boxed in

There is a wonderful mailman here. He walks in shorts year round and wears a hat with the neighborhood's logo on it. (Yes, this neighborhood deemed itself cool enough for it's own apparel.) He has a pocketful of dog treats & a new corny joke everyday. However, when he goes on vacation the substitute carrier does not have dog treats, jokes, or even a faintly pleasant demeanor. She will not deliver mail here because of the dogs. We will not get mail for a week or so at a time, then when the regular guy comes back from vacation we receive all that mail rubber-banded together. And the dogs will receive a week's worth of treats.
And what if one day I need to run form the authorities? I don't want them to know where I live.
So, I got a PO Box today. This may be fun, going to the post office once a week to see what treasures lay in my new bronze box. The dark paneling & the smell of musty paper there remind me of a library. And you always have fun at a library, right?

The Hallmark Holiday

I drove by Fry's on Friday & laughed at the "Valentine Express" they were setting up their parking lot. It was a refrigerated semi decorated with red balloons & a big tent. They were hawking flowers, chocolate, cookies, cards, and anything else they could paint red & decorate with a heart. Nothing says romance more than 1 dozen roses fresh out of the back of a semi.
It became less funny when I trudged into Fry's this evening to purchase my own flowers. At least I had the dignity to enter the store to make my selection.
That folks, is irony.