Selfish question, I know. But seriously – it’s not that hard. Particularly when I am talking about things that have already been offered to me!

Thing I can’t get number 1:

As a web lover I do spend a lot of time searching for things that I want to buy online. Now I’m not one of those ‘shoe girls’ who need a separate truck on moving day just for her footwear, but when I find a pair I love, I need them. I’ve had a picture in my mind of a style of boots that I’ve wanted for a while now, and have not been able to find them anywhere for over a year. So imagine my excitement when I finally found the exact replica of my mental image in actual shoe form on the website of one of my favourite stores! Yay! I’ve been into the store every weekend since, and no luck at all. They’re not stocking them yet in the stores, and the sales assistants ‘don’t know when’ they are coming.

Great (not really, obviously).  I cannot buy them online; just stare at the potential addition to my wardrobe. So why have them on show for months prior to them being available? What a tease.

Thing I can’t get number 2:

One of my favourite websites is that of an animal refuge. Now while I’m not a ‘shoe girl’, I am an Animal Girl. I’ve volunteered at this particular refuge, my mother got her latest puppy from there, and I sponsor a pen, and help out where I can. I love the work they do.  They have a website, and it’s horrible. It’s ugly and covered in sparkly animated gifs of little relevance but high on the annoying scale.  What it does do is provide me and other users with the information they need about the available animals. As I get to know most of them, I like to know which of them is moving to a new home, and my impatience means I want to know straight away.

They have a Content Management System that their office workers use to update the site and let the world know who has been adopted, and also introduces the new temporary residents looking for their new family.  They do use it, if only sporadically. I logged on today – only one of their many, many pages of animals has been updated in over a week. What about the others? Did they run out of time? Or do they not understand their audience at all?

I’m not looking to get a pet, as much as I want one – I rent and cannot commit to the responsibility of being a parent to a fluffy friend.  But as someone who gets to know the animals, I find it frustrating that some days I know who is doing what, and other times I have to wait over a week to get an update. Again – selfish, but offer a service (even if that service is the dissemination of information) and you have to deliver. Perhaps they don’t know the power and importance of their site and the service it provides to bystanders like me and the people who use it to keep an eye on the animals that are available (their dream audience) – someone should tell them, I tried.  

Thing I can’t get number 3:

I have a spare room in my place (I also like telling stories about myself apparently). I’ve been looking for a sofa bed or futon to turn it into an X-Box room/spare room, where people can stay and be comfortable, rather than sleeping on a combination of couch cushions and a dodgy old mattress. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for – but I knew what I didn’t want. I steered away from stores like Harvey Norman and Super Amart, looking for something a little different. I found the website of a small company with a store close to the city that had pictures in their online gallery of a sofa bed that ticked all the boxes. With no prices on the site, I sent an email via their online inquiry form. Their store is not open on weekends and so I needed to gather as much information as I could before deciding whether it was what I really wanted. Two weeks later – no response whatsoever. I’m not going to call. They have my inquiry – I even wrote it politely and told them exactly what I was looking for.

So right now – I know the shoes that I WANT, but have no idea when they will be mine. I have the need to know about how the fluff-balls are doing in their quest for a new home, but no daily updates as promised, and I have a new sofa bed.

My sofa bed is great. I got it from Ikea. It’s a wonderful size and extremely comfortable. I knew before I went there that it would cost me X dollars, they had it in stock and it was available in the colour I wanted. Success.