Day 09: 142 days left.
Before I start, I would like to mention that you may experience a few format and grammatical errors. I am doing my best to put my best English forward, but I simply do not have the time to thoroughly edit/review everything I type...it would take too much time. In advance, thanks for understanding.
How long can you wait? In total, have been waiting for 6 days for my New Hampshire license plates to arrive in Santiago, Chile. Late Tuesday, day 04 of waiting, I could start to feel that I was getting bored and anxious. Day 05 has arrived, the final day of delivery. I have been told the FedEx package won't be delivered until 6pm. This seems late, but I have no choice but to be patient, or at least continue to try. It's now 6:15pm, on Wednesday, the final day of delivery, and no package. I check the status via the FedEx tracking number system. The information tells me that the package is in Santiago at the sorting facility. I am disappointed, but people tell me that there is a strong chance that the package will be delivered early morning, the next day. Immediately, this worries me because early could mean 9am, or who truly knows what time. The next morning, day 06, I awake, have breakfast and notice that the package has been released and is in transit...yeah! I waited till 2:00pm, checking the tracking number on the hour. Shortly after 2:00pm, the FedEx web page now stated that I had to pick up the package in person. At this moment, any amount of patience evacuated my body! I was pissed off and quickly found myself on the Metro, another bus ride and two hours later, at the FedEx Office.
Taking the Santiago Metro-Line was once again, a piece of cake. However, finding the J-10 green line bus to the airport, turned out to be more challenging than I thought. Actually, it would have been a lot easy and faster, if I had gotten on the correct bus. Though I was on the J-10 bus, after about 10 minutes, I began to feel something was wrong. I asked the bus driver and he said I was going in the other direction...fudge!. So, he explained to me that my best option was to stay on the bus and complete the entire route. The benefit of this, I got a great tour of 'old Santiago,' the original city center. The downside of the miss-adventure, my watch read 4pm, and I was concerned that my mistake might prevent me from arriving at FedEx, before they closed. Did I mention it was hot. I think I was on the bus for an hour, and by the time I stepped off, I was cooked and well done. I said thanks to bus driver, a man who was very kind and spoke very good slow Spanish. As I was turning/walking into the FedEx parking lot, a car out of know where, beeped and I heard, " hey Mark." As I turned, I saw a white Toyota 4Runner that had a striking resemblance to my lawyers. After a brief moment of confusion, I realized it was my lawyer. I immediately thought, "WTF is this guy doing here?" I got into his car and he handed me the FedEx package. My jaw dropped and I sat there wonder just what the hell happened. Don't get me wrong, either way, I was glad to see this package, but I truly did not understand the events preceding this moment.
Eduardo explained to me why the package was not delivered to his office in the early A.M. He cancelled the delivery because he felt it would faster if he picked it up, in person (by doing this, he thought we might be able to go to my truck that day). As he made this decision, several hours before, I also made the decision to pick up the package. The disconnect; he did not tell me fast enough. In other words, at the same time he cancelled the delivery, I was on the FedEx website reading the information that the delivery had been cancelled (the Internet is very fast in Chile...thanks Al Gore). Before he could get to my hostel to inform me that 'we' had to go pick up the package, I was already out the door. FYI, when I am pissed and angry, I don't waste time and I get shit done! What truly blows me away is the following: The package was sent in Eduardo's name. It should have been sent in my name, but to the attention of Eduardo and his physical address. What does this mean? If had gone inside the FedEx office and requested a package for Mark Foley, they would not know what to do. Furthermore, even with the tracking number in hand, and given the package was in Eduardo's name, there was no way in hell that FedEx would release the package to me. So, in the end things worked out, albeit a bit mentally uncomfortable and serendipitously.
As we drove back to my hostel, Eduardo and I talked about the next phase of project LFD (Live Free or Die). He explained to me that he could not take me to my truck the following day, Friday. Still being in a state of mind of disbelief and uneasiness, I thought..."oh no, I'll have to wait till Monday...another 3 days of waiting." His reasoning for not being to help me to my truck, his wife was having a minor surgical procedure. As much as I wanted to say "ya but I paid you $2,000 USD to make sure I would not have any problems," I could not come to say a word. I sat there thinking of my options to get to San Antonio on my own, then Eduardo began to explain that Roberto, the shipping agent, was in Santiago and could take me. Wow, all I can say..."what a emotional roller-coaster of a ride."
At the end of the day, I was tired and hungry, yet I was happy to receive my plates, so I wanted to celebrate with a nice meal. A quick walk to the super-mercado (super market) and I was in prepared to cook my meal, and drink my wine. The fish on the plate is Chilean, farm raised Chinook/King Salmon. This may blow you away, the Chinook fillets only cost me $4.50 USD. The bottle of wine cost me $4.00 USD! Any-hoo, I polished off the entire meal and called it a day. Six days later, LFD project was complete, and I was ready to get my truck in San Antonio.
Hasta La Viernes, Dia Diaz (see u on Friday, day 10)
Before I start, I would like to mention that you may experience a few format and grammatical errors. I am doing my best to put my best English forward, but I simply do not have the time to thoroughly edit/review everything I type...it would take too much time. In advance, thanks for understanding.
How long can you wait? In total, have been waiting for 6 days for my New Hampshire license plates to arrive in Santiago, Chile. Late Tuesday, day 04 of waiting, I could start to feel that I was getting bored and anxious. Day 05 has arrived, the final day of delivery. I have been told the FedEx package won't be delivered until 6pm. This seems late, but I have no choice but to be patient, or at least continue to try. It's now 6:15pm, on Wednesday, the final day of delivery, and no package. I check the status via the FedEx tracking number system. The information tells me that the package is in Santiago at the sorting facility. I am disappointed, but people tell me that there is a strong chance that the package will be delivered early morning, the next day. Immediately, this worries me because early could mean 9am, or who truly knows what time. The next morning, day 06, I awake, have breakfast and notice that the package has been released and is in transit...yeah! I waited till 2:00pm, checking the tracking number on the hour. Shortly after 2:00pm, the FedEx web page now stated that I had to pick up the package in person. At this moment, any amount of patience evacuated my body! I was pissed off and quickly found myself on the Metro, another bus ride and two hours later, at the FedEx Office.
Taking the Santiago Metro-Line was once again, a piece of cake. However, finding the J-10 green line bus to the airport, turned out to be more challenging than I thought. Actually, it would have been a lot easy and faster, if I had gotten on the correct bus. Though I was on the J-10 bus, after about 10 minutes, I began to feel something was wrong. I asked the bus driver and he said I was going in the other direction...fudge!. So, he explained to me that my best option was to stay on the bus and complete the entire route. The benefit of this, I got a great tour of 'old Santiago,' the original city center. The downside of the miss-adventure, my watch read 4pm, and I was concerned that my mistake might prevent me from arriving at FedEx, before they closed. Did I mention it was hot. I think I was on the bus for an hour, and by the time I stepped off, I was cooked and well done. I said thanks to bus driver, a man who was very kind and spoke very good slow Spanish. As I was turning/walking into the FedEx parking lot, a car out of know where, beeped and I heard, " hey Mark." As I turned, I saw a white Toyota 4Runner that had a striking resemblance to my lawyers. After a brief moment of confusion, I realized it was my lawyer. I immediately thought, "WTF is this guy doing here?" I got into his car and he handed me the FedEx package. My jaw dropped and I sat there wonder just what the hell happened. Don't get me wrong, either way, I was glad to see this package, but I truly did not understand the events preceding this moment.
Eduardo explained to me why the package was not delivered to his office in the early A.M. He cancelled the delivery because he felt it would faster if he picked it up, in person (by doing this, he thought we might be able to go to my truck that day). As he made this decision, several hours before, I also made the decision to pick up the package. The disconnect; he did not tell me fast enough. In other words, at the same time he cancelled the delivery, I was on the FedEx website reading the information that the delivery had been cancelled (the Internet is very fast in Chile...thanks Al Gore). Before he could get to my hostel to inform me that 'we' had to go pick up the package, I was already out the door. FYI, when I am pissed and angry, I don't waste time and I get shit done! What truly blows me away is the following: The package was sent in Eduardo's name. It should have been sent in my name, but to the attention of Eduardo and his physical address. What does this mean? If had gone inside the FedEx office and requested a package for Mark Foley, they would not know what to do. Furthermore, even with the tracking number in hand, and given the package was in Eduardo's name, there was no way in hell that FedEx would release the package to me. So, in the end things worked out, albeit a bit mentally uncomfortable and serendipitously.
As we drove back to my hostel, Eduardo and I talked about the next phase of project LFD (Live Free or Die). He explained to me that he could not take me to my truck the following day, Friday. Still being in a state of mind of disbelief and uneasiness, I thought..."oh no, I'll have to wait till Monday...another 3 days of waiting." His reasoning for not being to help me to my truck, his wife was having a minor surgical procedure. As much as I wanted to say "ya but I paid you $2,000 USD to make sure I would not have any problems," I could not come to say a word. I sat there thinking of my options to get to San Antonio on my own, then Eduardo began to explain that Roberto, the shipping agent, was in Santiago and could take me. Wow, all I can say..."what a emotional roller-coaster of a ride."
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| Old Santiago is not quite what one would expect. |
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| Arguably some of the best looking plates in the USA...World? |
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| Great meal in a great backyard filled with plum and peach trees, and grape vines. |
At the end of the day, I was tired and hungry, yet I was happy to receive my plates, so I wanted to celebrate with a nice meal. A quick walk to the super-mercado (super market) and I was in prepared to cook my meal, and drink my wine. The fish on the plate is Chilean, farm raised Chinook/King Salmon. This may blow you away, the Chinook fillets only cost me $4.50 USD. The bottle of wine cost me $4.00 USD! Any-hoo, I polished off the entire meal and called it a day. Six days later, LFD project was complete, and I was ready to get my truck in San Antonio.
Hasta La Viernes, Dia Diaz (see u on Friday, day 10)