USPS Experience

It's been a while- yes, since my last entry here. Been sick with allergies due to pollen and then I have congestion, headache, skin irritation, puffy eyes- eeks! Count them all, I got them...wahhhhhhhh!!! Let them stop, stop, stop!!! I am sick, sick, SICK!!! Okay, so here I am- taking my time these days staying in bed, watching foodnetwork on cable TV in between reading in bed and tossing left and right to try to put myself to sleep (sigh).


Labor Day came by and I was just sick (*sulk*). Husband was here up until half past eight in the evening of Monday this week and later, left shortly- for his usual trips akin to his work. Ayayay! Feels like am an orphan for three days now (*sigh*) and moi- don't like it because I don't sleep well when Little Boy is out. Call it separation anxiety (or whatever), I am used to his snoring and with his feet passing through the boarder line of our matrimonial bed (*laughs*). He will be home~ though~ tonight. Oohlala!

The past days while the Boy Blue is out, have given me sometime to do what I like most-tinkering with my sewing machine! I used it and made some inventions here and there and up until last night i have made two sets of slipcover for our dining set chairs. They are old (with character) and have scratches all over them as they have been aged by time, traveled far and near so now they need a little “make over" and some TLC. After planning things in my mind for weeks and weeks, I reckon on creating something easy to do to basically improve their look. Using my innate charm (*wink*wink*) to outwit moi husband I urged him to bid for me- in my behalf, several yards of textile at Ebay. Why Ebay? Because it's more reasonable in terms of cost to purchase just about anything at Ebay. Payment was via paypal and a reasonable price is stuck to the merchandise (piece of cake).

The first set of yellow cotton and polyester fabric came couple of days ago and was delivered at home (meaning our flat in SFO). But the Chinese USPS man was a pain in the butt. Eeks! He left the parcel by the door on ground floor~ we live on the second level! I almost passed out to see it (but thrilled~ nonetheless~ that it came earlier than I have predicted). But after arriving from Chinatown at mid day, it was a welcome rejoice to see it but- to see it left out by the glass door is another thing (*heart pumping all sorts of beats*)! Honestly, I wondered why the dumb Chinese mailman just left it there? FYI, anyone could have taken it. Why on earth was he thinking leaving it there in the open? True enough, our central location in North Beach is peaceful but still- you can never tell- a thief by any other name is still a thief! You see, I was out and went to church (after two weeks in absentia) then returned the books of Alton Brown in our North Beach Library; proceeded to Chinatown for some nectarine, pechay, onions and lousy red tomatoes (that turned out to be tasteless when cooked. Ah! Damn)! On another angle, I thought I’d be able to make a real good pasta sauce with them but they turned out to be red only in color and nothing more--- yeah, as in useless tomatoes they turned out to be~red, as in bloody red on the outside that looked perfect, all right, but after cooking them, they were a tasteless bunch and bland)! So I learned another lesson once more:

"Never judge a tomato by its color! You can never really tell how it’s going to taste like once cut into dimes or cooked into a sauce!"

I was busy shopping that’s why I was a way for three hours! And yes, in the final hour of my sauntering, I ended up in Chinatown. My, my, my...and this USPS man really pissed me off. Scram!If the parcel was lost- it cannot be replaced- he won't pay for it or he would just proclaim it as:

1. Item lost in the mail... or worse...
2. Parcel delivered, owner cannot be found at delivery date.

Now, relative to this incident, I printed out a notice to all deliverymen for them not to leave stuff by the door- if after they tried to buzz in, we- (moi/ husband)- are out- to please leave a note of information regarding the sutff. Yes, city life is different. It's wonderful, colorful- full of life and rhythm but when it comes to security, one has to be alert and vigilant!!! You just can’t leave parcels by the door. Mamamia!!! It is too public out here in San Francisco!!! And of course, there is always the temptation of stealing!

In the suburbs neighborhood folks is at a glance for security check within the parameter where they live and where we used to live in *Ripon* (2 1/2 hours from North Beach), our neighbors, especially Mark and Julie Berryman are ever considerate about our home, mails, garbage bins when we are away. They take care of them even if we don't ask them to do it. It's just a gesture they do for us as good neighbors since we do the same for them in their absence. Here, it is nothing like that. So I condemn the mailman!

BTW, I baked my first “Peach Pie” with almond streusel. Husband liked it. It was fairly good but the yellow peaches would have tasted better baked into a pie. The only thing that made my white peach pie forgivable is because the almond made it all crispy- and the filling had almond flavor....of course, the crust was perfect- flaky with a kick after a bite! Ciao!