Morning Screw-ups

I have a morning routine. I suspect most of us do.

Mine is that I bring in the local paper that was dropped in my driveway, make breakfast, and while I eat, read the paper (with Morning Joe on in the background). After I've eaten, I do the puzzles in the paper--the crossword and "Celebrity Cypher".

The last two mornings that routine has been disrupted. Yesterday, the paper wasn't there on the driveway. This has happened a few times in the past month, and always on a Tuesday. I'm beginning to suspect that, on Tuesday, there's someone who passes the house and swipes the paper. (Part of my reasoning on this is that last Tuesday, when there was no paper, was the day the delivery bill would normally be included. I can't imagine my delivery person neglecting to deliver the paper and the bill.)

Today was even stranger. The paper was there...but, by my reckoning, only half of it. The index on the inside front page lists 64 pages of contents. The paper, as delivered, has only 32 pages. Among the missing pages: comics, syndicated columns, puzzles, and sports. Yes, the entire sports section, including the back page which is usually the sports headline story, is not there.

I went around the corner to the local convenience store...and all their copies were identical to mine and they said they had already put in a complaint. I plan to as well.