Fred's ramblings

[tsunkasapa]

Oh YES. The good old USPS. The poster child for inefficiency. You might need Google Maps to follow this.

I live in Ellensburg, Washington. Right in the middle of the state. I sent a package to my friend in Seattle, 100 miles to the West.

In the USPS efforts at efficiency, it was sent to Yakima, 35 miles South. It was then sent back to the freeway here at Ellensburg on it's way to Spokane, 185 miles East.

From Spokane it is sent West, back through Ellensburg, to Seattle. A total of 540 miles to reach a destination 100 miles away.

And once it gets to Seattle, it goes through 3 post offices before it gets to her door.

And they want to raise the cost of postage AGAIN!

[Sheilajeanne]

Canada Post may be better, but not by much. My niece, who lives in Southern Ontario, sent a Christmas parcel to her sister, who lives in Manitoba (first province west of Ontario.) It first got sent to New Brunswick, which is over 3,000 km. away from its intended destination!

Edited January 25, 2024 by Sheilajeanne

[fredk]

I bought a 3D scanner from Amazon. They said it would come from their place in UK, but later it transpired it was coming from China

From its factory in China to Virginia, back to China to different place, from there to Alaska, back to China, yet another different place, to Chicago, to Texas, to Ontario, and was delivered to an address in Montreal. All this withing about 10 days.

Never got that scanner. I got refunded my money. The same day I received the refund the courier firm said they would send me another scanner which I received the next day. I tried to pay for this one but the courier company said that as I was refunded they cancelled sending me a replacement scanner and told me the one I had I didn't have. So, a free scanner and payment refunded

[Sheilajeanne]

  Wow!  What a story!  How did you find out about the shipping history?

[tsunkasapa]

42 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

  Wow!  What a story!  How did you find out about the shipping history?

We have tracking numbers on parcels. Punch in the number on USPS website and it will show which post office it was last at. And Ellensburg is the very center of the state, and a hub for 2 freeways and a major highway.

[fredk]

53 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

  Wow!  What a story!  How did you find out about the shipping history?

The tracking number on the parcel. I could even find the address in Montreal and see the signature of the person who signed for it. I wonder if they were expecting a scanner or was it a surprise. It was delivered to a tall building with many floors, some were offices and some residential, so I don't if a business got the scanner 

[Handstitched]

18 hours ago, fredk said:

Have you heard? A US scientist says we should add SALT to our tea for a better cuppa!

Thats strange, some people prefer a dash of milk and sugar

Seems like USPS has got worse since I last received a parcel .  It was some years ago now, but I ordered some stock from  a wholesaler in Pennsylvania ( the parcel had ' USPS' labels on it)  ,  it arrived quicker than our own postal service could deliver,  from PA to WA in 2 weeks. 

Won't be ordering from OS for a while  , not until our Oz $$ goes back up , its in the toilet ATM

HS

[fredk]

Just a wee 'celebration' to mark that I finished rebuilding 15 BMW torches. Done over the last few days

This is what I usually get;

     

   

They get new rechargeable batteries, new brass work & resistor, a new bulb, replacement lens and cleaned up; this what they look like when I'm done with them 

   

BMW don't make these torches anymore. Haven't for about 15 years. My #1 son has customers who have older BMW cars either without torches or ones not working. The customer wants a working torch and this is the only way they can get them.

afaik we are the only ones in the UK doing rebuilds in quantity. Two things which stop others from doing the rebuilds; the special batteries were discontinued by Varta about 10 years ago and the torch lenses; not all of them can be polished clean and re-used. We have work-arounds to continue rebuilds. I have 36 or so more in stock to rebuild.

 

 

 

 

[Sheilajeanne]

Fred, please clarify - are these torches (we'd say flashlights) that were provided to owners of BMW cars, for emergency use? Or were they actually part of the car's regular lighting system?

Cool little sideline for you!

[fredk]

The flashlights were part of the original equipment. They plugged in for charging off the main car battery and could be taken out for the car owners use, in an emergency or for any other reason. Over the years the torches/flashlights were lost or forgotten about and became discharged and corroded inside. Now ppl with those older BMWs want to put their cars back to original spec but they lack a working torch/flashlight

I only do about 20 to 25 of these each year. Low demand. Although, when #1 circulates that he has a new batch in he'll sell 10 -12 within a day. I've been doing these for, afair, about 10 years now

#1 son is yet to pay me for doing these. Promises.

I'm doing one more tonite. A special one. I'll deliver these on Tuesday I think