No Mail

I know what you are thinking. I do.

You're thinking, "Does she mean mail or male?" Clearly both versions of the word apply, especially with the word "no" preceeding them. But I've chosen to discuss the USPS version today. Mail.

Our post office isn't so great. Everyone knows it. Still, most times I get my mail in a relatively timely manner. (I know there is some delay based on surveys and information I get from Netflix.) Thank goodness I have BillPay with my bank, otherwise I would be more nervous.

Yesterday I stopped at the little community mailbox in my neighborhood. I open my box, number 03/14 in a large bank of boxes. I had mail... yay! Upon inspection I discover it is a bundle of mail for my neighbor down the street. Not one of the pieces is for me. Not one! No Netflix movie that I had expected. No bills, no checks, no credit card applications. I delivered my neighbors mail and kindly asked if they night have mine. Apparently they did not as I have not heard from them.

I called the local post office (I refuse to capitalize those words) today to discuss the problem. I spoke to a supervisor who claimed he would check into it now that the regular carrier was back from vacation. Apparently he often gets complaints when the regular carrier is out. (Must be when I see the kids in shorts and t-shirts out there putting the mail in the boxes.) So today I expected to receive two days worth of mail. No such luck, I got the regular Wednesday grocery store flyers and one credit card application (in my name). This means that whoever got my mail either dumped it or hasn't checked their box yet... If they have checked then they haven't put my mail into the proper box... the one that is for mis-delivered mail. Hmm, happens enough that there is a system. ARGH!

And that's not all.

It just so happens that the internet ate at least two email messages of mine yesterday. I spoke to a friend today who said she did replied to my message yesterday and so had another of our friends. I did not get these replies. I checked junk mail, I checked my folders that use rules to sort incoming mail, I checked deleted items and I checked sent items. NOTHING. I even went online to my providers webmail site. Nothing.

I couldn't be more frustrated with mail, or the lack of it.

The same could be said for the other spelling of the word, but that is for another post.

An ode to cooler days at my house.
It's August 1st, the beginning of our other season in Texas.
We just finished with summer and now it's AUGUST.

Have you ever...? (Part 2)

Read Part 1.

Have you ever had an unwanted house guest? I have!
(This does NOT refer to all the friends who visit and whom I love to host!)

Truth be told, I had noticed some signs.

About three weeks ago a warning light came on in my Acura. I read the manual and determined the light was related to the fuel line/emissions. It suggested re-seating the gas cap. I had run into this before with my Honda and the gas cap trick always worked. Not this time! So I called Effrim, my handy dealer service guy. I took it in on a Friday afternoon and got a sweet loaner vehicle, a 2007 Acura MDX. The shop was busy, so it was Monday morning when I got the call about the cause of the light... The conversation started with Effrim asking if I had small animals. No. Do you park outside or live near open land or fields? No. Weeeeelllllllll, the problem is that the wiring harness for you knock sensor has been... well, chewed through. What?!?! There was a long story about how rodents (mice, rats) like to crawl into warm engines to sleep, especially in the winter. While in the warm engine compartment, the mouse apparently cannot just sleep. There must be gnawing... on wiring harnesses. It turns out that the casing for the wiring harness is made of soy. Nice, just give the mouse something good to eat. Smart. (Here, mousey, mousey, mousey! Please.) Anyway, that stinkin' mouse cost me $800. That's $100 for the wiring harness (old one shown below) and $700 in labor. The joy! Luckily the dealer didn't charge me for the loaner car, which technically became a rental as it wasn't a warranty issue.

I've since made my garage a less desirable place to live. I've put the bags of bird seed into a container with a lid. I've cleaned up the bag of mulch with the mouse hole in it. I've set traps and put out sticky mouse trays and mouse poison. I have not caught any mice. But I also haven't seen any evidence that the sorry rodent is still living rent free in the garage. I hope he's gone. But I'd rather have had evidence of his death! I know, call PETA, I'll turn myself in.

The dealer took this picture for me. I have the actually part in an envelope.

Have you ever...?

Have you ever wasted a few hours watching bad TV? I have. I might have done that tonight. Stupid Lifetime Original Movies.

Have you ever hit a deer? Or rather, has a deer hit your car? It could happen; it happened to me in December. I saw the deer (plural), stopped, waited for them to head toward the tree line... Then I started driving again, very slowly, and the stinkin' deer turned around and jumped right into my car's passenger side fender. He did a movie stunt type maneuver, slid over the hood, onto the windshield and off the other fender. At the end of the day his hooves and antlers scratched the two fenders, the hood, the windshield, the bit between the windshield and the sunroof and the driver side windshield wiper. $2600. Over-achieving deer. The folks at Allstate didn't even blink. Neither did the folks at the body shop. They had given an estimate to a guy earlier in the day who'd run over a DEAD feral hog. Imagine calling the insurance company to say you'd hit dead hog. "I swear that it looked like a speed bump? Really!"

A deer made this dent on my front fender. Yes that's cracked paint too!