Tracking

I ordered an iPad.

I ordered the iPad and set up delivery for Wednesday – a day I would be home because I was taking a personal day.

I tracked the packages from the moment they were sent Monday. Yes there were two. Apparently, when you order an iPad and a cover, they ship separately.

All day Tuesday, I tracked. My packages were getting closer. All day Wednesday, as I puttered around the house, I tracked my packages. I took Lucy on short walks, lest we be on another street when the UPS driver arrived.The sun started to set and I was still tracking my packages, my anxiety level high. What was taking so long.

At late afternoon, as the sun was setting, the knock finally came. I opened the door to one box. The cover. I tracked the other package, the iPad. Still “out for delivery”.

Six o’clock came and went. Still no package. Then, the iPad’s status changed to “destination scan” and the delivery date reset to Thursday. I deflated.

I wasn’t going to be home Thursday, so I set a plan in motion. I contacted neighbors who I knew worked from home. I printed directions for the UPS driver, taped them to the bottom of the glass baking dish I would set on my stoop. I went to work Thursday, feeling anxious.

I tracked that package all day Thursday.

It was still “out for delivery” when I got home, so I left the UPS website up and took Lucy for a short walk. Still “out for delivery” Just after we got home, the status changed to “delivered”. I hadn’t heard the UPS knock, but opened the door and checked. Nothing. Could someone already have stolen it? I wondered.

I occasionally receive things for the same address one street over, so I decided to go see if it had been misdelivered. I got Lucy’s collar and leash back on and set off.

A UPS truck sat at the end of my street. I walked up to the driver and explained my problem, giving my name and address. Interestingly, she was holding my box in her hands as I did so.

The second UPS person arrived back at the truck while this was happening. “I scanned it and was going to deliver it next,” he said calmly, unaware of the anxiety I had endured for two days.

They handed me my package and Lucy and I walked home with lighter hearts.

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Over the weekend, I knit a cozy for my new iPad.