Truthful Tuesday

 

Oh boy. I don't even know which dumb thing to share first. So I'll start with the lightbulbs since that's where we left off last week. So after getting my fixture straightened out in the house I decided it was time for a bit of a lightbulb overhaul. I had a bunch of mismatched bulbs in the barn and my outside fixtures on the house have burned out for like two years. (Listen, I'm very good at taking care of horses, but I am not so good at caring for things like that. Okay? Okay.) 

So I got new bulbs for the outside fixtures and it lights up like daytime out there now! So nice. Should have done that awhile ago. But the problem is in the barn. My aisle lights are all fine, but it was the fixtures in the rooms that were mismatched- tack room, feed room, and wash stall. Amazon had a lovely 12 pack of bulbs available which was exactly the amount I needed. Perfect! And available in a variety of colors. I chose soft white because that's what I thought I liked. But obviously, since this is Truthful Tuesday, I must admit that I thought wrong. Soft white is really yellow and kind of dark. They actually look nice in the feed room and tack room, but in the wash stall they do not. Not at all. Much too dark in there. So now I have to get new bulbs. I'm going to try warm white this time. And they better be the one because I'm not spending any more money on light bulbs this year! 

My next dumb thing is... well.... REALLY STUPID! Last year I bought some new brushes for Al. They're from Waldhausen and they're really nice. Especially the curries. And as we're deep into shedding season at the moment, I decided I wanted to get the curries for the other horses too. But they're sold out all over the US. So I figured I'd get them from Fundis since they had enough of what I wanted. Tariffs from Germany should be around 15% so I figured that's not too bad. But as it turns out, I do not have a good understanding of import fees apparently. My total order from Fundis was around $150. I figured at worst import fees could accumulate to maybe $100. Figure tariffs plus broker fees. Whatever. Um yeah. No. Not even close. UPS sent me a bill for nearly $400! Insane. I tried calling for an explanation but was left on hold for over an hour. At which point UPS was closed so I finally hung up because I think I'd have just been left on hold forever. So let my stupidity be a warning to you. Import fees are not just what ever percentage the tariffs are. I miss de minimus. And I also miss all the money I made braiding this weekend that just went to import fees. 

I dunno guys. I think we're in the bad place. US Government just robbed me blind for some brushes for me horses. Lame.