Failures, Including Victor

from Lowe's for Christmas gifts
I really want both of these.

Grill Cover
On April 27, 2011, a tornado did damage to my home and ripped the grill cover from the grill. Can you believe that part of the grill cover was somehow under the house, partially through an opening into the crawl space. I don't know if it was sucked around the corner and sucked or pushed into the opening. Since FEMA would not help with anything, all repair was left up to me. I bought a new and (to me) expensive cover for the grill. It was coal black for a day or two. Finally, it was a light gray and annoying. Yes, I took it back since it faded. Since I do not have the receipt at my fingertips, I got a $25 gift card for Lowe's.

However, I was able to use it for two books, one for each of my grandchildren. The almanac (8-yr. old boy) is colorful inside and teaches about things like cloud names. He might need help reading some of this. The bird book (6-yr.-old girl) will be great. She will need help reading all of this, I am sure. But, my son and his wife are both teachers, English teachers.

Each book was $9.95. I would never have spent this amount for a gift for them. But, I am glad I was forced to buy from Lowe's. These are books are perfect. They will each get a $0.97 Matchbox car in addition.

Victor
Remember Victor? He did not work out for me. He caught one rat, then was blinking all the time like I caught another. Then, the batteries that were supposed to last for catching 50 rats somehow quit. I have other plans! Victor was returned.

Since I could not find the receipt, I now have a $54 gift card for Tractor Supply (TSC). I may buy gifts through the year from TSC.

Plumbing
The plumber came and brought all the parts and collected his fee. He said he would return the next day and finish the job, so I could just pay him for those parts. He is so nice, most trusted plumber in town, and a relative of friends. He never came back. So, I took back the parts. I now have a $42 card for a hardware store. I need boards from there.

Total
$54 + $25 + $42 = $121 on cards!

Sure
I could have found all these receipts, eventually. But, how many hours might that take? I guarantee you it was more time than I was willing to expend right now. It's Christmas. I need to buy gifts! These businesses are not what I might think of as gift-search destinations...until I thought twice.

I wanted to get a birdhouse from TSC, one for the little grandchildren in TX to enjoy. But, I also wanted to use flat rate boxes, so that was out--too small. Besides, my daughter sent me pictures of two boxes sent Priority. The mailing cost on those boxes was free to me, but the contents and the boxes were crushed! Thankfully, these boxes were the only ones I ever sent that did not have breakable items.

No Fear
All the totals will be used. This time of the year, every store has special items so they can cash in on the Christmas buying. However, these were my last two gifts.

This was frustrating, but not too much. At least there are useful items and gift items at all these stores.

Your turn
Have you ever had so many gift cards issued when you could not find receipts? I have not. How do you like those books for gifts?