I just got yet another “plan ahead” email from a supplies vendor. Sure, cynically I could say it’s a little self-serving to scare people into buying supplies as quickly as possible and shifting that cash-flow to just a little earlier in the year… but here in the Philly area we still are having 2020 Christmas cards turn up now and then as I guess USPS finally gets to the back of one of the shipping containers they filled up in the backlog.

So I’m not saying “buy stuff from me now” (and you can trust that because I am way behind on stocking up for Christmas sales), I’m just saying: plan ahead. It’s going to be worse than last year.

If I haven’t gotten presents to my own family shipped by the middle of November, I don’t expect them to get there in time for Christmas.

I have normally bought our plane tickets for Christmas travel by now, so I don’t think that’s happening.This means I’m shipping stuff to Kansas, Arizona, and California, all of which are a long way from New Jersey.

I’m also seeing shortages in random stuff; I’ve mentioned hoarding dragon eye beads, and have since learned that nope, they’re not discontinued, just backlogged. Still. But it’s a weird across-the-board thing, so if you are shopping for a kid who would be disappointed if you couldn’t find a particular toy in a couple months? Yeah, grab it now.

On the plus side, I could mail my Grittsmas cards that I never got around to last year, and blame USPS for the delay… provided nobody looked at the postmark.