Random Thoughts - Fleeting Summer, Canadian Woes Edition...

Where has summer gone? Or did it even arrive in this first place? I don’t know about where you’re from, but here, it’s been cooler and more rainy than usual. We have an “old wives tale” in our area that says when the golden rod starts to flower; there will be frost in approximately 6 weeks. Well, the golden rod started to flower about 2 weeks ago, so if the tale is true, there will be frost on the ground by mid September.
My friends that I told you about a while back have officially moved to Panama. I’m so happy for them, but I won’t lie – I’m super jealous too. I know my time will come – if and when J and I can agree on a retirement destination. We each want different things and at this point, our only compromise might be splitting our time between 2 spots. Not the wisest move financially…

The Boy has been home from school for a visit in between semesters. It’s been really nice having him home, but soon he will be back on his way and once again, our house will be quiet…and clean…and the refrigerator will be full.

I’ve been participating in WAAAAY too much of things and not enough of others – too much food, too much drink, too little exercise and with that, my butt has become WAAAY too large. I had been doing so well up until mid July and then things just fell apart. I refuse to get on the scale because that will just cause me great anguish. I have every intention on getting back on track after the long weekend. Yes, I’m procrastinating…

As a Canadian, I’m tired of being gouged by shipping companies because I live in Canada. I’m disgusted by what things cost to have something shipped across the border. I order a lot of things online. On average, I pay more than 4 times for shipping to Canada than if I lived in the US and THEN, I still have to pay any exchange fees, plus customs and brokerage charges – pure B.S. We live approximately and hour and a half from the border, so in order to combat this, I’ve opened up an account with a US company that will accept shipments in my name in Niagara Falls, New York. They charge $5 per package when I go to pick it up. Yes, I’m still paying gas and my time, BUT I think it’s money well spent. It’s my way of sticking it to the “man”.

One problem solved, but my next complaint is that some websites (i.e. Converse.com) will not sell to me because I do not have a US credit card. Their site clearly says shipping to the US only, so my “US address” now solves that problem; however I cannot complete the purchase because I do not have a US credit card, nor will they accept payments from my PayPal account because it is also registered in Canada. eBay and a million other companies don’t seem to have a problem taking my money, so what’s the deal with Converse? What do they have against Canadians? Another case of pure B.S.

For those of you that are “friends” on Facebook, you know that J has shipped his first wholesale order for his wine bottle creations to a winery in Malibu, California. We also participated in an outdoor festival a few weeks back and his creations got a lot of positive feedback…and some sales too. He’s also aligned with a local home decor company and has some of his pieces on consignment with them. We’re pretty excited about his success so far and are hoping the orders continue. If you’re interested to can like our page on Facebook – either click on the link just search Surfing Flamingo and voila.

Comments

Beatriz said…
Yeah shipping to Canada is weird, my BIL shipped a baby item to Canada for a friend and it was crazy expensive!

Congrats on J's creations being such a hit!
Simply Suthern said…
I've never shipped to or had anything shipped from Canada. However, We do business in Canada and you would think we were going into a middle east hot spot when it comes to getting our folks and equipment across the border.

How much drive time to Niagra?
Simply Suthern, we are only an and hour and half to Niagara Falls. I can only imagine how hard it is to get things over the border.
*krystyn* said…
If you want, I can buy you the Converse and ship (at whatever it cost me, no gouging here) them to you. Really, I don't mind. :) Email me if ur interested.

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