Safeway Club Card return policy – shopper beware

I just had the lamest experience at Safeway tonight. Hubby and I got a bottle of lighter fluid for a new moxa lighter last night. My stomach has been acting up lately and moxa sticks kind of help. When we got home, we found out we need butane fuel, not lighter fluid. Hubby is working late tonight so I decided to take care of the exchange myself. After waiting in line for a long while at Customer Service, a clerk at the self-checkout register offered to help me. I explained what I needed. He tabbed a few buttons on the screen and asked me to scan my Safeway Club Card and provide the extra 50 cents that the butane costs more than the lighter fluid. After he took my money, he said I must use the same Club Card for the exchange. On the night before, hubby used his card for the $3.49 purchase. I couldn’t get a hold of him by phone and the store manager (who was helping someone else at Customer Service a moment ago) wouldn’t budge so I asked for my 50 cents back. The guy was confused. I explained the cost difference and that I paid the self-checkout clerk. Once that’s clear, the manager had to take money from the same register that my money was deposited. After that, I walked up to a self-checkout register and paid for the butane myself WITHOUT using the stupid Club Card. I can’t believe this. The transaction was less than $5 and the manager said they couldn’t make any exception for a few dollars. I am now stuck with a bottle of lighter fluid that I have no use of because the self-checkout clerk had written all over the old receipt. All in all, DO NOT use the Safeway Club Card for purchases that you are not sure you will keep. I think I might just ditch the card altogether. One less thing to carry in my wallet.

The power of Chinese medicine

I’ve been a believer of Chinese medicine since the third grade. Back then, I had a 103-degree fever that wouldn’t go away for three days and my mom took me to see a different Western medicine doctor each day. A relative recommended a Chinese medicine doctor and I guess mom was ready to try anything by that point. The doctor prescribed me some black pasty herbal pills and a formula of Chinese herbal tea. I was up watching TV hours after taking the medicine. My mom thought it was quite amazing since I had stayed in bed for days.

Growing up, I continued to seek out Chinese medicine whenever I got ill.  And I was always sick with a high fever and the common cold. When I got the same thing the first Christmas I spent in Portland, I was away from my immediate family. My aunt hadn’t had any experience with Chinese medicine. She gave me regular Tylenol and I still kept boiling up. My temperature reached 104 degrees at one point. I’ve been at 103 degrees many times and that wasn’t bad. At 104 degrees, I was delirious. The ceiling was turning. Brain cells must be frying. I don’t remember one bit how I came back to life.

Diagnosed and fixed the electric hot water heater for under $40

The hot water heater stopped working over the Memorial Day weekend. I found out when I showered and the water went from lukewarm to cold on Sunday. My husband looked over the user manual of the water heater and reset the “High Temperature Limit Switch”. The water was hot again when he took a shower. We thought problem solved. Then on Monday, the same problem happened to me in the shower again. Even my hairdryer was dying, blowing lukewarm air so I was pretty cold for several hours.

iTunes movie rental – the fine prints

My hubby and I rarely watch a movie. We rent or go out to watch a movie may be once every two months. The new movie rental offering on iTunes seems to be a good match for us. When I heard that you can watch the movie on the iPod, I got even more excited because I have a DLO HomeDock Deluxe which is the middle man between an iPod and a TV. The whole thing seems to be too good to be true.

Sick of being sick

I haven’t been writing up any new geeky posts or plain o’ rants lately because I got sick after X’mas. I started out feeling really tired and a little headache. A few days later, the lymph nodes under my chin became swollen. Then the non-stop waves of fever came rolling in and out. My doctor gave me antibiotics last Monday and it still took a few days for the fever to go away. But a hive started developing last night. I didn’t sleep much. By this morning, the hives spread from head to toe. I visited the doctor again and learned that I am allergic to the antibiotic. Now I am on antihistamines. Everywhere itches like crazy. A cold pack seems to help but it’s winter, I get cold. It is super miserable. >_<