Welcome to a clear liquid diet edition of Wise Madness. I’m having a colonoscopy tomorrow so that’s all I’m allowed to have today. Back in the old days I could eat breakfast the day before. Normally I eat nothing before blogging but as this takes no cooking and I can’t eat anything after 5PM I started with the clear broth first thing in the morning. I just put it in a mug and heated it in the microwave. I followed that with black coffee. Oddly that’s allowed. I don’t drink my coffee black but I figured I needed the caffeine. Thing is this coffee is so good that I loved it, prefer it with milk, but still loved it black. I know it’s from Ahrre’s Coffee Roastery but not sure which bean I got, I think Guatemalan Antigua. I could get up and check but that would involve getting up. That will be the best thing I have today, as I’m not fond of broth. I drank it so I’d have some nutrition. I also bought clear apple juice. That’s fine but I greatly prefer unfiltered apple cider. I only drink the clear when I’m forced to for medical purposes so I associate it with being sick. Tonight I get to drink a gallon of polyethylene glycol. That’s just as yummy as it sounds. It’s essentially liquified plastic. I might as well just eat the bottle it comes in.
I’m having new postal adventures; that’s never a good thing. On Sunday I was supposed to get a delivery from Amazon. I got the text saying it was out for delivery and that I’d get it before 8 PM. I didn’t. They never notified me but when I checked the status is said there was a delay and that I’d get it between Dec 3 and Dec 5. That seemed ridiculous. They had it in the post office, why not deliver it the next day? I called Amazon. They talked to the post office and I was told it would come on Monday. On Monday I got the text that it was out for delivery. I didn’t get it. There were no updates. I called Amazon. The woman I talked to told me that it said it was “Out for deliver” I pointed out that it was almost midnight so that wasn’t true. She just get repeating what I already knew so I asked to speak to a supervisor. He understood the problem and said that he’d leave word with the person on the early morning shift to contact the post office and make sure it was delivered the next day, Tuesday.
On Tuesday I got a call from Amazon saying they talked to the post office and that my package would be delivered that day. The USPS tracking info had not been updated since it said it was out for delivery on Monday. You can guess what happened. I didn’t get it. I called Amazon. They contacted the USPS. The person at the USPS said I’d get it Thursday as Wednesday was a holiday. I asked what holiday. He said, “President Bush died. The announcement that the post office was closed was in all the papers.” I resisted saying, “While I’m sure postal news is important to him that most people wouldn’t take that as the main takeaway of Bush dying.” I then had Amazon get in touch with someone at my local post office. They said it would be delivered Wednesday. Yes the day the guy from the USPS said there was no delivery. There is. The tracking said it’s out on the truck. I didn’t talk to the guy at the local post office but the Amazon person asked why it wasn’t delivered on Sunday or Monday since it was reported as being on the truck. The answer was that it wasn’t on the truck, they lied. I can understand things get difficult during December when there is such a high volume of mail, I can’t understand lying about it. They shouldn’t promise delivery earlier than what they expect and they certainly shouldn’t lie and say it’s out for delivery when it isn’t. We’ll see if I get it today. I made enough of a stink that they might prioritize it. I was told they would but it’s not like they have a history of honesty.
Terre Roche announced the date and time of her annual caroling. It’s on December 20 at 6 PM. It’s held under the arch at Washington Square Park. I go every year and sing my heart out. There’s are lyric sheets. It’s pure magic. It doesn’t matter if you can sing well; I can’t. It doesn’t matter if you are a religious Christian; I’m an atheist Jew. All that matters if you believe in peace on earth and good will to all men. You’ll feel that in your bones if you go.
Here’s a video that Sandi Bachom took of us singing The Hallelujah Chorus in 2013.
Look at the joy on Maura’s face; that’s how we all feel even if we can’t express it as purely. You’ll see me when the camera pans to the right standing next to Katherine. If I can help make such beautiful music, you can too. There’s plenty wrong in the world but there’s also people coming together to make beauty and community. As long as we can do that there’s hope.
This was supposed to be an entry about unpleasant colonoscopy prep and complaining about the post office. I discussed those things but my takeaway is coffee, music, and friends.
Wise Madness 