It’s almost one week past the date my patio furniture was to be delivered, almost two weeks since I ordered the stuff.

I’m on the phone with Home Depot right now. I’ve already had two calls disconnected. The man answering the phone, Ralph, seems very nice, and very frustrated. On the second call Ralph told me that there was no one at customer service. Robbie was at ‘lunch’ (by-the-way, it’s 5:35pm) and wasn’t expected back until 6:15. He tried to connect me with a manager.

On the third call I was finally connected with a manager, Dick. I left my name, order number, and cell number with him. He tells me that he will call me back in an hour. We’ll see.

Again, Dick seemed like a decent person – very frustrated – and it seemed rather overwhelmed. He told me that he’s swamped.