01.28.06
One more week to go, plus a bedtime story
Just a few updates on my life at the moment:
- I’m leaving for Chicago in exactly one week, to not see my apartment (nor family) for 2 months
- I have my visa for India all taken care of. I had them leave it at their office so it doesn’t get lost again (see below for the story)
- I started taking my Malaria pills, so… That’s fun.
- My last day at my current job is Tuesday, Jan 31st. They have already, several times, mentioned that if I ever decide I want to settle down in the Waterloo area, I’m welcome to return. Also, if there are any computer parts I ever need, to let them know and they’ll get me a deal.
(That sounds dangerous…)
The story with my passport, which I just now realized I hadn’t mentioned on the site, goes as such: Three weeks ago I sent, via FedEx, my passport and some paperwork to ThoughtWorks in order for them to get me a visa to enter India. One week later, on the 16th, I got an email from my friendly neighborhood Immigration Team Member Andra that he still hadn’t received my passport.
*Entering DefCon 4*
So, I shoot him the tracking number and check it out myself. The package was listed as going out on delivery, but that’s the last entry. Nothing about it returning to the Distribution Center. Nothing about it being delivered. In short, nothing.
*Entering DefCon 3*
The next day, the package still hadn’t arrived. Keep in mind, that if FedEx loses this package, there is not enough time for me to get a new Passport, get it to ThoughtWorks, and get a Visa to go to India. I call FedEx and finally get a hold of somebody, after a couple of false starts, of course. (For the record, if a company puts you on hold so long that it dumps you out of hold to the receptionist, and they aren’t at their desk so you get their voice mail, that’s bad customer service.) The person I got ahold of started a “Trace” on the package and they would call me back with what they found. The next morning I get a call, “We can’t find the package”.
*Entering DefCon 2*
After I get that call, I call FedEx back again and get somebody new. She decides that the best way to help me would be to get me in touch with the manager of the Distribution Center where it was last seen (Manny). While initially our talk seemed headed towards me yelling and generally being in a bad mood, he started to come around and help me. Manny put me on hold and talked with the driver that would have taken the package, and he had no idea. (At this point in the story, I found out that if a package is lost in FedEx land and a person submits a claim, it is the responsibility of the driver who last scanned the package out to pay for it. That would suck, although I have to say it’d be a pretty good way to keep packages from being lost…) The driver was going to look around and see what he could find.
*Entering DefCon 1*
About 2 minutes after finding this out, I shoot an email to Andra with an update. Apparently, as I was typing my email, he was typing one to me. He received the package! Sweet! The story is, ThoughtWorks is on the 6th floor of a particular building. The package wasn’t, however, delivered to the 6th floor. It was delivered to the diner on the 1st floor. (I’m not sure if they are in the habit of having passports FedEx’d to them or not, but my gut tells me “Not”). Anyway, once everybody figured out where it was supposed to go, it got there
*Returning to DefCon 5*
Hooray!