Of linen sprays and rabbit trails

Ever follow a rabbit trail without question and feel stupid for missing the obvious? That's exactly what I did yesterday to the tune of killing about 2 hours before my logic kicked in. And it was over the most inconsequential thing!

A little background first:

Five or so years ago, I was mulling around a Bed, Bath & Beyond store (hereafter to be referred to as BB&B) and I discovered a scented linen spray that I fell in love with. I've been stock-piling it since. A bottle of the stuff lasts about a year (doesn't take much!). I had one bottle left when we moved a year ago and assumed it would be easy to find at any BB&B, so I didn't replenish my supply before we left.

Thus begins my story:

Yesterday morning while changing my sheets, I emptied the last drops of the last bottle of linen spray and thought to myself, "I need to make time today to go online and order more," assuming if the BB&B physical stores carried it, it would be available online, too. (Which is convenient because it's a school day and I live about 90 minutes from their nearest store, right?)

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ is a great site. It sells probably every item a body might ever need for their home...save one. The scented linen spray I use. Saying to myself, "Hmmm, they must not carry it anymore", I launched a google search to see whom else might sell it. What did I find? A couple of lengthy threads comprised by people in numerous states who were also looking high and low for the product. The thread listed 4-5 stores where it should be available (one of which was BB&B) but a quick online search of all those stores turned up nothing. "Wow, so no one carries it anymore", I decided. I spent the next hour looking for recipes whereby I could make my own. This is a unique scent, however, and no such recipe that I could find exists.

My dughter, M, who was working on school at the desk behind me, asked why I was sighing so often. I turned around and, in utter frustration, told her my sad story. "Can't buy it...can't make it...and I really love this stuff," I whined like only a spoiled housewife with too much time to kill would do. She cocked her head a little to the left, scratched the spot right above her left ear (which we all know signals great thought), and said, "Maybe they still sell it in the store in Arlington where you always bought it before." "No," I insisted, "Everyone all the way to Hawaii is looking for it." She shrugged her shoulders, muttered something about it being "worth a phone call at least" and turned her attention back to school.

As I sat there absent-mindedly tapping my pencil on my desk and staring mournfully at the empty bottle of linen spray before me, my daughter's last low-level comment registered. So I called the store and, lo and behold, they had 61 bottles available. They said they didn't know why it wasn't available online, but "it's a standard in-store BB&B item". They suggested I call a few stores in my state, sure that it would also be available here. So I did. And it is. And I ordered some. And I am happy. And I wasted a lot of time on something that, had I not read those stupid threads leading me to believe no one could find it, I would've thought to call a couple stores from the very beginning and had time left over to bathe the dogs before lunch, which was another item on my "Do Today" list.

Thus ends an inconsequential story about something important only to me and about 30 cyber people who probably don't have an M to suggest they just call the store.

(Cocking my head to the left and scratching above my left ear) Hmmm.. Maybe I oughta get M to post in their threads.