Take 2 Aspirin and AVOID HOME DEPOT

Ok Home Depot--you are in the crosshairs now. After taking about 2 months to finally get all the ancient dark blue wallpaper off the kitchen walls, we were ready to look for paint samples. I sent Mr. T out to get some samples and he ended up at Home Depot. The poor man was told the smallest amount of paint they could possibly sell him was a GALLON! At least he was smart enough to only come back with two light colors--all a version of antique white.

This won't work--have you seen the atrocious colors that people are putting on walls these days? I can't bear it but do realize the need to make the kitchen look somewhat updated. After much painting and comparison the sad realization was that none of the four samples was suitable.

It seemed to me that the Behr paint called Pale Bamboo was a very likely contender.

Pale Bamboo

Big Mistake! Behr is brand from Home Depot. As sick as I have been, I was so eager to start the kitchen that I drove the twenty minutes to Home Depot. I asked for a quart--which, of course, they do sell--of Pale Bamboo. When I returned to pick up my paint I was given the quart, paid my money and drove home. Exhausted.

Imagine my shock to open the can and find some sick shade of salmon pink! And not just pinkish--it still had pure red paint on the rim of the can and on the lid. "Well, " I thought, "maybe it will look green on the wall. After all, all the other samples had looked completely different once they got on the walls." This should have been a clue I had no business painting but I set to work doing one small kitchen wall. Yikes!!!! It really was PINK!!! Anybody ever seen PINK bamboo???

I called Home Depot and tried to get to talk to someone--not going to happen. I finally got hold of Victor, some kind of floor supervisor. I told him about their screw-up and he didn't know what to do. I told him he could have someone bring me the correct paint sample. Why should I have to use my gas and my (now) expended energy because they don't know how to mix paint? Victor said he would get back to me. "Promise??" I asked. "I PROMISE," Victor lied to me. So I had to call back on Tuesday. I had to explain the same problem. Again, Victor is pulling the language card as if he doesn't understand enough English to help me. We finally agreed that Victor would bring me the right paint this evening on his way back from work. Of course he never showed.

So, this is the first of EX-Po-says on the incompetence that seems an epidemic whenever I try to get something done. I have checked with others who also report that nothing can done right the first time. I asked the handyman about all the transactions he must have to contend with every week. I asked him how many required him to correct others' mistakes. His answer? NEARLY 100%!!!! Sigh.....I am sadly finding out that nearly everything I've tried to do can't get done right the first time! My next blog will address the now-laughable experience with Dell computers. But that is a headache for another time.