Cruel And Unusual Bead Torture.

Q: Your much anticipated package from 'Fire Mountain Gems' arrives, but your mailman somehow manages to cram it into your mailbox, which has an opening just slightly smaller than the width of the package... You spend 25 minutes in the dark in the rain/snow trying to pry, coax, and/or force the box out of your mailbox to no avail.

A: Or the other thing is, when they seem to fit, all your little packages in there, and you have problems getting them out, because it's like a puzzle in reverse, and you have stuff already in one hand. Yes, well, I dumped the rest of my stuff in my car and went back to the mailbox (our mailboxes are at the entrance of the whole condo complex, so it's a-ways from my door) but still no luck. At least I'm not the only one who's had this problem! Yes, they really must train for this at 'Cliff Claven Institute'. I feel much better now. It gets worse, though...I opened the box, while still in my mailbox, and got my beads out...and my order was not right! The few things (few indeed :)) I'd ordered for myself were all there, but the packet labeled "blue adventurine" contained glass purple triangles! This is for a necklace my Mom asked me to make for her friend's birthday present!! After writing that last note, my mailman jammed 3 packages in my box that took me 5 minutes to get out!! Do they take training alongside that person that puts the milk jug on top of the eggs? Does anyone have any names of wholesalers or stores in the Dallas area (maybe Ft. Worth area) that carries findings, especially gold colored blanks with perhaps a VERY small brand name or name of manufacturer on the back. The blanks are about so big: __ __ They come / _/ in various / shapes, | | OR perhaps slightly larger, mostly hearts / up to the size of a cowboy or ovals or ____ / belt buckle. rectangles all with rounded corners. It is possible that there is something somewhere else in the US that I'm missing.