In the week before Christmas, all delivery date promises are null and void. Normally FedEx and UPS are pretty reliable, but this week they have made me feel as though I’ve been stood up on a date. A couple of dates, actually.

Last week, it was FedEx who said they would deliver by end of day on Tuesday, so I waited home. Nothing came. Then I got the email telling me that they would deliver by end of day on Wednesday, so again I stayed home. Finally, the package arrived at 7:00 PM.

This week I’ve been waiting on UPS. Same sort of thing as FedEx last week, but now we are into day three. Yesterday evening I contacted UPS through their chatbot on the website and asked how late was “end of day.” The answer was any time until 9:00 PM. So, I waited again, in vain.

Because I don’t have anything to shop for and the weather is a bit gloomy, I’m staying home again. Maybe UPS will deliver, maybe they won’t. While I wait, I have the sounds of thumping and banging coming from the upstairs apartment. Sometimes the thumps are so heavy they rattle my dishes.

In my imagination, they have been fighting an intruder. At one point, things got a little quiet so I figured they must have killed the bad guy. Then I heard something being dragged across the floor so I suspected they rolled him up in a carpet and were dragging him out to the parking garage. Then the thumping and banging began again, so now I think they are probably just moving their furniture.

With any luck they are moving out. By end of day.