The Post Office Is Very Sorry They Missed Me

I think I may have mentioned that I am ailing, on cold medications, thus a bit loopy.

Even though I was being a bit loopy I decided I could manage to make my way to the mailbox. I did so to find the mailperson had stuck a "Sorry We Missed You! We Re-Deliver For You" postcard in the mailbox.

There was someone at my abode all day today who would have been able to accept a mail delivery.

If that were not possible there is a locked parcel box where the mailperson is able to stick the parcel in the locked box and then lock the key to the locked box in my mailbox.

This is not the first time a parcel has not been delivered in this manner.

The mailperson scribbled some info on the postcard, but no name, not who the delivery was to, or who it was from.

The first time this happened, years ago, I checked off the "Redeliver" option on the postcard and left it in the mailbox, where it remained for several days, with no parcel being re-delivered. I then went to the post office, the Poly Station on Rosedale, that I was directed to on the postcard, and was able to retrieve the package.

Subsequent times, when I've gotten this unable to deliver postcard, I've skipped the re-deliver request and just gone to the Post Office and retrieved the package, which never makes sense to me, as in why is the package not in the mailperson's delivery vehicle, awaiting re-delivery, why is it at the Post Office?

The last time the mailperson failed to deliver, it was a frozen peach cobbler, mailed from Dallas, by the Unstoppable Woman. By the time I retrieved the peach cobbler from the Post Office it was in the advanced stages of thawing.

On the postcard it tells the victim that one can go to the usps.com/redelivery website and request a re-delivery. I did so, thinking this is not going to work. But I filled out a form and eventually saw the below message...

A few minutes later I got an email also telling me that the "Redelivery Has Been Scheduled".

Years ago I used to think people who complained about the Post Office were out of line, due to the fact that I had never had any problem with my mail delivery, either coming or going.

And then I moved to Texas.

I don't know if it is a Texas thing that I have now repeatedly experienced Post Office incompetence, or if it is a system-wide deterioration of the quality of service.

I do not know what is in the missing parcel or where it came from. I suspect it is Christmas related and came from either Washington or Arizona.

Whoever mailed, whatever it is they mailed, to Texas, they have already paid for mailing it. The package they mailed made it to within a few feet of my front door. And then the system went screwy and the delivery that had been paid for, was not made.

Criminal. And very perplexing.

Christmas Eve: Texas Drunk, Post Office Clunk & No Snow

The last time I went to Oakland Park the trees were still being colorful. Now, a week later, there is little color to be seen. Killed by deep freezes. I went to Oakland Park after visiting my regional Post Office..

Why did I have to go there you ask? Well, for the 2nd time in 2 months, the mailman has put a card in my mailbox telling me he was sorry he was unable to deliver a package. That I could request re-delivery. Or pick it up myself.

Requesting re-delivery has never worked. I learned that last Christmas. Last month it was a frozen thing shipped from Houston. There is no excuse that makes any sense for not leaving a package. There are locked parcel boxes next to the mailroom. Many a time a package has been left there.

So, I called the regional Post Office to complain. I got the Postmaster. He sympathized with my pain. He said, "Can I be honest with you?" Sure, I said. He told me he was Old School, that he would never do such a thing, but the new mailmen cuts corners all the time, to make their jobs easier.

Long story short, I was on my way to my destination, I would be sort of in the area, so I dropped in at the regional Post Office and got the package.

I've always thought the Post Office gets a bum rap. I don't think I've ever had a letter lost. And it only cost 43 cents to mail an envelope thousands of miles. But you pay the Post Office a lot more than 43 cents to ship something and you don't know what's gonna happen to the package you carefully wrapped.

So, after the Post Office ordeal and after going on a walk at Oakland Lake Park I was driving down Randoll Mill Road and I saw the Holiday Liquor Depot. It has a big parking lot. The parking lot was totally full. People were parking on the sides of the entry driveways.

I'd never seen it like this. Was Christmas and all the bad economic news driving people to drink?

Holiday Liquor Depot sits on the border of a wet and dry zone. Just north of the border it is dry. This means there are 3 liquor stores at the first freeway exit to the wet zone, Holiday Liquor Depot, Majestic and Big Daddy's. The first 2 were very busy. Big Daddy's not so much.

Out of curiosity I felt I had to check out what the inside of Holiday Liquor Depot was like. It took awhile to find a parking spot, but people were coming and going fast, so it wasn't all that hard. I walked in to find the place packed. There were at least 10 cash registers working, each with long lines.

I had no idea Christmas drove so many people to drink so much. Christmas doesn't drive me to drink. The only thing that drives me to drink is being trapped with annoying people. It can put me in a better mood. And to sleep.

That's the Holiday Liquor Depot parking lot in the picture above. Under the Holiday Liquor Depot sign it says, in capital letters, "UNBEETABLE." Were they drunk? Or did they mean to make that mistake?