Making the most of what you have

The rainy weather is making a mess of my plans to have my bookcases finished for the office by the time we have visitors next week.  Being that I don't have a garage, you have to improvise...thank goodness for large living rooms (pictured below). 

The two frames went together in no time.  The case on the bottom is 40" wide x 85" tall.  The one on top is 40" wide x 54" tall.  With any luck, everything will be ready for the backs tomorrow and applying the finish.  The face frame will have to wait a bit.

I now love Lowes more than ever

I decided to build some bookcases this weekend but I always have some trouble figuring out how to handle and transport the sheets of 4'x8' plywood since all I have to transport them is a Nissan Versa.  I can tie them to the top but that is usually a pain!  I decided to take advantage of the cutting service at Lowes.  They ripped both sheets of plywood down to the 11.5 inch dimension that I needed!  Everything fit very nicely in the car and it saved me the time and effort of trying to do it by myself on the table saw.  It doesn't get much better than that!

Citibank you silly silly company!

I got a letter today from Citibank.  As of April 1st, they plan to charge a $60 annual fee!  According to the letter, after you make $2,400 in purchases, they will refund the $60.  Perhaps they need to take a look around...they are not exactly the only credit card company out there. 

Sure...I'm not carrying a balance on the card and so I'm kind of a free-loader in that respect but they do get a percentage of every transaction.  I will also agree that it is likely that I would put $2,400 on the card over the course of a year so I should get it back...but they know how much I spend through them! I have been with them since 1996 when I graduated High School - Why play games?  Consumers do not want to work with a company that fools around, and relies on fine print and technicalities to get the job done.  This move by Citibank screams of desperation!  Are they really doing that badly that they need to resort to this?

So they give you the option to Opt-out (a.k.a. they close your account) and a handy toll-free number to call...I had to call the number 7 times since the other 6 times the lines were full and they were too cheap to put me on hold. If you know that people will be leaving in droves due to your changes, at least provide enough phone support!

I suppose that they have done one thing correctly - If you are going to commit yourself to NOT serving customers and driving them away, don't go half way...commit to it, own it, and make it yours.  Congrats Citibank...and farewell!