It was a quick decision, mostly based on my laziness about actually going out to a store and buying a calendar for the new year.

It was the middle of January and the wall in my home office still said December. I'd look at it and forget that it was wrong. Took a few seconds for me to remember that the 15th of January was a different day than the 15th of December.

Not being too busy at work a week or so ago, I decided I'd get my shopping done the easy way. I'd already done my budget and found that, even with the purchases I'd made in December, I was still sitting pretty. So I clicked my way to Amazon and looked up the calendars.

Number one on the list was an Ansel Adams black and white calendar. It was half price. Score! I looked through a few pages of crap and then went back and clicked AA into my cart. But to get free shipping I had to buy something else.

My birthday was coming up, so I bought myself a couple of movies I'd mused about getting, but hadn't. Click, click, done. I didn't have to drive anywhere. No taxes. No shipping charges, and I would get a calendar before the end of January. Nice!

A week later the package would be waiting for me at my place. UPS was the carrier, which I thought was a little unusual, but when shipping is free, what do I care?

On Thursday evening, I got home around 5:30. There was a note on the door. The UPS man had come by in the afternoon and not left the package on my porch. And, according to the note, I couldn't just sign the slip and have him leave it the next day. Since Friday was the next day, I knew the driver would not come by after 5 (he even marked that he would be by between 2 and 5 the next day). UPS drivers want to get out of work as soon as they can on Fridays (pretty much like everyone else).

A year or so ago, I had a package coming UPS that I missed 3 days in a row. On the last day I even got out of work early because I knew he wouldn't come by late. I was home by 3. The guy had come by at 2:30.

Knowing the way of things, I called the 800 number on Thursday night (right after I ranted to my empty apartment about UPS drivers and why would they deliver to residential areas when everyone is at work) and had a curt conversation with the automatic voice. When asked if it was acceptable for the driver to try and deliver the next day at his stated time, I said harshly, "No!"

Now, this wasn't an actual human I was talking to, but the voice seemed rather put out by my response. However, it still took my phone number so a real person could call me back.

The real person explained that the drivers were picking up on their routes, so could not swing back by my place to drop off the package. Even if the truck might have been right around the corner. Between 5 and 6 on weeknights I regularly see UPS trucks tooling around my neighborhood. Even stopping on my street. But no, I would have to drive to the UPS place (about 5 miles away) to pick up my package if I wanted it before, say, Monday night.

You see, I'm not a UPS customer. Amazon is the customer. And UPS got the package to my town, even if they couldn't leave it on my porch. Job, apparently, done.

A little after 7:30 that night I stood with about six other people waiting for a guy to go into the depths of the UPS warehouse and get our undelivered packages.

It was cold outside. An hour or so before I'd noticed the tickling of a sore throat coming on. By about two in the morning, I knew I wouldn't make it into work. My cold was getting worse.

But at least I had a calendar displaying the correct month on my wall.

Matt Worley is trying to be positive, but it's really wearing on him.