December 14th, 2021

The photo above (which is a stock photo by the way, not one of mine) is of an ordinary package that appears to be ready to be addressed and then dropped off at either the Post Office, UPS or Fed Ex for shipping.

There is a whole lot of that going on this time of year.  It is my understanding that there is so much more on line shipping going on than usual - even without Christmas being in the mix - that these shipping entities are more than a little stressed out.  Totally Understandable.  Which is why I'm trying to be nice about what happened this year.

As you are all tired of hearing about, my annual Christmas Bakathon takes place like clockwork, every weekend following Thanksgiving. Many dozens of many different kinds of cookies are made. I begin baking on Friday morning and by Sunday night, the cookies are boxed, labeled and ready for shipment to the kiddos.  And this year was no different.

The first Monday morning after Thanksgiving, Tim kindly helped me take the boxes to our nearby UPS store - the same one I've been using since we lived here where we have had zero problems ever.  As usual, the boxes were measured and weighed, the addresses were confirmed and payment was made.  Also as they always do, they gave us a receipt complete with tracking numbers.  Once back home, I put the receipts on my desk for future reference, if necessary.

I notified the recipients of their anticipated cookie arrival dates and then went on with my life as I always do. Tralalalala.  On the expected arrival dates I heard from everyone that the cookies had landed.  Well almost everyone.  Eldest son reported no cookie box.  Dang!    So I did what you are supposed to do.  I went online and typed in the tracking number.  Up pops the little box and it says, "Label Complete".  

Label Complete.  Heck yeah the label is complete.  I saw her print the label AND stick it on the box while I was standing there.  What on earth happened?    I went through all sorts of steps and jumped myriad hoops.  The online UPS response effectively said that although they were sorry, the package appeared to have been lost and that I should place a claim. Oh and here is the link to place that claim.

How do I put a price tag on a box of home made cookies?  Well I suppose there is the shipping cost.  And then too, the ingredients weren't free.  Nor was the box. And hey, my time must be worth something!  But even if I came up with a number, it doesn't replace the dang cookies does it? Ratz.  And by the way, the link was broken and didn't work.

I talked it over with Tim and he suggested that I send a second box with the remaining cookies which are in the freezer.  There are remaining cookies? Why are there still cookies in this house, you ask?  Well,  if you are a cookie baker you already know this.  But just in case you don't, here goes;  Not every recipe yields the same number of cookies.   One batch of ginger snaps for instance results in more than 5 dozen cookies.  Even if I sent each of the boys households a full dozen that still leaves two dozen cookies remaining.  Other recipes might make three and a half dozen leaving six measly cookies behind.  I'm certainly not going to throw them away! Instead I carefully bag them and put them in the freezer for future cookie emergencies.

Then too, I customize the boxes.  Not every kid wants the same cookies!  So I might make one kind of cookie that only one house wishes to have which means they get one dozen and we get alllllll the rest.    Needless to say there were a few cookies still around.  Not all of everything but enough to make a second box.  Not quite as customized but the only other option would be to remake all those cookies again and well, I just didn't have it in me to do a second marathon.  Instead, Every Single Remaining cookie went into a second box.  If this wasn't a cookie emergency, I don't know what one is.  Tim even sacrificed his share of the lemon bars for the cause.  He is a very nice man.

We dropped off the second box at the same UPS store once again.  Although we were pleasant about it, we did mention the disappearance of the first box.  The lady behind the counter murmured what a shame it was without looking us in the eye.  It's not her fault I know. And honestly it doesn't matter whose fault it was.   Just please, get this second box there. Please.

Second receipt and tracking number clutched in my little hand, I once again informed First Son that another box was on it's way and should arrive on Thursday.  I faithfully followed the track online of this second box. And lo and behold, it, not only arrived, but one day early.  Yee hah!  

What a relief.  They all have their cookies!  And Tim found a phone number to talk to an actual human person at UPS, explained the situation and some how got the paperwork to submit our claim.  If I just get back the cost of shipping the first box, I will be happy.  It ain't cheap y'know?

It was an anomaly.  It never happened before and I don't expect it to ever happen again.  Still,  I cannot help but wonder what on earth happened to that missing box.  I mean, according to tracking it was never even loaded on a truck!  I hope who ever has it enjoyed the cookies at least.