It's That Time Again

The days are coming, and are almost here:  Valentine's Day deliveries are this week.

So, once again, from the point of view of the person who just might be delivering your flowers, comes a few hints for how to make my job easier and assure that you will get those flowers there.

1.  Order early.  Earlier than that.  Yes, that early.

     Here's the thing.  The florists order lots and lots of flowers, and some are going to be in better shape than others.  The nicest ones get used first.  By 3pm on Valentine's Day, they are using the ones they would have passed over earlier.  Ordering ahead, and ordering for early delivery, gets you the nicest selection.

     Get them delivered the day before, to get extra points with your sweetheart. It means you didn't dawdle, you have flowers today, dinner out and a gift tomorrow, you made a big thing of it.  It also means you get the nicest flowers, as noted above.  And, if we can't find your location or have trouble, we have time for a redelivery.

     Think about it. You have flowers or candy or cupcakes or whatever delivered a day before. You come home with a card. Then, on the big day, you still go out for dinner and all the trimmings. You have just let this person know you are not simply waiting for someone to slap you upside the head and tell you to get with it, the big day is tomorrow. You are plotting and planning and putting thought into a buildup. It goes a long way, baby.

2.  Mark your home well!  This is for your benefit as well as ours.  After all, if we can't find you, what makes you think the EMTs can find you in the middle of the night?
3.   Delivery drivers know the town in general, but not every single side street, business, nook and cranny.  Give us your whole, complete address.  This means include:

     Avenue, Street, Boulevard, Drive, Circle, Lane, or whatever is in the actual title of your street.

     Your apartment complex name and apartment number
     or the nursing home name and room number
     or the business name and office number/division of the business where your sweetheart works.

     You know where it is, but we don't, and it's no fun having to guess.

4.  If you live in a gated community, please tell us, and give us a way to get in.  It's frustrating not to be able to get to your home because we need a code.  Give us a phone number, and i'll talk more about that later.

5.  The same goes for if you are having flowers delivered to a limited access work place.  Make sure we can get in there to it.  More than once i've had to wait until someone was leaving the building to beg to be brought in, and had to register, and all of that. Again, a phone number helps.

6.  If you and your sweetheart are both at work all day, give us permission, when you place the order, to leave the flowers in a safe place by your back door, under a patio, or with a neighbor.

7.  Tell us what time your sweetheart gets off work, if you really want us to go there.  It's frustrating to get there a half hour after s/he got off for the day.

8.  About phone numbers:  tell your sweetheart to answer the phone!  Yes, you usually don't answer if you don't recognize the number.  Tell him/her to answer anyway, on this day, because there is a surprise coming.  Give us your number as well, and answer it.  If we can get in touch with you, or your sweetheart, we can work out most delivery complications easily.

9.  High school students, please do not ask us to deliver to the school.  The people in the carpool lane get very upset with us, as they think we are cutting in line, and your sweetheart doesn't need the aggravation of trying to bring a bouquet home on the bus.

10.  Remember your driver is paid only for completed deliveries.  Time is of the essence for us, we want to successfully deliver as many items as we can, for the joy it brings you and the money it brings us.  There's no shame in earning some extra cash by doing this service, so help us serve you better by following the tips above!

Thank you, and have a lovely Valentine's Day.



Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Liberia

Be Electrific Day -- Edison's birth anniversary

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day -- no history on the origin, but remember we all mess up once in a while, don't take small mess ups too seriously

Evelio Javier Memorial Day -- Panay Island, Philippines

Extraterrestrial Culture Day -- New Mexico, US ("to celebrate and honor all past, present, and future extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationships among all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.")

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes/World Day of the Sick -- Roman Catholic Church (anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Lourdes to Bernadette)

Grandmother Achievement Day -- internet generated; call your grandmother, or someone's grandmother you admire, and tell her what she is doing right

Independence Day -- Vatican City (Holy See) (a/k/a Lateranensi Pact Day, for the pact that established it as an independent state)

Kenkoku Kenen-no-hi -- Japan (also called National Foundation Day or Empire Day)

Meringue Memorial Day -- don't know who came up with it, but it's the day to see if you remember how to make meringue

National Inventors' Day -- US (Edison's birth anniversary)

National Peppermint Patty Day

National Shut-In Visitation Day -- some sites have it here, some in October; either way, go visit someone who can't get out of the house today, or make plans to see them this weekend

National Sports Day -- Qatar

Nelson Mandela Day -- South Africa (celebrates his release from prison)

Pro Sports Wives Day -- the annual recognition of those who truly are sports widows, wives of professional athletes, coaches, and support personnel; prosportswives.com

Safer Internet Day -- UK (promotes safe and responsible use of the internet by teaching children how to keep themselves safe online)

Satisfied Staying Single Day -- for those who aren't desperate to have someone by the 14th; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

St. Caedmon's Day (Oldest English poet known by name.)

White Shirt Day -- a recognition of the dignity of the working class

World Ag Expo -- Tulare, CA, US (largest farm and equipment show in North America; through Thursday)

Youth Day -- Cameroon


Anniversaries Today:

Napoleon weds Marie-Louise of Austria, 1810
The founding of London University, 1826


Birthdays Today:

Taylor Lautner, 1992
Natalie Dormer, 1982
Kelly Rowland, 1981
Matt Lawrence, 1980
Brandy, 1979
Mike Shinoda, 1977
Jennifer Aniston, 1969
Sarah Palin, 1964
Sheryl Crow, 1963
Carey Lowell, 1961
Sergio Mendes, 1941
Bobby "Boris" Pickett, 1938
Burt Reynolds, 1936
Tina Louise, 1934
Leslie Nielsen, 1926
Paul Bocuse, 1926
Eva Gabor, 1921
Sidney Sheldon, 1917
Max Baer, 1909
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1909
Philip Dunne, 1908
Thomas Alva Edison, 1847
Lydia Marie Child, 1802


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The French Chef"(TV, with Julia Child), 1963
"Dynamo"(O'Neill play), 1929
"Salome"(Wilde Play), 1896
"La Fille du Regiment"(Donizetti Opera Comique), 1840


Today in History:

Traditional date for the founding of the Japanese empire under Emperor Jimmu, BC660
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome, which clears the way for Nero to become Emperor, 55
Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England, 1531
The Pennsylvania Hospital opens, the first in the US, 1752
Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery, 1790
Anthracite coal is burned experimentally as fuel for heating a home for the first time, by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1808
Robert Fulton files a patent for improvements to steamboat navigation, 1809
Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signs a redistricting bill that leads to the first use of the term "gerrymander," 1812
The first public toilet facilities for women opens in London, on Bedford Street, 1852
The Meiji constitution of Japan is adopted, 1889
Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control, 1916
BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term "robot", 1938
Glenn Miller is awarded the first ever gold disc for selling one million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo," 1941
Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters, 1971
The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens, 1978
Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa, 1990
The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, 2011