First Red Robin of Spring
Sunny and 66°F. It was such a nice day that I thought I'd go outside for a bit. Ran some errands in downtown Park Ridge. Also went to Staples to use the $10 gift check. Staples has been experimenting with new ways of paying out rebates to cut costs. They used to send out checks that I could cash at the bank but the last two rebates were different. The one before last was a $25 debit card. I can't imagine that's cheaper than sending out a check unless they got a cut of the merchant fees. I'd still have preferred to get cash because I don't have to think about how to spend it so I use exactly $25. The most recent rebate was the $10 Staples gift check. This less desirable because it forces me to spend more money at Staples and obviously Staples profits from the rebate payout.
At Staples in Park Ridge, I found 3 items that were on sale and that I'd eventually use, even if I didn't need those right away. So it was okay. The problem was the instant rebate on the gel pens didn't ring up on the register. I didn't notice until I got the receipt so I had to ask them to correct it. That took another 15 minutes because I had to wait for them to finish with the other customers and then they had to void the whole transaction and start over. In the end, I paid $1 plus the $10 gift check, and expect $9 back in rebates. (I filed those online already.) I have to wonder though how many people paid more than they had to for those gel pens and didn't notice. I imagine most of the free-after-rebate seeking crowd would've gone for it on Monday.
The weather was still nice in the evening so I went for Lucky Charm Lids at Clifton Commons in Clifton. I didn't complete that multicache though because it had more stages than I had time for. So I switched over to Plan B, which was to use my $5 coupon at the Red Robin adjacent to Clifton Commons. I had the new menu item, the Burnin' Love Burger. It's supposed to be spicy because of the pepperjack cheese and fried jalapenos but it's actually quite mild, not even 1-alarm by my standards. In fairness though, Red Robin isn't the kind of restaurant one would go to for spicy food. Of course, I also got a refill of the steak fries.
At Staples in Park Ridge, I found 3 items that were on sale and that I'd eventually use, even if I didn't need those right away. So it was okay. The problem was the instant rebate on the gel pens didn't ring up on the register. I didn't notice until I got the receipt so I had to ask them to correct it. That took another 15 minutes because I had to wait for them to finish with the other customers and then they had to void the whole transaction and start over. In the end, I paid $1 plus the $10 gift check, and expect $9 back in rebates. (I filed those online already.) I have to wonder though how many people paid more than they had to for those gel pens and didn't notice. I imagine most of the free-after-rebate seeking crowd would've gone for it on Monday.
The weather was still nice in the evening so I went for Lucky Charm Lids at Clifton Commons in Clifton. I didn't complete that multicache though because it had more stages than I had time for. So I switched over to Plan B, which was to use my $5 coupon at the Red Robin adjacent to Clifton Commons. I had the new menu item, the Burnin' Love Burger. It's supposed to be spicy because of the pepperjack cheese and fried jalapenos but it's actually quite mild, not even 1-alarm by my standards. In fairness though, Red Robin isn't the kind of restaurant one would go to for spicy food. Of course, I also got a refill of the steak fries.