted in Life, senses

Can you smell that smell

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by ali esfandiari on Unsplash

With about 15 minutes to go in our walk this morning, the big dog and I caught a powerful whiff of cannabis wafting into the street. Yes, at 7:00 am.

I know what you’re wondering. I’ve never partaken, but I did go to college, and became very familiar with the smell of weed. I remember the first time the residence advisor met with us in the common are of the dorm. He basically told us that no one would say anything as long as you kept it in your room with the door closed. That was in 1975, when there were few rules and plenty of beer available at the fraternities. (Yes, I had a few.)

Anyway, I never thought of smoking as a first thing in the morning activity. But every morning I pass certain houses whose residents are having a cigarette, a cigar, or a morning hit. It’s like their cup of coffee or energy drink, I suppose. I know tobacco is addictive, cannabis not so much. Caffeine is. I guess it’s what you’re used to.

Now what I really like to catch a whiff of is a brisket that’s been in the smoker all night. That’s a Saturday or Sunday morning treat. Along with someone cooking bacon in an outdoor kitchen. I slow down in front of those homes, enjoying that moment as I contemplate getting a smoker.

Posted in Life

Treasures along the road

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The big dog and I walk about twenty-five miles a week, around all the streets in the neighborhood plus some bonus excursions through the nearby sports complex. I find something along the road almost every day. A dime, a washer, or a pencil. I’ve found a screwdriver, two folding utility knives, and a Spiderman action figure.

Yesterday was unusually productive. I found

  • A Lego apple. The bright red color stood out in the brown mulch. This is gold. We’ve paid good money to add food pieces to our Lego collection.
  • A one-inch blue ball. It looks like it belongs to some kind of game. I spied it in the grass along the side of the road. It will fit in nicely with our collection of balls the grandkids play with.
  • A twelve-inch zip tie. It was just laying there in the middle of the road. I use these all the time, organizing wires, cords, and cables in our house.
  • An admission ticket to By Brothers. By Brothers is a family owned Cuban restaurant/family fun park in Miami featuring pedal tractors, corn pit, aviary, petting farm, train rides, pony rides, a giant jump pad, camel rides, paintball, an obstacle course, a fish farm, a sprinkler zone, inflatable waterpark, ball pit, and bird gardens. I have no idea why this ticket would be laying along the road five hours north in Palm Coast, but it sounds like a place I’d definitely want to visit!
  • A raffle ticket. Actually, the road was littered with them. I only picked up one. I’m thinking I’ll tuck it away in my wallet, and one day…that number will come up!

Posted in Life

The missing lug nut

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Tekton on Unsplash

For the past few days, I’ve heard an unusual sound from the front end of the van just as I’m coming to a stop. It’s not a squeak or a grinding sound. It’s more like something rubbing. I don’t feel it in the brakes. I only hear it. But not all the time. Hmmm.

I made an appointment with the brake place where I just had some work done a few weeks ago. Today I took the van to Discount Tire for an overdue tire rotation. Balance, too? Sure.

After the initial inspection, the service rep told me, “You’re missing a locking lug nut on the right front wheel.” What? I had no idea. The set of regular lug nuts were still in the glove box. “Just put one of those on.”

Fifteen minutes later, I was out of there. And on the drive home, I didn’t hear that noise. Hmmm. Nice! Could that missing lug nut been the culprit? Who knows? I’m just glad it’s not a brake issue.

But now I’m wondering, “What happened to that lug nut?” The last people to work on the van were the brake guys. From now on, I’ll check the lug nuts when I do my walk around.

Posted in kitchen, Life

A great appliance repair experience

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

I wrote about our new double-oven a few weeks ago. Worked great and we got a great deal. However, after a few weeks, I noticed that the “hot surface” light stayed on all the time. All the burners worked and both ovens worked, but that light never blinked off.

I turned off the breaker, waited a few minutes and flipped it back on. The light was still on. I got online to see what the fix was. There’s got to be a YouTube video describing an easy fix. But I didn’t find one.

I opened up to the troubleshooting part of the oven manual. The solution? Turn the power off and on. If that doesn’t work, you need a service call.

I’d only had the oven for a few weeks, so the repair would be covered by warranty. I got online to find out who to call. Well, this is 2025, so you don’t actually call anyone. You go to a website, input your information, and make an appointment with a nearby repair company. It was pretty easy to schedule them for the day after tomorrow.

I was really happy when the repair guy called in the first few minutes of the four-hour appointment window and said, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The only thing I had to do was shut the dogs in a bedroom. My appointment confirmation email specifically said, “If you don’t have your pets secured before the technician arrives, he’s leaving.”

It took all of five minutes for the technician to open up the top of the oven and say, “I don’t know which burner is the problem. I’m going to order a whole new set. They’ll be delivered, and then I’ll come back to install them.” We agreed on the next appointment time, and he was out of there. If new burners didn’t solve the problem, he’d replace the wiring harness. If that didn’t work, I’d get a whole new oven.

One week later, a huge box arrived with all new burners for the oven. A week after that, he called to say he was on his way. One by one he replaced all five burners on the range top. After replacing each, he flipped the power back on. Four times in a row he said, “Nope. Not that one. It’ll probably be the last one.”

Sure enough it was. He popped in burner number five, turned the power back on, and announced, “There we go.” He tested all the burners, packed up his tools, and had me sign a receipt. Problem solved. He assured me, “I’ve never had to come back after replacing the burners.”

Overall, not a bad service experience.