My nervousness peaked today as I went to UPS to pick up my package. I knew it was my shoes. They phoned the house to tell us that they couldn't deliver the package because they couldn't find the address. I thought that was weird. Then they couldn't find the package with the number they'd given my roommate. All the time, I was being crowded by this guy standing behind with no sense of personal space. I was getting really twitchy after a long day at work and I really, really wanted my shoes.

And there is was - a shoe box sized wrapper with "oooo"ing and "aaaahh"ing feet drawn on the side. Definitely my shoes. I started getting really anxious - are they going to fit? are they going to be worth everything it took to get them here? did I really need to special order these shoes? The knot of doubt growing in my belly.

First thing I did when I got the package into my hands was look at the address. Sure enough - someone couldn't read along the way and therefore typed the address into their electronic system wrong and since you can't read hand-printing anymore, the UPS drivers couldn't find the address. Instead of 8th Ave N, the street was shown as "8th E" which would boggle anyone's mind. Of course, the policy sheet they stuck in with the form covered everything but the house number. And they stuck the form and policy sheet in a plastic thingy covering my address that was on the brown package in big black marker. And everything was printed very plainly so I could see where they went wrong. NOT!

Relieved that there was no duty and that I finally had my shoes in hand after not 3 - 7 days, but 3+7 days of waiting, I decided to not panic about the large rip in the brown paper which exposed the shoe box plainly. I even managed to wait until I got home with the box on the passenger seat still mostly intact. I did have to open the form in the plastic thingy to see what address had been provided.

Home now and it's about to happen - the opening of the box. Stupid packing tape made the process a little longer than I would have liked, but I eventually won. The box is open now and what do I see right on top? A hacksaw blade. My first thought was, maybe they're too long and will need to be sized down. I didn't like that thought so I dismissed it and put the hacksaw blade aside even though it was still puzzling to me. I wouldn't immediately disregard the thought that someone put it in the package deliberately just to mess with my head so I let the idea rest in my brain while I go for my shoes which are finally in my hands.

And headed straight for my feet. SCORE!!! They're fantastic. I've never had a better pair of shoes in my life. Wahoo! It's the little things that make life wonderful. I wore them around the house for the next hour just enjoying them. I also got a card and a note from the sender with no mention of the hacksaw blade.

Unfortunately, some poor UPS patron doesn't have a hacksaw blade anymore. I can see why it was shoved into my package. It was ripped open and the box had an edge that made it easy to slip something back into which was probably what the delivery folks did. No commitment to customer service. I don't care now though, I have my shoes. And a shiny new hacksaw blade.

I'll bring them by to visit everyone real soon. [GRIN]