Delivery Dilemma
Day 39 (March 14, 2019)
Hey Lord,
We were supposed to have a new washing machine delivered to us today, between 3:30pm and 7:30pm. The delivery was going to be a tight squeeze since our place is so tiny. When you enter in through the front door, a cream china cabinet sits against the wall to the right, and to the left are the coffee table and couch. Up against the back of the couch, and about two feet from the kitchen counter, sits our skinny, two-person, kitchen table. As you walk past the china cabinet, a tiny hallway opens up to the right. There is a small table that sits against the hallway’s left wall, and it holds Django’s terrarium. Directly past the terrarium is the bathroom doorway along the same wall. Our washer and dryer are both located in a little niche behind the bathroom door. (Ha, we can’t even open the door all the way because of the machines!) The bathroom doorway is a smidge over 27” wide, and both washers are a tad under 27” wide. (Talk about a tight squeeze!) As you can probably guess, we had to move just about every piece of furniture out of the way so the delivery men could get the washing machines in and out of our place.
Firstly, Dane took the bathroom door off its hinges, so the washing machines could fit through the doorway, and placed it against the bathroom’s right wall that held the hanging towels. He then removed a large open box from on top of the washer—full of lotions, sprays, different types of meds, and miscellaneous dental products—and placed it on the floor in the bedroom. (The fact that this box had to be moved, out of the place I had safely stored it, put me completely on edge, Lord.) After that, we moved the dirty clothes hamper (extremely full at this point since it had been 10 days since we had a usable washer) out of the bathroom and into the bedroom as well. Django got moved out of the hallway and placed in front of the kitchen sink. Dane moved the kitchen table against the stove and angled the couch against it, so the stove was inaccessible. We slid the coffee table against the far wall, away from the door, and then slid the cream china cabinet up against that. Outside, on the porch, we have a barbecue that seemed out of the way enough, but the table and chairs, near the stairs, had to be moved. Dane stacked the chairs on top of the AC unit, right next to the front door, and waited until the delivery came to bring the table inside.
Well, we waited and waited, but that four-hour window came and went. Honestly, once it hit 5pm, Dane figured we would not be seeing a washer today. Lord, it is sad to say, but the delivery services here have been the worst we have ever had to deal with. Lost packages and late deliveries are a very common occurrence. We do not understand why. It is not like we live in the boonies. We live in the largest city in Canada. Well, Dane contacted our landlord to let her know that they never showed up, and she told us to hold on because she was going to call the company. Crazy enough the representative on the phone had asked her for a week delay. Our landlord refused. Dane and I could not believe it! I mean, how could they ask for a week delay when they had given us a four-hour window to be ready for a delivery today!? (Insane!) At that point, we figured we would not be getting a washer, at least until tomorrow, since it was already 8:30pm. So, we put the bathroom door back on its hinges and slid some furniture back in place, so we could finally heat up some dinner. But, crazy enough, there was a change in plans!
At 10pm, our landlord called us to tell us that a delivery truck would be arriving within the next thirty minutes. (We were absolutely stunned!) She had held her ground and made it super clear that if they did not provide the service they promised, within a reasonable time frame, she would cancel her order. (Lord, I want to take a moment to thank you for our landlord. She is the most caring, kind, and thoughtful landlord we have ever had, and I hope she knows how much we appreciate her.) So, very quickly Dane and I shifted the furniture back into their kitty-corner arrangement and got the bathroom door back off its hinges. Too be honest, Lord, we were genuinely concerned about the amount of noise which was about to occur because it was getting late. We texted our downstairs neighbor to let her know what was about to happen and to apologize in advance for the late-night noise but, of course, she was super understanding and let us know that there was nothing to worry about.
Ha, we were not too sure about that because we did not know how the delivery people were going to feel being forced to deliver a washing machine at 10:30 at night. But, to our great relief, the two delivery men were quite nice—tired—but nice. We told them how much we appreciated them, and one of them even apologized for the late delivery. (Honestly, it went much better than what I had imagined in my head.) The thing was it probably wasn’t their fault anyways since someone else most likely created an unrealistic delivery schedule for this certain day. So, we tried to be as kind as possible. They removed the old washing machine fairly easily, and it was quite funny to find what small items had fallen behind there at some point. There were small travel sized shampoo and conditioner bottles, a bag of small plastic trash bags, and even a lint roller of all things.
A bit of a problem occurred when the men tried to get the new washing machine through the bathroom door since the machine was a tad bit bigger than the website had listed. At first, all of us thought the framing would have to be removed from the door but, after a bit of finagling, the men were able to pull the machine past the framing. (Man, did you hear my prayers then, God? I think I was praying a million words per minute!) I think the only thing we were surprised by was the fact that we could not keep the old hoses. (Ha, it was laughable at that point, Lord. After ten days, we finally had a new washer, but no hoses!) But Dane said it was not a big deal since he could pick some up on his way home from work. (In my head, I was like tell that to my dire clean undies situation lol.)
I would be able to do the mountain of laundry soon but, honestly, I was just ready to get the condo back in order because it is so hard for me to have things that trouble me—like sprays and meds—out of their safe places. You know, anxiety wise, I feel like I did pretty well throughout the day, Lord. (I didn’t pull at all!) There were only a couple of quick occurrences, in the late afternoon and early evening, where Dane needed to help calm my nerves down. In those moments, he held me in a tight hug and asked me to look at him. (I don’t know why it is so hard for me to look at him when I am struggling, Lord. Maybe it is because I know he will look me straight in the eyes and ask me to work through my fears, and I just hate going through that grueling mental process—even though it helps.)
And, wouldn’t you know it, the process of working through my fears, a little bit at a time throughout the day and night, did help me avoid a piling up of fears—and a total brain shutdown—allowing Dane and I to complete final tasks in a less stressful manner. So, by 11:30pm, we were able to get things back in their usual spots and were able to winddown for the night. It had been a long day, and poor Dane had to get up early for work the next day but, at least, he was able to go to bed knowing that the washer was here, and we could do laundry by Friday evening. What helped even more was that he had a three-day weekend coming up. (Took the sting out of this crazy long day, for sure!) So, thank you for that, Lord.
Always,
Your Daughter Kaitlan
P.S. Lord, can you help those who are dealing with anxiety get through whatever big deliveries they are expecting? Fill them with calming thoughts as they move items, that trouble them, into different locations around their house. And, if possible, can you allow someone to be there with them so they can have some support? If not, remind them that you are always there to support them—deliveries or no deliveries. Thank you!
Thank you for reading! If you are new, this is a chronological blog series. It is best read in order. CLICK HERE for the intro.
4 Comments
Kathleen
August 16, 2021 at 2:45 pm
Thank you for a loving God who hears our prayers and ACTS. Thank you for delivery people who work overtime for us and still have a positive attitude!Thank you for wonderful loving spouses who are always FOR US!!Thank you for YOUR peace that passes ALL understanding. We all need that in this crazy lost world! Praises up!!👍❤️🎉🎉
Kaitlan Wylie
August 19, 2021 at 3:35 pm
There is just so much thanks to spread. You are so right 🙂
Steffi Ching
August 25, 2021 at 12:43 pm
Whew! What a whirlwind! Thank the good Lord everything worked out. I often think of this one delivery man who went to our church. His schedule was always so crazy driving here and there and the customers mostly being on his case. Praying for delivery workers today. (Also, your landlord is AMAZING!! :O)
Kaitlan Wylie
August 29, 2021 at 12:15 pm
Yeah, these situations can be so tough all around. We just have to be kind to each other 🙂