If you think FedEx is bad,....

Half Fast

Half Fast

Touchdown! Greaser!
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May 7, 2016
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Half Fast
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POA members who are also radio hams are probably familiar with ARRL's QSL Bureau (aka, "the Burro"). For those of you who are not, the bureau is a centralized clearing house for QSL cards, which are mailed post cards used to confirm 2-way radio contacts ("QSLs"). Confirmation is necessary for proving contacts in order to qualify for awards, etc., and is a traditional courtesy among hams worldwide.

Today I received a half dozen QSL cards via the burro:

6/3/2012 - EO2012EFC, Ukraine​
9/13/2013 - OO6DP, Belgium​
8/23/2011 - R3A-88, Moscow, Russia​
6/12/2011 - EA3EJ, Tarragona, Spain​
8/13/2009 - SV2FLQ, Makedonia, Greece​
9/20/2008 - OK2ZDL, Czech Republic​

Seventeen years for the card to get here from the Czech Republic!

I wonder how much of the delay was due to the burro, and how much was the USPS......
 
One of the buros used to be physically a mile from my house. It still took a week to go through the mail, and it was the same post office.

73
 
Initial Fix said:
One of the buros used to be physically a mile from my house. It still took a week to go through the mail, and it was the same post office.

73
Click to expand...

Figures. This one is in Sterling, VA.

I just confirmed all the contacts in my HF log, but I no longer have any QSL cards to send out. Probably wouldn't matter by now, anyway.

The one from Ukraine is pretty cool, as that was a special event station for the European Football Championship. The one from Belgium was a special call sign for the reign of King Phillipe.

I wish I could read the one from Moscow. It's written in Russian using the Cyrillic alphabet. All I can read is the contact data and a note that says "From Russia With Love."
 
One of my housemates used to have one of the 4-area buro letters.
 
Half Fast said:
I wish I could read the one from Moscow. It's written in Russian using the Cyrillic alphabet. All I can read is the contact data and a note that says "From Russia With Love."
Click to expand...
Your phone can probably read and translate it for you. I pointed my iPhone’s camera at the Japanese text on the packaging of my new pull saw and it translated all of it.

I don’t think I’ve ever used the buro. Well… maybe I did once or twice back in the 90s, I really don’t remember. I’m about to get back on the air after a 10-15 year hiatus and am trying to figure out what all I missed and need to learn or re-learn. So far I’ve observed that CW traffic seems pretty scarce compared to what I remember, and FT8 seems to have entirely replaced PSK31, which is a real bummer. I used to enjoy PSK ragchews.

I never used LoTW, and don’t think I used EQSL, though I could be wrong on that. I still have half a box of my old QSL cards, but just got a new call sign, so those are useless. No idea if people still use paper or not.
 
Now ask for one from FAA Medical.
 
Half Fast said:
I wish I could read the one from Moscow. It's written in Russian using the Cyrillic alphabet. All I can read is the contact data and a note that says "From Russia With Love."
Click to expand...

Post or send me a pic. I read Cyrillic and speak some Russian.

hunt-for-red-october-alec-baldwin.gif
 
Last edited:
bflynn said:
Now ask for one from FAA Medical.
Click to expand...
Actually I’ve done this to get a reprint of my medical that somehow got mangled beyond readability (I take a photo now). Took about 2 weeks to get. Granted, that was maybe 15 years ago and the postal service speed has changed a bit.
 
Used to send regular stuff via bureau, but our club used some of the funding to send the important stuff direct.

73
 
Speaking of which, where IS the monkey?
 
Problem is with the average age of most ham radio operators today 11-12 years they are probably silent key.
 
Do you know how the bureau works?

Ham in foreign country sends cards to their bureau. There they sit until a volunteer have the time to sort and file them by destination country. The bureau collects them until they have enough to fill a package to the desired country. Then they send them international mail, using the cheapest (slowest) way possible.

Then they get the your country bureau. Where they sit until a volunteer gets around to sorting and filing them. And they sit until they get enough to a certain call sign to actually send them out.

I don't know about these days, but when I was active, they only sent them to me if I sent them stamped, self-addressed envelopes to send them to me.
 
Yep, I know how it works, and these cards came in a SASE I had provided many years ago (thank goodness for "forever" stamps). Still, a delay of 17 years is astonishing!
 
A bit off topic…or maybe back on topic…

As mentioned in the “Bikes” thread, I ordered a Canyon ebike 7/23 and it shipped from California via FedEx the same day. I soon got a notice it would be delivered this past Tuesday 7/29. Yay! The only problem was that it requires a signature, and we’d be camping about an hour and a half away and wouldn’t be home.

Simple solution? I dashed home Monday night, to be home all day for Tuesday’s delivery. Last location update was Antioch, TN, near Nashville. By 6:30P it had not arrived, so I left a note on the door with a neighbor’s phone number who could sign and headed back to the campground.

Long story short(er), it’s still showing stuck in Antioch*, now showing “We'll add a delivery date as soon as your package starts moving.” Clicking on “Manage your delivery” has consistently shown “We're unable to retrieve delivery options right now. Please try again later.” Grrr.

Anyway, I guess I’ll try to call FedEx later, and if that fails call Canyon to see if they can get the ball rolling. We’ll see…


*Sounds like a great idea for a country song title!
 
Credit to CoPilot:

Sure thing, Edward! Here’s a country song that captures the frustration and humor of waiting on that elusive FedEx shipment—especially when your shiny new e-bike is stuck in Antioch, TN. Saddle up:

---

“Stuck in Antioch (Where My E-Bike Sleeps Tonight)”
By Edward & the Tracking Blues

(Verse 1)
I ordered me a dream on two electric wheels
Paid extra for the shipping, just to sweeten the deal
Supposed to ride by Friday, wind blowin’ through my hair
But it’s sittin’ in a warehouse, and Lord knows where

(Chorus)
It’s stuck in Antioch, Tennessee
FedEx says “In transit,” but it ain’t movin’ for me
I check that tracking number like it’s gospel truth
But my e-bike’s ghostin’ me, and I’m losin’ my youth
Oh, stuck in Antioch, where my freedom sleeps tonight

(Verse 2)
I called up the hotline, got a robot on the line
Said “We’re sorry for the delay,” like that’d make it fine
I pictured open highways, not this cardboard box jail
Now I’m pacing on the porch, dreamin’ ‘bout that trail

(Bridge)
Maybe it’s chillin’ by the Cumberland shore
Or locked behind some rusty warehouse door
I’d drive down myself if I knew the way
But Antioch’s a mystery, and FedEx won’t say

(Chorus)
It’s stuck in Antioch, Tennessee
FedEx says “In transit,” but it ain’t movin’ for me
I check that tracking number like it’s gospel truth
But my e-bike’s ghostin’ me, and I’m losin’ my youth
Oh, stuck in Antioch, where my freedom sleeps tonight

(Outro)
So here’s to the riders, whose wheels never came
To the cardboard cowboys, playin’ the waiting game
If you see my e-bike, tell it I’m still here
With a helmet and a broken heart, shiftin’ into gear


---

Want to add a harmonica solo or turn this into a duet with a twist? I’ve got ideas for that too.
 
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