Frustrating

You know that feeling, when you start something and get deep enough into it that by the time you realize maybe it wasn't a very good idea, you can't really back out of it without making a huge mess, so you have to follow it through to the end?

This morning my canning company plan sort of took a turn in that direction.

My big jar order was supposed to arrive yesterday, if not the day before that. I confirmed this with the company last week. Hubs and I scoured the basement clean, made room for the jars and my other equipment, and I got the house all in order so I could disappear into the steamy kitchen for the rest of the month the minute the jars arrived.

Tuesday came and went. No jars.

Yesterday came and went.

No jars.

I even called the sales rep I ordered through and left three - increasingly curt - messages for her yesterday, in a vain attempt to learn the jars' whereabouts so I could schedule my time in the commercial kitchen and order produce from the farm. No answer.

This morning I got a call from a woman in their billing department, just letting me know, "as a courtesy" that the payment information I gave them didn't work, and so the jars were never shipped.

Said billing department lady then got an earful. Fortunately for her, even at my most pissed-off, I'm cripplingly polite and I probably apologized to her as many times as I told her what crap this whole thing was.

After scrambling like mad all morning on the internet and phone, I came to the annoying conclusion that ordering through the original company is still the best way to go. I was very thorough in my product & price research, and no better options have emerged in the month since I placed my original order. Plus, a week is still faster than anyone else would be able to deliver them.

So I stand here on the path and I look ahead of me and see that I will still need to expend more resources - for produce, kitchen time, fair and market booth fees - if I go forward. And the window for production is rapidly closing, as the beans I need will be toast as soon as the first frost hits. Losing a week of this time is a major, major, major blow.

But on the same path, behind me is the even more money spent to get this far. And the hopes I have built up for my little fledgling cannery, which I know are probably disproportionate to its actual potential, but still, they're there and would be dashed if I give up now.

So I went ahead and ordered the damn jars.

Now I just have to try not to mess up the house & basement before next Wednesday.

Love, J