When I decided to start this blog, my thought was to keep it limited to topics most closely related to my adventures with Amateur Radio and Civil Air Patrol.
However, some experiences - large and small - are just too funny or unique to not share. Again, I realized that an experience I had that I would like to pass along, IS in fact related to ham radio.
So here goes again...
Last week while searching online for who-know's-what (that part isn't important) I fell for Amazon's marketing trap, where by "stealing" your search words they target you with advertising, I came across an ad for a popular Air Variable Capacitor. It just happened to be one that, if I was actually looking for an air variable capacitor at that particular time, I would have picked this specific one (who knew, right?) It was a good price, so I ordered it... along with a high-impedance earphone and some 1N34 diodes.
You know - deals just TOO good to pass up. So I didn't.
Well, they were delivered to my mailbox Saturday via the good ol' US Postal Service.
Now - in the 16 years I have lived here, I haven't had much to complain about regarding the mail carriers I've had. My only real complaint was wondering how soon the HOA would replace the mailboxes (where mine is located) that were "taken out" late one night ... as in ran into and knocked to the ground. (If anyone happens to be privy to this information - please share - I would really like to hear the story).
So on my way to pick up my wife to go to a play in Springville, I stopped at the mailbox to get the mail. I pulled up, rolled down the window, unlocked the little mailbox door, and saw there was a cardboard box in there.
Woo-hoo, my parts came.
A little puzzled, I reached in to pull the cardboard box out. After struggling for a few seconds and realizing I wasn't going to be able to get it out, I pulled my car up a bit so I could get out and go back to the mailbox. At this point, I'm thinking that the mail carrier must have thought to himself,
"Hey...this cardboard box just fits in the mailbox! I don't have to walk it all the way to the door."
So he put it in there with the Galls catalog and an envelope, which were both kind of crumpled up.
Here is my dilemma. While the back opening to the group of 16 mailboxes with a single door was large enough for the cardboard box to go into, the front opening isn't as large because each mailbox has its own door. In addition, there wasn't anything to grab onto with my hand.
So the first thing I tried was to stick a key into the side of the cardboard box, twist, and pull it out. It was at this point I realized the cardboard box was wider than the doorway.
What I ended up having to do was take my trusty 5.11-Tactical folding knife and carefully cut the side of the box open and pull out the contents. Luckily, I knew what was in it so I knew about how careful to be.
I was kind of in a hurry so I decided to leave the box in there (without writing something nasty on it) in hopes that maybe - just maybe, the mail carrier might get the hint that he wasn't as smart as he may have initially thought.
Hmm... we shall see.
Wednesday afternoon rolled around and I decided to go get the mail. I mentioned to my wife before going outside that I wondered if there would be any mail, or if the mail carrier figured I hadn't retrieve my package, or just what I would find. We chuckled a little, then I opened the door to go out.
There sitting on the front porch was the box and packaging paper that I had left in the mailbox. The same one that I left, hoping the carrier would figure out my struggle retrieving from my end of the mailbox.
We had a good laugh over that one.
I've decided I'm going to believe that he got the hint and that I will never have to struggle with getting my mail out of my mailbox ever again.
At least not until the next time it happens.
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