The Wonders of Modern Technology

or, An Exciting Afternoon in the Life of my Mother

So, I ordered the first season of Joan of Arcadia for my mom for Mother's Day and I had it shipped Next Day because it was just released today and I didn't want it to be later than I had to be. I'm killing time this afternoon and I check Amazon to track it and discover it left Richmond at 2am, and the UPS site says it's on time for a scheduled delivery today. Despite all this, it hasn't arrived yet and I'm chatting with Mom downstairs and we hear a noise but quickly forget about it. A few minutes later, I'm back upstairs and I look at the computer and wonder if it was scanned in at a UPS store or something since I last checked. So I refresh the page, and it says "Delivered." I'm confused--no UPS man came to our door in brown shorts, so I don't know what the website is talking about, and then I look again and see "5:48pm" and "Porch" elsewhere on the form. I yell down to Mom, "What time is it!?" "6:06." "It's on the porch!" and with that, I run downstairs, open the door and to her amazement, pick up the small cardboard box that is sitting on the porch.

She was still laughing about it 20 minutes later. "My grandmother could never in her wildest dreams imagine that we'd have this kind of technology. That he can scan it in that it's delivered to the porch and that you'd be able to check to see that information from your home."

She was also very excited about the Joan DVDs. And so am I. I'm gonna try to find that scene between Adam and Joan that Renee and I thought was so well crafted when we saw it last year. And, hopefully, as soon as I turn on the TV, Jenni A. will call because I'm getting hungry...