What Winter?

I live in the South, by the Gulf of Mexico. It's normally pretty warm around here year-round, relatively. Take, for instance, right now. I think the normals for this time of the year are high 60F, low 40F. Not bad considering this is the time for snow in much of the country. But we are having some record highs lately. Temps flirting with 80! I know, I know, some people would give their eye-teeth for such pleasant temperatures. However, 2 to 2.5 weeks ago we were having record lows--I think it went all the way down to 24F, with highs only in the mid-40s. I'm so glad I'm escaping this erratic weather pattern and going to the other side of the world in a few days.

UPS

UPS has really gotten on my nerves this Christmas season. There are a couple of things that have gone awry with their delivery process.

The first is totally wacko, why-are-they-such-greedy-pigs behavior. My husband chose to use their services in sending a package to Canada. He sold something on E-bay and wanted it at its destination quickly. They charged him a certain amount, and we thought that would be the end of it. Well, it turns out that they don't do deliveries in Canada: they hire some other company to complete the delivery. That in itself is not a problem, but the fact that they were going to charge the guy at the end a whole bunch more money (I'm thinking the sum was somewhere near $20 or so) in order for him to get the package is ridiculous. They should have been up-front about the extra delivery charges. The guy that had won the auction sent it back, refusing delivery. They then returned the package and tried to charge my husband a non-delivery return fee! WTF?! He proceeded to finish the transaction using the USPS.

They weren't done with us yet, though. Friday, they claimed to have tried to deliver a package to us 3 times and left a note on the final try. I don't believe that crap. I was home all day until my husband came home from work. We went for a walk that probably lasted 45 minutes. We didn't get the note until after our walk. How could they try to deliver 3 times in 45 mins? So my husband tries to call them. Boy was that hard. He called up all the local UPS stores and gets the run-around. Nobody knows where it is. He calls up the main customer service number, and they say they'll track it down. It will go to the main office across town. So on Saturday, my husband goes down to the office. The truck that has the package is in the back, locked up. Apparently no one on site can open it up. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. What is up with that? They can't deliver it until Monday. Double grrrrrrrr. We needed that package because it contained something for my Dad, who we were going to visit on Saturday. We had to go without the package. At least it wasn't an emergency or anything. We'd be really mad then.

So, there you have it. We're never using UPS again. Good news for the USPS, Fed-Ex, and DHL though.

Chocolate II

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.....I just tasted the coconut Kisses. Oh. My. Goodness! I love them. Of course they do have their drawbacks. They melt really easily and have somewhat of a bitter aftertaste. All that aside, they taste like a Mounds bar, except smaller.

On the same subject, my husband did something very evil last night. He went out and bought some mint chocolate Kisses. I adore those things. With all this chocolate in the house, how the heck am I supposed to lose weight? How many calories are burnt typing? Maybe I've found a new weightloss plan....eat a Kiss, type 5 million words.

Chocolate

I love chocolate. Today, I went to the store to buy some mint M&Ms. Those things are quite addictive. I can eat a whole bag (they don't come in single serving bags either)! Anyway, I go to buy some of those delicious treats and I am seduced by the other yummy confections in the aisle. There are coconut Kisses, macadamia nut Kisses, candy cane Kisses, mint Hershey's Nuggets, mint Hershey's Miniatures variety packs.....I would've bought the whole aisle if my husband hadn't been there with me. I did get the M&Ms and a couple of the Kisses (coconut and macadamia nut). I've tried the macadamia nut already. It's pretty good: a dark chocolate with Mauna Loa macadamia nuts. I am a huge fan of dark chocolate (the darker the better in my book), and as far as dark chocolate goes I'd have to say I find this one mediocre. It's a little on the sweet side, so if you like dark chocolate without the bite, you'll probably love it. I haven't tried the coconut ones yet (I'm watching my weight hee-hee!).

Party!

Tonight is the first Christmas party we're going to this season. It's an office party. It's a little on the strange side that we're going, however. It's my husband's old office's party. He works for our local university and switched departments. This is a party for his old department (the new department's party is this Saturday). It's weird going to a party with people my husband no longer works with. However, it also speaks volumes about how much they miss him and loved working with him--he worked with them since the year 2000. They may have ulterior motives though, lol. I'm sure the real reason why we're invited is because everyone wants to see how our little boy is growing up. Well, who could blame them? He is cute as a button, if I do say so myself :-P

It's Late!

It's 11:16pm, and I am just now getting on the Internet. My home page is Google, and I use the personalized home, where I have the latest news stories and "Today in History." Well, on the first line of today in history, it says we're having the Geminid meteor shower! Oh boy, I love meteor showers. I don't think I'll be going outside though--because it's cloudy out. Too bad--the weather has been really freaky lately, and it's actually not too cold out. Well, maybe I'll take a peak tomorrow. I hope it's clear then...

Wrapping It Up

I've been wrapping packages all day. I wouldn't have thought it would be an all-day task, but having a baby makes even the quickest of activities 10 times longer. That's right. He wanted to play with everything. Fortunately, he didn't tear anything or eat anything. I really do have the best of babies. He's mild-mannered and loves people. He's as curious as the next baby his age and mobile to boot, which makes keeping an eye on him mandatory at all times and cuts down on my Internet time. I'm not complaining, though. I'd much rather be playing with him than staring at a screen all day ;-)

Silence

I can't stand silence. I must have some kind of noise around. That is why I normally have the TV on all the time. Bad habit, I know. While I was studying last week, however, I couldn't have the TV on at all or I would watch it. The next best thing is the radio, so on it went. I had to go surfing to find something that wasn't distracting. Our Top 40 station pretty much only plays rap, so that was out of the question entirely. There were a few stations playing Christmas music, but I love to sing along, so they were as distracting as the Top 40 channel. I finally came across a classical music channel that is broadcast from a local private university. Jackpot! There is something about that kind of music that really is conducive to studying and learning.

The reason why I mentioned this is because I haven't even watched any TV since my final. Instead, I am listening to the classical channel. This music is timeless, and I never get tired of it. My music appreciation teacher would be so proud ;-D

Done!

Woo Hoo! I'm finished! After all that studying and hard work, I'm done, done, done!!!!!!!! I have been in school since 1986, and tonight I had my last final ever. Amazing. And surreal. I guess that means I have to go get a job now...

Studying

Lost

I lost my post! I had just gotten finished writing a nice tribute to Weffriddles when I clicked on something that made my post disappear. Strange. And to top it off, my wysiwyg editor is gone.

Oh where oh where has my editor gone? Oh where oh where can it be?

Apparently, I have entered the blogger Twilight Zone....

Friday!

I have been very "blah" lately. I think it has something to do with the weather, which has been abnormally hot (flirting with 80) and humid (80% and higher) lately. Yesterday and the day before were grey and cloudy, and the air was thick with wetness. Blech, blech, blech!

Today, however, is a new day. It is sunny and clear, and the temperatures are only in the 50's! What a great start to a fresh, new month. I only hope it remains that way.