woot! shopping
Fri Sep 30 00:43 EDT 2016
I've done a little Woot! shopping this week. That made anniemal's broken laptop a little more annoying, since if she had told me about it earlier in the evening I could have saved the $5 of shipping on a separate order - if we wanted to get another computer from Woot!. But I still haven't decided on that; they've got a couple of very cheap ($120) (refurbished) ThinkPads, and I'm not inclined to spend a lot of money on anything that has such a short useful life. (Of course, this new "broken" laptop could also be used as a server of some sort - backup web server?)
Woot! had a bunch of camera stuff all going in 2-packs. I've been wanting a better tripod. I don't know that I need two; the other could be a gift, or a spare. Filter sets, duplicate? Camera grips with internal batteries - 2 packs? Huge markdowns, anyway.
I've been sleeping on a cot at Pennsic the last few years. I try to treat things gently, but all my air mattresses have leaked. If they have a flocked surface they can't even be patched. One leaked on a seam, and couldn't be patched. The cot doesn't leak, is high enough to double as a seat during the day, and has storage space underneath. Much more functional than an air mattress. (And doesn't need to be inflated/deflated; just folds up.)
The double-high air mattress also worked for seating space, and being double it was only half dead when it leaked.
But this cot is noisy/creaky, and it's showing signs of wear and doesn't look designed for a long life (although some of that can be mended/extended).
Woot! had a different style of cot that looks possibly more durable and definately more adaptable for non-sleeping seating options. And I think it will pack a little smaller, which is a plus if I'm squeezing everything into the Mazda hatchback.
If your tent does happen to get flooded, cots and air matresses can both keep your bedding out of the water. Foam pads might not. If it's sunny and 90°F/32°C the next day, you can get your clothes dry again. If the floor of your tent is damp/wet, you might be stuck with that until you can empty out the tent and turn it over. (That might not be until you pack to leave, and the drying out might not happen until you get home.) If your bed is soggy, you're going to have a miserable night. My current tent's floor is not waterproof, and I've been finding the bottom of the rugs damp/wet. Heavy things on top of the rugs would compress them and let water wick up - damp clothes, damp papers (music, class notes, schedules), no-longer-sturdy cardboard boxes.
Much of my clothing (garb and mundane) goes in plastic dressers I trash-picked. If you pack them full before you leave home, they don't take up much more space in the car, and they make loading/unloading faster/easier at all stages. And they help with keeping the tent tidy/organized. And they keep your clothes dry if it's raining when you arrive at camp/set up your tent/unload your car or if your camp/tent gets flooded later.
Sunday 01:03
USPS tracking says my packages were delivered at 11:37 and 11:43 Saturday. I checked several times during the day and the packages did not arrive, and the tracking pages weren't updated until some time after 18:00. So are the pages incorrect about the delivery happening today, or were they delivered to a different address? I wonder why the times are 6 minutes apart for the same address, but maybe (s)he didn't realize there was more than one package coming here (or wherever they went).
Tuesday 14:00
I tried to open a "missing mail" request on the USPS site for the cots that were supposedly delivered Saturday. It took a long time to fill in the on-line form, and then it was rejected as "invalid" with no explanation of what was wrong. The requests aren't supposed to be made until after 7 days, but if you've told me it was delivered and I don't have it, then I think it's safe for me to conclude it's lost.
Wednesday 01:00
The (2-pack) tripods arrived Tuesday. The package looked like it had a rough trip. One of the tripods is broken - useable, but the platform holding the camera could fall off if you're not careful. The other is OK. I don't know whether they'll want the broken one back. It doesn't look repairable. The broken piece is plastic, but it's hard to see how these things are put together.
I don't know whether they'll send me a replacement or a refund. I don't need 2 of these, but I could gift one away.
They are much larger than the tripod I've been using, and I wouldn't be carrying something like this unless I were on a photo outing.
Thursday 00:44
There was a box on the porch when I got home tonight. My first thought was that one of the missing cots had found its way here, but the box seemed small. It turns out to be the new (refurbished) laptop for anniemal. (I haven't even received a shipped-notice for it.)
But there was a "Sorry We Missed You!" note with the mail - one of the cots is awaiting my pickup at the post office. I was here when the mail was delivered Sat/Mon/Tue. I left for work earlier today, and today (s)he misses me with the package that was allegedly delivered Saturday. The note has only 1 tracking number, so I'm wondering whether both packages are at the P.O. I certainly don't want to make 2 trips. I don't want to make any trips. One of the attractions of shopping on line is not needing to carry things back. I don't think these can be carried on a bike. (And there's not decent bike parking at the P.O.)
Sat Oct 8 04:09:28 EDT 2016
After a considerable struggle with the USPS website I submitted a request for the re-delivery of one of my wayward cots. The missed-you notice was for only 1 package. I mentioned that there should be 2 identical packages, so maybe they'll get it together. There's still no explanation for the USPS tracking saying the packages were delivered last Saturday. And it's bizzarre for the redelivery-confirmation page to say "Here's what you know about your item - delivered Sat Oct 1. If you "know" it was delivered, why is re-delivery an option? Does that make any sense? Or do they just know they shouldn't believe their own status information?
And why should I need to fill out so much information that USPS can pick up from the tracking number? (Name, address, type (letter/magazine/parcel/perishable), last attempted delivery date) The number on the missed-you notice was incorrect - a 6/9 switch. The number was invalid, which is probably better than matching someone else's mail.
Sunday 00:05
USPS failed again to deliver my cots. redelivery.usps.com committed to delivering Saturday. Like last Saturday, it rained. And there was no mail delivery at all. The tracking pages for both still say "October 1, 2016 ... Delivered, In/At Mailbox". Hurricane Matthew probably affected postal service in SC, NC, and possibly southern VA as well, but all we had today was rain, and not terribly bad.
Sunday 02:26
Hurrican Matthew is off the coast of North Carolina, but weather RADAR shows rain north up the coast through Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Tidewater Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay seems to be getting the worst rain right now, but these are land-based RADARs I'm looking at; Matthew's expected to head out to sea.
But if my local post office has had my cots for a week, the weather was fine last Sunday through Friday, and today was just rain, here - rain for a long time, but not the sort of rain that prevents deliveries.
Wednesday 02:57
I've put in another redelivery request for the cots. Anniemal should be here all afternoon. She saw the letter carrier Tuesday, who said we needed to go to the post office and pick up the packages. Well, no; delivering letters and parcels is your job. And you're in a truck, that you can park right in front of our house. I can't imagine that a cot is very heavy. (I'd think that USPS wouldn't accept things that are too heavy. (On the other hand, I've heard stories of sending building materials USPS....) But I'd help you get them from your truck to my door. I've been here on the days delivery was expected.) Annie wasn't even aware there were packages coming, and she didn't know anything about the multiple failed (or rather, non-existent) deliveries. (I'm questioning whether there was a delivery attempt the day she left the missed-you note - or just the note.)
Friday 15:00
Wednesday night I hunted up the manufacturer's web page and found some basic info. Folded, the cots are 30" x 30" x 4.5" (76.2cm x 76.2cm x 11.4cm), and they weigh 18lb 11oz (8.5kg).
Saturday 05:00
The cots were delivered. I found them still on the front porch, so nobody brought them inside. As expected, the boxes add a little size (33.5" x 32" x 6" / 85.09cm x 81.28cm x 15.24cm) and weight (20lb / 9kg). But they are bigger and harder to move than I expected. Someone small would have a lot of trouble moving them, and carrying one up our front stairs would have been difficult. (Although stopping the truck at (or in) our driveway and leaving the boxes in the carport would have been fine with me. And if she had come on either of the requested re-delivery dates, I was home and I could have carried them from her truck - not the job description, but much better than going to the post office myself.)
I haven't opened the boxes yet. It's been a long, short (holiday) week at work with a couple of very late nights (like tonight, note timestamp). I'm expecting they'll be easier to carry once they're out of the boxes. And if there's not a lot of empty volume in those boxes, a new cot will be harder to pack for Pennsic than the old one.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/839383.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
I've done a little Woot! shopping this week. That made anniemal's broken laptop a little more annoying, since if she had told me about it earlier in the evening I could have saved the $5 of shipping on a separate order - if we wanted to get another computer from Woot!. But I still haven't decided on that; they've got a couple of very cheap ($120) (refurbished) ThinkPads, and I'm not inclined to spend a lot of money on anything that has such a short useful life. (Of course, this new "broken" laptop could also be used as a server of some sort - backup web server?)
Woot! had a bunch of camera stuff all going in 2-packs. I've been wanting a better tripod. I don't know that I need two; the other could be a gift, or a spare. Filter sets, duplicate? Camera grips with internal batteries - 2 packs? Huge markdowns, anyway.
I've been sleeping on a cot at Pennsic the last few years. I try to treat things gently, but all my air mattresses have leaked. If they have a flocked surface they can't even be patched. One leaked on a seam, and couldn't be patched. The cot doesn't leak, is high enough to double as a seat during the day, and has storage space underneath. Much more functional than an air mattress. (And doesn't need to be inflated/deflated; just folds up.)
The double-high air mattress also worked for seating space, and being double it was only half dead when it leaked.
But this cot is noisy/creaky, and it's showing signs of wear and doesn't look designed for a long life (although some of that can be mended/extended).
Woot! had a different style of cot that looks possibly more durable and definately more adaptable for non-sleeping seating options. And I think it will pack a little smaller, which is a plus if I'm squeezing everything into the Mazda hatchback.
If your tent does happen to get flooded, cots and air matresses can both keep your bedding out of the water. Foam pads might not. If it's sunny and 90°F/32°C the next day, you can get your clothes dry again. If the floor of your tent is damp/wet, you might be stuck with that until you can empty out the tent and turn it over. (That might not be until you pack to leave, and the drying out might not happen until you get home.) If your bed is soggy, you're going to have a miserable night. My current tent's floor is not waterproof, and I've been finding the bottom of the rugs damp/wet. Heavy things on top of the rugs would compress them and let water wick up - damp clothes, damp papers (music, class notes, schedules), no-longer-sturdy cardboard boxes.
Much of my clothing (garb and mundane) goes in plastic dressers I trash-picked. If you pack them full before you leave home, they don't take up much more space in the car, and they make loading/unloading faster/easier at all stages. And they help with keeping the tent tidy/organized. And they keep your clothes dry if it's raining when you arrive at camp/set up your tent/unload your car or if your camp/tent gets flooded later.
Sunday 01:03
USPS tracking says my packages were delivered at 11:37 and 11:43 Saturday. I checked several times during the day and the packages did not arrive, and the tracking pages weren't updated until some time after 18:00. So are the pages incorrect about the delivery happening today, or were they delivered to a different address? I wonder why the times are 6 minutes apart for the same address, but maybe (s)he didn't realize there was more than one package coming here (or wherever they went).
Tuesday 14:00
I tried to open a "missing mail" request on the USPS site for the cots that were supposedly delivered Saturday. It took a long time to fill in the on-line form, and then it was rejected as "invalid" with no explanation of what was wrong. The requests aren't supposed to be made until after 7 days, but if you've told me it was delivered and I don't have it, then I think it's safe for me to conclude it's lost.
Wednesday 01:00
The (2-pack) tripods arrived Tuesday. The package looked like it had a rough trip. One of the tripods is broken - useable, but the platform holding the camera could fall off if you're not careful. The other is OK. I don't know whether they'll want the broken one back. It doesn't look repairable. The broken piece is plastic, but it's hard to see how these things are put together.
I don't know whether they'll send me a replacement or a refund. I don't need 2 of these, but I could gift one away.
They are much larger than the tripod I've been using, and I wouldn't be carrying something like this unless I were on a photo outing.
Thursday 00:44
There was a box on the porch when I got home tonight. My first thought was that one of the missing cots had found its way here, but the box seemed small. It turns out to be the new (refurbished) laptop for anniemal. (I haven't even received a shipped-notice for it.)
But there was a "Sorry We Missed You!" note with the mail - one of the cots is awaiting my pickup at the post office. I was here when the mail was delivered Sat/Mon/Tue. I left for work earlier today, and today (s)he misses me with the package that was allegedly delivered Saturday. The note has only 1 tracking number, so I'm wondering whether both packages are at the P.O. I certainly don't want to make 2 trips. I don't want to make any trips. One of the attractions of shopping on line is not needing to carry things back. I don't think these can be carried on a bike. (And there's not decent bike parking at the P.O.)
Sat Oct 8 04:09:28 EDT 2016
After a considerable struggle with the USPS website I submitted a request for the re-delivery of one of my wayward cots. The missed-you notice was for only 1 package. I mentioned that there should be 2 identical packages, so maybe they'll get it together. There's still no explanation for the USPS tracking saying the packages were delivered last Saturday. And it's bizzarre for the redelivery-confirmation page to say "Here's what you know about your item - delivered Sat Oct 1. If you "know" it was delivered, why is re-delivery an option? Does that make any sense? Or do they just know they shouldn't believe their own status information?
And why should I need to fill out so much information that USPS can pick up from the tracking number? (Name, address, type (letter/magazine/parcel/perishable), last attempted delivery date) The number on the missed-you notice was incorrect - a 6/9 switch. The number was invalid, which is probably better than matching someone else's mail.
Sunday 00:05
USPS failed again to deliver my cots. redelivery.usps.com committed to delivering Saturday. Like last Saturday, it rained. And there was no mail delivery at all. The tracking pages for both still say "October 1, 2016 ... Delivered, In/At Mailbox". Hurricane Matthew probably affected postal service in SC, NC, and possibly southern VA as well, but all we had today was rain, and not terribly bad.
Sunday 02:26
Hurrican Matthew is off the coast of North Carolina, but weather RADAR shows rain north up the coast through Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Tidewater Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay seems to be getting the worst rain right now, but these are land-based RADARs I'm looking at; Matthew's expected to head out to sea.
But if my local post office has had my cots for a week, the weather was fine last Sunday through Friday, and today was just rain, here - rain for a long time, but not the sort of rain that prevents deliveries.
Wednesday 02:57
I've put in another redelivery request for the cots. Anniemal should be here all afternoon. She saw the letter carrier Tuesday, who said we needed to go to the post office and pick up the packages. Well, no; delivering letters and parcels is your job. And you're in a truck, that you can park right in front of our house. I can't imagine that a cot is very heavy. (I'd think that USPS wouldn't accept things that are too heavy. (On the other hand, I've heard stories of sending building materials USPS....) But I'd help you get them from your truck to my door. I've been here on the days delivery was expected.) Annie wasn't even aware there were packages coming, and she didn't know anything about the multiple failed (or rather, non-existent) deliveries. (I'm questioning whether there was a delivery attempt the day she left the missed-you note - or just the note.)
Friday 15:00
Wednesday night I hunted up the manufacturer's web page and found some basic info. Folded, the cots are 30" x 30" x 4.5" (76.2cm x 76.2cm x 11.4cm), and they weigh 18lb 11oz (8.5kg).
Saturday 05:00
The cots were delivered. I found them still on the front porch, so nobody brought them inside. As expected, the boxes add a little size (33.5" x 32" x 6" / 85.09cm x 81.28cm x 15.24cm) and weight (20lb / 9kg). But they are bigger and harder to move than I expected. Someone small would have a lot of trouble moving them, and carrying one up our front stairs would have been difficult. (Although stopping the truck at (or in) our driveway and leaving the boxes in the carport would have been fine with me. And if she had come on either of the requested re-delivery dates, I was home and I could have carried them from her truck - not the job description, but much better than going to the post office myself.)
I haven't opened the boxes yet. It's been a long, short (holiday) week at work with a couple of very late nights (like tonight, note timestamp). I'm expecting they'll be easier to carry once they're out of the boxes. And if there's not a lot of empty volume in those boxes, a new cot will be harder to pack for Pennsic than the old one.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/839383.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]