Khuda hafiz
My bags are packed, although not even to their maximum capacity; I've said goodbye to most of my friends in town and seen the sights I've wanted to see during my three week stay in Paradise; I have bought all I can to prepare myself for the trip (water filter, water treatment drops, power adapters (220W), camera, bug repellant, anti-malarial pills, gravol, acetomenaphen, toilet paper, several books, new computer bag, new glasses, Birkentocks (sweeeet), and waterproof hiking shoes...to name the most important). Based on this list it really seems like I'm bringing too much; but there's a whole lot more I'll be leaving behind, if you get my drift.
What I don't have with me, however, is my passport and visa. I'll be picking those up from the FedEx depot in Burnaby (across the bridge from North Van). I had them pick it up from the High Commission in Ottawa on Friday afternoon as they guaranteed on the phone that it would be here by 1230pm on Saturday. Word to the wise: a guarantee is never a guarantee...more like a guarantee*. The asterix in this case means that it was somehow my responsibility to place a sticker (over the phone) on my package indicating that it was to be delivered on Saturday and to tell the secretary at the HC to tick a specific box on the waybill. Oh yeah, and this was all to be done via ESP. Excuse my naivete for thinking that ordering a pickup over the phone and receiving a guarantee more than once from the rep. that it would be delivered on Saturday (hence the Burnaby delivery location because they don't deliver to North Van on Saturdays) would actually mean it would be delivered on Saturday. Am I to assume that the telephone representative is naturally incompetent? That is, should I have to ask "Is there anything you're not telling me?", "What is your definition of a guarantee", or perhaps "What does 'express delivery' mean to you?". Because there's no way I could have known that it was my responsibility to tell the HC to write down on the waybill 'Saturday delivery' having neither the package nor the waybill in front of me with no knowledge of the fact that such a box even existed.
The long and short of it all is that I demanded to be compensated for their own incompetence, and I should excpect to hear from a Fed Ex official in the not too distant future (or my parents will) about how they can make it up to me. I'm asking for a complimentary delivery, and that's nothing. They'd better thank their lucky stars that my flight wasn't leaving in the morning. My 2pm departure means that I"ll be able to drop by the FedExtremely Oblivious to The Responsibilities Which Accompany Dependable Courier Services depot at 11am on my way to the airport. Since the package only arrives at 1030am, there's no way I could have made a flight leaving any earlier than noon. Be careful my friends, be very careful...especially when trusting others with documents that are your only key to leaving the country.
Now that that's done, I don't have much more to say so I'll write down whatever comes to mind.
I'll be taking a city tour around Singapore on September 1st. I'm not sure whether it will be a midnight tour or daylight tour because I'll be arriving around 11pm Singapore time, which is 6am Vancouver time...and this is after a 16 hr flight crossing the international date line. Oy. Either way, I'll have almost 24 hours to take advantage of what the State In Which Jay-Walking Will Net You a Hefty Hefty Fine or Possible Imprisonment. Cheers to Singapore Airlines for paying for my nice hotel. I'll try to find an internet connection once I arrive to divulge how it all worked out.
Books I'm taking with me:
- Lonely Planet: Bangladesh
- The History of God (Karen Armstrong)
- A Sociopolitical History of East Bengal (You wouldn't know him anyways)
- Peer Gynt (Henrik Ibsen)
- The Professor and the Madman (Simon Winchester)
- A Philosophy of History (Hegel)
- Teach Yourself Bengali ("Teach Yourself" series)
- Discpline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Michel Foucault)
* The Ends of The Earth (Robert Kaplan)
Books you should read:
- Winston Churchill: My First Twenty Years
- Lloyd Axworthy: Navigating a New World
- The Ends of The Earth (Robert Kaplan)
- Bridge Over the Drina (Ivo Andric)
- Io Non Ho Paura (Niccolo Ammaniti)**
Books I haven't read but want to:
- Paris 1919
- more Churchill
- I'm sure there are more but they're just not coming to mind right now.
* I used to have this, one of my favourite books, but it appears as though I somehow left it on a train or bus somewhere inQuebec Ontario
** You'll have to either know Italian for this one, or you can just watch the movie with subtitles.
Talk to you on the other side.
What I don't have with me, however, is my passport and visa. I'll be picking those up from the FedEx depot in Burnaby (across the bridge from North Van). I had them pick it up from the High Commission in Ottawa on Friday afternoon as they guaranteed on the phone that it would be here by 1230pm on Saturday. Word to the wise: a guarantee is never a guarantee...more like a guarantee*. The asterix in this case means that it was somehow my responsibility to place a sticker (over the phone) on my package indicating that it was to be delivered on Saturday and to tell the secretary at the HC to tick a specific box on the waybill. Oh yeah, and this was all to be done via ESP. Excuse my naivete for thinking that ordering a pickup over the phone and receiving a guarantee more than once from the rep. that it would be delivered on Saturday (hence the Burnaby delivery location because they don't deliver to North Van on Saturdays) would actually mean it would be delivered on Saturday. Am I to assume that the telephone representative is naturally incompetent? That is, should I have to ask "Is there anything you're not telling me?", "What is your definition of a guarantee", or perhaps "What does 'express delivery' mean to you?". Because there's no way I could have known that it was my responsibility to tell the HC to write down on the waybill 'Saturday delivery' having neither the package nor the waybill in front of me with no knowledge of the fact that such a box even existed.
The long and short of it all is that I demanded to be compensated for their own incompetence, and I should excpect to hear from a Fed Ex official in the not too distant future (or my parents will) about how they can make it up to me. I'm asking for a complimentary delivery, and that's nothing. They'd better thank their lucky stars that my flight wasn't leaving in the morning. My 2pm departure means that I"ll be able to drop by the FedExtremely Oblivious to The Responsibilities Which Accompany Dependable Courier Services depot at 11am on my way to the airport. Since the package only arrives at 1030am, there's no way I could have made a flight leaving any earlier than noon. Be careful my friends, be very careful...especially when trusting others with documents that are your only key to leaving the country.
Now that that's done, I don't have much more to say so I'll write down whatever comes to mind.
I'll be taking a city tour around Singapore on September 1st. I'm not sure whether it will be a midnight tour or daylight tour because I'll be arriving around 11pm Singapore time, which is 6am Vancouver time...and this is after a 16 hr flight crossing the international date line. Oy. Either way, I'll have almost 24 hours to take advantage of what the State In Which Jay-Walking Will Net You a Hefty Hefty Fine or Possible Imprisonment. Cheers to Singapore Airlines for paying for my nice hotel. I'll try to find an internet connection once I arrive to divulge how it all worked out.
Books I'm taking with me:
- Lonely Planet: Bangladesh
- The History of God (Karen Armstrong)
- A Sociopolitical History of East Bengal (You wouldn't know him anyways)
- Peer Gynt (Henrik Ibsen)
- The Professor and the Madman (Simon Winchester)
- A Philosophy of History (Hegel)
- Teach Yourself Bengali ("Teach Yourself" series)
- Discpline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Michel Foucault)
* The Ends of The Earth (Robert Kaplan)
Books you should read:
- Winston Churchill: My First Twenty Years
- Lloyd Axworthy: Navigating a New World
- The Ends of The Earth (Robert Kaplan)
- Bridge Over the Drina (Ivo Andric)
- Io Non Ho Paura (Niccolo Ammaniti)**
Books I haven't read but want to:
- Paris 1919
- more Churchill
- I'm sure there are more but they're just not coming to mind right now.
* I used to have this, one of my favourite books, but it appears as though I somehow left it on a train or bus somewhere in
** You'll have to either know Italian for this one, or you can just watch the movie with subtitles.
Talk to you on the other side.
posted by Per at 1:08 a.m.
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