My Star Wars Saga

The Padawan is a Star Wars fan. I’ll pause for a moment while you recover from that shock. Better? Good.

I’ve known for months exactly which magnificent Star Wars Lego set I wanted to get for him for Christmas. I had the money in hand, I just needed to find a good deal. I am a patient woman, so I waited for the prices to drop, which predictably they did.  I am also a cheap woman, so I waited a little longer to see if they would drop still more. Did I mention the part where I am also stupid?

It has been a long time since I have shopped like this, about a year, actually. And I had forgotten that prices hit bottom on the good stuff in October and will steadily climb until Christmas. A year is a long time to remember that I should loosen the purse strings a little.

So now, the cool item has disappeared from store shelves. On Sunday, I found a store that would ship it to the store of my choice for free, and the set was at a supremely sweet price to boot. One catch. We have our holiday funds in a new account, strictly for the holiday shopping. The lesson I do remember from last year is that when a giant online store messes up, it can take months to straighten out the ol’ bank account (I’m looking at you, Amazon). So we set up a separate account for online stuff. The card was due to arrive on Monday.

On Monday, the set was no longer available. I found another retailer. They were going to charge me so much to ship the thing that it was no longer worth it. I almost gave up on ever possessing that set. But I found new determination, the same kind that leads a cat to believe that it will one day catch that laser pointer.

I went to The Source. You know, the Lego Store. I found the set I wanted (back-ordered, but available for presale), plus a precious freebie set, free shipping AND 10% off. So, yay! Sale ending in six hours. Thank goodness the card had arrived!

Card declined. I tried again. Declined.  I called the bank, which happens to be a local credit union. It was 5:30, and everyone was gone. No 24 hour service.

Husband’s card also declined. Same deal. Verified, authorized, useless. I may have pooped my pants.

Called the Lego Store to beg for mercy. And free shipping.The nicest guy helped me out.

The little freebie was gone.  Sad face. BUT the fellow set up an order for me so that I qualified for free shipping and 10% off. He assured me that they are getting more of my set on the 15th, but no more are scheduled to arrive after that. If my order didn’t complete early the next day, it might be gone for good. No pressure.

Called the bank. At 8:30 sharp. I was transferred to the person who could help me. Except that she was out of the office. Tick tock, Clarice.

Discovered the problem.  Turns out, when the teller had set up this account, she had missed the last step in the process. You know, the one that actually opens the account.

I called the Lego store.  The nice lady clicked some buttons and said the order was verified. I didn’t get a confirmation email, and I told her as much. She said I’d get the confirmation in 2 days. For real? In the digital age, it takes 2 days to know if my payment went through?

I asked her to double-check. Turns out, she didn’t even have my payment information, which is kind of important for buying stuff. We tried again.

Did it work?  I have no idea. I gave her the info, and the order was verified. At least she says it was. Neither the order or the payment will be processed until Thursday. Awesome.

May the Force be with us all.

Why am I trying so hard? Maybe because I am stubborn and like beating my head against the wall. Or maybe because the kid looks SO much like his mom that I feel like I owe him big time. No guy wants to look this much like his mom did at that age. Seriously.  It’s almost as bad as finding out Darth Vader is your dad.