Friday, 14 September 2018
Mammoth Lakes: 0 miles
Once upon a time, there was a little hiker in need of a warm layer and an external battery, among other things. So she asked her trusted support system to prepare a package and send it her way. On August 30, the package was dropped off at the post office in a land far far away (Montana) with a delivery time set to be September 2.
Since the little hiker was on trail and supposed to make it to Lake Tahoe by that time, everything seemed perfect. And since all other vital packages had made it to their destinations without a hitch, the little hiker wasn’t worried.
Until she gets to Tahoe, and the package isn’t there…..not even close.
Thankfully, there is a nifty little tool called tracking. And according to the tracking info, the package – in transit now for 4 days – had made it all the way to…. Salt Lake City. 🤔
Although the little hiker was able to enjoy two more days in Tahoe, it was time to keep moving. And hope the package wasn’t lost in the ether.
By September 8, there was at least an update on the status of delivery. The package had now made it to…San Francisco?!?!! Which is all the way across California and nowhere near the destination.
It would take 4!!!!! more days until the package made it to Tahoe, via Reno.
Let me give you an illustration on the totally nonsensical routing of the USPS:
The ultimate destination in the map is D. 🙄
A delivery that should have originally taken no more than 4 days (usually 2, but Labor Day was in the way), took a total of 13!!!!!!!! days.
So by September 11, the essential package had finally made it to Tahoe…..only the little hiker wasn’t there anymore. She was by now about a three hour drive south of there, or about 185 trail miles.
What to do? This situation was turning into such a clusterfuck that the little hiker experienced some serious anxiety and stress.
Thankfully the friend and trail angel from Tahoe did his best to forward the package immediately, even going so far as paying extra for overnight delivery. Thank you so much Dan!!!!!
So by rights, the package should have made it to Mammoth Lakes by Wednesday, September 12.
I’ll spare you the agonizing details of the waiting game that happened. Suffice it to say, some self-medicating happened, just to deal with the anxiety.
Here’s the insane path the postal service took this time:
Again, ultimate destination is D.🤔😑😲
When the package still hadn’t made it by this afternoon, the little hiker was on a deep hole of depression. Would she ever receive her precious package?
Keeping you posted…