A Close Call

[Tojusi]

The following is not for the faint of heart - take your medication now:

 

So, I had ordered Pelikan M805 "Stresseman" (black and anthracite) from Amazon here in Europe, one of those fairly good deals. By reading FPN I have understood that in such deals the pen does not come in a fancy presentation box but rather a simple cardboard tube.

 

Fast forward to this past Friday. I come home from work and discover that I have a package at the post office. I manage to get to the box office before it closes. It is a fairly small Amazon carboard envelope. I get home and pull on the tab, it opens but only partway. There are two DVDs I had ordered. The package feels a bit heavy but I pay no special attention to it, I had other things in my mind as we are going out to dinner. On the way, we decide to take the cardboard packaging outside to the buildings cardboard recycling bin as we have other post packages etc. general detritus from the holiday period.

 

My girlfriend takes some of the packaging and for example drops the latest Amazon envelope inside a larger box. We dump all of the cardboard and go out.

 

Come Saturday, we are about to go grocery shopping when a though hits me. How come the DVDs are here but the pen is not? A vague recollection starts to sink in. Do I remember seeing an Amazon shipping email where the DVDs were shipped at the same time as the pen, or am I mistaken? After all, I did order a bunch of things at the same time and the shipments were split somehow. And did the cardboard envelope feel a bit heavy for an empty cardboard envelope? Did I hear a thump when my girlfriend dropped the envelope inside a larger box, or is that just because a large empty box generally makes a thump when you drop something in?

 

I go to check my email. Yes, Amazon's email indicates that DVDs and the pen were shipped at the same time. This is when it the memory of "no fancy presentation box, I read that on FPN" hits me. Good grief!

 

I just have to know. I go outside, and root around the cardboard recycling bin. Fortunately, it was almost empty the night before, and not that many people have dumbed new cardboard in. Helps me find stuff, but I really have to lean in. I locate the Amazon envelope, it has fallen outside the larger box. Empty expect for the shipping manifesto - which confirms that the pen was included. Good grief!

 

I locate the larger box. What's that, hidden in the corner? Yes, a small square cardboard tube. Could it be...? I try to reach it. Yes - it is the Pelikan tube. Yes - my pen is in there!

 

Whew, that was a close call. I basically dumped my new pen to cardboard recycling bin at -11 Celcius (12 Fahrenheit) overnight. Fortunately the pen did not have any ink in it, and is currently doing fine in my pen case...

 

Let this be a lesson: Always open all shipping boxes / envelopes fully to ensure that they really are empty!

[Runnin_Ute]

Whew! That was close! Glad you found it. Enjoy your pen.

[inkandseeds]

In October 2014, I had my Pelikan blue demonstrator in my rotation. One night it was gone and I figured i lost another pen. Rush forward to March of this year and I am cleaning up winter debris in the yard. Now, I live at 7,000 feet where we average 93 inches of snow a year and temperature often drops below zero Fahrenheit at night during winter. I cleaning up near the garbage and recycling cans and i see some blue plastic under some mulch. Reach down and pull out my Pelikan. Take it inside, rinse it, ink it and it writes. A little faded but works quite fine.

[FayeV]

Yikes!!! Glad both of you found your pen.

[jar]

Glad all ended well.

[haruka337]

A story of suspense! It was quite a nail-biter.

[Raem99]

I was scared that the story was going to end much worse! Glad you found your pen!

[KellyMcJ]

I am a collector of antique medical equipment, among other things. I received a lot of machines, unbeknownst to me the manual for one (in this case, more valuable than the machine itself because it was not functional and too badly damaged to be restored without total rebuild. I scrapped it for parts.) was in the bottom of the box! I found it when I went to reuse the box! Nearly threw it out myself.

 

I'm so happy that you found your pen!

[DanceOfLight]

Yikes ! indeed a close call; Enjoy your M805 !

[ac12]

Whenever I get a package from someone, I similarly check ALL the packing material, as I have found stuff buried in the packing material. Pretty hard to tell the difference between a small item wrapped with newspaper, and newspaper wads used for packing the box.

 

Same thing for you repair folks.

I one threw out some tissue that I had on my work tray, then a day later I noticed that I was missing a nib.

The nib was in the bottom of the garbage can, where it had fallen out from the tissue.

Lesson, CHECK whatever you throw in the trash, you may have something inside.

I have thrown out stuff because of this silly mistake.

Edited January 11, 2016 by ac12

[sharonspens]

Oh. My. Goodness. What a New Year's nightmare this is. So happy you all found your temporarily lost items!

 

Sharon in Indiana

[dcwaites]

Picture Goroka, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

 

The PNG Institute of Medical Research orders a new Scanning Electron Microscope.

Three months go by.

Nothing appears on their doorstep. They make enquiries, and are assured that "Yes, it has been delivered, and signed for".

Complete search of the whole institute. Nothing. It's very hard to lose a box that is 2 metres x 2 metres x 2 metres.

 

In the meantime at the Goroka High School, a large wooden crate is delivered and signed for.

Nobody is expecting such a package, and there is nowhere to put such a large box, so it is left outside. In the weather. And the PNG Highlands has weather, lots of it.

A couple of months go by, and an inquisitive teacher climbs on top of the box, jemmies it open, and reads the documentation.

 

Phone call follows --

"Is this the Institute of Medical Research?"

"Yes"

"Are you missing a scanning electron microscope?"

 

Fortunately, the packing was very good, and the instrument unharmed by its adventure.

[KellyMcJ]

Picture Goroka, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

 

The PNG Institute of Medical Research orders a new Scanning Electron Microscope.

Three months go by.

Nothing appears on their doorstep. They make enquiries, and are assured that "Yes, it has been delivered, and signed for".

Complete search of the whole institute. Nothing. It's very hard to lose a box that is 2 metres x 2 metres x 2 metres.

 

In the meantime at the Goroka High School, a large wooden crate is delivered and signed for.

Nobody is expecting such a package, and there is nowhere to put such a large box, so it is left outside. In the weather. And the PNG Highlands has weather, lots of it.

A couple of months go by, and an inquisitive teacher climbs on top of the box, jemmies it open, and reads the documentation.

 

Phone call follows --

"Is this the Institute of Medical Research?"

"Yes"

"Are you missing a scanning electron microscope?"

 

Fortunately, the packing was very good, and the instrument unharmed by its adventure.

 

ROFL! that's hilarious!

 

"are you missing a scanning electron microscope?" "why yes we are actually... "

 

It's amazing that it was found unharmed! Incredible really!

[Shaggy]

I can't read these stories....so stressful before getting to the happy news.

 

I've had a pen stolen (by my boss!) but never lost one. But I once lost an expensive Tiffany brooch during a forced home move (long story, devastating). I had the brooch pinned to my shirt while I was packing, and I was afraid it would fall off and get lost. So I wrapped it up in some tissue paper and put it into a box. I swore I'd remember which box... Never saw it again.

[Zanshin]

Glad you managed to find your pen. It must have been one of those heart stopping moments when you realised.

 

Remote controls are the favourites to be thrown away in packaging as they're often tucked away in their own little compartment inside the main packaging for the bigger item.

 

Last year, after losing about 30lbs in weight my wedding ring had become a loose fit, then one morning I realised it wasn't on my finger. I can only think it came off somewhere in paper towels after washing my hands and got thrown in the bin wrapped in the paper towel. I never found it.

[rudyhou]

omg. such a relief to read that you managed to find it and that it was still there in its tube, undamaged. phew!

[Dickkooty2]

The following is not for the faint of heart - take your medication now:

 

 

I followed your advice. My heart was racing by the end of the story. And my stomach was churning!

 

Does it seem to you that packaging is getting to the point of being inaccessible? Not only stuff sent through the mail but grocery and sundry items as well. I can't approach the mail box or the groceries without my Swiss Army knife at the ready. And not just the blades, but the saw!

[Buzz_130]

Glad the story ended well for you!

 

Buzz

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Picture Goroka, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

 

The PNG Institute of Medical Research orders a new Scanning Electron Microscope.

Three months go by.

Nothing appears on their doorstep. They make enquiries, and are assured that "Yes, it has been delivered, and signed for".

Complete search of the whole institute. Nothing. It's very hard to lose a box that is 2 metres x 2 metres x 2 metres.

 

In the meantime at the Goroka High School, a large wooden crate is delivered and signed for.

Nobody is expecting such a package, and there is nowhere to put such a large box, so it is left outside. In the weather. And the PNG Highlands has weather, lots of it.

A couple of months go by, and an inquisitive teacher climbs on top of the box, jemmies it open, and reads the documentation.

 

Phone call follows --

"Is this the Institute of Medical Research?"

"Yes"

"Are you missing a scanning electron microscope?"

 

Fortunately, the packing was very good, and the instrument unharmed by its adventure.

 

They really should have sued the idiots who had mis-delivered it. Wow, a scanning electron microscope . Not something you get good bargains on at E-Bay.

[IrishEyes]

I could recount some similar stories, but it's much more entertaining to read yours. At least for the ones that have good endings!

 

Doesn't it just give you the most incredible rush of relief after the panic that ensued when you thought you'd lost something you valued? I know that I have that reaction whenever something similar happens to me.

 

And when the good ending doesn't happen, it seems like I spend years trying to find something that's more than likely long gone. Not fun. So I'm happy for everyone who posted their "adventures" with the happy endings :-).