At 0526 this morning I got a call from my potassium chlorate supplier. Normally I would be sound asleep or in somewhat more rare cases had not gone to bed yet (I’m a night person). This morning I had been up for several hours and had gone to bed only a minute or two earlier. I have been sick and I have been sleeping for a few hours then read stuff on the web for a while then sleep some more. My sleep schedule is really whacked now.
The supplier wanted to know if I wanted the 142 pounds (see my previous post on the topic) sent ASAP. I had explained it to the other person I had talked to but this woman wanted to make sure. No, that isn’t necessary. Sending it all in one shipment would be fine. I’ve have been dealing with this woman for several years and I get the impression that, well… it sometimes takes several attempts to explain things to her. I think this same “characteristic” caused her to fail to realize there was a significant time difference between her place of employment and that of her customer.
After getting the logistics straightened out she did mention something interesting. The reason the packaging changed is because the previous potassium chlorate I have been purchasing from them came from Spain. That company has gone completely out of the business and the new manufacture is in Sweden. The new manufacture packages it in a different manner. The packaging isn’t a big deal but the new manufacture means as soon as I get the material in my hands I need to do tests to make sure Boomerite still works and is safe. In the past when we have changed what we thought were very minor variables the mix would not detonate as easily.
Oh well, it’s easy to get volunteers to do help do the tests.
After going back to bed and sleeping for a few hours I got up, checked my email, and found a response to a query I made to the ATF yesterday. It was about why none of the explosive handlers who I sent in the paperwork for last November had heard anything back from the ATF. The response I got (after being forwarded around a bit) told me who I really needed to contact and I sent them an email. I received a call about 90 minutes later and we had a nice chat. The address on the back of the form is incorrect and paperwork sent to that address tends to disappear. He said I could just scan the copies I had kept (hooray for being paranoid about the government messing things up!) and email them to him. He would expedite the processing and there shouldn’t be a problem with getting the approvals completed in time for Boomershoot 2009.
I wonder what the odds are that is intentional?
“…a significant time difference between her place of employment and that of her customer.”
The fact that the world is round escapes a lot of people when it comes to communications. I swear some people in the Eastern U.S. rarely if ever talk to anyone outside their time zone. We regularly get phone calls starting at 05:00 local.
John; human error is the far more likely explanation (what was that old saying?).
Would that they were as forgiving of the clerical errors of others as they are of their own.
John, I think it probably is just because they are a big organization with no profit motive. It simply doesn’t much matter much to them if they get the paperwork or not. What am I going to do about it? Take my “business” to someone else? They probably sent me a letter that is someplace in my file for them saying the address has changed for this particular point of business and they figure they did all they needed to do.