A favourite store is closing, but will still be online

I found out on the weekend that one of my favourite stores is closing its physical store. The owner has opted to do business online instead. It makes sense to cut down on costs.

The sad thing is that I always found it magical to enter her store. I have been a regular customer since the start of this pandemic. I have done curbside pickup to reduce shipping costs. Now that it is operating online, I will have no choice but to shell out for shipping.

I'm thrilled that this store is still going strong. It closes on Sunday. We'll see if I can get down there for one last visit.

A call with my doctor and items in the mail 1.5 months later

Yesterday, I called my doctor's office to inquire about whether I could talk over the phone with her or see her at the clinic. Three months ago, consultations were strictly over the phone.

I got an odd setup where my doctor will call me later on today and determine whether I need to come in to see her. I'm not liking that screening process. Sadly, I have to live with it.

I'm pretty punctual when it comes to appointments. I have a feeling that either the call will come to me late or I won't get one. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I don't have that vibe.

On an interesting note as I change the subject, I had ordered a couple of items from the United States in early July. The packaged arrived today. Thank goodness they weren't crucial items. I'm glad that I have them at long last.

Transparency on shipping and the toll on the Internet when many are working from home

It appears that my modem will be delivered later on today. I just got a bill for the courier service. Interesting.

I'm not upset about paying $11.30 for shipping. It would have been nice if someone at my ISP had said, "Since you have been with us for eight years, we're giving you a new modem. However, we will be billing you for shipping." Transparency would have been nice.

Again, it's not a huge deal. The modem-router is probably worth $150 and I am hopeful that it will improve the quality of my Internet connection.

Yesterday, my colleague and friend had a chat with me about work. My connection had cut out briefly. She had the same issue with hers earlier in the day when she was in a meeting.

I have a feeling that since a lot of us are online, data connections will go through some hiccups these days.

Wish - reusable drinking straws

I have been shopping on Wish for roughly two years. I like that you can find cool items for cheap. The downside is that these items come mostly from China and it takes a month for them to arrive.

I am a patient person. However, I don't recall what I had ordered until I see something in my mailbox.

For a while, I have wanted to get reusable drinking straws. I often go out to Starbucks to get an iced drink or someplace else for a fountain drink. I seem to use a straw every other day, which is not helping our planet.

I got a five-pack of purple glass drinking straws. They also come with two straw cleaners. I am extremely pleased with my purchase. It was also carefully wrapped in massive bubble wrap. I was impressed.

The downside is that I do not have some sort of travelling case for my straws. I guess that I need to look on Wish for it... haha!

Shopping and technology

My guy and I share a love for shopping. Just before Christmas, a number of items had arrived from the States.

I lived in Minnesota for two years. I developed a love for watching QVC and ordering a number of items at decent prices. At one point, after I had moved back to Canada, QVC shipped up here. It then decided to stop doing that.

I found a service that provides you an address in the States. You provide this address as your shipping address. This service then takes your shipments sent to your U.S. address and ships them to its Canadian warehouse at reasonable rates. Since I learned about this service, I use it as often as I need to.

The good news is that I work pretty close to the pickup location that it is effortless to fetch my shipments. The folks there are kind and helpful. I actually ordered a fairly weighty baker's rack. The gentleman managed to place it in my car, which included the two of us shifting it around in my car to make it fit.

One item that I love these days that I had ordered from QVC is my Amazon Echo. It's a speaker, but you can ask Alexa pretty much anything. I ask her to provide me the current weather forecast, play specific songs, lower or hike up the volume, set alarms, and more. It is a ton of fun so far. My Echo is white, which I didn't realize that it typically is black.

Amazon Echo is not available in Canada for purchase. I didn't realize that fact! It works wonderfully. The sound is great and it recognizes my voice!

During the Boxing Day sale at Best Buy, which ended up lasting for what seems to be weeks, I got a new printer. I haven't printed anything to it yet, as I just got around to unpacking it yesterday. I do like the fact that I can send files or photos from my phone to the printer. Fancy!

My guy isn't surprised that I have these items. I love technology and I am his geeky gadget girl. I tried to convince him that I am a good geeky gadget girl, but he manages to always tell me that I am far from being good.