Now for the rest of the story...

You were wondering, I can tell, why on earth would I blog about a silly salad spinner? It's true that it's wonderful and I really think every household should have one, but there's a behind the scenes story that I'm ready to share...

I bought my salad spinner late last year/early this year - I don't really remember. But I shop at Walmart. Things appear on their shelves today and tomorrow are gone - there' s no guarantee what'll show up next so I bought our salad spinner from the clearance price rack. I was thrilled to find it works well and is a good size for our family.

Since I decided that it works so well for my family and I'm always thinking of things for Clea in Uganda. I felt that she too should reap the benefits of my magnificient find. So since I've been back (yes it's been three months since I returned!) I've searched my regular Walmarts in search of the elusive salad spinner set. I wanted to be sure I could get another one for my self (Selfish, I know!) before I sent mine off and it wouldn't fit in the package I sent in May. I had looked online and found it available for site to store or home shipping but they also showed local stock in a few stores around town - but they were never on the shelves!

I know you know this because you are a faithful reader of my blog - even if you don't comment- but I live way out so searching through Walmart does not fit into my schedule. So I resort to strange ingenuity for such things as shopping. I inherit clothes from my neighbor because she lost all the weight I wanted to loose. I make many things from scratch rather than store ready mixes. I go to town as little as possible and still survive. I hate shopping. More than I hate shopping I hate calling Walmart. But I was desperate. I'd asked at two Walmarts and they couldn't imagine what I was talking about (shame on me for not having that UPC code - now you know what they're for!)

Finally I was getting things ready to get to Justine to take to Connie to take with her as she returns to Uganda next week (pray for wonderfully peaceful travel and smooth reunion of the whole clan!). The spinner was going - in fact Justine already had it. But I needed my new one. Clea already had the vegetable peeler and the knife. I wanted another one for my house. What do you do? You break down and call Walmart - but not the Tallahassee ones. They haven't the time to answer the phone let alone find what you are looking for - even if you have the UPC (computer nearby helps- who wants to write down all those numbers just to find out you transposed one or two!). So I called Crawfordvill Walmart! No one is housewares answered my call, so the operator put me on with the manager! Sweet relief. He not only made several trips across the store for me (I'm sure he used his time wisely along the way), but he made sure I got just what I needed.

But he's not the real hero of this story - It's Jessica! Knowing that she'd most likely visit her local Walmart in the near enough future I made the next phone call. It was Sunday afternoon and she was eating lunch- I was being lazy! I gave her the description of the item, the UPC code and the manager's name (sorry, I can't remember it now!). She dutifully wrote it down (or pretended to!) and said she'd take care of it for me. This is way better than site to store - this is site to door delivery!

I have my salad spinner, vegetable peeler and knife with sheath. Clea will have her set soon. Jessica is a saint. You are now enriched. Thank you all, and Good Night!