The _____ is in the mail

Happy early December, everyone.  Or, as we like to say around here, "crunch time" for those of us who have loved ones to whom we ship gifts this time of year.  Every year, my wife and I plan our holiday shopping around completing the process for our daughter and her family, as they live two time zones away in Colorado.

And this year, it's even dicier, what with all of the deliberate alteration to the process of collecting and distributing mail around the country.  There are many stories floating around about how long things have taken to reach their destination.  At the height of the public outcry about slowed mail deliver last summer, when it became clear that most states would add mailed ballots to the more traditional forms of voting, a couple of TV talking heads mentioned letters and cards they had sent.  One noted that he sent a birthday card to someone from one part of the greater Los Angeles area to another and it took fully nine days to make the trip.  Others sent empty packages to various locations with mixed results.

A couple of years ago our daughter and her family moved to a different house in the same city where they already lived.  It took quite a long time for our parcel to arrive there last year, for some reason, and this was before the United States Postal Service changed leadership.

So this year we're even more sensitive than usual.  I sent out our Christmas cards this morning and I imagine we'll hear back from some folks on how quickly or slowly those reached their destinations.  But "the box" still needs to be shipped, so I'm a little antsy about this.

Since we cannot visit my mother-in-law at her assisted living facility in western Kentucky, I shipped a smallish box of Christmas decorations to her last Saturday.  We're only talking about a destination that's three and a half hours away by car, yet that parcel still has not been delivered.  It's supposed to get there today, but until that happens, I'll still wonder.

Buying stuff online is a little tricky, too, as so many shippers use a combo product where the item leaves their warehouse via United Parcel Service or another carrier, then it's delivered to the local post office for final delivery.  Many's the time that the tracking indicates all is well until the item in question reaches Lexington and sits in our local post office awaiting delivery.  In fact, I just checked on two items that we ordered, the same item for each of our kids and their families, and the vendor says it was delivered, but USPS tracking shows that it's still in Mississippi.  Go figure.

No big surprise, the moral of the story remains "mail early," and we try to do just that.

Here's hoping your Christmas packages avoid delays and porch pirates and get to your loved ones in one piece!