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Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor ice....or....you can't get there from here.

Honestly.  Last Monday, I gave a package to my neighbor to drop at the local post office.  It was a book - media mail - and pretty straightforward.  Or so I thought.  Just on a whim, I thought I would track the package (which was going to Ohio).  Here is its path.  So far.



Cherry Plain, NY

Albany, NY

Detroit, MI

Westland, MI

Pittsburgh, PA

Detroit, MI

"In transit to its destination"


At least Michigan is in the general area of Ohio.  As was Pennsylvania.  We've got the target surrounded.  It boggles the mind.  At this point, I'll be thrilled if it actually reaches its destination.

After years of being the outpost in our megafirm, we (as in yours truly) are being inundated with visiting attorneys this week.  This meant re-commissioning rooms, setting up computers and phones, cleaning, catering, etc.  I wouldn't even mind the earlier than usual mornings, except for the fact that they are occurring on the back of this archaic time change.  Anyone who raises chickens knows that you need daylight in order to open the doors - especially if you are in a predator-laden area.  I've known owls who have swooped down and sauntered through open coop doors to do their worst while it's still dawn and the chickens are in their overnight stupor. 

Speaking of chickens, I have noticed that I tend to lose the old girls in the early spring, as opposed to mid-winter.  It seems like they use up all their energy trying to make it through, only to run out in March.  I've lost one of my Goldies (Buff Orpington), my last Maran, and there is another that is looking wilted.   The one that I secretly despise will probably outlive all the rest and continue to make my life a living hell.

There seems to be sun out this morning - if I remember what sun looks like - but the rest of the week will be overcast.  I may need to buy my Vitamin D3 by the case lot.



15 comments:

Michelle said...

Sounds like job security, at least temporarily – a mixed blessing?

Susan said...

I was once charged with looking after a lawyer who was a guest speaker at our event. He expected to be waited on hand and foot. I was unprepared. His look of astonishment each time I said "cant do it", or "we don't have it" was priceless, although uncomfortable at the time.

Sad about the chickens. My neighbours (chickens) are looking rough too. He owns them, I get to look at them all the time due to the run abutting my lawn outside my main window. I'm fond of the girls. I feel I should walk over there and do something but what?

My postcard to JG in Wales never made it although I believe I saw one from you.

Susan said...

Michelle, I am hanging on to whatever comes along. The group yesterday was impressed with the office (and service) so I told them to tell anyone who would listen, what an asset our office is. Who knows? I would much rather be busy than not!

Susan said...

Susan, I am thankful that the ones that visit us are undemanding and self-sufficient. Otherwise, I'd have to do everything through gritted teeth. This time of year, chickens are not at their finest (are any of us??) - once the grass reappears and the sun graces us with its presence, all of our plumage should smarten up. Yes, mine arrived - it was Mary spanking baby Jesus before three witnesses. It's interesting that some mail can go through two continents and arrive in good time, yet can't get two states away.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

chickens are like people, only the good die young.

ellen abbott said...

I had a source of fresh yard eggs, my neighbor on the other side of my crazy empty lot of the storage buildings neighbor. alas, I managed to piss them off too. oh well. looking for another source for fresh eggs.

Ed said...

I keep dreaming that next year will be the year when we pick a time and stay with it all year round. I suspect I will probably keep dreaming for awhile longer.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

The chicken you secretly despise probably feeds on your hatred. It keeps her strong.

tpals said...

I see the local grocery store has cabbage on sale this week. I'll be buying a few to give the hens some entertainment. Mine don't seem to pop off at any specific time of year; they keep it random.

Leigh said...

I didn't know owls would do that! But birds are usually pretty smart about food. But your package. It's insane what streamlining has actually done to the post office. No wonder they keep raising our rates.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

That is one crazy delivery path. Oh boy. I too just lost another 8 year old barred rock hen. It's too early to see what I will be getting in the way of hens vs. roosters in my chick lot yet. Wind is picking up here today, and I had high hopes to clean a very dirty coop. Not happening. Sigh. Thunderstorms too. Good temps to take a motorcycle ride, but mother nature is a beast today here.

Joanne Noragon said...

I used to do a lot of shipping. I didn't following shipping unless I had to track. Actually, that was back in the day of the dollar fifty (?) delivery confirmation. Remember that?
But, comeon! Michigan to PA and back to MI! Honestly.
Recently I did not get an Amazon shipment, so I looked at the shipping. It was delivered to same number, different street. I went over and could see the package, as photographed, on the front porch. I left a note, it is for me and I'll be back (no one was home, though the door was unlocked. That night the person came to my door, returned my note, told me the package wasn't his, so he left it on the steps. Several days later it was gone.
Yeah, like some random Amazon delivery person just stopped by for it.

Theresa said...

The route that some packages take is just one of those mysteries of the unexplained. As to fowl forensics, clueless in Oregon here.Here we are having 30-40 degree temp swings and that gets everyone acting weird.

Sam I Am...... said...

So sorry about your chickens...it sounds like you might have a point about them running out of 'get up and go'. I hope your work lets up a bit for you and you don't lose anymore hens. Spring is here in the Ozarks so it's coming soon to a neighborhood near you!

Mama Pea said...

Boy, they sure do keep you guessing at your work place, don't they! Up, down, back and forth, you're about to be shut down, you're an important office. Geesh, make up their minds already!

Hope not too many of your laying hens kick the bucket this spring. That will leave you up a creek without eggs. (Darn, just remembered I was going to hard boil a batch of eggs today and didn't do it. Now that our hens are back in full production, I have the luxury of doing that. Mmmmm, yummy egg salad!)