The runaround from UPS

My baking equipment from Bob's Red Mill is scheduled for delivery tomorrow (I did say I wanted No Signature Required so they'll drop it on the porch). The picklist was made the day I ordered. Here's where my package has been since then (click for larger image):

It's been in and out of two countries (four states and one province) and six cities, for a total of 11 transits. I thought once it got to Windsor, ON, the day after I placed the order, it would mosey its way along the back roads to Toronto and arrive one week later. Apparently not.

Does someone have a whistle I can blow?

Thursday, MARCH 12 UPDATE: It got back to Windsor, Ontario again this evening. So it should arrive on my front porch on Friday (the thirteenth!!). I will use the dough bucket and maybe the banneton this weekend to mix up the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes. Unless I get hit with duty charges and have to send UPS a payment before I get it all...

Saturday, MARCH 14 UPDATE: Swell. I gotta pay $55.65 CA in duty and taxes before I get my package. That's a few more bucks than I was planning on spending. I asked UPS if I could pay the COD by PayPal or credit card, but they won't get back to me until the next business day, if then.

Monday, MARCH 16 UPDATE: I DID get a positive response from UPS customer service, saying that Yes, I could pay a COD amount by credit card using their automated phone service. But I just signed the back of the Info slip, left a personal cheque for the COD amount taped to the door (I'm a trusting soul), and my package from Bob was at my door when I got home. Tra la!

I also got an eBay item that had been mailed in the US on February 2, 2009. The seller was good enough to re-ship the item (which I received in about a week). I promised him that if it ever showed up I'd send it back. And I got a package that I'd ordered on Thursday or Friday from a Toronto nutrition house. So I'm all happy again now.

Feeling sorry for myself

My roofer came to look at my leak(s)---on time!---and a look of horror (possibly manufactured, but maybe not) passed across his face as he went from room to room. I have multiple problems that a new roof just couldn't cure, including not enough insulation in the crawlspace (flat roof), a bad angle for the eaves troughs, and ice damming that forces melt water down past the plate and into multiple rooms, including the kitchen. It might cost me a lot, but maybe it's time to dip into the line of credit to do some long-past-due repairs, and maybe my insurance will cover some of the cost.

I'm not usually a comfort shopper, but I couldn't resist doing some in-store and online buying (not like my eBay sales will cover any of it, but what the hay). Due to my renewed interest in baking bread, mainly because of all the no-knead recipes I've been finding, I realized I needed some vital equipment, like an oven thermometer (testing reveals that my oven is 40-50F degrees hotter than set, which explains the tough crusts); a serrated bread knife (to cut through those over-baked loaves), both from Valu-Mart; a banneton for rising; a dough bucket (boring image, but it's here) that shows when your dough has doubled; and a bread bag, from Bob's Red Mill.

I love the idea of the banneton---a woven reed basket that you turn the dough into to rise, then invert it onto your baking stone, leaving the coiled reed impression on the finished loaf. My book of kitchen gadgets says the French (those devils) line their bannetons with light canvas, but I can get a good result with just flour.