Nothing is more calculated to set my teeth on edge than the following...

- shopping for walking shoes
- shopping for parts to any type of appliance

I did both today and I feel like screaming. Got some new "running" shoes which are quite simply weird looking but in one of those usual ironic twists of fate - actually fit my feet.  (can I get new feet somewhere?) It only took 4 stores plus a bunch of waiting at one to see if there was anyone serving customers (apparently not - I left).

Then we were looking for a vacuum cleaner belt.  The one on our old vac broke the other night.  Simple - right?  Oh not so much. 

As I suspected, a ten year old vac is not on anyone's radar... including the store that sells it - thank you Sears.  So, even if you have the information like it's "this" type and "this" model... no one can help.  You get the perplexed look along with the "sorry we need a part number - it might be on the bottom of the vac... blah blah blah...".  Don't get me wrong, the man was very nice.  He simply had no way to figure out what part we should buy.

What irks me is that the store doesn't have any means of looking up simple parts like a vacuum belt in this instance. Without the customer having to jump through multiple hoops.  You should be able to walk in, with the type and model number and be able to find it.  Rather like printers.  If you have the make and model, the store has a book of what type ink cartridges you need.  The store doesn't make you go home and pull out a cartridge to find the number of the ink cartridge itself.    

I KNEW that would happen.   I guess the idea is to buy a new vac when the belt breaks - kinda like buying a new car because the ashtrays are full. 

I've already looked online after digging out the manual.  I can find the actual part number on all the little vacuum sites, but not on the Sears site - they changed their numbering system and they have no equivalents listed  - gotta love that. 

Therefore, one of the small sites will get my little bit of business.  It's not much in this case but annoying me will get the rest of my business moved to other stores too.

Time for a glass of wine and some football.

Posted by: Teresa in Ummmmm at 04:36 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
Post contains 423 words, total size 2 kb.

1 I love those shoes!  Most of NB are made here, so I like to buy them, but usually Nike feel so good on that I end up with them.  

Posted by: pam at December 30, 2007 05:33 PM (l6NIn)

2 LOL - Nike are way too narrow for me Pam.  I don't even bother looking at them anymore. 

Posted by: Teresa at December 30, 2007 06:02 PM (rVIv9)

3 I'm right with ya. I hate buying new running shoes. Usually I go with Adidas. My feet may be small but they are wide and only Adidas made shoes that fit me well. Last time I went looking, even the Adidas didn't fit right. But I found a pair of NB that did and were on sale to boot. Sweet!


As for the vacuum - if you find a place that sells the belts, buy 3 or 4. Then you won't have to go looking for them next time. We have an old Hoover and had the same problem a year or so ago.

Posted by: HomefrontSix at December 30, 2007 09:33 PM (u6nXv)

4 I don't run, I roll.  I can hardly get my ol' shoes on my foot, but I feel you on the VC stuff though.  If I had a nickel for every broke back VC 'round here, I'd have 'bout 50 cents.  That $800 "complete home cleaning system" that Kirby sold the ol' lady years back... well, lemme just say this.  The $80 shop vac made it it's bitch...

VC's  suck.  No lie.

Posted by: RedNeck at December 30, 2007 09:51 PM (zVAJL)

5 HFS - sweet on the shoes - it's always great to find something that fits!  As for the belts - I was planning on buying two - we don't use this one much and I think they just dry out after a while which may be why this one broke - this vac doesn't get used very often. 

Redneck... ROFLMAO - almost got a quote out of that one - I have to ponder it a bit more. 

Posted by: Teresa at December 30, 2007 10:32 PM (rVIv9)

6 I always like shoes in the store - then find the tweak points after I get home.  I bought one pair of NB that I don't feel comfortable walking in anymore, but I adore Skechers walking shoes.  I don't run :-)

Posted by: Barb at December 30, 2007 10:42 PM (QOeYI)

7 LOL - I don't run either Barb. I have found that running shoes make excellent walking shoes for me because I have such odd feet. And I agree about the getting them home thing - that's why I generally wear mine in the house for a while to see if anything starts feeling funky - then sometimes it doesn't show up for a while which makes you want to tear your hair out. LOL.

Usually in running shoes there is more toe room which I must have! Plus there is generally more arch support. Shoes that are called "walking shoes" generally feel like a couple of boards strapped on my feet - ugh!

I think there are some really cute Sketchers - but they don't like my feet at all. *sigh* I'd have to get inserts and hope they work and I hate to buy on that assumption - it usually doesn't work for me with shoes I will be using to walk for miles. We generally walk 2 miles minimum. On weekends when there's more time we go 4-5 miles. So the shoes are REALLY important.

Posted by: Teresa at December 30, 2007 10:55 PM (rVIv9)

8 Power shoes rule. I ADORE them!

Posted by: Sissy Willis at December 31, 2007 10:10 AM (Q6JEL)

9 I think I will stick to my birks.    Those look cool though!

Posted by: Richmond at December 31, 2007 10:27 AM (kdfbW)

10

T, as far as sneaks go, those are really nice. As my Aunt Myrna used to always tell me whenever I got a new pair, “Tear them well.” J Me, personally, would have gone with the all black ones, but that’s just a matter of taste.

 

I wore sneaks yesterday for the first time in more than a year, if not year and a half. If I could go barefoot, I would, but I can’t, so I wear sandals for as long as I can [spring, up until around mid-November, when it starts getting too cold], and have to tolerate the occasional water blister or two in my shoes, which I’m wearing right now, and hopefully can get by wearing today without incident.

Posted by: Erica at December 31, 2007 11:35 AM (QvlE2)

11 I buy the NB's for the same reason Pam said, mostly made in USA. :-) What the heck is that critter in the sneaker-link's Flash animation? A disgruntled hedgehog? The connection to the shoes was not immediately apparent to me. I must not be within the target demographic. Anymore.

Posted by: dogette at December 31, 2007 12:38 PM (q/UVc)

12 Erica and Rich - If I had to walk in sandals - it would kill my feet... even Birks. They don't work for the long haul.

Dogette - I wondered myself - it was the only pic I could find on the NB site... very odd indeed. I would've gotten the black shoes if the store had them - unfortunately I ended up with the white - light blue combo which I'm not wild about - but like I said they fit, which has had to be my criteria over the years or I would have no shoes at all.

Posted by: Teresa at December 31, 2007 12:56 PM (rVIv9)

13 Hey Teresa,

I have a gas clothes dryer from Sears & when the light bulb inside the

drum burned out, like a loyal customer I took the bulb to Sears to get

a replacement.  NOT only do they NOT stock the bulb but you have

 to go online or something else to order it.   The store could NOT

help me.

So I just remove the clothes from my dark dryer. 

New hi-efficiency washer NOT FROM SEARS!!!

Happy New Year!

Sine Nomine

Posted by: Sine Nomine at December 31, 2007 01:59 PM (1h9DE)

14 Sine... like I said - you're supposed to now buy a new dryer as yours is broken.

Posted by: Teresa at December 31, 2007 02:05 PM (rVIv9)

15 OK why is E's text-size (above) bigger than everyone else's? Inquiring minds want to know. Hmmmm?

Also, I can't say for sure yet how durable they are --- the thing could croak tonight for all I know --- but that ROOMBA robot vacuum thing we got ourselves for Christmas is not only fun and geeky (a certain person who shall not be named stayed up 'til 3:15AM watching it "work," I heard), but it's doing a pretty damned good job, especially in a household with matted doghair berms against the baseboards, "protecting the wood finish."

We've kept the thing running since we got it, with only the brief breaks it needs to re-charge (30 min or so) in-between in its cute little base. It's fun watching it "dock," too. And get this: When it backs out of the dock to go to work, it beeps like a truck backing up for a few seconds. OH the peals of merry laughter that ring through the house.

We can't wait to see it vac around Dogliness one day -- in and out of the four legs when she's carcassed out on her side and too lazy to move.

It'll happen.

Posted by: dogette at December 31, 2007 03:57 PM (q/UVc)

16 Hmmm - on my screen, E's comment looks extra tiny. I don't know why... how odd.

Erica - what are you doing to the fonts???

Oh the roomba... I could use that on the floors by our dining room and kitchen - it would be just the thing.

And we would like some video of the roomba cleaning its way around Dogliness... ROFLMAO!!!

Posted by: Teresa at December 31, 2007 04:31 PM (rVIv9)

17 Howabout Roomba + cats? ------ Hey Pixy, preview's busted.

Posted by: Old Grouch at December 31, 2007 06:14 PM (/1RlR)

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I didn't think so. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ummmmm at 05:15 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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