The back of beyond

Our new bathroom mirror - the final piece in the jigsaw - arrived on Monday. Or it would have done if anyone had been here to take delivery.

Amtrak left a little note. We tried. We'll be back tomorrow. So we pinned our notice on the front door asking them to try over the road, since I was due to spend the day in London yesterday. Unfortunately our neighbours were out too, so we got home to another little note. We tried. That was your last chance. Come to the depot in the next two days or you'll never see the mirror again.

I took Nikki to work early this morning so I could hunt down the Amtrak depot. Have you noticed how these places are always stuck right at the back of an industrial estate somewhere you've never been before. And once you've gone, you never want to go again. And everyone uses a different shipping company, so the fact that you've managed to find your way to one depot will be absolutely no use whatever the next time you miss a parcel delivery. I've tracked down the distribution centres for Parcelforce, DHL, FedEx and Red Star, but this was the first Amtrak trek I'd ever been on.

I found them eventually. Right at the back of the industrial estate, as expected. Worse. On one of those roads called "Avenue Close" or something, where there are two possibilities (the Close traverses the entry road) so you don't know whether to go right or left. And you (well, I) always choose the wrong one first.