But then, later, that good news, feel-good, story was kind of undermined by news of suspicious characters roaming our streets - remember that one?
But well, let me tell you, Lois and I have had it up to here with Amazon, and it's curtains for them, as far as we're concerned.
Yes, you've guessed it. Another of our Amazon deliveries, a retractable washing line, has been misdelivered once again to David and Judith, a lovely couple but a couple living a mile away from here with the same house number but on a road with a different name, unsurprisingly.
This time David manages to speak to the delivery guy, gives him back the package and explains where Lois and I live. And he gives him precise instructions about how to find us. Needless to say the guy says okay, but then just gets into his van and drives away with the package - and he certainly doesn't bother to find our house, as I suspected would happen.
This is the message I get on my phone immediately after the mis-delivery. Obviously it's true to say "parcel was handed to resident", but to be more honest it should say, "Parcel was handed to the wrong resident, who gave it back to the driver, who disappeared with it".
the update sent by Amazon. NB the big "NOT !!!!"
is my own correction !!!!
What a madness it all is !!!!! And we feel completely powerless. Now in addition to not receiving the package that we've already paid for (including delivery charge), we now somehow have to get a refund from Amazon.
Well, wish us good luck with that!!!
Grrrrrrr !!!!!
So much for our experimental flirtation with "Amazon Prime". This week I took out a 30-day "free trial" Amazon Prime membership to see if that would give us "priority treatment", i.e delivery by a driver who wasn't stupid. Alas, it didn't do the trick for us, so I'll be cancelling that at the end of the 30 days obviously.
Their loss haha!!!!!
20:00 Lois and I try to forget the disappointment with our Amazon order. I re-order it from the makers, Vileda - let's hope Vileda don't just give it to Amazon to deliver.
What a crazy world we live in !!!!
Vileda even send me a reassuring confirmation
of my order, which certainly "bodes well" !!!!
We settle down on the couch to watch tonight's edition of "Winterwatch", the series that monitors the current state of wildlife with the help of a team of presenters from all parts of the UK.
Another fascinating programme in this series. Who knew that there are 62 species of millipede to be found in the UK, and that there are 3 main types, which use 3 different ways of travelling through mud: (1) the "bulldozers" who "shove their way through", (2) the "wedgers" who wedge themselves into a crack and then just "shove" themselves in, any old how, somehow or other anyway, and (3) the pointed head millipedes, a.k.a. the "tunnellers", who do the obvious; the clue's in the name!!!!
They're just like people really aren't they. Are you naturally a bulldozer, a wedger or a tunneller? Let me know - postcards please! I'm doing a survey, and I want a big sample size, so every vote will count.
a typical UK species of millipede
Tonight we meet again the series' charming expert on creepy-crawlies, Lucy Lapwing (crazy name, crazy gal!), who gives presenter Michaela Strachan the lowdown on millipedes. Both women are attracted to millipedes, and Lucy calls them "cuter than otters", which is the kind of accolade most people would die for, isn't it. I'm not sure I qualify myself, but do let me know!
And did you know the difference between a millipede and a centipede? Total number of legs doesn't matter, because it varies, but the essential difference between the two groups of species is that centipedes have only one pair of legs per segment, whereas millipedes have 2 pairs per segment.
Here's one of the UK's "tunnellers", the rarest type of the three main types, mainly found in Kent, for some reason, the extreme south east corner of the country.
The weirdest thing is that our tiny millipedes of today evolved from some enormous monsters that were around in the UK 300 million years ago. They were about 9 ft long (2.7m) and weighed 110 lbs (50kg), which is about three quarters as heavy as my own weight.
And ....putting aside any controversial views about whether millipedes are cuter than otters or not... don't you think Lucy and Michaela look cute themselves tonight, in their snug little woolly "bobble hats", which remind me so much of Lois in her elf hat or in her Santa hat - for women it's becoming a "must have" fashion item on these cold winter nights, isn't it.
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