Delivery Issues and the Postal Service In the Era of Covid

I thought mailing a package to my mom on 

November 17^th would get there in time for Thanksgiving. I imagined the delight on her face... when she opened it, to see some new Christmas decorations. She has been reluctant to decorate since my dad passed and I thought some new things would cheer her up. But... ten days later the package is still missing. And an investigation by postal service has yielded no results. They haven't contacted me since the original documentation was filed. I'm hoping someone will reimburse me for the postage and missing items. The package disappeared somewhere between Baltimore and her house, according to the tracking number. I would hate to think a postal carrier took it? But what else could have happened to it? I fear this situation does not bode well for Christmas deliveries either from residences or businesses. They are telling folks if you want packages to be delivered in time for Christmas you have to mail them no later than December 11^th. Given how my package to my mother was sent Priority Mail. And was supposed to be delivered in 2 to 3 days, well in advance of that date…  I’m not sure I trust them to get the job done in December. I think the USPS problems will only get worse because of everybody ordering online this holiday season. Have any of you had delivery issues this early in the season? 

It's TURKEY time

 

I have all the Thanksgiving fixings ready to go… except for the oyster stuffing. Will work on it later tonight, before Turkey Day. Just going to be my hubby and I at the table this year, ‘cause of Covid19. I know many of you are in the same situation. As we hunker down to avoid the spread of this deadly virus… I’m sending Thanksgiving wishes to all my friends, family and Blog Buddies. It’s been a difficult year for all of us... But find a few moments to reflect on what you’re grateful for this holiday. And allow a little joy to seep into your heart, despite all of the hardships. Stay safe and Take care.

(Click Cartoon to Enlarge)

Rockefeller the Owl Visiting NYC

 

The story of the little 

Northern Saw-whet owl visiting 

New York has captured the imagination of the nation. I can’t imagine how scary it must have been for that little one to have her home chopped down and transported miles away from where she was born. Then... as she sat there shivering, hungry and afraid... hidden away in the branches... 

she was suddenly plucked from 

obscurity, to the national stage... 

when one of the workers discovered her. 

The little owl was then taken to what humans deemed a safe place, The Ravensbeard Wildlife Center… even though the only comfort she’s known is to nest in that great big old tree. The minute I laid eyes on her I was smitten. Wrapped in that comfy orange blankie at the wildlife center… she was doing her best Baby Yoda impression. I’m crazy about Rockefeller the Owl. Her little face and those big eyes set my heart a flutter. The fact she survived that great evergreen being toppled is amazing. But then to have endured the long ride to NYC, was even more impressive. The poor thing had no food or water for days and was struggling.Thank goodness someone found her burrowed deep in that tree. I wanted to include her miraculous rescue in my Christmas festivities because it's so inspirational.... so I went in search of a fitting tribute. Looking around in stores, I found a nice wooden tree and owl made of bark, that reminded me of the rescued bird. I immediately purchased them. They were exactly what I had in mind. Once home, I adorned the tree with mini lights. Then placed the whimsical owl in front of it, near the door, on my bookshelf. I love her. She will always be a part of our Christmas celebrations for years to come
because of Rockefeller's touching Christmas story.

 I hope her namesake gets released back into the wilderness soon, where she can live a long and happy life telling her family and friends about her great adventure to the 

Big Apple for the Christmas Holidays.

Here’s a link...

to the GO FUND ME page 

to help the wildlife center carry on it’s mission.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/ravensbeard-wildlife-center-forever-home

PS) Photographs used here were in the public domain, so I borrowed them, temporarily. 

Price Stickers AND Jingle All The Way

 

A few days ago I was out and about enjoying all the Christmas decorations in the stores. It’s been a rough year. The wonderment of the season always brings me great joy and I needed a dollop of it, right about now. Because my dad passed away, my mom doesn’t want to decorate this year. That makes me sad because I always enjoyed seeing pictures of their holiday décor from a distance. It made me feel close to home. I thought perhaps I could add some holiday cheer to moms December, without going overboard. I saw a festive miniature ‘jingle all the way’ sign. And a sweet snowman’s face one, too. I scooped them up. Put ‘em in my basket and headed home. Before I could mail them, though… I had to remove the price stickers. That was easier said than done. What a mess. The darn things refused to budge. I bought some ‘goo be gone’ thinking that might help?

 It didn’t. Instead it made it worse by discoloring the back of the signs. The stains are more than a little disconcerting. Makes the holiday duo look old, instead of new. You can’t give someone a present looking like that? I’m really aggravated. I can’t replace the signs. No sense taking them back for a refund, when another set will end up with the same damage. If you look carefully at my photos… besides the ‘goo gone stains’… the spots where the price stickers were are also etched into permanence.

I want to scream. My idea to surprise my mom is now ruined. So chalk up another low point for 2020. Holiday Cheer be damned. Price stickers are supposed to stick, it’s true. But they are not supposed to be permanent fixtures on the product and impossible to get off. Having worked in retail, years ago… I put many a price sticker in place and never saw the kind of effort that is required today to remove them. Frustrating to be sure. What are your stories about these pesky price labels? 

"Tis The Season

  .

I was bored today. Have a zillion projects to start, work on… or complete. But I ignored them. Read a little in my latest Christmas book. It’s sort of like watching a Hallmark movie. It is about a small town business owner trying to compete with the big online retailers at Christmas. A perfect conundrum for today’s world. After a couple chapters I decided to get off my rear and do something productive. Since cleaning the rest of the garage is a lost cause because of all my physical limitations… I settled for something less strenuous. Overloaded with autumn décor, I boxed it all up and decided to focus on Christmas instead. Since all my decorations are up, I didn’t need to do much to tweak the landscape, except for one thing. My mugs needed to be switched up from orange pumpkins and skeletons to snowmen and santas. So I dug deep into my sideboard, finding a dozen or so, to make my liquid beverages have a more festive feel. Putting the mugs in the kitchen cupboard… I tuned into the radio station Majic 95.1…. They play Christmas music all day, so the mood was properly set. After the mug transfer was complete… I went back to reading my book. With a cup of cinnamon tea in hand, the only thing missing… was a fire in the fireplace , with a window view of snow gently falling outside. ‘’Tis the season. Enjoy. 

Here's a link to the radio station if you want to hear Christmas music and don't mind a few commercials.

https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/ce/index.cfm?stationCallSign=WAJI

ONLINE SHOPPING PITFALLS

Every now and then… I come across something shopping, that captures my imagination… and usually I end up buying it. Most of the time these purchases work out. But a lot of the time they don’t. Case in point is a pair of athletic shoes. As I was surfing Ebay… looking for some Christmas bargains…  I saw a pair of snow leopard shoes. The design was awesome and I could visualize myself wearing them. But because I was online… I couldn’t try them on, to see if they fit. But I was so enamored with them, I thought I’d take a chance. So I pressed the BUY button. It was an outlandish chunk of change... but I was sure they’d be worth it. I never had seen anything like them and I was tickled to get something so unique. However, a few days later, as I wandered into the shoe department at Walmart looking for socks… there were the snow leopard athletic shoes... in all their glory. At least 50 pairs were on display, in various sizes. And…  they were substantially cheaper. I felt like a complete fool. I knew I couldn’t return the ones I bought online, so I had been sucker punched. But it was what it was. When the shoes arrived at the end of the week… via UPS… I was less than enthusiastic about opening the package. But reluctantly I did. The shoes really did look COOL up close and personal, so I decided I’d try them on, even if they weren’t fancy like I originally thought. However, adding insult to injury, I couldn’t get my feet into them because the tongues had been sewn shut. It was part of the design. At this point... I was really upset I had been taken by a seller who was a conman… who was sitting somewhere, with my money in his pocket, laughing. I started to cry. My husband asked what was the matter and I told him. He suggested since I couldn’t return the shoes, perhaps I could modify them. Since the tongues were making it impossible to put my foot inside, maybe I could take a pair of scissors and carefully snip along the sides of the tongues, opening them up just enough for my feet to slide into them. I didn’t want to destroy the integrity of the athletic shoes, but figured I was past the point of no return. Pardon the pun. The shoes were either going to be useful to me or they weren’t. So taking the utmost care, I did what my husband suggested and voila it worked…  I could wear the shoes. I laced them up and now have them at my disposal. In life, you live and learn... and this was definitely a teaching moment. Have you ever had a similar situation arise from buying items online?? 

HOLIDAY TO CELEBRATE THE DEAD

 

READ ABOUT IT HERE

https://dayofthedead.holiday/