Waiting....

I see a few snow flakes drifting down. There are predictions of up to a foot of snow this weekend. We had no snow in January and it was warmer than usual by a significant amount. So far this month it's been normally cold, and now it looks like we're going to have to use those new shovels that I bought in December. They've held off the snow for quite a while now. So we are just waiting to see what precipitates. In Baltimore, even the mention of the word "snow" sends the hoards to the grocery stores to buy milk, bread, and toilet paper. Now, I can understand why you might need milk and bread, but don't most people keep a supply of toilet paper in stock? I mean, enough for at least a week? It's not like we're going to be trapped for days on end. I grew up in Chicago and we never shut down for snow and it amuses me no end to watch the panic develop here. It's almost like an opportunity for a holiday.

And the other thing I'm waiting for: I dropped the shipment to Tubac off at FedEx on Monday. It was scheduled to be delivered Thursday, one day before the deadline delivery date. On Friday I checked the tracking number on the FedEx web page. The package hadn't even left Baltimore! It was scanned as picked up on Monday. Then it was scanned as picked up again on Thursday. Needless to say, I was more than annoyed. Called FedEx and their explanation was that it must have fallen off the cart at the dropoff place. So it's in the system but won't be delivered until Tuesday. Making the hanging of the show way more difficult. I just hope it arrives safely and hasn't been damaged or something worse in shipment. They refunded my money, but it doesn't give me much confidence. I have never had any problems with UPS; this may persuade me to use them exclusively.

Yesterday Volunteers of America came to tow the old minivan that we donated to them. They came with a flatbed truck and loaded the van and drove off. Sort of sad to see that car go, I've had it since 1995 and it's taken me alot of wonderful places. But it needs new tires and the air conditioning system has a major leek that would cost megabucks to fix. In this climate, air conditioning is a necessity. It still runs well, so maybe somebody will use it to just haul stuff. That's what we've used it for during the past year, but the inspection date came up and the insurance was due for renewal, and all of that added up to more than we wanted to spend.