UPS - The Killer of Friday Evenings

[Moondog]

Arghh!

I've been waiting for an overnight UPS delivery since about 9 this morning. Since the usual UPS guy can't seem to find the doorbell, he usually knocks, hangs out for about ten seconds, and leaves. When he does, he leaves whatever it is on my front doorstep, which is fine. But this particular package requires a signature, and without one, they won't leave the package. Which is also fine. I get that. But this means that I need to hang out at the front end of the house, where my library / office / computer lives, so that I can either see him out the window, or hear the knock. And not at the back end of the house, where most of the entertainment stuff, and more comfort, lives, but where I can't hear the knock. Because I need this thing first thing tomorrow morning.

A couple of hours ago, the UPS guy pulled up out front. I walked out to the truck, and heard him rattling around in the back of the truck. I told him that it was probably a larger box. More rattles. Then he came forward, and told me that it isn't on the truck. I asked him why he stopped then, if he didn't have the box, and he said that his list told him to stop. He called somebody on a cell phone. Nobody knows where the box is. So he gave me the toll-free of the UPS regional whatever supervisor, told me to call and ask about my shipment.

I called the toll free. The supervisor told me that it is on the truck and will be there within 20 minutes. "No it won't" I told her, and I gave her the long version. Hmm, she said, "I'll call you back." Hours pass. I just got off the phone with the same lady. They found the package. It's on a different truck. And it will be here late. I asked how late is late. "Sometime between 5:00 pm and 9:30 pm. Probably 9:30."

So, I'll be right here for the next several hours. Does anyone have a funny story they'd care to share? Or a joke? Anything?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. I forget, were you participating in the thread about the literal rock videos? Cause those are

good time killers.

http://www.elwp.com/Joe%20Cocker.html

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A095CDB461A1FEED&search_query=literal+videos+complete+collection

[Moondog]

2. No, but I'll check it out.

[Moondog]

3. What a pleasant surprise.

The driver with the package just showed up. Yay! I'd already cancelled on my plans for tonight, but I didn't really want to go anyway.

[gmoney]

4. Visit Failblog.org or watch Yacht Rock on Youtube.com

Failblog has hours worth of fun stuff, and Yacht Rock is pretty brilliant in its low-budget way.

Or catch up on your Stongbad e-mails.

Also, I think if you IMDB the Twilight Zone TV show, you can watch complete episodes on the site.

Then there's always southparkstudios.com where there's a huge archive of their old shows...

[Moondog]

6. Thanks for posting this! It looks great!

I'm saving it for future reference.

[NYC_SKP]

5. I LOVED my old UPS guy. He had my cell number and would call me before coming over.

Sometimes I'd be out of town and could tell him to drop it over the gate or over to my parents.

He has been replaced. :cry:

New guy isn't so helpful.

[Moondog]

7. Some are definitely better than others. My current one is in the middle.

[taterguy]

8. What's in the box?

Or is this gonna be like Pulp Fiction where we never find out?

[Moondog]

9. A lens.

Canon EF 500 f/4L IS, to be specific. Promised a friend I'd take some shots tomorrow AM, and I needed the length. And it was the last lens that I wanted which I did not already have. Anyway, the point is that I promised.

[gmoney]

10. Didn't want that left on the porch? Hard to believe...

Congratulations... that's some serious glass. Is your friend located very far away from you?

[Moondog]

11. About 15 minutes away.

Some bald eagles nesting on adjacent property. Not sure how much longer they'll be around.

[taterguy]

12. Seriously, I'd cut UPS some slack

It's not like they set out to destroy your Friday.

It's just that, well, they deliver millions of packages. God knows how they keep track of all the ones that they do keep track of.

Of course you could have just driven to wherever it is to where you bought the lens from and picked it up there. How much time and gas money would that have cost? I'm guessing a lot more than whatever UPS is getting paid to deliver your package.

[Moondog]

14. You have a point.

I ordered it from NYC around 2 pm yesterday. I live in central FL on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It's been here now for a couple of hours. I didn't jack anybody up. The driver, and the supervisor, and I, are still cool.

I just hate hanging out at the front of my house in a desk chair watching a 14" desktop TV next to my computer, when I could be in a recliner enjoying some 52" high-def goodness.

I bitched to you guys, not to them. There is no point in bitching to, or at, them. They're working stiffs, who control nothing. And I know, understand, and appreciate all of those things.

[Mugu]

13. If I was waiting on a piece of glass like that and it wasn't on the truck,

I would have held the first driver hostage.

[Moondog]

15. Yeah, that's tempting. But the shipper, a large camera store in NYC, ultimately

would have to ship me another, and fight it out with UPS over who pays.

The worst that would have happened to me is that I would have to have tried to shoot eagles with a 300 2.8 IS with a tele-extender, or worse yet a 100-400 zoom, and the images (if I get any) wouldn't have blown up as well. I would have disappointed a friend. Which would have grieved me. She's an ex-girlfriend from many years ago, who is now the relatively young widow of a really old friend who died over Iraq a few years ago. I'd hate to disappoint her.