I had a suspicion that this would be #1 on the countdown this week

And I was right.



My desktop computer is right next to my living room window. I just watched the mail carrier drop a package and heard tinkling. Never a good sound. Hope it's okay, and the person gets their package intact. Okay, time to go get more stuff done.

I was in the bedroom

and thought I heard the doorbell. I had put up a modified note (neglecting to say that I have a broken ankle, but to ring the doorbell and wait a few moments, that I was home). I struggled out there as quickly as I could, got to the door, and nothing, but when I checked my mailbox, there was my package. So the good thing is they delivered it without needing a signature, after all. And it was just a box of cheques, so while extra precautions that it not get lost were important, it fit in my little lock box. Yay, a package that didn't get sent back! I checked the tracking and it now has updated that it's in Lexington, having gone to the sorting area, but not showing it as delivered. Ah, Christmastime, the craziest time at the post office.

This is the first time I have had cheques from my bank since they took over my old one. My old ones have been mapping to the new account. I write them so rarely, mainly to the bank itself to withdraw money, that my old ones lasted years. So it's kind of nice to have a blank register, and deposit slips, and not have to look my account up on a little card that I've been carrying all this time. These have antique maps on them; not quite as cool as the Whelan's Dragons (from the Dragonriders of Pern) I had at the credit union, but still. It is slightly annoying that my cheques are free if I get single ones but because I got duplicates, with the shipping it was $34. These will probably last me the next five years, but at least now I have the right account printed and can shop around next time.

I ordered something that was shipped with delivery confirmation

because it needed a little extra security. Since I have not yet been able to receive such a package at my home in the eight years I've been here (usually because I am at work, but several times when I have been at home), I am somewhat doubtful that even though I am home that the mail carrier and I will somehow meet up. The last package they rang the bell once, when I was in the bedroom on the phone, and I wasn't even sure I'd heard a ring. So I thought about making a sign that says to ring to bell more than once and then wait because I have a broken ankle and it will take me a few moments to get there. Problem is, that announces to anyone in my hallway that I am pretty much incapacitated. My neighbours know, of course, as they've seen me check my mail in the wheelchair and struggle with the stairs on days I've had appointments. Most of the apartment staff do as well. And although a home invasion is unlikely, it occurred to me it would be possible, and I might as well put up a sign that says, 'Come in, rob me (although I don't really have anything worth taking) and hurt me for all I care.' So I took it back down and will just take my chances. The package according to tracking has been languishing in Hebron, near the Cincinnati airport, although those tracking things aren't always right. It'll probably come tomorrow. I guess if I don't manage to open the door in time, it'll just have to go back to the post office and I'll have to send someone to get it, assuming they'll take a signature other than mine. They might not for this. I hate trying to get anything at home. It's such a pain.

I am annoyed at the US Postal Service

I got a present for a friend from Amazon, and ordered a book for me. I normally have these sorts of things sent to the place I work because I have never been able to get parcels sent reliably to the apartment I live in. [Oddly enough, anything I don't anticipate makes it here with no problem, either being delivered to the leasing office or using the system of holding boxes for parcels we have with the postal service.]

But, because I was ordering so close to Thanksgiving, and I won't be at work Thursday or Friday, I had it sent home, because I had been receiving things there enough to try. So today I come home and there's a delivery notice saying the parcel was taken to the post office, which is clear across town and I don't have transportation/can't take the bus within the timeframe they're open and still get to work. So:

There's one of those automatic systems on the phone that you say what you want. I don't play those games, and said 'real person' until it transferred me, although I had to hold. I explained the situation and asked if I could have it redelivered to work, and if so, if it would make it there tomorrow or Wednesday. But you can't change the address it's delivered to. Okay. How about the leasing office? It's not in the same building, although it's the same address, so no. And the holding boxes could be full. Grrr...

We finally came up with a less than ideal solution, and we'll see if it's delivered. Mind you, one, this didn't require a signature or anything, so it shouldn't have been so hard, and two, the postal carrier neglected to put any sort of article number on the card, so there's no way to really track it, and Amazon uncharacteristically has 'shipping soon' on their system still, so we couldn't get to it that way. Essentially they just took my address and telephone number and said they'd redeliver. If all else fails and it goes back again, I might be able to get someone to take me over Friday. But it should not be this hard to get a smallish package delivered to one's home. Thank goodness it wasn't a Kindle Fire or something like that.

Want to be an elf?

Kids write Santa this year for basic needs instead of toys

Kudos to the folks at the post office who sort through the letters, identify the needy cases, and put into motion Operation Santa, where people get letters with the personal info removed and act as Santa's helpers to get the items for the children. There is a list of participating post offices at the Operation Santa blog. (The closest on the list to me is in Cincinnati, but I think I'll check with our post office to see if there might be something like it. It's hard for me to get to the post office, but I can do so on the bus.) Anyway, it's a chance to make a difference in the life of a child this year.

Via The DCist.

Plus, there's this I saw on the news:

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