My landlord may think I’m a hoarder.
I mean, if I had a tenant who was having a package delivered to the front door every other day, I’d probably think the same thing.
As has been well documented here, I am presently without reliable transport of my own. And with the conditions underfoot being unpredictable at best, walking home from the store carrying anything bigger than a box of cereal can be an exercise in tightrope walking.
And conditions aside, Augusta – for all its charms – isn’t exactly Park Avenue when it comes to shopping. Even once I’ve got a car my options for clothing, electronics and other luxuries may be somewhat limited.
Which is why I’ve been bombarding the front stoop of my house with packages. See, I might not be able to get to the stores, but the stores can get to me. Just ask FedEx, who delivered four enormous cartons full of bed parts on Christmas Eve right after an ice storm.
But it’s not even just exotic items arriving in my mailbox (except for the care package of Tim Tams my sister sent me). In the last week I’ve signed up for the Dollar Shave Club – which sends me a razor handle and four multi-blade cartridges a month for $6, an absolute steal – and Five Four Clothing, which is going to ship $120 worth of its own label menswear to me 12 times a year for $60 a month. For a guy who can’t be bothered shopping, and can’t really get to the stores anyway, this seems like a stellar way to gradually refresh my wardrobe.
Okay, who am I kidding? It’s because I only have to go to my front door to pick it up. I wish I could do that with groceries too.
That gives me an idea. Hey, Google…
Crawfin' USA 
Delivery groceries are the coolest because they come with dry ice to play with!!!
Hey Adrian! Stumbled across your article on ABC Online and had a strange and overwhelming sense that you were familiar which eventually led to the epiphany that we went to uni together. 🙂 Great to read your posts and see you’re loving life in the USA. Take care and stay warm!
Hey Erin, thanks for the warm wishes! You didn’t leave a last name so the familiarity is one-way at this point…but feel free to jog my memory!
Hey again, it’s Carnwell. You may remember me from such classes as … actually, it’s been far too long for me to even remember that. If it helps, you once bought me a Dark and Stormy at the Normanby.
Haha Jesus, yeah now I remember. Can you believe that would’ve been like nine years ago?
I just pitched up in upstate NY, Rochester, for a new job 1 December having spent the previous 6 years in Brissy and thought I must be the only poor fool stupid enough to do it (full disclosure: I’m from Canberra originally, so thought I’d be ok with dirty weather…hmmm). I agonized over needing, and then which, brand of boots (now happily fundamentally American in LLBean), jacket, all of which arrived on my doorstep via the interwebz, as did my furniture, my bed, etc etc. I seem to be the only one mad enough to attempt navigating without a car, or even more horrifically for the first three weeks, a phone!
Happily I have, by necessity, discovered the amazing opportunity for local brews (no car is a blessing, iced over pavements, less so) and breweries (50+ within a day trip distance).
It’s kinda comforting to see that I’m not making all the mistakes for the first time, or alone, so I look forward to following your progress.
And If you’re ever in the area, I’m going to be desperate to kick a football around as soon as the ground resurfaces!
Cheers!
Bort
Mate, good to hear from you. The similarities in our situations are eerily similar! I can completely identify with how damn good it is not to have to drive (because then you can have as many beers as you damn well please), but icy sidewalks makes getting home a bitch. At least Rochester is a little bigger than Augusta.
Good choice on the LLBean, that’s what everyone here has been telling me to get (although I betrayed the native Maine choice and went with another brand).
And I’ve got a good friend who goes to school in Cortland, near Syracuse, who I’m going to try and visit once I’ve got wheels, so I’ll drop you an email at the address you left if I do so. Keep in touch!
You can actually get Tim Tams at World Market, if you have one near you
Apparently Washington DC and Maryland are the closest stores to me! Thankfully I’m not Tim Tam-obsessed. There’s plenty of other sweet stuff in this country for me to snack on.
Glad to see you are enjoying the states – I was in Philadelphia, PA 2006-9 and Knoxville, TN 2009-10. Just so you know… You can get real, made in Australia TimTams in the states.. Sold at Target stores under the Pepperidge Farm label. You can get them from Fall thru to Spring. Might save your sister billions in postage! Stay warm!
Hey Susie, thanks for the comment. I’ve had the Pepperidge Farm Tim Tams and didn’t think they were as good as the “real thing”, to be honest! Plus I think the brand itself happens to carry some weight with Americans who know what they are!
Online shopping in the States is a blast! Delivery is so quick. I did my entire “Santa Shopping” online over 2 nights. Some-thing I would never do in Aus. Even forgot one gift ordered on Dec 23rd and it arrived Christmas eve around 5pm. Beat that Aus Post. No? Didn’t think so. There are plenty of things I miss from back home and stubbornly refuse to believe that any one else’s way is better than in Aus but the good old US of A kicks butt when it comes down to online shopping.
Yep, no doubt about that. I’ll struggle on that front when I eventually head back home!