The great laptop cable snafu

So, the original laptop cable on my Thinkpad X230 let out the magic smoke with a loud pop while my youngest was using it for Duolingo. Apparently the way I was tightly wrapping it to take with me everywhere was too much of a strain on where the cable goes into the adapter. I let youngest use up the battery on Duolingo and Khan Academy, and then I was laptopless. Which is more of a problem than usual, because with the quarantine, both kids have been using laptops for learning and remote classes, and there aren't enough to go around.

It took me a while to find a place to buy a laptop cable that wasn't Amazon, an online shop that sells only power adapters, and all kinds of power adapters. I'd rather have gotten an OEM adapter, but they're relatively very expensive. So I ordered one, and a week later (last Friday), I got the note that it had shipped.

And then I waited... and waited... and it never arrived. Finally, I check the tracking number on the shipping email, and follow it up on the USPS site. They claim that they "attempted delivery", and that it was "held at post office at customer request". I guess the customer in this case is the vendor, not me. I'm not sure how they attempted delivery, since we've been home 24/7 and no one rang the doorbell or knocked. So I masked up and went to the post office for my ZIP code.

There, they told me that they don't hold any packages there, and my carrier is actually based at the downtown post office, so if it's being held, it's being held there. I drove to the downtown post office. There, they told me they don't hold any packages except for the downtown ZIP code, and that it would be out for delivery again that day (yesterday), and that that status keeps getting scanned in by mistake. So, a morning wasted, except that I did buy [stamps].

[Stamps] Voices of the Harlem Renaissance

Yesterday, I kept checking outside the door to see if a package had been delivered; it never was. This morning, though, I checked the mailbox, and found that it was much smaller than I expected, and was in the box. So why wasn't it delivered there in the first place?

Anyway, it is here. I was disappointed to see that unlike the OEM adapter, it has a three-pronged grounded plug; probably saves on the electronics needed in the adapter itself. I live in an old house, and only certain of our outlets are grounded (kitchen, bathroom, server closet). At least my laptop is charging now.