Good Luck (Your Need It.)

Finally got my first wave of submissions posted out today. It took me a lot longer then I’d planned and way more effort and money then I would have liked. First finding hard-backed envelopes has become a big deal. There used to be a couple of places in town I could pick them up (like the post offices for one), now I have to make a big trip to a stationery shop tucked away in a part of town I don’t usually go to. I thought this time I’d try and be a bit clever and buy in bulk, so I bought ten of them. Problem was when you buy something in certain shops, they don’t give you a plastic bag, instead they give you these little arty, paper bags. They look nice with there funky pattern on them but if you get caught in the rain they offer as much protection as… well a paper bag. Needless to say on the way home I got caught in a storm that came out of nowhere and seemed to end the moment I got home. I managed to keep the pricey, envelopes pretty dry. Maybe one or two got a bit of water damages. So then after feeling in forms and printing off all my work over an afternoon, I finally had my submissions ready to go. Only problem is… postal strikes. I could still post them but I thought I’d wait until a day when the strike wasn’t on (the strike started the day I was ready to start posting.) so I held onto them until this week. I heard on the news, they were saying a lot of post was getting chucked, secretly to help with the backlog. I thought they stood a better chance if I waited and wouldn’t end up in a bin round the back of some sorting office somewhere. So yesterday I went down and tried to post them. You have to use these machines now and post them yourself. I didn’t really like the idea but I thought I’d have to learn sooner or later. Sadly it would be later as I fucked up the first three and had to return home defeated with a slightly lighter wallet. After spending twenty minutes last night redoing (and using more of my now precious, hard-back envelopes) I was ready to try again today. This time I got someone there to show me how to do it. Another annoying point is you have to fill in these tiny, little sticker documents for airmail, which I’m guessing, if anything going to go tits up this time it’ll be them. At the end, the guys nodding and going “see, it not that hard really. It just going to be a lot more useful.” And I’m politely nodding but in my head I’m thinking, “God, I miss the days when you could just buy hard-back envelopes without going on long adventures and when you could just hand your post to a bored looking woman behind a desk.” I guess it’ll all be worth it, if they turn up where I sent them… But with the luck I’ve had so far it’s a big IF.