Post Office Woes

Last pictures of Tim....




One stuffed suitcase.



At O'Hare.




Bye....



I'd never diss the U S of A Postal System, though on occasion it feels as though things are going by ye old pony express rather than by jet. No -- this has to do with where Tim is in North Africa.
I sent a package two weeks ago. It took about 10 days to 2 weeks to get to him when he was in Fes. So I thought, "any time now and he'll have another jar of peanut butter." Today he told me that it usually takes up to two months for a package to get from the post office in the city where he is to the recipient's hands. Sometimes it might take up to 6 months. Evidently, manana is always manana. I wrote back and wondered if he could go to the post office there once a week or so and see if anything had come....we'll see.

Now I know why they suggested sending it via DHL. I did go to the little place up on Geneva where they send packages via DHL. I was busily filling out the list of stuff in the package for customs while she weighed it.

"That will be $237," she announced.

For peanut butter? I don't think so.

Back to the good old US postal service where it left the US in 4 days, and presumably has arrived in the appropriate city. But will now languish in the post office for another 6 weeks to 6 months.

Oh yes, the other bit of news? About 75% of the packages make it to their intended recipient.

I'm now into flat rate boxes and looking for very small jars of peanut butter.

Box number two is going out tomorrow. I don't think it will make it for Valentine's Day.

Maybe I should shop for his birthday now. It's in August. Maybe, just maybe, the gifts would get there in time.....

Whirlwind Visit....

And Christmas in mid-January happened last week. Bob and I headed south for a bit of sun and lots of hugs from our grandbabyboy -- who is not really a baby any more. He's 3 1/2! It was wonderful visiting -- Derrick has done an amazing job clearing their 3 acres of land!



We got to visit the clinic where Jill works -- she pointed out that their gyne tables are actually heated....now that is true luxury.

It still seems odd being the old folks going to visit the young people in Florida. There is something backwards about it, I think.

It was so nice being there....

Dominos....

I had never played Dominos. Isn't that weird? I thought all you did with them was stand them up in a nifty row-design to knock them down.

Well, that's not TOTALLY true. I knew there was something you could do in which you would match the dots, but I'd never played a game before.

Torrey and Chris brought a set of Mexican Train Dominos (white ones with multicolored dots) when they came for Christmas, bound and determined that we were going to learn how to play.

It was so much fun! Of course, I lost big time because I didn't have a clue that there could actually be a strategy to the whole thing. Bob and Chris kept playing with their dominos, lining them up in some sort of a pattern, while I'd just look at mine, match them and hope for the best.

We bought a set to see if Tim wanted to take them with him, but he was so overweight in his luggage that he opted to leave them here at home. So Bob and I figured out a way to play with just the two of us, and spent a Saturday night thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Tim's first night in North Africa? Playing Mexican Train Dominos with the other workers who were having a New Year's Eve party!!

I figured out how to strategize and why you play with your dominos, setting them up in a certain way. Cool! I was very excited.

Didn't seem to matter. I lost anyway.

Next time.....

I Love Skype!

This is not designed to be an unsolicited advertisement for a particular product/company. It is just that -- well I'd love anything that allows me to talk/see Tim for free. I was able to chat with Lyn (in Berlin) for well over an hour yesterday, working on stuff for our family reunion in July. And today, Tim called me from his "office" and we chatted for just a few minutes. He was dressed in his traditional garb -- a nice blue bobo (bubu? bobu?) that he says comes to his shins -- he'll have to have a couple of them custom made to cover his ankles as they are meant to do. His "office" is a passageway between a couple of other offices, so it isn't very private, but hey -- it's a place where he can do his work! He was showing me around the office when something happened and our connection was lost.

It was GOOD to "see" him. I realize he's been gone only since Sunday (and this is Wednesday), but it seems like a long time.

The important thing is he is there safe and sound. His luggage also made it without falling apart and without any breakage. YAY!! Thanks to Jen who helped him pack, he really was able to take a lot of stuff -- including two large jars of peanut butter which I suspect will be gone quite quickly as one of his friends there is already looking forward to "sharing" it.

I wonder if I should buy stock in Jif....