At my wit's end

Joe and I have had some amazingly weird interactions with people lately. He thinks the world is conspiring against him...I think it's just odd. Here are a few highlights:

Our movers were excellent and really did a great job of loading/moving our stuff but they did pull one over on us. Joe stayed back at our old house to clean it up while I went to the new place to direct the movers. I was already at the new place when the movers, at our old place, asked Joe if we wanted all the boxes unloaded into each room or if we wanted to save time/money by having them unload our boxes into the garage and then we could unpack them at our convenience. Joe said absolutely not. He wanted the boxes to go in each room and was very specific about it. (We had some really heavy boxes that needed to go upstairs.) So then the movers get here and basically ask me the same thing and explain that they already talked to my husband about it. They directed the conversation in a way that made it sound like Joe wanted them to leave the boxes in the garage so I said, "Yeah that's fine." Imagine Joe's surprise when he got home and realized that a lot of our boxes were in the garage.

Joe has been overpaying on his car loan each month. So he was surprised a couple weeks ago to find a letter in the mail that he was past due. Turns out they took the amount he overpaid and noted it as the only amount paid, which would make it less than the amount due. He called and had a long conversation with someone only for them to eventually admit they'd messed up. So he called a few days later and the problem still wasn't fixed so he had to explain the whole thing over again. Today, we got another letter in the mail about how we still haven't paid our car payment, etc. Argh! He is currently on the phone with them again!

Speaking of mail, we have had problems with our old post office. For example, a friend of mine sent me two cards 11 months ago that I never did receive. Also lost in one of those cards was a gift card. We asked for all of our mail to be forwarded starting Friday. We had to run by our old house today to leave something for our old landlord in the mail slot on the side of the house and there was a HUGE stack of mail sitting in plain site. That huge stack included lots of bills and personal information. Joe went to the nearest post office (which I've also had problems with) and explained that our mail wasn't being forwarded. They refused to help him. In fact, the person he spoke with was laughing at him with another employee. They told him he needed to go to a different post office. So he asked where it was. They said they didn't know. He asked if they could just give him an address. They told him they didn't know and they couldn't help him. End of story. He said the other people waiting in line were equally flabergasted.

Then the cable guys came yesterday while Joe wasn't here. They only brought one box for digital cable. I told them that I knew we were supposed to have two boxes. One upstairs and one downstairs. They told me I wasn't getting digital cable upstairs. I told him that I knew we were and to please check. After arguing with me he said that he doesn't know what we are getting because he doesn't read the order. So if you don't read the order, why are you arguing with me about what we get and how do you install our cable if you don't read the order? When I asked how much the second box would cost he simply said, "I have no idea." Then when setting up our internet, they asked for the electronic cord that went with our modem. I handed it to one guy and he said, "I know for a fact, that's not the right cord." I asked him multiple times if he was sure and when he assured me, I called Joe. Joe confirmed that the cord I had was the right one. Finally the guy says, "Well, I am positive this isn't the right one but I'll try it." Turns out it WAS the right cord. Argh!! Then Joe came home to find out we weren't getting the right channels and they didn't give us what he'd ordered over the phone. So now he has been on the phone a few different times trying to get it straightened out.

Today we stopped by an Indian restaurant for lunch. They had a lunch buffet but I didn't see my favorite dish on the buffet. I did see something that looked very similar but not the same. So I asked to see a menu. I looked up the ingredients in both dishes to see how similar and if I would like the other dish on the buffet. There were some very obvious changes so I asked to order off the menu and ordered my favorite dish. Joe ate off the buffet. When he got the dish I questioned, I asked to try it. Then my food came. I tasted it and was positive it was the same thing on his plate. I know what my dish is supposed to taste like and this wasn't it. So then Joe asks our waiter what the difference is between our two dishes and the waiter looks panicked and gets the owner. The owner walks over and Joe says, "I'm just curious, what's the difference between our two dishes. I can't seem to notice so I was just curious." The owner explains that the only difference is the cut of chicken but it's the exact same sauce. Interesting...because that is NOT what the menu said and that is not what my dish has ever tasted like before. In fact, the menu didn't note the difference in chicken at all...so basically I feel like I got a dish I didn't want just so they could give me what was on the buffet instead of making something different.

Anyway, these interactions have all occured within the last 24 hours (except for the car payment issue which has been ongoing)...I hope this is a fluke and we stop having such unfortunate interactions with people.