When last we saw our hero, he was preparing to enter the lair of the fiendish organization known only as USPS…. Suddenly, spotlights shine down and a cacophony of disembodied voices call out from all around!

Mail: We are mail! We are many! You are human! Delivery is futile!

Postal-Man: No, wayward letters! You SHALL be delivered! On time and to the correct homes and businesses!

Mail: You shall be overwhelmed. Your forces will fall before us! Our numbers are endless! We shall not succumb to your encoding ways! You will never be rid of us! *maniacal laughter*

Postal-Man: A-HA! Have at thee, vile mail!

And, thus was the battle joined….

Whoa… did I say that out loud?! Dammit. I hate it when those inner monologues keep slipping out. Kinda like “reading to yourself” aloud… or having your lips form all the words while you read. (And don’t act like you haven’t seen someone do that…. or even done it yourself.)

Last night was a pretty quiet for a Saturday. Mail in. Mail out. System crash. *Yay* One of the plants that we process for was having “issues” and decided to completely disconnect their system from us. They came back a relatively short while later and we were able to get them cleared out – ahead of schedule! In fact, operations wrapped up about an hour-and-a-half ahead of schedule. (SIDEBAR: Hopefully, my managers won’t see the reports, think that I did a great job and decide to keep me on this late-Saturday shift.)

After work, went home and then couldn’t fall asleep…. until after 6am. The cats decided that it would be fun to tear-ass through the apartment and play some bizarre hide-and-seek/tag game around 4:45. Not wanting Jess and me to feel left out, they were thoughtful enough to make one of their playzones in the bedroom. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but I had to be back at work at 1:30pm. Mental note: Consider changing mantra from “Oops” to “No rest for the wicked or USPS-employed.”

Woke up this morning when the alarm went off (11:45am)… and turned off the alarm and rolled over and fell asleep. At 12:18, I awakened – FORTUNATELY – and looked at the clock. It then became time for everybody’s favorite game: “How Quickly Can You Get Ready For Work?!” I can’t tell you how glad I am that I had the foresight (or dumb luck) to take a shower by dawn’s early light, hoping that it would help me to fall asleep. That meant that the two major hurdles were shaving (not something to rush through when you shave your entire head) and figuring out what to wear. I managed to get these – and other necessities – done and be out the door in twenty-two minutes. This meant that I had time for a quick jaunt to the local Beans & Brews for a cup of frozen mocha goodness… with a double shot of espresso – it would be bad form to fall asleep on the job. Listened to “A Prairie Home Companion” on the way to work; I like that show. I even made it in with ten minutes to spare. Now, I’m just waiting for the caffeine to kick in and then all will be right with the world.

More later….

Peace.