Love is a burning thing

[austin_dern]

[ Extra note: http://gixxerscancerfund.chipin.com/cancer-surgery-im-a-13-yr-old-dog-who-has-bone-cancer-in-my-jaw is a link to a fundraising drive to help pay for surgery for one of bunny_hugger's friend's pet dog. If you're able to help, please do. ]

So when we left off the story of the engagement ring: the original one I had ordered online had gone missing, and was allegedly ``delivered to the porch'' according to UPS. It was nowhere around our porch or mailbox or anything else that might be ours, and it wasn't at any of the neighbors, so I called the jewelers --- who were quite nice about shipping a replacement --- and UPS --- which wanted to know what I was implying with my statements about this ring not being delivered to me. UPS asked me to go to the police and file a theft report, which I did, and I just had to wait five to seven business days and then go pick it up from the records office. That took me more than the seven business days, because the records office's hours are almost exactly the ones I couldn't meet. Three days of the week I'm at work until 7 pm, after all. The other two days, while I'm done teaching at 3:15, theoretically, to get over to the records office before it closes at 4 pm would be pressing my luck, at least.

But I managed it, the day of that second exam which produced such astounding results from my algebra students. I did this by getting up early and rushing over in the hopes I'd allow enough time in the morning for it. (This was preceded the day before by my calling and trying to find out if they had the report, but since the number I had was the police department's non-emergency number, all I could get from them was that the records office was closed and I would have to talk to them. Perhaps that's fair, although they might have mentioned there wasn't any connection between the non-emergency number and the records office. At least they admitted when the records office opened.) Of course I ended up behind people having the most complicated records pickup in the history of transactions --- that's a rule of nature; I'm not sure the person in front of me had a clear idea whether he even wanted anything, or what --- but my own was easy enough. I had to rush to class, but I was all right.

And then there was the surprise when I got home.

Trivia: Coffee first appeared on France's King Louis XIV's breakfast menu in 1696. Source: The Essence Of Style: How The French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafés, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour, Joan DeJean.

Currently Reading: Maps and Legends, Michael Chabon.