Where is my book?

I wanted to save some money on textbooks this term and I decided to buy a used textbook through Amazon.com.  I bought one used book for a writing class I had nearly a year ago and was satisfied with what I got and how much money I saved. Sure, it was a little beat up and had some underlining and highlighting in it, but it was perfectly usable.

So, on Friday, December 11, I found the book that I needed, correct edition, apparently in "very good" condition, and it was a hardback to boot, instead of the paperback that seems to be what most college textbooks are now. Instead of paying nearly $100 for a used book through the college bookstore (and more than $130 for a new one), I paid $34 (incl. shipping). And I'm still waiting. I figured the holidays would slow down the delivery a bit, but when it still hadn't shown up today, I started to get a little worried. I emailed the store I bought it from (not actually Amazon, just selling through their site) and asked where my book was. They sent me a tracking number from the USPS for my package.

It WAS shipped from Chadler, AZ (just outside of Mesa/Phoenix) on December 14, so the store was right on top of getting it to me. Three days later (Dec. 17) it had travelled about 400 miles and it was processed in Bell, CA (basically Los Angeles). The book was headed my way. And then it took the scenic route. It's next stop was on Dec. 22 in Springfield, MA, which is about 2900 miles from it's last stop in California. The next day, my book made its way down to Jersey City, NJ. This is around 150 miles from Springfield, just across the river from New York City. By Sunday (Dec. 27), it had blasted nearly another 2900 miles across the country and ended up in Federal Way, WA (between Seattle and Tacoma).

My oh my. Well that makes a lot of sense. What should have taken only a few days and would have travelled about 1500 miles to get to me (even that seems like too far) has now gone nearly 6400 miles, crossed the country twice and is only 150 miles away now.

No wonder the USPS isn't making any money.

I want my book.

Update 12/29/09 - The book showed up this morning. I'm happy.