Punkins and owls

Ever since Halloween, the air surrounding a variety of porches have begun smelling like rotting pumpkins. Apparently people don't like to clean up their jack-o-lanterns after the holiday. I don't mind though, they make for some funny-looking pumpkins once mold and rot starts to seep in. In a way, they make the jack-o-lanterns look creepier.

Haha, the pumpkins almost look like they need dentures since their mouths are kind of curling inward. With the holidays coming, I wonder what kind of new lawn decorations I will encounter? There was one house in which I had to walk around graves, zombie hands, and bloodied body bags, in order to get to the mailbox on the porch. What obstacles will I encounter this time I wonder?

Another thing I encountered a few days ago was a loud crowing sound coming from the top of this building in which a realtor resides.

                                                   

I saw the owl in the window and figured that was probably the cause of the noise, but I was still perplexed as to why. Upon discovery of the mail receptacle inside the doorway, I saw an anti-bird alarm system. Apparently the owl statue caws whenever birds come close? And then by doing so it scares off the birds? All I know is that the danged thing was really loud and why local businesses did not complain to the realtor about the noise the darned thing makes I don't know.

Did my mail arrive yet? No, now stop asking me...

It happens often--people frequently ask, "Do you have my letter-card-envelope-bill?" Though this gets annoying time to time, it makes sense since I am a mailman and I am carrying their mail. Other times it just gets old though--especially when customers are impatient when I am putting their mail in their boxes. I feel like sometimes people just magically expect their items to arrive on time and in a blink of an eye and when something goes wrong and said item doesn't arrive, BOOM!

The post office isn't perfect. With the millions upon millions of items of mail we process everyday, we are going to make errors. That's just human nature. From machines eating up mail to packages being given to the non-corresponding route, it's going to happen. And if a customer is upset that something didn't arrive on time or to their liking, I am unfortunately the brunt of the blame they dish out. Sometimes customers are understanding, sometimes not.

For example, one college guy got all uppity because his video game he ordered and paid overnight shipping for was not in his mailbox the day after. While talking to him, I realized that the mistake was probably one of ours, which happens, but still, getting all into it with the guy that delivers your mail, come on now.

On the opposite spectrum, had a lady today ask why her birthday card didn't get to her after two weeks of being sent. I explained to her what might have happened to it and then apologized for the inconvenience of it all. Though she was upset about not getting her card, she thanked me for talking to her about it and giving her some answers to what might have happened to it.

Sometimes people just don't know how to send things properly. One of the most common misconceptions I notice is that some people tend to think "forever stamps" cover all the postage on an ordinary envelope. They don't realize the the weight and whether the contents of the envelope make it bulge out or not have an impact on its cost. Therefore I usually have to collect a meager sum of money from the recipient--usually between 24-74 cents--to cover the correct postage.

In one recent incidence of this, a girl had her sister send her back a cell phone charger that her sister stole from her--I knew this cause she told me obviously. Anyways, the sister put the wrong postage on the envelope and the girl had to dig around her apartment to come up with 74 cents. I thought it was funny and mentioned how ironic it was that her sister "borrowed" her cell phone charger and then upon sending it back, the girl had to cough up some change for the correct postage. Needless to say, the girl informed me she was going to give her sister an earful when she talked to her again.

It's been four months? Where has the time gone?

So I might have neglected this thing for awhile. Props to my dad, he saw it coming. "You are going to get to tired of writing the blog eventually."

True, maybe I did. It's easy to fall into a repetitiveness when you are doing the same thing everyday. When work is done, I am more apt to do something recreational instead of writing an entry.

As to why I started writing again, no particular reason. Just some of the same similar feelings I had before--I want to keep a diary of daily events for my own entertainment and for others to enjoy as well. A valid reason to keep writing, to say the least.

So, July 20. That was my last entry. Since then, many things have happened. I gained my own route for a small amount of time--delivered mail on it for five days a week. I say "gained" though because I just lost it to someone with higher seniority than me last week. I am ok with this--it brings back some variety in my work since every day I will be placed on a different route. Still, saying bye for now to some of my favorite customers on the route was sad.

Oh, and it got dark. Real dark. Flipping daylight savings time took into effect earlier this month, thus making darkness come one hour earlier. So now I am rocking a headlight and delivering mail in the dark, if it comes to it. So far it's been alright, just feel a little creepy delivering mail at night to boxes on peoples' porches. Keep on thinking some customer will be like, "Who's dere? I'm gonna grab my gun!" Hasn't happened yet though, phew for that!

Oh and given the cold weather, I have decided to grow out a beard. Having never sported the beard before, I am getting used to it very much so. That being said, I am over nine months in as being a mailman, and though it is stressful sometimes, I still do enjoy the work. Until next time!