Day 342 -- In need of a good laugh

For some reason (several actually), today seemed a bit trying. Silly courier delivered two parcels from the US in September. For the first one, they sent an invoice for duty and tax. In October our procurement office called me to ask if the jeans I'd purchased were to be charged to the University! I had to have them delivered to work since the courier only delivers when I'm at work. After the second try they would hold things at the regional office -- over an hour away -- for me to come to pick up. Today I got a letter from a brokerage firm saying that they didn't have a personal account with me, so were returning the paperwork they had and it was now up to me to find the customs office and pay the fees. Why the courier didn't send an invoice for the second parcel, which arrived 3 days after the first, is beyond me. I called to ask and they said without an invoice number (from them) they couldn't tell me why it was sent to a customs broker. Needless to say, I won't order from this company again. They used to send things via postal service which allows 'duty free' up to $50/day (or somewhere close to that). I paid duty on an $18 sweater and now have $58 jeans hanging over my head. Some days bureaucracies are very difficult to deal with <sigh>.

Being grumpy isn't the best way to use energy. Sometimes it is about disrupting my plans to do something for me that doesn't fall within my work or professional life. That happened this evening, so lights not getting on the tree tonight as planned. I do find them restful, but they can be a bit frustrating to put up on the tree <smile> so not a good idea to do it when I'm tired and ready to go to bed. Soon, though, it will occur.  So perhaps my grumpiness is part stress -- the feeling that I can't deal with one more thing -- and part resentment -- taking me from things important to my personal life.  Hmmm.  Grumpy covers a world of emotions, it seems.

So -- when thinking of a song to share today, it had one criterion.  It needed to make me smile if not laugh. This one does both. It is just silly with a group of characters that the world seems to love. Enjoy!

Carol of the Bells -- Muppets -- Beaker, Swedish Chef & Animal ft. Statler and Waldorf