Merry Krampus-mas

When Traveler Nell and I returned on the evening of Christmas Day we were greeted by a FedEx Ground door tag at Two Travelers Plaza. Neither of us were expecting anything so it was a complete surprise. The subsequent call to FedEx revealed that the package could not be redirected to a different address or hold center due to the fact that it was “from Apple”.

In order to collect this package I would need to venture out to the FedEx Ground facility in Maspeth Queens. I assured Traveler Nell that there was nothing worry about. There were no more bad neighborhoods that are dodgy after dark, and anyway, according to the Google MApp the Q59 has a stop essentially at the door of the facility. So on Friday 12-28 when I got out of work with sufficient time to get there before they shut down at 8:30PM I set out.

Then I got there…

The Murdersburg section of Maspeth.

The bus let me off at green pin. It is a little less than a half mile to the facility. It is a 100% industrial district that apparently mostly shuts down before 6:30. The sidewalks are choked with parked trucks and only about a quarter of the street lights are functioning. It is abandoned of most people and certainly I was the only schmuck walking to FedEx that night.

But I picked up my package and without opening it up I slipped it into my rucksack and hied it back to the bus stop to catch the Q59 back to civilization.

When I finally made it home I opened the package and it was the Christmas card below from my dear old friends the Corrigans of West Orange. Always reliable for the clever card I framed this immediately and decreed that if only for the story of its acquisition it was worthy of year-round display. For 10.75 months of the year it will reside on my bureau and for that magical Advent and Christmas season it will be granted a place of honor among our decorations.

Finally, After I got home I was feeling extra tired. I checked my pulse and it was 20% higher than typical. I looked and I had forgotten to take my heart pills.