(43-170) The Mystery of the Missing Paint Brush

On Monday, Luis and I went to Lowe's to buy some more paint and supplies for our big renovation.  Luis showed me a brush that he was interested in, and I told him to buy it.  We then promptly made our purchases; and brought them home. 

Well, last night, Luis began taping the walls that he was going to paint today, and he asked me if I had seen the bag with the paint brush and the small rollers.  I told him that I hadn't; and he continued his search to find it. Luis  looked around the house, and when he couldn't find it anywhere; he went out to the minivan to see if he had left the bag in the car.  He came in empty handed.

Fast forward to today... Luis resumed painting and periodically looked for the bag with the paint brush and rollers.  I tried to help him as well, and scoured the house for the allusive bag.  I asked each one of the kids to go out to the minivan to see if they could find it. I asked Lyndzi to look under the couch in the playroom; and when the bag didn't turn up; we pulled the couch away from the wall, to see if the bag had somehow gotten behind it; but it hadn't.

I asked Luis to check the receipt to confirm that we'd purchased the paint brush and rollers; but he told me that the receipt was in that bag.  Finally, when I was convinced that we had searched as much as possible; I found the phone number for Lowe's and called to see if we had accidentally left the bag there.  The customer service clerk didn't have our bag; but told me that if we brought our receipt in, they could locate the video tape from when we were in the store; and then they could check to see if we had left the bag.  I thought this was fascinating.  I explained that the receipt was in the missing bag; and the clerk told me that they could look up the credit card number that I used; locate the receipt via the credit card, and then locate the video, as I previously described.  I was impressed.

After dinner, Luis and I went back to Lowe's.  I told Luis that I hoped that they had the bag, because then I would have something to blog about; and then on second thought, I realized that I could blog about it, regardless.   We went directly to customer service and I explained why we were there.  And then, the customer service clerk asked "and you were in THIS store?"  I assured him that we had been in this exact store; thinking to myself "no, I left it somewhere else but I expect you to have it here."  And later, when I shared this with Luis; he told me that he had wanted to say "No, it was at Wal-mart."  But I digress...

The clerk looked up our credit card number and was able to locate our receipt.  He said "you purchased 2 gallons of Oat bran, a quart of white, and a package of edger refills."  HMMMM!  Whaddya know... Luis in fact had NEVER purchased the paint brush and rollers that we all had been searching for so diligently.  I had to laugh.

I know that I saw Luis with the paint brush in his hand; although I never recalled the rollers.  He must have placed the items down as he looked at the edger refills, and never picked them up again.  Oh well, stuff happens.  At least the mystery of the missing paint brush has been solved.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

Queen of EVERYTHING P.I.

After posting "Forty One Candles" I received some comments from GC. The comments were very nice, and assured me that I had nothing to be embarrassed about; however, there was cause for suspicion as to if the comments were actually submitted by GC himself. Now, Queen of OVERTHINKING that I am, ultimately kicked into operation as Queen of EVERYTHING P.I (I mean, why not - Richie Howell was a P.I so it must just run in my blood... right??) And as most P.I's don't work alone (remember Charlie's Angels, Magnum etc) neither did I. I had myself one cracker jack team; (who the hell, says that? I really am in P.I. mode LOL) anyway, Michelle (she´s been sending me emails with her last name actually listed as )K, Jackie, Jessica, Kate and Rachel all attempted to help me figure out this mystery.
So this was the sitch...
1. I received a total of 3 comments that were all variations of the same comment, but they were left on 2 different posts and at 3 different times.
2. The first of the 3 comments was left by 85Dutchmen (just like his very first comment on the other blog;) and the other 2 were from Dutchmen85.
3. All 3 comments asked me to say Hi to JV and I had no idea who JV was.
So, I ask you; given these facts, would you have been suspicious? Well, anyone who actually knows me personally, must know that my stomach was in a knot the entire time we were trying to figure out this conundrum. It's not that I WANTED the comments to be left by GC (no offense GC;) it was just that I didn't want them to have been left by someone else; and after the whole experience with the BL, I was nervous. I mean I am just a woman who is pursuing her dream and I didn't understand why someone would feel the need to tamper with that. Well, after a few days of torturing myself; and everyone else around me - I decided to do something that I thought was impossible for 27 years; and I called GC (Oh, yes I did!) OK, now it's not just like I HAD his number - I was able to find it on Zaba Search. I felt like I was in high school again, when I dialed those numbers and I just kept telling myself that it was for MY greater good. It took all the strength that I had, but I did it. I left a message and said something like"Hi, this is Paige and we went to Tappan Zee high school together and I was hoping to talk to you because I think that you left a comment on my blog etc. etc." I know; I'm crazy - but as with any problem, the first step is admitting it.
Anyway, I was really proud of myslf for facing my fear and leavng the message. NOT because I wanted to talk to GC so badly after all these years (no offense GC;) but because I went far outside my comfort zone and did something that was scary to me in order to preserve what I'm trying to build with this blog.
A little over 24 hours later GC left me a message and told me to call him back; so I did. Again I was nervous as I dialed his number; not so much to talk to him, and admit that I'd written about my crush, but more so because I didn't want to find out that someone had tampered with "TBR." Ater saying hello, there was a momentary pause and then he asked "So what about this blog?" "OMG! He has no idea what I'm even calling about" I thought; but then he said that he was only kidding and that he knew all about it; and he couldn't have been nicer.
As it turns out, all 3 comments in question, were in fact submitted by him. Mystery solved - score one for Queen of EVERYTHING P.I.
GC and I had a very nice conversation. He's happily married (put your Aw's aside - because so AM I;) and he really wasn't looking for naked pictures of himself when he came across my blog; and since many of you asked - he may even supply me with some pix (clothed of course,) so stay tuned.
So what has this experience taught me (other than that I may have a future as a P.I. if this writing thing doesn't work out...)
1. Proceed with caution (especially when using people's names in my blog.)
2. Most times what you imagine is far worse that what actually is.
3. If something is important to you; NOTHING should stand in your way - including fear.
4. A little embarassment won't kill you; it will just make you stronger.
5. Friends are invaluable. (But this I already knew!)

I hope that these lessons will prove useful to you too as we head into 2009. If anyone can find comfort or assistance from the experiences that I share, then a little embarassment now and then it is all the more worth it to me.
I wish you all happiness, health and prosperity in the New Year.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

How to Catch A Hamburglar

Now this is getting interesting...
Last night I posted my blog about the McDonald's employee and her drawn on, arch eyebrows. I posted a disclaimer (as I have done before) in attempts to excuse myself in case I was insulting anyone who might be reading my blog; because I would feel terrible if I inadvertently hurt someones feelings. I have previously admitted that I am the Queen of Over thinking, to the point where I can just worry myself sick - because although I have been accused of being the Queen of Caustic; I am also the Queen of Sensitivity and I take things to heart way too much.
OK, so I emailed Rachel, Michelle (not yet legally ) K, and Tiffany to let them know that I have posted a new blog, because they usually like to beat the blogarithm- but this was done at about 1020 pm. So, this morning I had gotten an email from Michelle (not yet legally) K and she mentioned the blog; so I checked my comments as I always do, and there were 2, so I assumed that they were both hers, because she often leaves two. I emailed her to thank her and much to my surprise, she told me that she was NOT the Hamburglar and she asked who was. I said "I don't know; I was sure it was you;" but she said "hell no."
Now you see, the Hamburglar inferred that I didn't care about offending people and the way I originally took the comment was as if it was from one of my good buddies and they were making fun of me, so I thought it was funny; but as time came to pass I started to believe that this wasn't the case; and I became perplexed. I mean I'll admit that on a couple of occasions, I've gotten some comments and I wasn't sure who left them, but given the amount of clever friends that I have; this is totally understandable and I've always been able to find out who it was from; but something was now different about this one. It didn't feel FUN anymore.

OK, so the comment was left at 1233 am and I really wasn't sure who left it. It could have been Big V, but she's in Disney World this week and even if she wasn't, she's on the east coast so the time was all wrong. I emailed my brother and asked him if he was the Hamburglar - but he had no idea what I was talking about. Lesa G said that she wanted to leave a comment as Mayor McCheese, but didn't know how to. It wasn't Rachel, Tiff or Lisa B - so who??
Well, my husband and friends are all speculating; and interestingly enough, they all think it is the same person. We've even discussed trying to smoke out the Hamburglar; but how? I tried getting a hold of Michelle (not yet legally) K to see if she wanted to attempt combat with the Hamburglar; but I was unable to reach her. My good friend Lisa B offered to bait the Hamburglar in the comment area; (and buy, I can't thank her enough for being so sweet;) but since I really don't want any more repercussions, I thought I'd try this approach first.
I guess at this point I am just curious to know who the heck the real Hamburglar is, and what there intention was? I would also like to say, that in my defense, (if I need one;) I know that my humor is often sarcastic and yes sometimes at other people's expense; but I think that I tend to make fun of myself more than I make fun of anyone else. So I hope that you can all see it for what it is. I never wanted to make anyone grimace (haha, I couldn't resist.) (FYI - Grimace, you know; big purple guy that lives in McDonaldland.)
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING