The post office was just Josh-ing me

Panic. Anxiety.  I felt them both on Monday waiting for some envelopes to arrive in the mail, both PWE and bubble mailers.

One of them was from long time trade buddy Josh from the very quiet Royals and Randoms blog.  I've always enjoyed trading with Josh, as he's quite friendly, and very generous as well.

A couple of dozen Royals of varying years, colors and varieties made their way to the west coast, and Josh knocked down a bunch of A&G wants from 2017.

But while I'm showing off the 44 cards in scan form, I'm going to relay my latest post office story for your amusement.

Along with Josh's 44 A&G cards, I was waiting on 2 other envelopes.  What I love about trading now is the tracking IDs, so I can keep an eye on (OCD like) the packages as they make their way to S. Florida.

I'm on the early shift this month, working 715-1615, and I don't see any texts from the P.O. stating that my packages were delivered.  This was not a major deal as I'm so close to the office that we're on the end of the carrier's route.  Not uncommon for the mail to arrive around 6 PM.

The wife and I have a beer, chat for a bit and have our dinner.  As is our custom lately, once dinner is complete we sit down and watch the Great British Baking Show on Netflix.  I don't do reality shows much, and I'm by no means a baker, but I am really enjoying watching this, as we're on our 5th season already after just under a month of watching.

7 PM rolls around, still no texts.  Not unusual either, as sometimes transmission of the delivery scan lags well behind the actual delivery.  I go to check the mailbox, empty.  I look to the east on our street, and see the mailman on the other side, 4 houses down.  I know from experience when seeing this that it's another 45-60 minutes before he hits our house.

Watch another baking show episode, takes us to 8PM.  No texts.  Now I have to know what's going on.  Look at the postal website, and both the tracking IDs I have an eye on have been returned to the post office with "incomplete address" scans on them.

What a load of crap!!  The driver couldn't finish his route, so he scanned them like that to save his arse.  I got a kick out of it though and told my wife as it happened.

So while I'm working Tuesday morning, at precisely 818, my phone starts blowing up with texts.

The previous day's mail was delivered, 3 bubble mailers and 2 PWE's.  The cards you see above are in one, along with a welcome Blue Jays relic.

I saw the X on the back and thought it might be a die cut that I needed from the 2008 set.  This definitely works too!!  I've kind of stayed away from the Jays a lot, as storage problems will become an issue if I keep going after all the base cards.  Getting relics and autos are much easier to store, as there aren't many coming my way.

Josh sent 3 other cards, which I'll feature on Saturday as they fit that that day's theme quite well.

Great stuff Josh, thank you very much!!

Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!

Robert

One zero is all it takes to F--- things up

I didn't scan a lot of cards tonight, only 11 because I thought that the story behind this post was more entertaining (at least to me it is).

I received a nice package from 3 time trade partner Craig (TCDB ID: DukeyDevil) that contained a bunch of '78 Topps.  71 of them.

The cards are really just for show here, although I must say that the George Foster/Jim Rice Home Run Leaders card is really bad ass.

But the fun here, is the trip that my cards took.

Step by step, in bullet point form, just to make it easier to read, is the journey:

• Package leaves MA on the 19th of August
• Arrives in Miami on the 21st.  Not bad.
• Makes it to a Ft. Lauderdale post office on the 21st.  Not the correct post office by the way, but it's in Ft. Lauderdale
• Because the package is missing a 0 on my address, it sits in that post office.  For a week
• On the 28th, the package is sent to the Opa Locka distribution center (N. Miami)
• Opa Locka sends it back to the wrong post office on the 29th. 
• It gets sent back to Opa Locka on the 30th. 
• The package finally makes it to the correct post office on the 30th, and is delivered that day.

9 days to go 9 miles locally.   I work in the package delivery business.   I've had people on the phone scream at me for a lot less than this.

I've had lots of packages make it across the country in no time flat.

Funny how one zero can F--- things up.  Oh well.

Thanks for reading!

Robert

Some postal woe, and a little bit from the show

I've been blogging for almost 6.5 years now, and have shipped cards for a couple of years more on top of that.  I've never really had much to grouse about when it comes to the post office and the service that they've provided me over the years.

Until now.

I work in the package delivery business, and have been doing so for almost 19 years.  I've seen what happens to packages at times.  I know that they get lost, or barcodes rip/tear/get destroyed.   Believe me, I get it.   But seeing what I've seen with a package I'm expecting is just a little crazy.

My package leaves Philadelphia, PA, and gets to West Palm Beach, FL (about 1130 miles) in 22 hours.  Not bad at all.  The West Palm Beach postal sorting plant is about 50 miles from my house, but is not my local plant. 

The package then goes from West Palm to Opa Locka, FL.  A little over 60 miles, the journey takes 2 hours, which is not bad since the scans show the package moving during the morning rush on the 11th.  That's Thursday.

The package doesn't move for 4 days.  Nothing.   Opa Locka is 30 miles from my house.  I get notice today that the package is now in transit again.  On a federal holiday.   I can't wait to see what kind of scan happens tomorrow....

OK...rant over.  On to some card show goodness.

I went el cheapo again this month.  Only spent $20.   At one table.   I dug through several quarter boxes and made a dent into some want lists.

These were the only 3 60's cards left in the boxes.  Thankfully, I needed them all and at a quarter apiece, I was pleased at the condition.

A trio of catchers, love the big catchers mitts!

I'm making this a quick post for tonight and finishing up with 7 cards from the '70 Topps set, which is a set that I never started out intending to build, but as I've gone along I've found some good deals at shows on singles (such as these at a quarter apiece).  So much so that I now have over 200 cards towards the set.  Not bad for never planning to put the set together...

Tomorrow I'll finish up the show post with some cards from 72, 74, 78 and 79 Topps.   Maybe I'll even have an update on the travels of my package.

For all I know it could be headed to Cuba....

Thanks for reading, Robert