Mystery Gift

Who doesn't like a gift?  I'll be the first one to selfishly say, I LOVE to get gifts.  Yes, I am a “gimme” person.  It's not something I say with pride, but it IS me being honest.  Surprise gifts CAN be even better.  But in our crazy world, sometimes surprises can make you a little uneasy.

 Like so many people, we have been doing a lot more on line shopping.  We've been getting lots of packages.  (My sun parlor/music room is starting to shape up with our latest Ikea delivery, but now my dining room is a mess again because of all the boxes that need to go out for recycling next week!) We try to keep track of everything and when items are delivering but sometimes things don't arrive on time or arrive early.  My husband, in particular monitors because we've all heard about Porch Pirates.  When we know something is on its way, we are on alert.

 Last Friday (my day off), I was sitting in my backyard reading when my husband came around the side of the house and said asked if I had ordered something from Amazon that he was not aware of.  I didn't recall anything and said so.  To which he replied that UPS had just delivered a package for him (which he was expecting) and a large package for me (which clearly we weren't).  He even told the UPS man that it must be a mistake, but UPS pointed out our address and MY name (as well as our landline number).  My husband then asked me point blank:  did I order a portable air conditioner?

 I may not have the best memory in the world.  I can walk into a room and forget why I did so.  If I don't add items to our grocery list; I will forget to purchase items.  But I KNOW I would remember ordering a portable air conditioner and I certainly would not have done so without the input of my husband!

 Not wanting to leave the box out front in plain sight, my husband dragged it to the back of the house.  We both looked over the box very closely.  It was clearly a Black & Decker portable air conditioner and addressed to me.  But there was no note or indication of who could have sent it.  IF someone sent it.

 I went upstairs and checked my Amazon account.  There were no open orders.  I checked my credit cards.  No suspicious activity.  I checked my bank account.  Everything was good there.  My husband checked HIS credit card accounts and bank.  All was good.  

 Then we made some phone calls.  We called my parents.  When asked, my dad joked that he has bought us 3 units.  It wasn't funny.  And it wasn't from him.  We called my husband's parents.  Not them.  We started thinking outside of the box.  I texted my aunt; no.  Hubby emailed two friends who he had done work for recently; no.  We asked our neighbor; no.  I texted my former boss; no.  I texted a bunch of co-workers; no.  We were running out of people to ask.

 Could this be some sort of a scam?  Hubby did some research and came up with this:  https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/20509-amazon-brushing-scam-indicates-a-serious-problem-for-victims.  It sounded like it might be a possibility.  Right around the time that UPS had made the delivery, a car had cruised down our block and then turned around and went back out.  Since this is a dead end street it was a little suspicious.  Of course, whenever there is road construction in our area this happens a lot.  People think they can cut through to get to the main road and don't bother to look at the dead end sign.  (There IS a reason it's there people!)

 We were a little unnerved.  We brought the box inside and left it in our dining room, where, as you know ALL boxes go...(sigh)  We kept our guard up; even locking the door when we had to run out when our son was home by himself.  (Not something we'd usually be concerned about.)  The errand we had to run, we did quickly and we kept our eyes on our phones so we could monitor the front door.  

 It was yet another freaky Friday.

 At least until around 9 that night when I got an email from my cousin in California, which partially read: "did you get a package today? If no let me know. If yes and you don't like it or can't use it I will get you a return label"  Now he HAD been on  my list of "suspects" and I had texted him the question, but it turns out the number I thought was his cell was actually his  land line and we all know that landlines and texts don't mix!

 I immediately picked up the phone to thank him.  It was (and is) an incredibly generous gift.  And the timing couldn't have been any better.  As soon as hubby finished his Ikea project (which started on Thursday afternoon and didn't really wrap up until late Saturday), he brought the box up and set it up.

 As with ANYTHING, easy setup is not easy.  But it was done just in time.  The temperatures on Sunday started to go up and up.  Monday it hit 90.  Summer has made its full appearance and I am so grateful that I can work in my home office and be cool.  (Although my "real" office opens again in just a few weeks...and I'll probably be freezing when it is 90 degrees out and overcast, but that's another story.)

 So mystery solved; gift set up, appreciated and so LOVED.

 Here's hoping everyone's mysteries are as pleasant as mine.