One of the good things about working from home is that I can have things I order online shipped here instead of having to shlep them home from an office.

One of the drawbacks of that plan, however, is that I often find myself held hostage by the expectation of a delivery. On a day when I have errands to run outside the apartment, this can be vexing.

And sometimes — such as today — this circumstance is just an open invitation for a working definition of Murphy’s Law.

I waited all morning and part of the afternoon in case a package I’d ordered arrived. Finally, I decided that I had waited long enough; I had to get on with the rest of my day. So I hopped in the shower, promising myself to make it quick…

…and sure enough, as soon as I was completely wet and soaped up, the doorbell rang.

I leapt from the shower, scrambled down the hall to the kitchen so I could buzz open the door downstairs, and risked electrocuting myself as I did so with wet hands.

But in the 15 seconds it took me to make this mad dash, the US Postal Service driver had given up, left a “Final Notice” card for something that they hadn’t made any previous efforts to deliver, and left me fuming.

On the plus side, I finally got around to mopping the floor in the hall and kitchen today.