Today, for the first time in months, I went to the post office. I had to. Apparently, the punishment for delinquent payment on my $2.22 phone bill is a referral to a collection agency of Virginia Tech’s choosing, and a nice little memo to the IRS.

That being said, I flew like an eagle to the nearest USPS.

While there I had a few other things to attend to, which I had also been putting off. The following is a list of items that includes, but is not limited to, the sum total of things sent by post this sunny Thurs.:

* Aunty Linda’s Christmas coasters (already two months late!)
* Kawamoto Otosan’s (Japanese host father) Alaska Magazine w/ complimentary calendar
* Engagement announcement to Anchorage Daily News
* Box o’ goodies to maaaa and popi in the frozen north
* $197.90 credit card bill for essentials (books and underwear from the UK)

The total expenditure for the shipping this pre St. Valentine?s Day Massacre: $23.55!

I don?t know what part of ?the cheapest shipping? the disgruntled postal worker, with her feathered hair do, couldn?t understand.

Because I forgot to tape maaa and popi?s box o? tricks at home, I had to use the priority tape lying on the counter at the USPS. Apparently, because it had said tape on it, the aforementioned box had to be shipped priority, at the ungodly rate of $6.00 for a box the size of a 10 pack of hostess cupcakes!

The same thing happened with Aunty Linda’s coasters, which, as previously mentioned, were already several months late.

In any event, the icing on the cake of disgust came when, upon asking for a new book of stamps, Feather-Fro slaps the “antique toy” collection down in front of me. I wanted something cute - the fruit, the botanicals, maybe even a special valentine stamp with cupid and hearts on it. What did I get? Ugly ass box-car looking things.

She didn?t even give me a choice. And I thought I lived in a freakin? democracy.

Am exhausted by my experience, and will now resign myself to the comfort of my velvet duvet, a cup of tea, and book where the heroine is even screwier than I am!

Posted in VT, Family