Adventures in Mail Order

Next time I'm tempted to buy something from India, I need to remember two words: Registered Mail. Yesterday, a Dreaded Slip of Non-Delivery was left in our mailbox. Maybe I should put a reminder post-it on my computer screen. Everything from India comes via Registered Mail, so not only do I need to be home, I need to sign and show an ID.

Actually, none of this should be a problem, because I'm about six blocks from the post office, and I literally walk right past it 10+ times a week. But that would be too easy. My non-delivered packages are sent to a post office thirty-four blocks away.

Once again, real-life efficiency is foiled by a theoretical efficiency. I think I'm going to stop by my real post office and ask the customer service desk about this, and I'll bet you that the word "zones" is invoked.

Hmm, what should the stakes be? Maybe I'll promise to get Fass Black (a.k.a. Disco 9000) watched and reviewed soon, because I know you're all waiting breathlessly for that. You just don't know it yet.

Fortunately, I got a package from Canada yesterday without incident...one of those online purchases that I had embarrassingly forgotten all about. It felt like a DVD, but I didn't think I was expecting any. "But the return address says it's from a Rohit, which is probably a clue," I said.

Ahhh, Rohit. (Insert swoony Kal Ho Naa Ho flashback here). Anyway, it turned out to be the movie Jai Durga Maa, to help me in my quest to learn more about the "mythological" film genre than the author of Filming the Gods (which is a book that I'm glad exists, but I can't seem to get finished).

It just occurs to me that I just ordered something from Lulu for the first time, and I don't know what their postal policies are. If they're UPS, it'll be almost as tricky...