Lowe's vs. Home Depot (#3)

It's been awhile since I've posted about my experiences at Lowe's vs. Home Depot.

Aug 3, 2006: Lowe's vs. Home Depot
Oct 3, 2006: Lowe's vs. Home Depot (#2)

PREVIOUS SCORE:
Home Depot = 0
Lowe's = 3

Tonight's I went to Lowe's. The experience went something like this...

I was in need of replacing the shutoff valve underneath the toilet in my bathroom. I looked pretty closely at the current setup, even took some photos with my phone just in case I wanted to refer back. I felt relatively prepared.

I get there, and find a 12" flexible hose that says it will fit "any toilet." I started with that. I really wanted something shorter than that, so I looked on the upper shelf for one. As I was reaching way up to put one of them back, an employee came by who was helping another customer and said:

Employee: "Do you want me to give you a boost up so you can put that back?"
Me: laughing it off, knowing I'm kind of short, "haha, yeah I almost need that don't I?"

Employee continues to help the other customer. Meanwhile, I know I need an angle valve. But I can't find one that will fit onto this hose that will supposedly fit "any toilet." I look at several valves, nothin'. I'm sure I'm close to having what I need, but not quite.

Employee returns, showing other customer something else, then they're finished. Then the employee starts talking to me.

Employee: "Can I help you?"

Me: Sure. "I think I'm close here, but..."

Employee: "No, you're not."

Me: Taken by surprise, and pretty ticked off by that comment, I almost walked away but decided to take a deep breath instead and said "OK...."

Employee: "That won't work."

Me: "Yeah, I can't find a valve that will fit onto this hose."

Employee: "Why do you have that?"

Me: "Because I need to replace the valve under my toilet"

Employee: "Well you have the wrong one!"


I thought the employee was being very mean. Is it just me? Does anyone agree? Disagree? (I know as a reader, you don't have the benefit of anyone's tone of voice, but still.)

As I walked away, the employee said "I was just trying to help."

Wow, that's the idea of help? Really? That's a pretty offensive form of help, if you ask me. Telling me what I have won't work, before even asking me what I was trying to do? Telling me everything I'm doing wrong, instead of just showing me what's right? How about a little kindness huh?

Lowes: -2

So I left and went to Home Depot instead.

When I got there, up on the wall above the parts was a diagram, with pictures, and 3 steps explaining exactly how to find what you need.
1. it showed pictures of different types of pipes and fittings that you may have, so you can visually determine which one is yours.
2. Determine if you need a straight or angled valve.
3. Match the color on the background of your type of fitting, to the color on the packaging for the parts below.

Wow. That was so easy. The store helped me to be a self-sufficient shopper. And that feels good.

Home Depot +1

CURRENT SCORE:
Home Depot = 1
Lowe's = 1

Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches

A few weeks ago I went to Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches for lunch. I've seen them starting to pop up in the greater Columbus Ohio area, but had yet to try them out until recently.

Incidentally, Jimmy John's was established in my parents' hometown of Charleston Illinois: where they lived before moving to Ohio, and where they've since moved back. I never lived there but have been to Charleston many times - yet somehow I'd never heard of this glorious sandwich shop before!

What do I like so much about Jimmy John's? Let me start with something I don't like about some other food places, something I think is a bit of a double-standard. If you go anywhere and order extra toppings on a sandwich, taco, burger or whatever - depending on the topping - you often get charged extra money for extra toppings. Yet every time I've ordered something with no lettuce, no tomato, and/or no onions, I never get a discount because I've asked for my food without these extra items! Plus it's kind of a pain to have to ask, a lot of times they forget to omit the items.

That brings me to one of the best things, in my opinion, about Jimmy John's. On their menu, they offer what they call "Plain Slims," any sub minus the veggies and sauce! I've only been there once, but I think the Plain Slims were also offered for a slightly lower price, too. Even if not, at least I can order my sub the way I want it (without veggies) by ordering a normal menu item, not asking for something special or possibly being made to feel weird. "Yay," says the meatatarian! (However, they do offer vegetarian and low-carb options too.)

The only thing to be careful of is to read the ingredient list for the sandwich you choose - not all the subs come with cheese. But, when you order they may ask you if you want cheese, without mentioning there's an extra charge for cheese if it's not listed for that sandwich. Common sense perhaps, but just something to be aware of.

I will definitely be visiting Jimmy John's again.

Luck O' The Irish 5K

I ran my first 5k race on March 16th, 2008. The course was scenic, but also hilly so I had to slow down and walk several times. Even though I had to walk several times, thanks to my training I never walked more than a couple of minutes at a time, and each time I had it in me to start up and run some more after walking. Overall I think I ran more than half of the race even if not consecutively.

I was hoping to finish the race in under 40 minutes. But I ended up finishing in 40:56, with an average pace of 13:12. It was a little cold outside (mid-30's Fahrenheit) so I had more trouble catching my breath than usual, and as I mentioned it was also hilly - so despite all that I think it's good that I came as close as I did to my goal.

I came in 175/211 overall
I came in 81/108 in the female group
I came in 14/16 in my age group

And now I have a more specific time to beat next time I run a race!