Los Flores de mi familia.

Bad Business Practices.

I've shopped at Classic Closeout for a year...almost two.. I've never had a bad experience. This last time I did. I also wrote a negative feedback on the products the company sent me.


"I was really disappointed with the swim suits - they look like they were made for a 5 - 8 year old. Great if all you want is a couple of band-aids. I did not think that they were made very well . The big girl's blue sweat shirt arrived bagged - yet has a stain. The panties appear fine. The little girls night dresses are very soft and cute-hence the 2 stars-first time I rate CC lower than a 4 or 5"


Dear Katie,

Thank you for your recent ClassicCloseouts.com Amazon purchase. It has been brought to my attention that you were not satisfied with some of the items that you received. Concerning the item that you reported having a stain, I have arranged for return instructions to be sent to you via e-mail. As an apology for this situation, I would like to offer you a coupon good towards $10 off of your next purchase of any amount at www.ClassicCloseouts.com. Before I send you this coupon code, I just ask that you remove the negative feedback left with Amazon.com. Once this feedback has been removed, please let me know and I will send you your $10 coupon.
Once again, I apologize for any inconvenience this situation has caused and thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Josh
ClassicCloseouts.com
[ ClassicCloseouts.com Virus Scanned ]


My Reply?

Josh,

What's the difference between your offer and a bribe?

Here's the reality, my word is worth more than $10. Thanks but no thanks. While I appreciate the fact that you "tried" in your own way to make good on selling me a defective item. ... It would take more time and effort than it's worth to send it back - I'll simply donate it to a secondhand shop along with all the other items I bought from CC that are totally useless. I can always find another place to shop. The ironic fact is I would more than likely have continued shopping at Classic Closeout - at least giving the company another shot.. until this email.


I dinna even get to say the sleep wear was already unraveling at the hem on Kayli's! Then I would have had to pay for shipping on everything - and they wanted each article packaged separately. Plus authorized individually by them.

Going Walkabout..

In the days long past I would simply disappear for a bit.. that's known as a walkabout. My longest walkabout took me through the States of Texas, AZ, Nevada, CA, WA, ID,UT, OR and MT.. that was a 30+ day trip ( I never returned so it was actually 6 years..lol...before they saw me again ). That was before I had horses. My trips generally are about me, searching for balance and harmony within. Sometimes though I just want to get away for a bit, away from computers, tvs,phones , radios, ok... lol.. civilization.... Occasionally on other trips I simply start walking and go wherever my feet and my horses take me. We've been through parts of the Andaconda Pintler Wilderness; we've gone through Hoodoo Pass in ID... so many Lakes and dirt roads.... to trails only the deer travel on. So many areas of wilderness to embrace. My dogs accompany me . There we are.. three horses, 2 dogs now.. and me. I was thinking perhaps we could go camping... lots of fresh grass to graze.. go pick pecans for a couple of days.

I'm simply tired... and as odd as this may sound - I miss myself. I want to hear myself think without interruption. I want to relax and watch the clouds roll by. I want and I need this - even if it is only for a few days. I need solitude to bathe my soul and refresh me once again.

I may or may not pop online in the morning.. so no worries! Catch up with you all by and by! Hugs!
with love and light always, Katie

Cindra's Monday games

Every Monday Cindra has a game. She posts her blog with 18 words underlined throughout. The deadline closes on Tuesday around midnight or so ( read the weekly rules for any changes) . I found this to be fun and interesting. The truth is that "games" like this help one stretch in new directions by asking one to focus on a particular facet . This was my entry in the first game I entered. The winners were Tall Chick and Tina , but I thought all the writers did well and had a lovely time playing! The readers vote for the story they like most. Anyone can vote. Anyone can post a story, a poem, lyrics, whatever - as long as one uses the 18 words. The next game starts Monday. Go see. Go vote. Come back and play!


The first time I met grandpa's friend Mr C was back in November . That was the same year my mother ran off with that slick- shit as my grandpa used to say. Mr.C likes to talk a lot. He was taller than my grandpa and still had some hair... although it was white and thin. He is always smiling, laughing.. and talking.

My grandpa was taking in his "baby" for an alignment. He owned a Ford truck he had bought in 1946. Once when my grandpa was sick; my mom painted the sides silver and a sort of salmonberry colour. My art teacher called it a mosaic style. The truck looked kinda funny though... like a lot of birds pooped on it... People used to gawk at us when we drove the car down the back roads of Oregon. Sometimes we drove down Highway 101 a bit... following the twist of the Pacific Crest Trail ; find a place to have a picnic while grandpa fished. I'd lie down in the grass and watch the clouds.... and wonder what my mother was doing. And where she was now. Or read a book.

But I digress. My name is Sugar. My grandpa said my mother was a beatnik. First because she named me Sugar. Second because he never really forgave her for painting his "baby". And third, because she ran off with a charismatic salesman after daddy died. ... leaving me behind with Grandpa on the farm. Grandpa used to say "Well it doesn't take brain surgery to figure out that your mum ate too many mushrooms when she worked out in the fields. She never did use the sense that she was born with" I still think he missed her though because he was always saying things like that. "Life is full of crap .. and then you have mushrooms." Or my personal favorite... " Don't judge a man by the ass he keeps." For some reason that always made me giggle.. which made my grandpa hysterical,

Anyway, back to Mr C. He lives alone. Grandpa said it was because he liked his solitude. Personally, I think he liked being the only cock near the hen house. He had a lot of women baking him cookies and cake and things. Sometimes he'd bring me some of the cookies. I never did learn how to bake cookies so I always enjoyed eating them. Mr C was very funny. He used to tell me stories about my grandpa and him when they were young.... and about all the trouble they'd get into.

Sometimes when my grampa is grumbling about my mom..I simply tell him , "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." I learned that from Mr. C . Like I said, he talks a lot!

Irish Proverbs

A drink precedes a story.

A friend's eye is a good mirror.

A hen is heavy when carried far.

A hound's food is in its legs.

A lock is better than suspicion.

A silent mouth is melodious.

A trade not properly learned is an enemy.

Age is honorable and youth is noble.

As the big hound is, so will the pup be.

Be neither intimate nor distant with the clergy.

Both your friend and your enemy think you will never die.

Even a small thorn causes festering.

Good as drink is, it ends in thirst.

He who comes with a story to you brings two away from you.

He who gets a name for early rising can stay in bed until midday.

If you do not sow in the spring you will not reap in the autumn.

If you want to be criticized, marry.

Instinct is stronger than upbringing.

It is a bad hen that does not scratch herself. ( ha-ha I agree! )

It is a long road that has no turning.

It is better to exist unknown to the law.

It is not a secret if it is known by three people.

It is sweet to drink but bitter to pay for.

It is the good horse that draws its own cart.

It is the quiet pigs that eat the meal.

It takes time to build castles. Rome wan not built in a day.

It's not a matter of upper and lower class but of being up a while and down a while.

Lack of resource has hanged many a person.

Listen to the sound of the river and you will get a trout.

May you have a bright future - as the chimney sweep said to his son.

Mere words do not feed the friars.

Nature breaks through the eyes of the cat.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Necessity knows no law.

Need teaches a plan.

Patience is poultice for all wounds.

Youth does not mind where it sets its foot.

You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.

People live in each other's shelter.

Put silk on a goat, and it's still a goat.

Quiet people are well able to look after themselves.

The day will come when the cow will have use for her tail.

The hole is more honorable than the patch.

The light heart lives long.

The man with the boots does not mind where he places his foot.

The mills of God grind slowly but they grind finely.

The raggy colt often made a powerful horse.

The smallest thing outlives the human being.

The wearer best knows where the shoe pinches.

The well fed does not understand the lean.

The work praises the man.

The world would not make a racehorse of a donkey.

There is hope from the sea, but none from the grave.

There is no fireside like your own fireside.

There is no luck except where there is discipline.

There is no need like the lack of a friend.

There is no strength without unity.

Thirst is the end of drinking and sorrow is the end of drunkenness.

Three diseases without shame: Love, itch and thirst.

Time is a great story teller.

Two shorten the road.

Two thirds of the work is the semblance.

Walk straight, my son - as the old crab said to the young crab.

When a twig grows hard it is difficult to twist it. Every beginning is weak.

When fire is applied to a stone it cracks.

When the apple is ripe it will fall.

When the drop (drink) is inside, the sense is outside.

When the liquor was gone the fun was gone.

Wine divulges truth.

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

You must live with a person to know a person. If you want to know me come and live with me.

Youth sheds many a skin. The steed (horse) does not retain its speed forever.

mememe...5 favorite 5 's

5 favorite desserts :

German chocolate cake
Chocolate mousse
lime cheesecake
gingersnaps
chocolate chips ( but not in the cookies...lol)

5 favorite veggies

raw spinach
cooked broccoli
red peppers
jalepenos, serranos, etc
cooked carrots

5 favorite fruits

mangos
kiwi
bananas
strawberries
peaches


5 favorite beverages

water
soy milk
orange juice
coffee
various teas

5 favorites meals

homemade veggie pizza
tofu smoothies
pbjs
grilled cheese sandwiches with jalepenos
bean and cheese burritos

Becoming more...

Through growth we become more. We grow through our experiences, through our lessons; regardless of how we feel about the events. By being aware of ourselves, our thoughts, our feelings we can become more. It is through our choices that we grow. Choose your path wisely. Choose to embrace all that brings light, love and laughter into your world. Without evolution we will continue to stay on the same path... to become stagnate. Enrich your life through exploring.. explore yourself, your feelings; your thoughts, your gifts... and then share all that is possible. Express your feelings; your thoughts. The best gift is one's self shared in a good way. Be more. Share more. Love more. Evolve. Be. And Celebrate the gift of being.