Sometimes I'm a Stupid Git!

I was at the shop until almost 8:00 pm yesterday night, wrapping up this large Swarovski crystal order I'm sending to the West Coast. I got the day ended, then I started the sale, and finally had everything entered into the computer and was ready to plug in her credit card number, box the merch up, and send it on its' way today. EXCEPT ... like an idiot, I hadn't asked for, nor noticed that she hadn't included the three digit CVV number from the back of the credit card. *sigh* 

The CVV number, three digits on Visa 
and MasterCard, four digits on AMEX, 
is the Card Verification Value number. 
(I bet you didn't know what CVV stood 
for, right?) 

After several calls, I left a voicemail asking for those numbers and gave up for the night. I had a message from her this morning saying she had left it on our answering machine. I'm only hoping I can access that on our new phones when I get into the shop. I'm going to try and get in quite early. I want to wrap this up and send it to Northern California first thing this morning. It's a great order, and I'm very appreciative for the dollars (and the learning experience). but I'm a bit stressed, and until everything arrives safely at her door, I'm not going to breathe easily. 

I'm a generally positive person. DH is a generally 
negative person. It's a miracle we haven't killed 
each other yet because we're constantly grinding 
against each other, arguing about this and that. 

DH, of course, is sure I've messed everything up. No ... it's far from that. It's been a read adventure, however. I feel I should be wearing a safari helmet and carrying a weapon to cut the undergrowth from my pathway. I do mail orders all the time. I know better than to not ask for the CVV code. "sigh" Sometimes I can be an idiot. 

The box I've used for this shipment is too large to 
just fit through most slots. My local post office has 
a box that might work to deposit it, but I'd feel a lot 
better handing it directly to a postal person. It's not 
super heavy - three pounds or so - but it's bulky. 

But ... as I got onto the treadmill this morning, I said to myself ... "Self, you really don't want to exercise this morning. You're too stressed and you want to get to the shop ASAP, retrieve the numbers from the phone, finalize the order, get it paid for, seal the box and drop it off at the Post Office." I might even drive to the airport post office (they have their station open 24/7) to just get it out of my store and on it's way to my customer. Or not. I can just hand the box to Jean, our mail carrier. She won't appreciate the added bulk, but she actually parks her truck less than 1/2 a block from the store, so it wouldn't be a massive inconvenience for her. BUT, I'd rather like having that shipping confirmation slip in my hand before I open the store at 10:00 am. 

Often, after thoughts whirl for a while, clarity and 
order follows. I'm hoping that's the case today. 

So, these are the thoughts whirling around in my head. It's been more than a week that we've been working on this order. It kept growing and growing as she added more and more product, and the messages and emails we've exchanged could make a small children's book. But I'm hoping that this will all be out of my hands and into the hands of other professionals shortly. Then I might be able to breathe without that added stress factor. I hope Chickie is having a good time in Montana. She's been too busy to post much on FB, so I'm in the dark on that too. I do know she arrived safely and that they're visiting many family members who still live out there in the Big Sky country. I'll stay here with my water, water, everywhere and deal with my daily stresses as they come. Have an excellent Friday. I'll wrap up the week tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.