Coal in stockings....

There's been a rash of package-thefts from people's porches this season. (A few cases locally - they had one news story on a woman who was caught and they had her delivering some sob story on the news about how she "knew" it was wrong but did it anyway). If I were Santa, those people would get coal in their stockings - or maybe something worse than coal.

And, I don't know. I get that it's a non-violent crime, I get that it's mostly just "stuff" (but, having a relative who depends on medications that are refilled by mail - losing your next refill and not being able to get one quickly could be extremely bad). But to me, it just feels like another example of the Growing Awfulness Of The World. (The Rising Dark*, if you will, but I'm afraid there isn't any Merrimon Lyon to help us out)

(*Then again, the Dark has probably always been rising, or at least seeming to. During my current funk I've had people older than I am remind me that "It may not help much for me to say this, but the world's pretty much always been going to heck.")

Also, it's like a very bad gamble - that box you're stealing COULD have an iPad in it. Or, if you're stealing off my porch, it could be yarn or used books. I wonder how many of those stolen packages wind up with their contents just tipped into a dumpster when the thief finds it's something they don't value or can't easily fence? (Then again - I had a $10 Lowe's sprinkler stolen out of my front yard once, so maybe there really IS a way to sell anything).

But this is just one of those things that gets to me - I mail order lots of stuff. I am away from home most of the day. I have to either trust that no one is going to rip me off or do something like ask the mail carrier to hold the packages (and then find time to go down to the PO and wait on line and hope that the Mr. Grumpy clerk who doesn't like looking for packages isn't on duty) or get a rental box at the UPS store or something - and it makes my life just a little more complicated and effortful.

I admit, as I was practicing piano this morning, it popped into my head that I had an order from KnitPicks (the rest of the "Stories in Stitches" books - I bought the one on 'wartime knitting' and found it interesting, so when they had a good sale going, I ordered the rest) that was about due to arrive. And then I was concerned - what if it had arrived and got ripped off? I mean, I'm sure KnitPicks would make it good, but still, kind of a pain. (I checked - it is due to arrive tomorrow. So everything there is good. And that's another beauty of the Internet: instant package tracking.)

Also, I have a tiny Christmas present to myself on its way to me....there is someone on Etsy who sells good-condition, earlier-generation, My Little Ponies for not-too-outrageous prices (given the condition they are in: I am not yet ready to get into the whole bait/rehairing/cleaning deal). I had kind of wanted a Posey for a while - she is a yellow earth pony with pink hair and is thought to be the color palette prototype for Fluttershy. And this seller had one, and in good condition, and with unfaded hair (apparently the pink hair fading can be a problem). And then I saw she had another one, called Bubbles, that was just SUPER cute (Bubbles is in a seated position) and because she was less rare than Posey, she was cheaper....and anyway, Posey needed a friend* so I bought Bubbles too.

(Also, "Bubbles" was one of the proposed "alternative" names for Derpy when that name was deemed offensive. I actually like Bubbles better as a name for her than I like Muffins, the name they seem to have given her. But I admit she is still Derpy to me, alpha moms notwithstanding)

They were shipped out yesterday. They come from Arizona so I'm hoping that it only takes a couple days and they get here before I leave. (They are coming USPS, so if they don't, they will wait for me in the post office while I am gone).

(*Horses are herd animals and I've read a little bit that suggests it's really not fair to the horse to have just ONE horse, the horse needs a "friend." In some cases that "friend" can be a donkey or an alpaca or other animal, but...)

Also: this is an ad for Amazon but I admit it kind of makes me want a miniature pony or two:



No, not at my current location: horses are not allowed in city limits. But I have sort of a vague dream of my retirement life to be having a larger amount of land outside of town, building a house there, and having animals of some kind. I was thinking alpacas but miniature ponies (or even regular ponies) are awfully appealing too. (Real horses are big and scare me a little, and yeah, I know, I couldn't ride a pony, I'm too heavy. I'm probably bordering on too heavy for many smaller horses as well...)