Here we go again

After touting the joys of internet shopping, I may have hit a snag. If you read my blog about UPS you'll know that I went through hell with them trying to get a part delivered for our computer. As a result, I decided to have everything I ordered online sent to Hubby's work so there would be someone there to receive it.

Today I bid on an item on Ebay and won the auction. The item is a Christmas gift for a family member. Once again, I figured I would have it delivered to Hubby's workplace. But when I read the instructions, the vendor had written that the shipping address had to match the billing address of the credit card used! Or, if I used Paypal, it could only be shipped to the address on the Paypal account. DAMN!!

I sent an email to the vendor, explaining the situation and asking if they could make an exception and send it to a different address. I'm hoping I'll get a response tomorrow. If they won't, my only recourse might be to send a bank check via snail mail and wait for it to be cashed, then they'll send me my item. It will take a lot longer, but I'm not in any rush. Christmas is still a few weeks away!

But all this "red tape" made me think of how easy things used to be. If you needed something, you walked over to the General Store and got it. If you couldn't pay for it right away they would put it on your tab. No need to show ID, or have your check approved, or have your credit card denied.

I noticed the same thing when I went to the RMV the other day. Hubby's car somehow lost its license plate so I had to go get a new one. I had the little form all filled out and my $4 for a new plate ready. I thought it would be a simple thing to order it. As it turns out, I spent about 15 minutes at the counter while the woman did things on her computer, then she had to issue me a new registration with new little stickers since all the numbers had to match and she had to give me a cardboard temporary plate as well as a temporary registration for THAT so I'd have something on the car until the new plate was mailed to me! Crazy, huh? I'm sure the people who drove those first Model-T's had no license, no registration, no fees, no excise tax, etc. They just got in and drove. Life was so simple then.

Now when I look out at the traffic congesting my streets, and think about the horrible economy we live in because so many people over-extended themselves with mortgages and credit, I wonder what it would have been like back then. Probably physically more difficult, but I bet those people lived with a lot less stress.

**** It cracks me up that Hubby noticed that the picture I used of the old car DOES have a license plate attached to the front of it!! I guess I didn't pick a car that was old enough. According to my research the first license plates were issued @1903. Massachusetts (of course) was the first to issue "state license plates". **************