Tag: shipping

Race

In my previous post I speculated on which of the two packages I have shipped over the last few days would arrive at its destination first, thus winning the race. Would it be the USPS package full of 35mm film that shipped out on Saturday or would it be the FedEx envelope with my passport renewal application that shipped out last night?

I have the answer.

The film has arrived at The Darkroom. I can expect my scans to be uploaded to my account in 3-7 business days. In other words, an eternity. Disney and New York on film… coming soon.

Shipping

It’s weird but I actually have two packages that have been shipped out by me over the last couple of days. One is a passport renewal form that went out via Fed Ex last night and the other is seven rolls of 35mm film* that I sent out via USPS on Saturday. Which will arrive at its destination first? The race is on! In this post-pandemic era of online shopping it’s common to be following packages that are on their way to you, but less common to have to follow packages that are on their way from you. Maybe not. I don’t know. I have to write about something.

Apparently you can spend six months in Scotland without a visa. Who knew? Ireland only lets you stay for three months. England and Wales are also six months, so is that a UK thing in general? What about Australia? I’ve recently watched two television shows that took place in Australia so I feel like I practically live there already. Duck Duck Go (fuck you, Google) says you need to obtain an Australian visa before you arrive. Well that’s no fun. Kevin Garvey, Jr and Nora Durst must have already had a visa when they left Miracle, TX on The Leftovers. Kevin Garvey, Sr… well who knows what that whack job was doing. He sure as hell didn’t.

The Bruins season ended last night on another painful loss. Some teams still have a game left to play, but my team is done. Mercifully. The best they can finish is tied with Philly for last place in the Eastern Conference. The worst they can do is finish in last all by their lonesome. Unfortunately for the draft lottery, there are 4-5 teams out west that will finish with worse records. Not that we have a General Manager who knows how to draft for shit though. In other Boston sports news, the Red Sox actually won a game last night after getting humiliated on Monday night. Fun.

I’m in the office today and tomorrow so the pickin’s for photo a day will be slim. Not that it matters. They are all just pictures of cats anyway. This one for today made use of the iPhone’s low light feature. It works well.

228/365

*35mm film refers to the size of the negative… I think. 120 film does not refer to the size of the negative. I read somewhere that it refers to an old Kodak catalog product code. Mentioning 35mm and 120 film in the same sentence makes my ass itch. It’s like doing your physics homework and mixing up your units of measure. It’s like referring to velocity (measured in meters/seconds) and acceleration (measured in meters/seconds squared) as if they were the same thing. I believe the product code for 35mm is actually 135 (not too confusing there, Kodak) but I don’t know what the negative size for 120 film is. I can’t bring myself to call 35mm 135 so I guess I will continue to mix units and have an itchy ass. I could say medium format instead of 120 but that just feels like taking it all a step too far. I don’t know.

Post Office

I made it to the Post Office this morning before work. My five rolls of film that are ready to develop are on their way West, heading to the lab. I won’t start feeling all giddy and excited until I get a notification saying the package has arrived. Then I’ll start refreshing my order status all day long, waiting for word that the scans are done.

Nerd boy over here is about to get nerdy.

Here’s the clock from downtown. Heading South toward the post office:

And here’s the clock again, this time heading North toward home:

Finally, today’s photo a day photo submission is this view from behind the post office parking lot. Somewhere I have pictures of this gazebo that aren’t through the trees from a nearby parking lot. Maybe I’ll dig one out and share it. Later.

38/365

Some Thoughts on the X-Files

This post is going to be one for the ages, he said sarcastically.

So last Spring (I think) I started an epic rewatch of both The X-Files and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. At first I spent more time on the X-Files, but then I stopped both shows and embraced the insanity of 60 years worth of Doctor Who. When that ended I went back to Deep Space Nine and kept the X-Files on the side. When DS9 was over I slowly started getting back to Mulder and Scully-land and now I am burning through it once again.

I have seen every episode in the past. The original run of the show (nine seasons and a movie, I think) was completed on DVD and the later stuff (two more seasons and another movie, I think) were watched as they happened. I didn’t start watching the show when it originally aired until (I think) the movie came out. That was in between seasons five and six… again, I think.

As with most of America, before I started watching I was aware of the fan bases desire to see Mulder and Scully hook up. As far as I know the term “shipping” was coined for the two characters and the audiences desire to see them couple up. If I recall correctly, there is a moment in the movie where they almost kiss but are interrupted somehow. I don’t exactly recall.

Now that I am up to my eyeballs in a rewatch I am almost up to the movie. I am on season five episode eight right now. I feel as though there was a conscious decision made by the producers, writers, and show runners at the start of season five to buy in to the shippers. Maybe I am missing something here but I feel like there are oodles of examples of the show hinting at a possible romantic relationship that really kicked off at the start of season five. They are a little more flirty with each other, they are repeatedly getting physically close to each other, and there are instances where other people ask them if they are a couple.

Is it just me? Was there a change in the way they handled the two characters or was there a change (unconsciously) in the way I am watching the show? I don’t know. What I do know, is that when I started rewatching this incredibly long series I forgot about the movies. A quick search tells me that neither of them are available for streaming… which means I have to find another way to watch them. I also need to get cracking on that as I need to have the first one ready for when I finish my current season.

The truth is out there, kiddies, and I want to believe.

Bill of Lading

Lily is laying on top of a pair of multi-page Bills of Ladings.

IKEA delivery complete. 170-something boxes. One item shipped incorrectly and one item missing. Neither of them are mission critical. I have to pick up a few more things from IKEA tomorrow after work. Other than that, we’re good to go.

Fed Ex Fail

Before I go into this bitchy rant, know that I used to work for UPS and my shipping company loyalty lies squarely with them. In fact, once while I was working a temp job running a medical instrument company’s shipping office a competitor’s driver actually complained at how much business I was sending UPS’ way compared to everyone else. What he didn’t know was that I had no control over which shipping method each individual shipment used, but I didn’t tell him that.

Okay, that paragraph is going to be longer than the actual point of the post. Sorry. Anyway….

Fed Ex just delivered three packages to our front door. All three packages had different ship to addresses. One was for me, the other two were for two other houses.

The fuck, Fed Ex?

Film Delivery Fail

I packed up my four rolls of film that are ready to develop in a padded envelope. I printed out the shipping label and taped the ever loving shit out of it to my padded envelope. I then went to the nearest mail box and…

…I guess mail boxes only have slots wide enough for letters? You can’t stuff four rolls of film in a padded envelope through that letter sized slot. So how long has this been a thing? Can I blame this on that DeJoy piece of shit?

I guess my four rolls of film in a padded envelope will have to wait until Monday to ship out. It’s bad enough that the whole thing cost more than I expected, and the volume discount was negligible. At least the shipping is free. No stamps for this guy.

Yeah, next time I might try to send my business to a lab with slightly lower prices and shell out the dough for the stamps like a big boy.

Packing List Fail

I mentioned recently that I ripped the hell out of one of my pairs of jeans the other day and had to order some new clothes. I ordered a couple of pairs of jeans and a few shirts. I got a delivery message that same day with a delivery date of today. Nice.

Today I noticed that a second pair of jeans is also ripped to shit. At this point in the story please note that I rarely buy clothes and the two ripped jeans are probably 3-4 years old. I think it’s been that long since I resupplied.

Well that sucks, but at least the post office will be delivering two new pairs of pants today, right? Good timing, I guess.

That’s what I thought at least. The postman brought me a package today and it was very small. Way too small for two pairs of pants and a few shirts. Small enough that it actually held one shirt. The hell?

I checked the delivery email again. Big letters: DELIVERED, then a link to one of the shirts I ordered. Then in small letters: Processing, then links to everything else. Oh you sonofabitch. I just suck at reading. Really, I am just not that good at life.

I guess I am down to one pair of jeans now. Unless of course the third pair is also ripped and I just haven’t noticed. How much do you want to bet on that?

Can’t Blame UPS for This One

Well, it’s Christmas Eve. Time to make one last check on the straggler packages that haven’t been delivered yet. First thing I went to was The Big One (which isn’t that big, we agreed to go small this year, and we already bought a Big One that counts for Christmas so it’s all good). The estimated arrival date is now, We’ll Let You Know. I checked the tracking number with UPS and they still don’t have the package. The number is in their system, which means someone at the warehouse actually printed out a shipping label, but it hasn’t made it to UPS yet (did I mention I have a ton of experience running a business’ shipping office? I do. I have a little less experience running the receiving office, but I’ve done that too).

Someone has a birthday in early February. Do you think we’ll have the package by then? I’m not holding my breath. I got refunds for a handful of non-Christmas things I bought from Amazon that got lost in transit, but this puppy ain’t even left the building yet. You can’t blame UPS (or Fed Ex, or USPS, or whatever carrier you want to blame it on) for this one.

It’s all okay though. Like I said, we’ve already done a big gift pre-Christmas, and I have a nice placeholder for the missing Big One too, so Christmas will not be tainted any more than Covid-19 has already tainted it. We’re good.

Aside from all my bitchin’ and yakkin’, allow me to wish y’all a Merry Christmas Eve. HoHoHo.

Shipping Blues

There are three Christmas packages that haven’t been delivered yet. At lunch today I took a minute to check their status. Let the laughter and the tears commence.

Package was ordered from a popular brick and mortar store’s website. The order was placed on 12/10. I received a ship notice two days ago. Prior to that, the estimated delivery date was 12/24. When the shipping notice came the date was changed to 12/22. That’s today. The order page currently still shows the estimated delivery date of 12/22, but when I look up the tracking number on the carrier’s website…

They haven’t received the package yet.

Package #2 was more of a last minute thing. I ordered it on 12/16, figuring if it arrived on time that would be great, but if not it’s not the end of the world. This order was placed with the manufacturer’s website. When I check my account, the order page states that the estimated delivery date is 12/22. What a coincidence! When I look up the tracking number on the carrier’s website (a different carrier than package ) it says…

The estimated delivery date is 12/28.

Package #3 was ordered very early, on 12/7. It includes one Christmas gift and two unrelated, non-Christmas items. The order was placed with the big guy: Amazon. The package shipped on 12/8. Good customer service right there, eh? The estimated delivery date was 12/10. It hasn’t arrived. What does the tracking page say?

It could be lost. I called and got a refund.

It’s a Covid Christmas after all. HoHoHo