As the world spends more time at home, it seems like everybody’s doing more home improvements. This is great news for Sean, whose landscaping business is now in higher demand than ever before.
Here’s how Amazon Pay — a speedy payment method that requires no sign-up and no new passwords — can make it easier for Sean to keep up with the demands of his job, and taking care of his wife and two kids, even when he’s on the go.
About Sean, the careful shopper
Age: 46
Priorities: Finding what he sets out to find, and doing things the way he expects to.
Influences: Staying loyal to brands; he’s also a personal finance expert.
Drivers: Meeting unmet needs. When he sees something he wants, he searches until he finds it, or a replacement.
Barriers: Shipping time, and not being able to quickly find what he needs. If anything is perceived as a negative, like having to wait, it means he’ll head to a local shop.
Sean’s diary – Friday
6 a.m.: Walking Rocky
Usually, my favorite moment of the day is hearing Rocky scratching at our door, trying to wake us up. But lately I’ve been sleeping really badly — and my back is killing me. Truth is, I blame our mattress. Kathy and I haven’t gotten a new mattress since we moved into this house nearly 15 years ago.
I throw on my Filson jacket and head out into the yard with Rocky to check on our rose bushes and hedges. While I’m taking him around the block, I count back the years since I got this jacket. I’m really feeling the chill in the air this morning. That’s when I realize that it might not just be time to get another mattress, it might be time for another jacket.
8 a.m.: Breakfast
As Kathy’s making me and the kids breakfast, I go online to see how much it would cost to get a replacement jacket from Filson. While I’m on their site, I see the Down Cruiser Vest — it looks like it might be a great thing for Nate to wear when he’s fishing. They’re out of the tan, which is the color I really wanted for him. But they do have it in olive, which will funnily enough match the jacket I’m getting for myself. I put a few shirts in the cart for good measure — it’s convenient that Nate and I are about the same size — and while I’m checking out, I notice that they can do curbside pickup.
Since the start of the pandemic, I have become a big fan of curbside pickup. It’s just so easy to hop in my truck on the way to job sites and swoop by places without having to wait for the things I want. I instinctively smack my hands together, realizing I’ll be able to pick up the order later the same day.
Before I leave to head to the job, I tell Kathy that it’s time for a new mattress, so we should start doing some research for it.
9 a.m.: On the job site
Sometimes the best jobs come from referrals. This woman lives just on the other side of town — right next door to a former client. When I pull up, I notice that she’s vacuuming the carpets with a cordless vacuum. Kathy and I have been thinking about going cordless. She tells me it’s a Dyson V11 Outsize and that it’s been a life-saver to have around while all this garden work has been bringing dirt into the house.
I make a note on my phone to look up reviews later. Maybe Kathy and I will finally get a vacuum that can handle all of Rocky’s hair.
1 p.m.: Lunch break
On my lunch break, I breeze by the Filson store to pick up my order. Since that took almost no time at all, I realize that I actually have time to swing back by the house to see how everything’s going. Since it’s Friday, Nate and Annie have a half day, and when I walk into the house all three of them are making lunch. The kitchen is a mess. I’m so glad these kids are learning how to cook, but I can’t see the counters ever getting clean again. Kathy and I have been talking about getting a Prepdeck, to help us keep our meal prep organized — and now that I see this scene, I’m starting to realize that it might be more necessary than I previously understood.
I pull up my tablet and find Prepdeck’s website, and miraculously, the Prepdeck is on sale. What’s more, I can check out using Amazon Pay. I don’t usually like shopping on websites that I don’t know — but if I can use all the credentials that I’ve stored in my Amazon account to do it, then I know that the transaction will go through without a hitch.
While I’m online, I decide to start looking into possible mattresses. I find one at Brooklyn Bedding that fits all our criteria — and might even solve my problem of waking up in the middle of the night because I’m overheating, with a layer of cooling gel beads that help maintain body temperatures overnight. And to seal the deal, the Brooklyn Aurora Mattress has a 120-night trial. I send it to Kathy in an email so that she can look it over and tell me what she thinks.
2 p.m.: Back to the job
Since they have the afternoon off, Nate and Annie decide to come to the job with me. In the past few years, they’ve become pretty decent gardeners themselves. Last year, Kathy and I got an Indoor Garden for our kitchen from Rise Gardens, so now the kids have started choosing which herbs and vegetables we plant. Not only has it been a great gardening tool, it’s also been a great way to encourage them to eat more leafy greens.
On our way over to the site, Annie and I get into a conversation about what she’s been up to at school. I had no idea that she has been getting so into yoga. I realize that this might be something I want to encourage, so I take a mental note to figure out if I can help get her some gear for her practice.
5:30 p.m.: Heading back home
The work goes quickly with more bodies helping. Annie and Nate work well together. We make our way home, driving through town, to pick up a few groceries for dinner. We’re doing burgers on the grill.
When we all arrive home, we have to leave our shoes outside for fear of tracking mud through the house. And as I’m scraping the dirt off my shoes, I remember the vacuum. Before I even get the model number of the Dyson V11 Outsize out of my mouth, Kathy is emphatically talking about how it’s the best vacuum on the market, and the solution to all the difficulties of keeping a clean house when living with a landscaper and a dog that sheds.
I tell her that I’m going to swing by town tomorrow and I’ll find one at the store — but Kathy insists that with such a popular vacuum, we should just order one and have it delivered to us. But I tell her that it’s not worth waiting for if she wants it now. So we compromise: She orders it online for store pickup, which means I can bring it home to her tomorrow and cut out the wait time.
8 p.m.: Dinnertime
We chow down on burgers that we’ve glazed in our family’s go-to sauce — the Sweet Bourbon Glaze from Pepper Palace — with Rocky sitting under the table, waiting for one of us to drop a piece of meat. Annie mentions that her friend recently showed her a pair of custom socks that she had had made with her dog’s face on them. Couldn’t we have some made with Rocky? Kathy thinks that sounds like a very funny idea. Annie pulls out her phone to show us the company: Pupsocks. They do look pretty adorable, and I do love Rocky, but I don’t think it’s the right time. I tell her we shouldn’t buy them. But as I take a bite of coleslaw, I can’t help but smile. I know that I’ll cave tomorrow and order a pair for each of us.
When Kathy and I are cleaning up in the kitchen, I ask her if she has any ideas about where to get good yoga supplies for Annie, and lo and behold, she knows exactly where (Kathy always knows): Gaiam has a beautiful yoga mat with a citron sundial in the center of it. I’m enticed by the latex-free cushioning and the lifetime guarantee, but the thing that really sells me on it is the fact that I can check out with Amazon Pay, again making the careful payment choice that protects me and my family. Heck, it makes me want one, too.
While I’m putting the Bourbon Glaze away, we notice it’s almost all gone after tonight’s feast — maybe we can order some in the morning. At some point I remember the Filson vest is still in the cab of the truck. I decide I’ll grab it later — I can wait to give Nate his vest once I get the yoga-mat for Annie. For now, I’m just going to collapse, on our uncomfortable mattress, resting comfortably knowing that we’ll replace it soon enough.
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