excardon me?

[dragonlady7]

Well.
We got home from Dave's mom's around 9:30 last night, discussing what a bummer it was about the camera not having arrived. "We'll call UPS first thing tomorrow morning and see if we can pick it up," Dave said.
We went inside our humble abode and sat in the living room, and Dave opened his laptop and refreshed the UPS tracking page that was there. "Delivered," he read.
"Huh?" I said.
"Delivered," he repeated. He clicked on it. "The item has been successfully delivered."
"When?" I demanded, incredulous. We had just come in the side door and there was nothing there.
"7:38," he read.
"They don't deliver after 7!" I said.
"I know!" he answered, having read the site thoroughly.
I went to the front door. Nothing there. No note, no nothing. I went back to the side door. No, we had not stepped on it on our way in. There was no note. I went to the back door. It was locked and there was nothing outside of it. I went back to the side door.
Ohhhh-- the UPS man had moved the hose caddy to put the package down between it and the stoop.
Uh, not covered by the awning. Exposed to the elements. Not visible from the road. Not visible from anywhere but the stoop. If you were looking for it.
Great.
I picked up the box. Two of its corners were crushed. The top was sealed with tape that read, "WARNING: This package is sealed with pilfer-proof tape. Do not accept delivery if tape has been tampered with."
Not like I had a choice, did I?
The tape was battered but appeared intact. I brought it inside and went at the pilfer-proof tape with the kitchen shears.
It was, indeed, a Canon Digital Rebel. With lens. And all the other stuff it was supposed to come with. (battery, charger, usb cable, etc.)

So. The moral of the story, folks, is that the UPS is like the Easter Bunny-- mythical, invisible, and hides your stuff outside.

Pictures to come, now that the battery's been charged.

And, now that I have a shiny new toy, Dave is manifesting an interest in photography, in which he's previously only expressed horror (seeing that picture of him I posted earlier in the week, can you blame him?). So he might be contributing to the photo galleries. I wouldn't mind sharing my toys...