Tuesday, August 15, 2006
It's a big, big box...
Who wants to hear a story? I thought so.
So, I've got this big box of stuff that needed to be sent back to Calgary somehow (see: all previous packing-related rants). I actually packed the box yesterday morning, and decided that it wasn't worth the $80 to check it as a third piece of luggage (not to mention taking the third piece of luggage to the airport), so I decided to FedEx it, since sending it by USPS ground mail takes at least three times as long, but the price is comparable.
I looked up the FedEx locations near my house, and there's an "authorized dealer" right around the corner, but the actual dropoff location is down on Court Street, and there was no way that I wanted to take this 50 lb box on the subway, so I decided that we'd try and find the 24-hour FedEx/Kinkos last night.
Last night, Kim slept over, which was an adventure in and of itself, and at around 11:30, after we'd watched a movie and eaten, we loaded the box into the car, and drove down... and the MapQuest directions sucked. I had two sets of directions, and both of them got us in the vicinity of where we wanted to be, but not actually where we wanted to be. We were both recognizing street names, but from the subway, which doesn't actually help above ground. So, after driving around for about an hour, we made our way back home, and I decided to ask at the dealer near my house this morning.
When Kim left for work, I hadn't gotten a work call yet (and I ended up not working today, which was a good thing, in the end), so I walked partway to the subway with her, then went back to the FedEx place, and they called for a quote, but to ship it by ground, I needed to actually drop it off; otherwise the shipping would have been astronomical for them to do a pickup.
The guy at the store gave me yet another set of directions to Court Street, so I loaded the box in the car--again--and headed back down there... and found it this time! However, it took a while to find a place to park, and the spot I found was about 2 1/2 long blocks away, so I picked up this incredibly awkward, very heavy box, and started walking, making it about 30 feet each time before I had to stop and readjust.
Until... a woman came out of a building, heading to her car, and offered me a ride down to the FedEx office. So I tossed my big, big box into the back of my car, and we drove the last 2 blocks, and she let me out on the side of the road, and I shipped my box.
And it cost a bit more than the quote, but a lot less than $80.
And that was the story of my big, big box.
5 Comments:
Glad it's done, and that you have a story to tell, to boot! Reminds me of coming home from Grandma's last year with a heavy box of mostly paper, except that I could sort of rest it on top of my suitcase with a hand on it to keep it f rom falling. And I didn't have to walk 2 blocks! How long does it take to get here? Does that do it for all your stuff, now?
Have fun with Rosa tonight! Just think of all the friends who can now come to visit you someday, amybe!
Love you,
Mom
Lids!!
Only you would have a "Big Box" story!!!
J
OMG! I'm exhausted just reading about it!
im so glad you finally found stupid Court street!
My God, i felt ur pain and exhastion just reading that!!! At least its done now though. Its like when i was moving all my stuff back home after finishing college in Waterford, only 1 of my bags broke while i was crossing a road......looking back its funny but it definatley wasn't at the time!!! Chat you soon
Roisin
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