Mail

I love getting mail.
Letters, postcards, presents, swaps, boxes of things ordered off the internet....
It has to be actually stuff or some personalized paper product for me to love it though. Bills and junk-mail don't count (though getting my house assessment thrills me every year).
However, I hate Canada Post.
Which sucks, because this is the organization that is responsible for mail making it into my mail box. I also hate Canada Customs and conflate them with Canada Post even though I know they don't really have anything to do with each other (although I secretly think they are in cahoots with each other and that there is a secret underground conspiracy going on to make sure mail is impossibly slow).
When I don't get mail, I don't particularly notice how inferior Canada Post is compared to most developed nations postal systems. However, I've been getting a lot of mail recently, due to holidays, knitting swaps, traveling scarves, and internet ordering. I am currently waiting for a large box full of fabulous yarn and books to arrive. I am not waiting patiently...

In honor of my hatred of Canada Post, I wish to share some brief stories of woe with you about recent and past postal mishaps.

Holiday Mailing
My good friend Peter lives in Scotland. He sent me two separate presents for Christmas, and he mailed them at the same time (as in on the same day). The box got here on Christmas Eve, the flat package got here yesterday (January 7th). That is a 15 day difference!!

Traveling Scarves
I knit scarves with other people from around the world, it is super fun and my room mate thinks I'm a dork (these two items may or may not be related, I'm not sure sometimes). Every three weeks I get a new scarf in the mail (from Australia), I knit 5 inches of lovely lace on that scarf, and then I send it to the next person (in the US). To avoid lost scarves we all add tracking to our packages so we can see where a scarf is at any given time. EVERY SINGLE TIME I get a scarf from Australia it gets held at customs for 1-2 weeks before it gets to me.
I don't get it. Is my scarf partner sending scarf bombs in the mail (they make them with radioactive yarn see)? Perhaps sending some deadly bio toxin to me every three weeks (a scattered timed dispersal is the best method right?)

My Favorite Postal Story of All Time
I lived in Colorado once (for a brief brief time). When I came home I mailed a bunch of stuff to myself. Boxes of books, clothes, etc. Again, they were all mailed on the same day in mid October. I receive all the boxes except one on the same day. About two weeks later I received the missing box. It was immediately obvious that it had been opened by customs (tape ALL over it). When I got it home and opened it up the overwhelming scent of way too much CKOne sprang from the box. What the hell?
Here's my theory; the box happened to contain my beautiful large green velvet cloak. Between the time that I sent the package and it arrived to me it happened to be Halloween. I can just imagine some custom guy opening my box, seeing the cloak and instantly having the perfect idea for a costume. No-one would know, he could wear it and put it back in the box and ship it on (it being late won't be a problem cause everyone knows that Canada Post never delivers things in a timely manner). Too bad the guy had to wear so much CKOne...

Anyone got any fabulously bad postal stories???