Valentine's Delivery Suggestions

It's been a very long day, my hands hurt so it's harder to type, therefore i will wait to tell the delivery stories.

Instead i will give suggestions for those who order flowers for their loved ones on Valentine's Day.

First, for delivery people of every stripe, not to mention emergency services people, please put numbers on your house or mailbox, and make sure they can be seen easily from the road. This can't be stressed often enough.

If you live in a place where they are building a new subdivision, petition them to put up the street signs sooner rather than later. It's a pain having to guess whether this is the right street, much less the right house.

When an apartment complex is involved, give us the apartment number. Many complexes refuse to tell us where you live for security purposes, and they often will not let us leave it at the office for you, since they don't want to be responsible for it.

If you live in a gated community, for Pete's sake tell us that we have to get a gate code to even get near your house. Then, also, make sure you give us a phone number where you can be reached so we can call and get that number. Better yet, have us deliver to your spouse's work, instead of leaving us frustrated at the gate with no way to get in touch with you because no one is home.

That leads to the tip about phone numbers. Leave us a cell phone number, not just the house number. If no one is home, i can call you, get the gate code if i need it, and even if i don't i can get permission to leave your flowers on the back porch or another safe location.

If your sweet heart works in a secure building that needs special access, let us know that, too. That person's direct cell or business number will help, too. We can call and get them to come let us in.

Yes, you want it to be a surprise. Well, it is still a surprise when a stranger calls and says, "Hi, i'm Jane with XYZ Flowers, and i have a delivery for you. I understand you have a secure building, could you tell me the best way to get them to you?" The recipient is still surprised and delighted, and there is no disappointment of us not even being able to get it to him/her.

Give us your phone number, too. That way, if we can't get in touch with the recipient, we can call you for instructions.

If you really want those flowers to arrive on time and with a happy driver, give us more info, not less.

High School kids, do not have flowers delivered to the school. Let your darling get home to find them there. Trust me, much easier on us, and easier on them than trying to drag a huge balloon bouquet and flowers sloshing water all over on the bus.

If your Valentine is at a business, give us the business name as well as the address. It helps to know it is at SoSo Furniture or Max's Dress Shop, and not have to guess or try to find addresses on the buildings.

In short, think about how a person who knows the town in general, but doesn't necessarily know every street and every business, will find you or the one you love quickly and easily. It will save you being disappointed.


Today is:

Battleship Day

Burger Lover's Day

Candlemas -- on the Julian Calendar, and in the Orthodox Church

Decimal Day -- UK

Flag Day -- Canada

John Frum Day -- Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Kamakura Matsuri -- Yokote, Akita Prefecture, Japan (Snow Cave Festival)

Kariwano Otsunahiki -- Kariwano, Akita Prefecture, Japan

Kuromori Kabuki -- Kuromori, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Mawlid an Nabi -- Islam

National Day -- Serbia

National Gum Drop Day

Nirvana Day -- Buddhism, Jain

Remember the Maine Day

Singles Awareness Day

St. Sigfrid's Day (patron of Sweden)

Susan B. Anthony Day -- US

Total Defense Day -- Singapore



Birthdays Today:

Renee O'Connor, 1971
Jane Child, 1967
Chris Farley, 1964
Matt Groening, 1954
Melissa Manchester, 1951
Jane Seymour, 1951
Claire Bloom, 1931
Harvey Korman, 1927
Cesar Romero, 1907
John Barrymore, 1882
Elihu Root, 1824
Susan B. Anthony, 1820
Cyrus McCormick, 1809
Henry Engelhard Steinway, 1797
Galileo Galilei, 1564
Babur, 1483 (founder of Mughal dynasty in India)
Claudius Drusus Germanicus Caesar Nero, 37


Today in History:

Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death, BC399
Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia, 590
Ho-tse Shen-hui, Zen teacher, disputes the founder of Northern Ch'an line, 732
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, is founded by Pierre Laclade Ligue as a French trading post, 1764
The first US printed ballots are authorized, in Philadelphia, 1799
Sarah Roberts is barred from attending a white school in Boston, 1848
Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits its first patient, 1852
A fire in Rotterdam, Netherlands, damages the Museum Boymans, 1864
American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, 1879
Nine inches (23cm) of snow falls on New Orleans, Louisiana, 1898
The USS Maine sinks in Havana harbor, cause unknown-258 sailors die, 1898
The first Teddy Bear is introduced in America, made by Morris and Rose Michtom, 1903
Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls, 1949
The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty, 1950
Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska, 1954
A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner, 1965
The decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day, 1971
The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by the national referendum, 1976
The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers, 1982
The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan, 1989
At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing an unannounced number of people, 1996
First draft of the complete Human Genome is published in Nature, 2001
YouTube, the Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States, 2005