This is the first year in as long as I can remember that we-the-family (meaning: Wendi and kids and myself) haven’t gone to Jantzen Beach to watch the Fort Vancouver fireworks. They’re in Utah right now, so… I stayed home this year. Not much point going anywhere if there’s nobody to watch the show with, eh?

Ah well. I hope they’re having a fun and safe holiday celebration, wherever they are.

My kid sister turns 28 today. This is her first birthday after becoming a mom, too, so this one is rather significant. Huzzah!

(Mind you, I didn’t post this message or email her birthday wishes until it was tomorrow, east-coast time. Oops.)

I don’t know who, for sure, but somebody loves me enough to send me a random box, tied up with very nice dark-green ribbon…

… with lots of nifty stuff inside!

Let’s see: Honey sticks, six flavors of herbal tea, cookies, a pair of glasses, and a note! Awwwwwww!

(Note: Pictures were taken with my Treo 600 instead of my Canon, ‘cause I didn’t bring my bag to work. Oops. Sorry.)

I’ve called the USPS twice, each of the two mornings this work week. I’ve been assured that my problem “is being worked on” and I should expect a call back some time today. If I don’t hear from them, I get to call again tomorrow and really start pushing.

I need this resolved, ASAP, dammit.

Oh, yeah, and WaMu, in their efforts to be helpful and cancel my returned card for the sake of security, turned off my existing card as well. So I’m cardless, several days earlier than anticipated. Argh.

Let me lead off this entry by saying that I love Washington Mutual. I can send them a message via their website on a Saturday and get a reply that same day… and a reply to my reply on a Sunday. Nevermind the mess of a situation I’m in, that’s the kind of customer service I like.

That said, I’m screwed. Turns out that for the last month or so, mail sent to my home has been getting returned as if I don’t live there. First the property managers say that I don’t live there, now this? Is someone trying to tell me something? Considering that WaMu sent my replacement card back in May, that tells you how long this problem has been going on. Mind you, due to my general lack of paying attention lately (see previous entry), I didn’t even realize this until yesterday. So in the end, I’m the dumbass. (Like that surprises anybody, right?)

The bank says, “update your address and we’ll mail you out a new card.” Great, except that the address on file is my address. Do I need to move just to get a new card? The postal service, of course, isn’t exactly a font of information on the best of days, let alone a weekend, so I have no idea what’s really going on at their end. Did someone put in an address change of some sort, or is our mail carrier just utterly confused? How much mail have I missed? What sort of important things (besides my replacement card) have bounced back to sender? Last but certainly not least, what the hell can I do about it?

Go back to using checks for everything? Oh, but wait, those all have my old address on them, too… maybe I should have the bank mail me new ones. Heh.

Let’s see… how many things have I lost track of lately?

• My debit card expires in just a few days, and only now did I think to contact my bank about it. (I used the online form. We’ll see what happens.) It’s going to suck if I don’t have a bank card come July.
• PortlandBloggers. I need to make sure that the meeting notification doesn’t go out for July, and I need to actually do more work on the dot-org. Whoops.
• Let’s not even get into how many anime series that I actually like but haven’t been watching for… months?
• I’m letting myself slide too much on the household upkeep… laundry, garbage, general tidiness. Ugh. (I took out the garbage today. That’s a start, at least.)
• I haven’t been nearly as proactive as usual about keeping in touch with friends. “To have a friend, be a friend” is the motto that got me the friends I have today, but one can’t rest on one’s accomplishments, now can one?

I’m sure there’s more, but I don’t want to get depressed about it just before going to visit my rugrats. Le sigh.