Finding and Following Your Star - Julie & Julia

Last night, we had a Ladies' Night out. Dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant then off the see Julie & Julia. Five of the six of us had worked together at the Forestville Post Office as Rural Carriers. Two still work at a post office, two are retired, and they put me out to pasture after I got hit by a truck, hurt my shoulder and could no longer deliver mail.

Even though I worked overtime nearly every week, substituted on all the routes, could do all types of mail processing, etc., my classification was "part time" so I had no recourse.

I miss the income, but I do not miss the job. The best part of it I still have - the friends I made - 'comrades in arms.' We share our 'war stories' and our present lives. We all live within a few miles of each other. One woman even lives on my street.

The other part of the job I liked was the dogs. I always carried treats and threw them to the dogs, who waited, with their tails wagging, inside the fences. If the dogs were in the house, they started barking when I came by, fearing they would miss their treat. I left the treats in the mailbox.

We went to see Julie & Julia. A fantastic film. I loved it, for so many reasons. One was Meryl Streep. One of my favorite actors: that woman can play anyone. It's like she channels the person. Truly amazing. The other thing I loved was the walk down memory lane - the 50s and early 60s - my childhood days. Seeing the clothes, cars, furniture etc. was so nostalgic. I envied the marriages these two women had. I have never had a relationship like that in my life. Supportive, smart, employed, gentle, sexy - where did they meet these men? I cried with envy, knowing what a difference it can make to have a partner like that, even though I have never had one.

I realized how much I love to oook and have dinner parties. Yes, when I first moved into my tiny house, I had small dinner parties. I have a large collection of cookbooks and when I travel, I always buy herbs and spices not available here at home. I miss cooking for people.

Julie and Julia, two women who made their mark following their heart's desire. I could see how much difference having a goal that serves as a guiding star, can make in your life.

Right now, I feel lost at sea, anchorless, floundering, adrift. It feels like so many things I have set my hand to have failed. I am truly tired of trying to find something that works. I feel surrounded by loss and endings. I understand now why people are so thrilled when a baby is born. Something new, hope, a new start.

Oh! to have something to look forward too! I find myself whiling away the time playing computer games, accomplishing nothing besides keeping my meat suit alive.

This movie made me laugh and cry. I never watched Julia Child on T.V. I only knew her as the brunt of jokes and slapstick gags. Now I see what a delightful person she was. Truly charming. A magical being. A woman who was herself and by so doing freed others to be themselves. I wish I were more like her. She had a big heart, a warm smile and an infectious laugh. At least, that is how Streep portrayed her and Streep, being who she is, would do all she could to be faithful to the truth of the character.

Long live Julia Child!

USPS Si, UPS No

It was the second post I did on this blog. It was called "Roadkill...." I thought it would get a response from postal workers, but it didn't. Anyway, here we go again. UPS left a 46 pound parcel on my doorstep Thurs. late afternoon. Wrong address, wrong name, wrong town, wrong zip code. This would never happen at the Post Office. The carriers know every address on their route and often everyone who lives at each address. If they can't find a house (because mailboxes are frequently far from a house in the country or woods) they don't leave parcels on front porches of any house they can find. They don't do it and keep their jobs that is.

This is the fourth time UPS has misdelivered parcels to my house that I know of. Twice my parcels were either left at the end of a dirt road in the middle of winter, when my house is clearly visible all around or dropped in the road (parcel containing glass), reported as delivered while they returned it to the sender three days later. Then twice they have left other people's packages on my porch.

So here we are, Monday, and they finally came back to get it. They didn't knock or leave a note that they had come, they just took it. I know because I was here. But just suppose I wasn't here and actually the parcel was stolen? Then whose fault would it be? Would they accuse me? Not a good way to do business.

I see they finally have gotten some new trucks, but they have not improved service.

Meanwhile my letter carrier, has had his route cut. That means he works 5 days one week and 6 days the next week. He gets 2 days off one week and 1 day off the next. And less pay because the "evaluated" time is shortened. Rural carriers are paid by the day, no matter how many hours it takes.

And people still make "going postal" jokes. How would you react to this treatment?

I met a psychotherapist the other day who leads groups for postal workers. He said he used to include them with others, but soon saw that they had special problems and needs, so he made separate therapy groups just for them. He said he could hardly believe the stories. I told him I don't know what they told you, but even without hearing, I will say this: based on own my experience working for the Postal Service, they are all true.

It's a shame that given the responsibility and the huge, yet fantastic job they do, they still have to treat their employees so badly. They might say the reason the service is so good is because of their employee policy. Who knows.

I prefer to see it the way I saw it when I worked there. I was told that carrying the mail was like a sacred trust. It was not just a job but a tradition, part of the founding of this nation. Benjamin Franklin started it here, but the phrase "Neither snow, nor rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night shall keep them from their appointed task." was said by Herodotus way back during the ancient Greek period when couriers ran documents from one town to another.

Most of the time, I carried junk mail and tons of catalogs, but sometimes, it was a card to Grandma for her birthday from a child in Iowa. The address might read, "Grandma Jones on Westside Road." Well, I sorted that mail everyday and I knew who Jones was on Westside Road. And I knew she was old enough to have a grandchild, so even though the address was incomplete, I could get it there on time. Or the people who waited by the mailbox, expecting a check. I knew my arrival would make them happy, because I knew I had it in my tray.

Christmas was especially good. Yes, we killed ourselves walking up endless slippery steps in the rain, but when someone opens a door and sees a load of boxes from family members all over the country and you are the one carrying them, you get all the smiles. Those were the kind of moments that made all the xxxx I got from management or even fellow employees, bearable. And yes, sometimes I actually miss it. But not right now and not on 100 degree days.