the mellow tigger's musings

I've been cold for weeks. The fitted electric sheet that I used on my mattress for years finally died. A moment of silence for its great service.

. . .

When I tried to order a replacement, I couldn't find that manufacturer available any more. I ended up ordering this one instead from Target. I placed the order back on January 2nd. Finally, today, it was delivered. Supposedly?

Expecting the delivery today, I checked for packages after my lunch break ended, but I didn't see any. Apparently it was delivered just a few minutes later. I didn't see the email notification until after my work shift ended at 6pm local time. I looked for the package... nowhere to be found. Argh! Yet another stolen package! *grumble*

I called Target. They directed me to a UPS website where I entered a tracking number they gave me, and I saw the photo of the delivery. "Yes, that's definitely my front porch. It seems like that package is too small, though." The Target rep goes off for a while and comes back profusely apologizing that there's nothing they can do for me. Basically, the package is stolen. I ask, "Does the Target website let me put a notice to deliver items specifically to my patio?" "Yes, oh wait, I see you have delivery instructions to leave it behind the patio door." The package is clearly on the front steps and not behind the door. The Target rep goes off for a while again. This time, new story. "I did some additional checking, and it appears there was a package mixup. The deliverer may have returned to retrieve your package, so the items could be swapped. Didn't you mention that the package seemed too small?"

Yay! So maybe I didn't lose more money to more stolen deliveries? I'm supposed to wait another day or two for my original package to be delivered. Meanwhile, the air temperature in Minneapolis is below -18C/0F, so it's cold out there. My new windows are keeping the bedroom MUCH warmer than in years past, but it's still too cold for me to get to sleep quickly when I crawl into bed. I'll be much happier when I can finally get a warm bed to sleep in.

Some days, it's just tiring to live here.

I spent most of my lunch break on Sunday calling Lowe's (a hardware store chain) customer support. I got the notice that my ordered package was delivered. The problem is that the snow in front of my house showed me that nobody had walked to my front door that day. I don't know where it was delivered, but it never reached my house. They had a delivery photo on file. Whatever house they described to me, it wasn't me or my next door neighbors. Lowe's agreed it was delivered wrongly, but I don't know yet if they're replacing it or refunding it.

I tried 3 times to order some glass bowls to replace my broken one. None of them ever arrived at my house. I finally just gave up. When my employer last year gave me a delivered pizza as a reward, it never arrived either. I've tried more than once to order a particular computer desk online. The order works fine until I enter my delivery address. I get the message that they don't deliver to warzones. Seriously.

And a few days ago, somebody else died nearby. As this news story explains, there was an argument around noon at that gas station I've talked about, next door to the asian grocery store where I sometimes shop. Just another corpse for the neighborhood pile.

I'm not in a good mood tonight.

I explained last year that one of the reasons I call 911 (if gunfire is within a 2-block radius here in my beloved warzone) is because emergency responders might arrive in time to save someone's life.

I've been pondering the question if I called 911 yesterday morning as usual, would the police have arrived a few seconds sooner than they did? And if police did arrive sooner, would those few seconds have made a difference in saving someone's life, just a short distance from my house?

I don't know.

When we fail our best nature, perhaps we don't really have options but to try doing better in the future. I know that living in the warzone for so long has changed me, and I probably don't know the full extent of that change. Next time, however, I will remind myself that being Mr. Crankypants at 5:55am and losing patience with the inhumanity of humanity is NOT a good reason to avoid calling 911 to report local gunfire.

After work today, I did some very minimal gardening. Here's another plant incomprehensibly deciding to flower very late in the season and during a strong drought. It's in my front yard, almost within arm's reach of the asphalt street.

Sometimes, foolish organisms do wonderful things, given the opportunity. It's precisely the magic that's worth watching in this weary world.