# A curious parcel arrived last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309 "2007-10-19T16:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/101 "2007-10-20T23:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Bullshit. [/QUOTE] Well, poop on you… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![boxorox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@boxorox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boxorox)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/102 "2007-10-21T00:22:17Z")
Man those boxes are great. Just remember how you took it apart cause they are hella hard to put back together when you want to forward it on. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/103 "2007-10-21T00:22:26Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Bullshit. [/QUOTE] I agree. But at least it’s interesting bullshit. But just like real bullshit, I’m not buying it. ---
**Author:** ![enigm4tic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@enigm4tic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigm4tic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/104 "2007-10-21T00:26:33Z")
warn your fellow dopers when you awake Chtulu by accident. I’d like to know when the pain and misery are about to begin. Besides, then I can welcome our new wooden-spring-sphere making overlords. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/105 "2007-10-21T01:09:32Z")
So, **Balance** , are you the [The Librarian](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0455596/)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/106 "2007-10-21T01:15:20Z")
Digger’s real name is Carter by any chance. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/107 "2007-10-21T06:36:02Z")
Robert! How’s Sophie doing? What’s Teabing up to in prison? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/108 "2007-10-21T17:15:32Z")
I checked my office voice mail and found a response from the secretary of the agency that sent the box, but it was mostly a confirmation of what I read in Digger’s letter.Her boss–the Spook–sent the box himself, and she didn’t really know anything about it. I called her back, and she said that he’s working on a case, and she can’t contact him to ask about the matter. She told me that this is not unusual when he’s on the job. He always did have a high regard for the gumshoe mystique. Calls to Digger’s office at the university got me nowhere. The one colleague who answered on a weekend said they hadn’t heard from him in over a week. Stymied for the moment, I turned my attention back to the box. Its design reminds me of something, but I cannot put my finger on it. The resilience of the tiles fascinates me; they must surely be supported on wooden springs, and for such a delicate mechanism to survive so long is a marvel. The craftsmanship must be exceptional. I have noted, however, that some of the tiles offer more resistance than most. Perhaps the mechanism behind them has become fouled somehow. In handling the box, I became aware of a faint sound within it. Something inside moves when I tilt it, but I have been unable to feel any shift in weight. Whatever it is, it must be very light. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/109 "2007-10-21T17:22:04Z")
Ooooohhhhh! Curiouser and curiouser … :: pulls up a comfy chair :: ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/110 "2007-10-21T17:30:00Z")
Somewhere in the future of this adventure we will see a menancing stranger with an eye patch; a faithful monkey companion and some foreign orphan boy with alot of cheek and street knowledge. And Nazi’s. It ain’t an adventure story unless Nazi’s are involved. ::::::::_rubs hands gleefully in anticipation of the next update._:::::::::::::::::::::: ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/111 "2007-10-21T18:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] Somewhere in the future of this adventure we will see a menancing stranger with an eye patch; a faithful monkey companion and some foreign orphan boy with alot of cheek and street knowledge. And Nazi’s. [/QUOTE] …and a fish. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/112 "2007-10-21T21:06:08Z")
So far I am convinced only that **Balance** is a fantastic writer, and that I would like to subscribe to his/her newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/113 "2007-10-21T21:10:01Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] So far I am convinced only that **Balance** is a fantastic writer, and that I would like to subscribe to his/her newsletter. [/QUOTE] That makes two of us. ::: Pulls up a comfy chair::: Pass the popcorn please. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/114 "2007-10-21T21:14:05Z")
I have a feeling that this thread will come to an end somewhere around the beginning of April. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/115 "2007-10-21T21:14:27Z")
It contains a first edition of _The DaVinci Code_. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/116 "2007-10-21T22:33:06Z")
Pandora, is that you? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/117 "2007-10-21T22:41:25Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] I have a feeling that this thread will come to an end somewhere around the beginning of April. [/QUOTE] with a fish. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/118 "2007-10-21T23:00:17Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] with a fish. [/QUOTE] Someone rang? Oh, _fish_. Nevermind. Where’s he gone off to? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/119 "2007-10-21T23:08:39Z")
IF there is a fish involved, it must be a dried, dessicated specimen of one–otherwise there’d be an odor. I feel like I’m reading a cross between TinTin and Amelie-the film… \ ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/120 "2007-10-22T01:39:42Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] I predict a beautiful woman with a secret past, stuck in Egypt due to lack of funds; a suspicious stranger of Oriental descent; a pragmatic Frenchman with two letters of transit, and a legend regarding the Cairo box. [/QUOTE] I know the first part is correct, I get emails from her all of the time. Sometimes I get them from her cousins in other countries. Even today I got one from a man in Hong Kong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309.md?page=7)