It was pouring with rain again this morning, and several flood warnings had been issued for places along our normal route to Cardiff. R and I discussed the risks, examined the flood map minutely, and eventually decided that we’d probably be fine – though we put wet weather gear in the car, just to be on the safe side. But then just after we set off I received a text from Apple, telling me that my new Mac, which they’d said earlier in the week would be delivered next Monday, would now be arriving today.
On the one hand, I’m lucky to be getting a new computer, and to be receiving it well within the originally quoted delivery time. On the other hand, how is it possibly useful to suddenly bring the delivery forward by five days, on no notice at all? The UPS tracking system was about as uninformative as my previous dealings with UPS had made me think it might be – “On the way” it said – and, of course, someone had to be in to accept the delivery, so there was nothing for it but to turn back, go home, and wait. Under other circumstances R would doubtless have dropped me off and gone to see the Boy Wonder on his own, but with the weather as it was, a four-hour round trip with no navigator beside him didn’t seem like the best idea – so we called L, apologised profusely, and cancelled our visit.
R spent the day venting his irritation on the kitchen work surfaces, which are made of oiled hardwood and have needed sanding down and re-oiling for at least a decade. I spent mine slogging through my processing backlog, and more or less cleared it. We were taking a biscuit coffee break when I noticed this squirrel, which was taking a break of its own in the apple tree, but in its case a digestion break after troughing through some of the fat balls I’d recently put out for the birds. I’m rather off Grey Squirrels at the moment, in sympathy with a photographer friend of mine whose favourite clan of Red Squirrels up in Cumbria have been virtually wiped out recently by the squirrel pox carried by the Greys, but on a day like today I wasn’t sure what other photographic opportunities I was going to get, and I did like the way this one was holding up its tail like an umbrella. In the background is some of the cherry plum blossom that’s currently being devastated by the beastly weather.
Eventually the UPS tracking system updated to say that my package would be delivered between 12.40 and 2.40pm. I wish I could say I was surprised that it didn’t actually turn up till quarter to four, but this was merely UPS living down to my expectations. With luck I’ll be asked for feedback on the delivery process in due course, and I’m already flexing my typing fingers in anticipation.
