Contributing to My Addiction

I got a package last week from my friend, Doo Yi. Packages from friends, particularly when they are unexpected, are the best. Inside I found these things.

Ohboyohboyohboy! Look at the stickers! With the Pipsticks monthly subscription Carole and Larry gave me, and the addition of these, I'm set for a bit, although, maybe not. I sent out a couple of small packages this week and those used quite a few stickers. I have a reputation to maintain, you know.

There is a pair of compression gloves which I have already used this week. They made a great difference in my achy finger joints.

I had to laugh. I went to the Itasca post office to mail a couple of flats of inspection reports. The client does not use UPS. We've asked for a UPS address and they say, "Just mail it." So, although they had 12 reports, I couldn't package them up and ship UPS. Whatever, I guess. They shipping cost is built into the cost of doing business.

But the clerks at the post office know me now. We've been at our Itasca location for 18 months and we really like it here. One of the reasons is how friendly the PO clerks are. I walked in with these two parcels and Tim says to me, "I can't accept these for mailing. There are no stickers on them." After I stopped laughing, I explained these were for work, not personal, and I didn't think my boss would like me sticking shark stickers on customer flats. "Well, okay, then. I'll take them for mailing."

I asked about the dog he was thinking of adopting. He did adopt the pit bull who had been rescued from the streets of Chicago. The poor thing had to have hip surgery and had an ear infection and was covered in fleas. A rescue group nursed him to where he could be adopted. I got to see photos. This is service, when you can stand around and talk rescuing animals and share photos of your four-legged friends.

The package arrived on a day when I was feeling achy and tired. Talk about a day brightener. I owe a bunch of people letters. I better get writing. I don't have the excuse that I don't have stickers for the envelopes.

Beverage:  Klarbrunn Black Cherry Seltzer

Deb

Unexpected Fulfillment

Last week, I came home from work to find a pink slip from the post office in my mailbox. I needed to swing by the main building in downtown Wheaton and pick up something. The sender was listed as "Dreamscape". Um...yes. That's very informative.

It took me a couple days to have time to get there. All the while I went through my head trying to remember who "Dreamscape" was and what could they possibly have sent me which would require a signature upon delivery. I needed stamps so picking this up was a good thing. Maybe it was a scam. I can refuse it, right? I was nervous, you need to know, because I simply could not remember anything from a "Dreamscape". The post lady came to the window with a small parcel. Here's the package.

I looked it over. It still didn't register as anything I might have ordered. The return address was rather smudged so I couldn't quite tell from where this had come, but I signed for it, thinking it might be something from my friend in Australia. I sat in the car, squinting to read any identifying marks. Finally, the words listing the contents of the package became clear. "Dice," it read. DICE! I know what these are!

Occasionally, I'll see a Kickstarter listed on some news site I read. For a time, I must have seen a half-dozen Kickstarters for dice. I like dice. As a former weekly Dungeons and Dragons person, dice are cool and a necessary part of gaming. This particular Kickstarter was years ago, I'm thinking at least 2. The designer of the dice has been very diligent about keeping people informed of the process but he vastly underestimated the time it would take to get his idea from concept to finished product. I supported another dice Kickstarter like that and am wondering if I'll ever get my dice although the creator of those dice has become better about answering emails.

These dice came from Taiwan.

I couldn't get a good photo of the box. They are called "Space Roller" dice. I liked the simple, other-worldly look of the boxes. Very clean design. The dice?

He billed these a "Tron dice", taking their design cue from the Disney movie Tron. I very much enjoyed that movie. It was ahead of its time and wasn't a huge success. Because the Kickstarter was filled beyond what was anticipated, everyone got purple dice. Specific tiers of support, which included me, could pick an extra color. I added the black to the gold and silver. In black light or UV light, the swirls glow, according to the video and photos I saw. I just think they are visually arresting.

I liked the little thank you card enclosed with each box. The guy doing this is looking to get into bigger dice production and he thanked us for allowing him to do his first real production. I haven't actually used these to see how true they roll, but no matter. I just think they are cool.

Beverage:  LaCroix Berry Seltzer

Deb

'Tis the Season

I needed stamps. I don't write nearly the number of letters I used to, but there comes a time when you just need stamps. When I went to get some, they had the first of their Christmas issue out.

Woohoo! "A Charlie Brown Christmas" immortalized in stamps. Last year, "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was on stamps. It was just a 4-pane, repeated, so I could use up all except one pane. I've been meaning to frame these. It appears Charlie Brown is 10 different stamps. I'll save one section and use the rest. Then, I really should look at framing these or, at the very least, putting them somewhere other than the sleeve I have for stamps and return address envelopes.

At one point, I was going to get cat Christmas cards which I saw in one of the catalogues showing up now. But then I realized, I am going to a couple places where the opportunities for photos are great. It costs more, but this year, I'm sending photo cards. I should go buy more Charlie Brown stamps to make sure I have enough.

I also discovered I don't own a copy of "A Charlie Brown Christmas". I'm not sure how that happened but, thanks to needing a smaller purse for BlizzCon, I ordered the Blu-Ray disc from Target. "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" is also not in my collection. One movie at a time.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Neither Rain Nor Sleet, Although Ice is a Problem

UPS and Fed Ex are taking some heat for not getting packages to where they needed to be in time for Christmas. As someone who spent the week of December 9-13 in the post office every day mailing something, I know a bit about the hazards of shipping in North America in December. When I shipped the last few boxes on the 13th, I was told that, due to the weather, deliveries were taking a day or two longer than usual. Add to that a higher than average late shipping season because people waited longer than they should have to ship things and then expected them to arrive on time, and delays are inevitable. This year, however, I've seen the post office live up to their motto, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". (We think of it as the official motto but it's merely an inscription on the central post office in New York City. The motto is a translation of a Greek phrase found in the works of Herodotus.)

On Sunday, December 15th, I was eating my breakfast when this postal car pulled up across the street. I watched with interest as the driver rummaged in the back and pulled out a box. I was even more interested when said driver started walking up the front walk to my house to deliver that box. (Contents will be blogged about later.)

Since then, I've been the recipient of two more "off hours" deliveries. Both of those were at 7:30 in the morning during the week. I had just finished my shower and heard footfalls on the front steps. Mija charged down the hallway out of the living room, stopping by the open bathroom door (If you have cats, the bathroom door is never closed.) to look at me and then at the living room where came the sound of the storm door opening and closing. Once I got dressed, I checked and here were packages being delivered. In spite of their deficit, the post office certainly lived up to their delivery motto.

The package from Patt had this sticker affixed to it.

If you've shipped anything, this is what you get asked every time you ship. I save time by, when I ship, telling the employee, "There's nothing fragile, liquid, perishable or potentially hazardous", unless there is, in which I say, "It's fragile. I'd like it stickered as such." They know me at the post office so they kind of chuckle when I answer the question before they have a chance to ask it. But, I've never seen them put this sticker on my packages unless it was in the back where I wouldn't see.

Another item from the post office which I want to tout is their tracking capability. On Priority Mail packages, it's included in the price. On Parcel Post and First Class, it's an extra 90 cents. It is worth that 90 cents unless you don't really care about the contents of your package. I have a story from this year's shipping to illustrate the value of this 90 cents.

Before Thanksgiving, I shipped two packages to Carole in Virginia. She was on vacation at Disney World at the time, but I wanted her to have them when she returned. The packages contained her birthday and Christmas gifts. There was no difference in cost between First Class and Priority (it's based on weight), so I shipped them Priority Mail. The tracking bar code was applied and the number was printed on my receipt. They were to be in Virginia on the 21st.

Fast forward to November 27th. Carole calls me to ask when I shipped the packages because she doesn't have them. My heart sank. Filing claims with the post office is an exercise in how much paperwork can you endure. Plus, they require photos of the items in the missing boxes and how do I claim hand made scarves? The value of those would lie in the cost of the yarn, I guess, not the time it took to make the scarf. (Yes, I have had to do this once. It wasn't fun. The box turned up within a week of filing the claim.) If I could find the receipt with the tracking number, Carole said we could see when or if the boxes had been delivered. I had recently cleaned off the desk and tossed a whole bunch of paper into the recycling bin. Thankfully, I had not emptied the house bin into the bin outside. I found the receipt.

If you search for USPS tracking, up comes a page where you input the 10 number on your receipt. The page shows you the status of that package from the time it was entered into the system through its delivery at its destination. We discovered the packages had been delivered November 22nd. I gave her the tracking number and she called the local post office. The postmaster there verified what we were seeing, that the parcels had been delivered. Unfortunately, that delivery person was off on the 27th so Carole would have to stop by or call on the 29th. At that point, they would ask her where she put the boxes.

On the 29th, Carole went to her car, sitting in the driveway to run errands. There, on the front passenger seat, were the boxes. She'd left the car unlocked through her vacation and someone put the boxes there. We don't think it was the delivery woman. We think it was the person who received the boxes in error, although it wasn't either of the neighbors because they said they hadn't seen boxes for her. I had printed the address correctly on them, always a concern, so we are confused, but Carole got her gifts, even if the birthday gifts were a day late.

My point is that tracking is worth the extra money I spent on all my parcels this Christmas. I actually had fun typing in the long strings of numbers and seeing where parcels were en route. It's fascinating to see where a box goes when you ship it from Glen Ellyn, Illinois to San Antonio, Texas, all the stops, all the sorting. And that's something else I want to remind you of when you vilify the carrier to whom you gave your knick knacks for shipment this Christmas. To get from me to Carole involved 7 separate stops; Glen Ellyn to Addison to Chicago to Washington D.C. to Alexandria, VA to Warrenton to her. That the post office told me, on Tuesday, November 19th that they could get two boxes from Glen Ellyn to Warrenton by that Thursday is no small feat. If you draw a line from Dallas, Texas to Bangor, Maine, all along that line, in December, there was crappy weather. I think we should cut the shipping companies a bit of slack for being able to do what they do in spite of the bad weather. At least the post office was upfront about letting people know of delays, particularly if they were shipping to a storm affected area of the country.

The post office can get a, sometimes deservedly, bad rap for a lot of things. My experiences during this monster shipping season were uniformly positive. If you have something to ship, I strongly endorse utilixing the tracking ability. If there is a claim, it's a good indication of where the packages were on any given day. The Sunday and early morning deliveries will probably cease now. That's okay, too. Hearing footsteps on the front steps as you're stepping out of the shower is a wee bit disconcerting.

Beverage:  Dunkin' Donuts tea

Deb

The Shipping Monster

This was the scene in the livingroom on Saturday.

Boxes and packing materials and the scarves and the other assorted items all stacked in the recliner in preparation for shipping.

I start collecting boxes about November. We get a number of pieces of equipment in various sizes of boxes all year long, but I start rooting through the stack right before Thanksgiving. I sort of have a good idea of what I need, but invariably don't have exactly the right size on hand or I lack enough packaging materials. It's never about the wrapping paper, however. That I always have.

The wrapping and packing started on Saturday. There are Christmas letters to write to go in cards inserted in a box. I just started at the top of the pile and worked down. That meant I'd wrap something for one member of a family but the rest for that family was buried, so their box with all the parcels would be set aside until the next items were liberated from the pile. I have not had as much "help" as in years past, a fact I am rather grateful for. They sort of look at me askance and get out of the way. I thought I had more name tags. I should have just enough. That will be something to look at getting on the days after Christmas.

By Sunday evening, I had filled two shopping bags with parcels.

I wasn't done and, as I type this, I'm still not done. But what is left will be finished tonight. I discovered the scarves easily fit into a manilla envelope which made them easy and cheap to mail. "Anything fragile, liquid, perishable or hazardous to the delivery man?" Is it wrong that I've mailed so much stuff, I immediately tell the clerk there isn't anything in the packages of that nature before she even gets the start of the sentence out of her mouth?

It's a labor intensive process to wrap the scarves, address the envelope and the card, stuff the parcel into a envelope or, if it's to a family or more than one present is headed to the same address, find the right size box. Fortunately, I've received a few items in appropriate sized boxes so those are getting refilled and sent back out. It just seems to be taking far longer this year than it has in the past. Maybe next year, you all get coal.

There are no Christmas decorations up in the house as I have been solely focused on getting this stuff out the door. On the bright side, a couple of the clerks at the post office know me by sight now.

So, next year, when I get this urge to make a mass of people something, please remind me that I have to wrap and ship it.

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

A Trip Around Wheaton

One of the last things I did with Flat Stanley was take him around Wheaton, where I've lived for over 30 years.

We started at Adams Park. It's a large park just to the north of downtown. It used to be framed by streets but several years ago, the library got the eastern street vacated and they expanded, building an entrance accessible from the park.

I haven't been in the new addition since it opened. I used to use the library all the time. I knew several of the librarians, but I've found that my need for what they offer is, currently, non existant. That might be a reflection on society in general as people can find things they used to go to the library for, online. Libraries should never go away and I'll generally always vote for a library referendum, unlike some other tax increases. If you're interested, go here and watch the video about the Troy, Michigan library's funding campaign. Inspired.

After we went to the library building, we went into Adams Park, itself. The park is built on the site of the home of one of Chicago's prominent merchants, John Quincy Adams, a 4th cousin of the 6th president. In the center of the park is a fountain. It was covered for the winter.

Turning to our right, we can see the DuPage Historical Museum.

This limestone structure was, originally, the Wheaton Memorial Library, and was built in honor of Adams' wife. Wheaton and Downer's Grove were the only DuPage towns to have a public library at the end of the 19th century. In 1967, the current library was built and the historical society moved in.

From there, we went to other important places in Wheaton. We stopped by the post office.

This building is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was build in 1933, during the Great Depression and is classified as a Works Progress building. The interior has changed quite a bit since I moved here but the exterior has been lovingly preserved.

Across the street from the post office is city hall.

One of Chicago's claims to fame was being the railroad hub of the US. If you wanted to get freight from the west to the east or the east to the west with any speed, you had to route it through Chicago. Part of that legacy goes through Wheaton. It started with the Galena and Western in the post Civil War years and continues with the Union Pacific today.

The other facet of railroad life is the need to move people. In the late 19th Century, this concept was seen with some now suburban towns being viewed as vacation destinations. Glen Ellyn, the town immediately to my east, has a lake just off their downtown. Chicagoans would take the train to Glen Ellyn to spend vacations at the large hotels that sprang up around Lake Ellyn. An electrified railroad, the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin, ran from Franklin Park to the western cities of Aurora and Elgin. This was an early commuter railroad. When it folded, the right of way from Melrose Park to Aurora and Elgin was given to a non-profit and turned into the Illinois Prairie Path.

As Chicago grew, the need to get people from the growing suburban community to their jobs in the city caused the railroads to add commuter service. Each railroad had its own service, but by the 1970's, they all wanted to abandon passenger service. It just wasn't making any money. The Illinois legislature created the Regional Transportation Authority, which became the Commuter Rail Service Board which became Metropolitan Rail or Metra, in 1987. It is said the city of Chicago's population triples during the work week as dozens of commuter trains bring people into the city for their jobs.

Wheaton has two stations. This is the main station, located to the west of the downtown.

The railroad really cuts the city in half. It's located right in the downtown area and 5 blocks from my house. This is not the original station that was here when I moved here. That station was twice this size but had been renovated to the end of its useful life. It was completely torn down and this station built on the same site. I live by the College Avenue Station. That place started as little more than a brick bus-type shelter but was rebuilt to a station the same size as the downtown station to reflect the quantity of people who use it.

From here, we went to downtown Wheaton. The big attraction in downtown Wheaton is Martin Plaza.

Robert Martin was a well-liked mayor of Wheaton who passed away while in office. He spear-headed the drive to redo the front streets of downtown to make them more interesting and inviting to residents. When Front Street, as it's called, was redone from Hale to Main (the street immediately east of this plaza), fountains were added and this public area designed to give people a place to congregate.

In the distance, the spired building is the former DuPage County Courthouse. This building was built in the late 19th century and served as the government center of DuPage County until a new county complex was opened on the west side of Wheaton, out by the fairgrounds. It's on the National Register of Historic Places, too. It was turned into condominiums. I think that would be cool, to live in the former courthouse building. To the left, in the photo is the eastern end of downtown.

This is looking west into the heart of downtown Wheaton.

The building coming out of Stanley's head is the original Wheaton train station. As the town grew, so did the need for a bigger building. The Chicago and North Western who had absorbed the Galena and Western, built the commuter station to the west and used this building for small freight deliveries and storage. Eventually, they abandoned the building. It was purchased and restored and is in use for a hair salon and a yogurt shop.

The circular turreted building in the distance marks the intersection with Hale Street. Front Street is one-way heading towards us and Hale is one-way going right, north. Hale is the heart of downtown. When I moved here, everything I could want was in downtown, from clothing to groceries to crafts to bookstores.

Economic downturns haven't been very kind to original downtowns. Clothing stores have closed. The grocery store closed but it will be replaced by a new one a half-mile south of this area, along one of the major east west roads from Chicago. There are small businesses with niche interests and a lot of restaurants. We have a theatre company using a former bank building. We also have the Wheaton Grand Theatre, a 1920's theater that's been the subject of much discussion and debate. I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark and Tron at the Wheaton Grand, when it was a movie theatre.  At the time, there were many things drawing families into downtown. Today, not so much. Yes, we have a Starbucks.

So these are the places Stanley went on our quick tour of Wheaton. It was quite a cold morning and I didn't want him to catch cold so we went home.

Beverage:  Root Beer

Deb

Going Home

Flat Stanley is going home today.

I carted that little fellow all over the place. Over the next few days, I'll post the photos I took of all the things Stanley did. I didn't want to spoil the event for Dillon by posting everything, although I did upload all of the photos to my Flickr account. I hope he gets an "A" for this.

It was fun and, when you explained what you were doing, people were happy to participate. He arrived on March 7th and he's been quite a few places since then.

I hope he had a good time.

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

The Day the Earth Turned Pink

Remember the box, the large box?

It arrived at its destination last week. This is the kind of practical joke I love pulling. It involved the purchase of some things and the shipping of said things, which wound up being more than the things inside the box, but the resulting email about how the box and its contents was received was worth every. single. penny. spent.

So, what was inside the box? First a bit of background information. Louise, a member of my World of Warcraft guild, has become a good friend. She sent out a mass Facebook spam to everyone she knows inviting them to her open house to celebrate moving into a new home. She and her hubby, Damien, moved back in October, but haven't been ready to celebrate until this coming weekend, February 23rd. There's just one itty, bitty problem. Louise lives in Canada. Um...yeah. My attending a party there isn't going to happen.

Several of us were teasing her about this housewarming party and someone mentioned needing pink flamingos in the yard. She said Damien would be horrified but she would love it. An idea was born. I started checking out pink flamingo yard ornaments and found a couple at Bed, Bath and Beyond that were a reasonable price. Then, I stumbled onto Home Depot's add for 10, count 'em, 10 pink flamingos for $30. Another friend, Jon, bought the flamingos and had them shipped to me. That's the box you see on my porch. Here are the contents.

Look at them all looking at me with their beady little eyes. The box was only half full of flamingos and the total weight was something around 6 pounds. It was less than one of the cats even though the box was very tall, about 34 inches tall. I was really worried I couldn't ship this via the post but there is a total inches shipped of 108 and I was well below that. Plus, the light weight made for less shipping cost. You don't want to know what it would have cost me to ship via UPS, had I not been able to ship via the post office.

As this was designed to represent the WOW guild, I had to dress up the birds with something appropriate to the guild. Our guild tabard is green, a robust summer grass green. Pink and green. Perfect.

I printed out a copy of the guild tabard and hit JoAnn Fabrics. I had a coupon for 20% off a regular priced item. With a flamingo under one arm, the gal at the cutting table helped me figure out if one or two spools of green ribbon was needed. We figured out only one. Using a generous 15 inches, I cut 10 pieces of ribbon and adorned the necks of these gloriously tacky birds.

Isn't that just the most stunning thing you've ever seen? I was even going to attach green bows to the area where the knot was, but realized that hot gluing them could a) melt through the body plastic. Face it. These are not made of the world's best plastic. Or b) prevent Louise from doing other things to them  by permanently putting decoration on them. So, I decided green neck ribbons was enough. Once reboxed, I took the box to the office and used ALL the packing peanuts we had as well as some foam, to fill up the empty space and to make sure the flamingos were comfortable. Can you imagine the customs inspectors x-raying this box? I only put "yard ornament" on the custom's slip. If Louise read it, she would know, but perhaps Damien wouldn't.

I handed over the box to the post mistress and then set about trying NOT to say a word about anything. I sent her a Valentine's card and that takes about 2 weeks for first class mail. Right before that would have arrived, I sent a cryptic "INCOMING" email. The flamingos, I was told, would take 6 to 14 working days. They would be at her house by her housewarming.

On February 14th, she tells me she got a notice that there was a package to pick up at the post office. She couldn't get it until the next day. All through the next day, I kept emailing her asking if she'd gone to the post office to get the package. "Now? Did you get it now?" "How about now?" She said her dad is known for sending stuff so I did wonder if it was the birds or something else. Here is the email I received on Friday, February 15th.

"Alright, finally got the box, here's the low down of reactions
1.Damien (hubby) enters in the house with this HUGE box, pretending it weighs a ton, because he's an ass:
-My reaction: Disbelief and feverish curiousity (Quote: What the F*** did Gimm do now????)
2.Box is deposited on the living room floor, I immediately take the cisors to the box. meanwhile Damien sits at the very other end of the room and watches (he couldn't see what was in the box). I open it up and look inside.
-My reaction: Hysterical laughter, including tears
-Damien's reaction: Confusion
3. I start pulling out the box's "cargo", only pulled one out at first.
-My reaction: still laughing my ass off (Quote: omg Gimm, really? REALLY? THIS IS WICKED AWESOME!!!)
-Damien's reaction: Surprised but shaking his head (Quote: Why Lou? Whyyyyy? This is horrible. You are NOT putting that thing in the front yard)
4.I keep pulling more, and more and more out....
-My reaction: totally still laughing, developping a devious shenanigans shit-eating grin
-Damien's reaction: Total disbelief with a tinge of horror crossing his face
5.I finally have them all pulled out
-My reaction: Laughing still and nodding (Quote: Oh I've have tons of plans for these....)
-Damien's reaction: blank stare (Quote: I don't like your guild leader anymore.....) [Note: This is now my absolute favorite quote.]
So there you have it. I thought it was full of the awesome! Damien won't let me put some up front (I can't completely blame him), but seeing as the house warming party is coming up, I'll have to get him to make a one day exception, just to mess with people. ALL of them will be planted for that party, both outback and outfront.
After the house warming party, I might grab one or two and make them look a bit more "metal", as in the style, not the material. This way both Jay (our roomate and hubby's best friend) might be more inclined to let me have fun with my kitsch.
Totally unexpected but awesome gift gimm! Didn't see that coming from a mile away.
thank you so much!"

She set up a couple of shots of the flamingos for the guild web site. Here's one with her Border Collie, Skoll. He was being "eaten" by the flamingos. He's an attention hog and she'd just taken him out for his afternoon romp so he was tired and more than willing to stay put for the photo shoot.

And then she put the legs on the birds and posed them in the living room.

She said they were fighting over the remote control.

These are the practical jokes that are so worth the cost. I wish I could have been there although it would have been way too hard not to keep a straight face and not to want to help pull the birds out of the box. I can hardly wait to see more photos of what these birds might be up to. 

10 flamingos for $30. So totally worth it. 

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Sent

Today was a good day to get a rather large box shipped.

 

Now the waiting begins. 

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Days Off

Tomorrow is a work day. While that might seem like an unsurprising statement, I have been off since Wednesday. It's been a productive 5 days for me.

Wednesday was rainy, pretty much all day, until the temperatures plummeted. It was 41 at noon and 15 by 10 p.m. I am terribly aware of the furnace running and running and running as it attempts to keep the house at my desired 69 degrees. I'm also aware that the girls have migrated up. It's got to be cold along the floor. My feet feel it. How much more do they feel?

It was a time of catch up and revisiting favorites. On Wednesday, I started the day by paying bills. Everything is paid. For me, this is a fantastic feeling. I look across the pile and there's nothing. This is a small victory, something I can pat myself on the back for. I figured it out. I have saved and I'm caught up. Off to do errands.

I am involved in something slightly nefarious so the first stop on Wednesday was JoAnn Fabrics for a couple items. Then, garbage stickers. I realized, in recalling my day for guild members, that garbage stickers aren't used everywhere. In Chicagoland, most communities have gone to a sticker program. You buy colored stickers that go on the garbage you put out. You pay only for what you drag to the curb. There is no charge for recyclables. I can go 6 weeks without putting out garbage, what with recycling and my lifestyle. Having a monthly trash bill is a waste of money for me. Stickers are currently $3.49 each, but that's still quite cheap to have it hauled away.

After that, I hit the post office and had a slightly annoying discussion with the clerk. Part of the nefariousness involves mailing and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the mailing. "Why are you putting all this postage on these? Can't you make people mail it themselves?" I realize he wanted to save me money but I knew just want I wanted, I stated that clearly and I expect to be helped in that fashion. "We're up to this much already," he said, as if I hadn't thought through the cost. I knew how much it would cost me when I walked in. I've taken my business elsewhere when faced with this kind of "customer service". I came really close to saying, "Look, I know the cost. Just sell me the damn stamps. Stop trying to convince me to do this any other way because it's not going to work." Then, he wound up not selling me enough for the envelopes and I had to use the personal stamps I'd purchased. I've had problems with this guy before. I probably should complain.

From there, it was a stop to get the hair cut. I wasn't feeling particularly happy when I walked in. The post office exchange had me irritated. But, the gal who cut my hair was bubbly and chatty and put me in a very good mood. She asked about my hair care and made a couple suggestions that wound up giving me a cut that will last for awhile. It had been 13 weeks since my last cut. I do that. I get a great cut at Great Clips that lasts. Other than my bangs growing out, I really won't need to go back until maybe April. A hair cut made the irritation of the post office fade away. I'm happy.

It was time to go home. Did I want to cook or stop somewhere? As I headed west from the salon, I saw Flips approach. I haven't eaten there since summer. Flips it is. I got a #12, which is a polish with fries and a drink. Technically, I don't think that's on any diet plan but I am 'on vacation'. I'll eat what I want.

That carried through to Thursday when I stopped by Culver's after a doctor visit and another trip to JoAnn Fabrics. I got a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a peanut butter hot fudge shake. Culver's was on the way home.

Since then, I haven't gone anywhere. Taxes for both federal and state have been completed, submitted and accepted. There are small refunds coming. We've had brutal cold and snow. I've done wash. I've washed litter boxes and the floor where they sit. I've done dishes. I've crocheted. I've prepared all the valentines for mailing. I've ordered myself a small valentine's present because I'm worth it. I've slept. I've watched movies and Rocky and Bullwinkle. I've agreed with myself, finally, that I did need the time off and that just staying home really is worth it. Vacations don't have to involve the stress of packing and travel. They can be a time of catching up.

Back to work tomorrow. I will be rested and refreshed and will feel that I am not rushed because something didn't get done.

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb

One Left

Last night, there were a bunch of boxes on the front steps. This is the last of the items ordered. I have two more things coming but they are for me so they don't count in the madness of Christmas shopping.

The top box was "perfectly Pilchard-size" so I tossed it onto the floor. It is also the perfect size to ship the rest of Carole's things to her. Maybe it's the idea that she can lie under (sort of) the tree, but she showed absolutely no interest in sitting in this new box. She didn't even get up from her spot to go sniff it.

Everything was unpacked, put into piles and then wrapped and reboxed for shipping. I sent 8 items out on Monday; only one yesterday and will ship two today. That leaves 3 that are boxed to be shipped and two left to finish the packing on. I have to take some packaging material from the office to finish packaging those. That's tonight's task.

There is one left to get and it comes in on Friday. I can hardly wait to go get it. Then, I'm done. Finished. Fini. Ended.

I've always been one who wanted the shopping done early. "First Class will have it there on Thursday for $8.85 or Parcel Post will get it there by Monday for $7.50." I don't want my shipping options to all be one dollar and thirty-five cents more because I waited.

Plus, I was out in the crush on Saturday. It was gorgeous on Saturday; 65 and although cloudy, I walked around in a tee shirt covered with a heavier denim shirt. In December. In Chicagoland. People were everywhere. Merchants have to be thrilled. The warm weather brings out everyone, even people who don't have much to spend. They wind up getting some cocoa or a card for Grandma simply because they are out in "it".

But it's kind of a strain on me, to be out in "it". I don't have the stamina I used to. At the candy counter, the gal ringing up the guy at the head of the line was having an awful time. I don't know what the problem was, but she had to ring him up three times before they got it right and then, she put in the wrong amount of cash he gave her and she had to ring him up again. Three people in front of me made disgusted comments and left the line, leaving what they were going to buy on the counter for her to put away when she wasn't busy. I'm exceedingly patient and I understand computers, especially systems that have to process a lot of data from multiple sources, can be problematic. The more people who left the line, the quicker I'll get to the front when this problem is sorted out, is my philosophy. I don't have anywhere else to go.

Yet, this was the last stop in a morning, early afternoon, of shopping and errands. I was beginning to feel it in my knees. Years ago, a meander through a mall at Christmas was something I loved to do. Take me to Michigan Avenue and let's start at 900 North and walk south to the river, gazing in all the store windows, looking at the lights on the trees, maybe get some hot beverage along the way. Now, I think of that and think how painful it would be right now. It would be an endurance event. I'd get about a third of the way and say, "Okay, that's good. I can see from here."

Life has changed. If I really think about it, I can get all depressed about how narrow my world view is now. I don't choose to see it like that. My world view isn't narrowed, it's just changed. So, I can't walk from 900 North to the river, but I can walk from 900 North to 500 North. Then, perhaps, we go get the car and park at 500 and walk from there to the river. Or we decide that what we really want to see isn't down by the river, it's Water Tower Place and that's where we're going to stay. It's all about rearranging your perspective. Seeing the "can" instead of the "cannot".

So, my tendency to want all my shopping done before the 15th of the month works to my advantage. My former excuse was that I wanted to enjoy the holiday without rushing around. That's still a valid reason for wanting all the shopping done. The added layer is that it's a bit too hard on the old body to be standing online for 15 minutes while the computers decide to allow a sale. Once this last gift arrives and gets shipped next week, I am officially done and really can kick back, put up the recliner and sit. I have such a feeling of happiness as I look at these boxes. I've had fun picking and choosing and finding the fun stuff.

I do need new tags, however. When what you have left is the bigger than the present to which it needs to be attached...

Beverage:  Rooibos Tea

Deb

Reclaiming the Table

Two posts down is a view of the table with all sorts of wrapped packages. I was out of package sealing tape and would have to wait to box everything up until more was purchased. On a trip to the post office Friday, I bought a roll. We set it aside so I could mail a couple of bubble mailers and then I promptly forgot it. The clerk did, too. She even looked around to make sure we had everything. It was 7:00 p.m. before I realized I didn't have it.

Perhaps I would have been believed at the post office, had I gone in first thing and explained the problem. It wasn't much money so if they said, "Without clerk verification, we can't do anything," I wasn't too upset. In the travels of yesterday to finish everything off, I just picked up another roll. I had a coupon at JoAnn Fabrics and that made the roll really cheap.

When I got home, there was a package in the mailbox. I am down to waiting for ordered items to arrive so I wasn't surprised. I was surprised when I opened the package and here was the roll of tape. Since I was mailing flats with my address on them, it was very easy to match up who bought the tape, get my address and send it to me. Complain all you want about the post office, that's service.

So, last night, I wrapped. I have been saving boxes since July. I look at a box and think, "Hmmmm. Will this be a good size for Christmas?" I used to save all sorts of boxes, from 6 inch square cubes to 2 foot by 10 inch by 18 inch rectangles. You just never know when you'll need a box.

But boxes take up space and the more you save, the more space they need. They don't always nest well and they had taken over the space on the kitchen table. Last night, I cleared all the boxes off the table.

I was up until 1 a.m., but, dang it, I was on a roll. I wrapped and wrote the card and found the box and packaging. I labeled and addressed and stickered. The post office is advertising Sunday hours but I have too much to do today to head over there. This is going to be a process. Tomorrow, the red bag gets mailed. I did all the cards that don't need a personal letter. I have two flats that have to go to Canada tomorrow. It takes at least 2 weeks to get items there so I need to get those out this week if I hope they are in time for Christmas. The parcel to Australia went out on Friday.

What's left? Well, I'm waiting on stuff to arrive. Then it needs to be wrapped, boxed and shipped. I'm organized this year. I can actually sit down and not worry that something has to be shipped or I don't know what I'm getting someone and I have to endure the crush of shopping in a struggle to find "the perfect" gift.

I'm done.

I keep waiting for something to pop up and mock me. "No, no you're not."

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

It's Christmas

I need to start shipping things out.

There's no room on the table to wrap the few I have left to wrap.

Beverage:  Coca-Cola

Deb

Please Don't Faint

The preparations for sewing the jacket I'm wearing to Carole and David's vow blessing ceremony included clearing off the living room table. I had deposited items that I wanted to address but which were not crucial to life, such as bills. I have trained myself so bills go in one specific place, period, and immediately upon receipt. I don't even open them. They go rightthere and I always know what I have to pay.

Letters, cards, interesting bits, well, they get piled. I don't have a filing system. I have a "piling system". Oh yes, the thing I want should be in this pile here. On the table were letters from Christmas cards, Valentine cards, "thinking of you" cards, letters received in the past month, a really old one from December and one from January. That friend told me she was moving two blocks north. I don't think I have that address. Wonder if she did?

So part of the clean up of the table was to NOT just move the pile into the office but to go through each and every piece of paper and do something with it. I have enough stamps. Patt and Terry sent me note card-sized stationary for Christmas. I have no excuse other than my inertia and, on Saturday, I was overcoming that.

Two parcels with baby gifts were wrapped, labeled and made ready for shipping today. I hand wrote 8 letters, applied my stickers and stamps and made a pile next to my purse on the kitchen table. Have to take my purse in the morning so I have no excuse not to grab the stack.

On purpose, today, I did not pack a lunch, which forced me to leave the office in search of foodstuffs. That allowed me to swing by the post office and drop everything into the mail. Therefore, some of you could see an honest to gosh letter by Wednesday. I know you will be shocked. I hope, ultimately, you will be amused and maybe even happy to receive it. I'm feeling so good about clearing off that table, I'm looking at the table in the office and thinking, I should look through this stuff. Some people might even get 2, count 'em, 2 letters because I find something from you I know I didn't answer.

On the down side, I'm running out of stickers. I'll have to watch for Hobby Lobby's 50% off sale and see if I can squeeze a $10 sticker purchase out of the budget.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

It's Hard to be Pleasant

For three people, mom, Carole and my brother, Dan, your boxes came today.

We often malign the post. The post office cries that they are bleeding money so rates need to be raised. You go to ship a box to your daughter and not all the windows are open. Then, with the line out the door and into the other room, one of the clerks says just loudly enough so people can hear it, "Time for my break" and closes. You have to wonder where their sense of customer service is. I know they have rules about how long you can work before you are entitled to a break and the rules were put in place so former abuses can never come back. Still, even the most ardent support can't be blamed for become annoyed when it appears that customers, the ones paying the salary, are left behind because it's break time.

I thought about market share and perception as I watched the postman look for the package or packages that needed delivery at this end of the block. I had an inkling there would be something for me in his truck because my mother had said my brother had posted his gift on Monday. I just watched.

I began to actually feel somewhat sorry for this guy, who is not the regular mailman on my route. He gets Thursdays off. I could see he had many boxes lining the walls of this truck. He moved things. He stacked things. He looked at a piece of paper and then at the boxes in the truck. He climbed in. He climbed out. Finally, he emerged with 3 small parcels and came up to my door.

Now, I don't have the whole walk shoveled. I know I should and I might get to it tomorrow, but I have half of it shoveled. As he came to the door, I opened it, took the boxes, thanked him and wished him a "Merry Christmas". I heard him distinctly say, "Bah" as he headed back to the truck.

I'm willing to cut the guy some slack. This is not an easy job even if there isn't a holiday. How much more frustrating is it when there is a holiday that requires a lot of hauling of boxed and bagged items? We depend, as much as we are reliant upon email and other delivery services, on the US Postal Service. I don't want to pay 50 cents to mail a first class letter. I think that's ridiculous. But I'm also aware that it's not cheap to run a box from rural Iowa to suburban Chicago.

So, while there was a "Bah", I still wish him a Merry Christmas. His is one of those jobs we never think too much about until it doesn't happen.

Beverage:  China Black tea

Deb

Finished.

Here is the finished cross-stitch all framed. I washed the fabric which removed most finger oils, dirt and the marks from the hoop. I got the frame a week ago at Michaels, on sale. I'm pleased with the result.

Now to wrap it and ship it to the recipient who doesn't know that it's coming to them.

I'm thinking of trying this Postal Service Priority Mail offer they have been advertising heavily on TV. Supposedly, anything I can fit into one of their Priority Mail boxes can be shipped for a low price. Plus, they will drop off the boxes at the house. That would be great since I don't have a lot of boxes stored anymore. I just decided because we get so many at the office, if I needed one for shipping, I could use something from there. Getting the bulk of the gifts shipped this week would be a huge load off my mind.

On to the next project.

Beverage: Scottish Blend tea

Deb

There's still service here.

For all the maligning of the United States Postal Service, there are times when they still surprise with service beyond what you expect.

I sent a box to a friend last week. In the process, I bought some stamps. We used to "collect" stamps when Carole was young, not as a formal stamp collection, but as memories. She doesn't want what we saved so I am free to use them for letters. As they are older, I am currently working through some 34¢ stamps which need an additional 10¢ to be useful. This is helpful when you're on a stringent budget. A sheet of 10¢ is much cheaper than a sheet of 44¢.

I mailed the box, paid for the stamps and I could have sworn, I grabbed them and put them in my purse. But, around 10 p.m., when I was preparing for the next day, I realized they were nowhere to be found. That could mean only one thing. I'd left them at the post office. I couldn't imagine how I could go and claim them other than show up with the receipt and say, "I left them here." I did not relish that. Imagine my surprise when, the next day, I got this in the mail.

In reality, it would be easy to trace whose stamps they are by finding the box. Still, they didn't have to do this and I had, pretty much, written off this sheet.

That's service and I'm grateful.

Beverage: Huckleberry tea

Deb

Errands before the rain.

Today was errand day. I got paid on Wednesday, paid my bills and then made lists of all the things I needed to get. I mapped out my route (you think I'm joking, I'm not) and made sure I had everything I needed to get everything accomplished.

Stop #1 - Glen Ellyn Post Office to buy stamps, mail bills and ship a package to Carole and to Amber. After years of saving stamps which appealed to us, Carole's not interested in saving them and neither am I. So, I'm currently working through the 37¢ stamps. I needed 7¢ to make legitimate postage.

Stop #2 - Macy's at Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale. Clinique is having their fall sale. I try to purchase in quantity so I don't have to come back when there aren't any freebies to be had. I have a lot of bags that I have received over the years, but they make great Christmas gifts filled with assorted things. I placed my order and will get my bag in a week.

Stop #3 - Hallmark Store. I haven't purchased a quantity of cards in awhile but Halloween is coming so I got cards to send to friends. I miscalculated and have 2 extra but they will get used. They also had this nifty treat box that I got at a discounted price for buying 3 cards.

Stop # 4 - Target. I got furnace filters which were on sale, Halloween M&M's and hair conditioner. Some shampoo or conditioner is always on sale at Target. Plus, they had Friday's potato skins on sale, for something quick and easy when I'm too tired to cook. Plus, I bought a birthday present for Tonia.

Stop #5 - I was putting the Target bags in the back and found a couple of letters that had fallen behind the front passenger seat. So a quick stop at the Carol Stream post office was in order.

Stop #6 - Dominicks grocery in Carol Stream. Bananas and cereal, bread and peanut butter, yogurt and donuts and other things; mostly items I ran out of during September.

Stop #7 - CVS Pharmacy in Wheaton. Picked up my allergy medication which I haven't really had to use. It's been a good fall for me.

Then I came home.

The cards are all addressed. The groceries put away. Cats have been played with and are asleep and now it's raining ever so softly. This was a good Saturday run. I still need garbage stickers but I can get those at the hardware store over by the office.

Now on to a load of wash and changing kitty litter.

Beverage: English Teatime

Deb

Why I don't eat green beans.

Perry gave me this great idea for a post.

He and April have not received mail since last Saturday. At first, they thought it was just luck of the draw, that they didn't even deserve solicitations for siding or pizza coupons. They received a notice that their mail was being withheld due to ophidian presence at the front of their house.

A what now?

A snake. A garter snake, to be exact. Seems their postal carrier is afraid of snakes and the garter snake that has been living peacefully under their front porch was out sunning himself Monday when the carrier came to make her delivery. She's scared of snakes.

April called to find out what was wrong and heard the story.

Now they have to serve eviction papers on the snake and tell him to pack up his stuff and move out. That's going to be very hard to do since he has no arms....

But their story reminds me of why I don't eat green beans.

You all know I grew up on an Iowa farm. My parents planted a 2 acre garden every year. We had everything from early lettuce to late season parsnips. Dad would plant a half acre of potatoes, 6 rows of sweet corn, 11,000 tomatoes, and, I swear, 2.5 miles of green beans. Once the beans started to set, it was part of my morning chores in August to go pick beans. I would come bounding down the stairs to eat my Cheerios and mom would hand me a dutch oven and point to the garden. What a way to deflate a day. I would grab the dog (yes, I grew up with a dog in addition to cats) and head to the garden.

We had a way to do this. There was a bamboo pole, the end of which was affixed with a bandana. When you had filled the dutch oven, you grabbed the pole and stuck it in the ground where you had finished picking. That way, when the next day's picking resumed, you picked only where someone had not been.

I would pick up a ball and walk with the dog to the garden. Once there, I would play fetch with the dog, tossing the ball down the rows of beans. He would cut through the plants as he returned with the ball to have me throw it again. We would do this for a good 10 minutes. Then I would park my carcass at the point where the pole was and work away from it. I would sing or talk to myself or just listen to the sounds of an August day as the insects and birds would get moving in the morning air. You wanted to be done by 10:30 or 11:00 because midday in August on a farm in Iowa can be warm.

In spite of my precautions, at least once a week during the picking season, I would part the bean plants and look down into the face of a garter snake looking up at me. The dutch oven would go one way, I would go another, generally followed by the dog who thought we were playing and the snake would slither away, just as startled as I was.

In the summer, the ground around low growing plants like beans takes awhile to warm up. When it does, it also take awhile to release its heat, so the snakes would stay in the beans where it was warm until midday, when they would amble off in search of food or to sun themselves some other place warm.

I would dash into the house yelling, "Snake! Snake! There's a snake in the beans!" Mom would look at me and say, "So where's the dutch oven?" "Um...out there with the snake." "Go get it." "But there's a snake..." "I don't care. Was it full? It needs to be full. Go get it."

Back to the garden I would go. I would try to find a longer stick that I could use to poke at the snake. Of course, it would be gone and the dutch oven mostly emptied of its contents which I then I had to pick up. It would be another 10 to 15 minutes of picking and I could come back inside with the beans.

So, dear reader, I came to quickly associate snakes with green beans. I can see beady little eyes looking back at me. I did, one year, plant wax/yellow beans because I have a sweet pickling recipe for them from my ex-mother-in-law. I didn't have problems picking those, but seeing a snake in my neck of the woods is rather rare.

Therefore, you may have your green beans almondine casserole. I'll be very happy with my sweet sour carrots. I can't be scared of rabbits.

Beverage: Dr. Pepper

Deb