The Odyssey

Last week we decided that we needed a dehumidifier in order to help get the moisture out of the air and our books that we'd stored in the basement.

She checked on the machines available at the local Wal-Mart. She felt they were over-priced and non-name brand and the boxes appeared to have been opened previously. She looked on the net and found that Home Depot carried dehumidifiers. So we planned that she would pick me up after work and we'd visit Home Depot on the way home.

Since Sutherland's was on our direct route home, we stopped there first. I asked the clerk if they had dehumidifiers and he asked me, "You want to do what to your air?" as we walked to the appropriate area of the store. We saw the air conditioners, heaters, fans, and swamp coolers, but no dehumidifiers.

On to Home Depot, take a left, proceed about 10 miles south, further away from home. When I asked the clerk at the information desk where his air conditioners are he sent us into the nether realms of his store. We searched for about 10 minutes, asking other clerks for help. They didn't quite understand by what we meant by "dehumidifier". I questioned that she'd really seen something that suggested Home Depot had dehumidifiers. We finally wandered back to the front of the store. The air conditioners were placed in the area directly next to the information desk, we'd approached the clerk from the wrong side, so hadn't noticed the seasonal display. Again we found the air conditioners, heaters, fans, and evaporative coolers, but no dehumidifiers.

We figured to check the Wal-Mart in this area, but since it wasn't our town, didn't quite know where it was. As we walked out of the Home Depot, we noticed a Wal-Mart just across the street. We drove over, but found that it was some sort of Wal-Mart grocery store, not a full-service edition. Odd. We called the daughter, wondering where the closest Wal-Mart might be. As we called, I remembered that there is a Wal-Mart at Jordan Landing, another few miles south, further away from home.

On we drove. When we arrived I put the checkbook in the child seat of the shopping cart. The spirit whispered that I needed to remember where the checkbook was. So I did. It took a few minutes to figure out the set-up in this superstore. It was laid-out backwards from the one we normally frequent. We found the fans in the hardware section and they even had a dehumidifier. Pay dirt! It was a pretty little machine. One problem: it was $40 more than the one at the Wal-Mart back home.

By this time it was past dinner time, so we decided to return, pick up a machine at the local Wal-Mart and go home to the pot roast, potatoes and carrots simmering in the crock pot there. As we drove away from Jordan Landing I noticed the Sears Home Center and thought it might be a place to check for dehumidifiers, but dinner beckoned, so we drove on without stopping.

45 minutes later we pulled in to the parking lot at our local Wal-Mart. As I got out of the car, I realized that I didn't have the checkbook. Doh. Immediately I remembered leaving the cart in the aisle near the dehumidifier at the Wal-Mart in Jordan Landing. I'd even felt a little guilty leaving the cart behind: somebody would have to return it to the front of the store. I hadn't remembered to take the checkbook out of the cart.

In I went to the Service Counter, where Angela helped me. She called the Jordan Landing Wal-Mart to make sure they'd located the checkbook. She helped three other patrons while she was on hold, waiting to talk with the hardware clerk in Jordan Landing. She was a true example of helpful service with a smile. Eventually, they found the cart and our checkbook. Angela told me the checkbook would be stored in the "Cash Room" for us. I gratefully thanked her, letting her know that she was an angel in deed.

We went home. I changed clothes and we enjoyed a pot roast dinner before we had to drive 45 minutes back to Jordan Landing.

Back to the other Wal-Mart, I went to Service Counter and asked for our checkbook. The clerk called in to the folks in the Cash Room. Apparently, the Cash Room is the inner-sanctum of each Wal-Mart. The Cash Room attendent asked for a description of the checkbook. I replied, brown leather about this size, last name on the checks... My description qualified me as a possible owner, so the attendant eventually passed the checkbook through a sliding security drawer to the clerk at the Service Counter. Without being asked, I showed the clerk my ID, matching that on the checks, then I went on to identify the baby pictures of my son and his son. At that point she waved me away. I thanked her for her efforts in our behalf.

The checkbook was undisturbed. No one had seen it in the cart. All my wife's cards were inside. There was no money in the pocket, but that is the normal state of things, so not a cause for concern.

Since we were back at Jordan Landing, we decided to stop in at Sears to see if they had dehumidifiers. We found a helpful clerk in the appliance area and asked him about dehumidifiers. He had no idea what we were talking about, but was looking for a sale anyway, so he looked up "air dryer" on the Sears website. That brought back entries for hair dryers and washers and dryers but no dehumidifiers. He searched for "de humdifier" but that brought back no hits. I suggested that he take the space out after "de". He did, and we got three hits to the query. He was surprised. I noticed that each of the dehumidifiers was more expensive than the one at the Wal-Mart next door. The salesman then went to the store's inventory computer to check if there might be any in stock. I didn't really want him to bother, but check he did. Nope. Nope. Nope. No items with that stock number were available locally. I thanked him and we drove home.

At 9:45 pm I walked in to our local Wal-Mart, bought the $118 unit, loaded it in the Jimmy and drove home. By 9:55 pm it was unpacked, plugged-in and sucking moisture from the atmosphere in our damp basement.

Moral: When the spirit whispers, LISTEN!