Score! - January 9, 2026

Despite my vow not to go back to the hobby store, I stopped there on my way to pick up my grocery order.  It was fortuitous.  

This week, I have been watching videos on how to make wire jewelry.  In a ring-making video, the instructor used bail-making pliers to make a loop.  I once had some bail-making pliers but gave them to Granddaughter #1 for a project she was doing.  I could have walked across the road and asked to borrow the pliers but preferred to buy another one for myself.  However, when I was in the hobby store on Tuesday and saw that the pliers cost $24.99, I decided to borrow the Granddaughter's pliers, after all.t

Wednesday, I tried to duplicate the ring in the video with limited success.  I cranked out 5 or 6 rings (which The Granddaughters have already confiscated), but none of them suited me.  I blamed it on not having the right tools and moved on to other videos until I could borrow the pliers. 

Yesterday, on my way to pick up the grocery order, despite my vow not to go to the hobby store, I went to the hobby store to look for pretty beads.  There, on the bead aisle, hung two identical bail-making pliers.  One was marked $24.99, printed right on the package.  The other had a sticker that read $$9.99.  No, that's not a typo, there were two dollar signs.  

I knew what had happened.  For some reason, the $$9.99 pliers had been hand-priced with a sticker gun, and the worker had made a mistake.  The price should have been $19.99.  I shop at the hobby store enough to know that the cashiers enter the item prices by hand instead of scanning them.  The cashier might realize, as I had, that the pliers were priced incorrectly and charge me full price for them (which would still be $5 less than the other one).  

At the cash register, the cashier typed in 9.99.  

A brief internal battle ensued.  Should I be honest and point out the error?

The bad angel won.  I kept my mouth shut.

That afternoon, I was too busy with household chores to fool with crafting, but after supper I got out my new pliers and attempted another ring.  It turned out the worst one so far.  Evidently, the problem is not the tools.

But I shall try again today.