12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two

[KJoFan]

If you've been following along you know that my fish were delivered yesterday but only half them were alive. It was already planned that Al was sending me another shipment of fish, some of his melons which I'll post pictures of elsewhere. So, since I had another box coming my way he went ahead and sent six more of the alenquers to replace the ones that died. Instead of letting them take their time getting to my house we set it up that I'd pick them up at the holding facility. It's an hour away but I'd rather drive there to get them than have a repeat of yesterday. I checked the tracking this morning before I headed out and it said they were in Minneapolis, so I figured they'd be ready to head towards me, no problem. So off I went. Any drive around here is pretty boring no matter which way you go when it all looks like this:

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05110.jpg

See why I didn't want them riding around in the truck all day?

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05112.jpg

I was nearly there and Al called me up to let me know that FedEx was being a pain and trying to tell him that they couldn't get the box from the sorting facility to where I needed to go until tomorrow morning due to "bad weather". The two places are about an hour apart and there's no bad weather around so we couldn't understand what the deal was. We tried to determine if they just didn't know what they were talking about or if I'd need to drive all the way to the sorting facility to pick the box up. No way was I letting it sit around until tomorrow morning. But in the end it turns out FedEx Customer Service must just not know what they are talking about because the box was there:

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05114.jpg

The lady noted that the bottom was cold and it was wet so I promptly opened it when I got in the car to make sure all was well, and it was thank goodness. So off we went towards home and who should come up behind us but...

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05118.jpg

Apparently that is not the truck they delivered my fish on yesterday because this one was going fast:

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05120.jpg

Me carrying the box in (glad I didn't have to drive another hour to get them and everything turned out ok):
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05121.jpg

See, wet box:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05124.jpg

A shot of the three that survived yesterday's ordeal:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05126.jpg

Acclimation time:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05134.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05141.jpg

And now we're all one big happy family:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05151.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/eleventhdiscus/DSC05152.jpg

What have I learned from this experience? If I start shipping fish someday I will not ship in the months of December or January...just to make sure. :D

[Ryan]

Karen, the two pictures of the FedEx truck literally made me laugh out loud. I love that the driver is wearing a Santa hat! :laugh:

I'm so glad these fish made it to you safely. They already look like they're starting to settle in. I bet your survivors were happy to see some more of their brothers and sisters.

Ryan

[brewmaster15]

And what I have learned is...once you pack them....say a prayer to your patron God, offer sacrifice, burn offerings, go to confession..whatever it takes...but be sure you are on the powers that be's good side...because you really are powerless once you ship them...doesn't matter if they hold for pick up or delivered to their door priority... Its all timing and luck...

I spoke with 5 different fedex reps this morning and all 5 told me so many different stories that I finally started chalking it up as a loss... and an expensive non-replaceable one.:(

This is the first time that I am actually relieved that Fedex didn't know what was going on with it....if they had...the fish would have been in limbo until tomarrow morning which was the jist of all the reps story.

One thing to note...all the excuses are the same this time of year...its weather delays ..not so they can explain it to you...but so they don't have to refund your shipping.:mad:


-al

[Graham]

Al alot of the koi people are shipping fish around via Delta Dash, without having to go into the ''Known Shipper'' thing... I would think it's a lot better than using a courier company

[KJoFan]

While that may have been more of a sure thing, at least for me it would have still involved me driving 2+ hours to get them. Not that I couldn't do it, just noting. I have experienced delays in other discus shipments coming from overseas using Delta Dash. They sat in Atlanta for an extra 24 hours delaying them by at least 40 hours. I'm sure there is no 100% sure system out there other than driving to the source and getting them yourself.

[Graham]

Hi Karen, no doubt that multiple airports can be a a royal pain but flights from A to B are so simple. I fly koi between Halifax, Toronto or Ottawa and the fish don't even what happened, when they're back in large volumes of fresh water 4 or 5 hours later.........

Hope your guys do well

G

[KJoFan]

You're probably right Graham. The experience I was referring to with Delta Dash was originally an overseas flight. But was supposed to come direct from LA to Minneapolis. I do think now that I recall though that the person that was supposed to get the fish to the airport missed the flight and so it had to take another and of course chaos ensued.

These domestics I just got are working out alot better, can hardly tell they've been shipped. As opposed to the imports I generally get, that go from source tank to another, then to another and then to mine generally. They are certainly feeling it by the time they get to me.

[phidelt85]

Karen, I'm so glad you got your shipment in with better results this time. They look happy.

[TrevorB]

Glad this shipment worked out. And again, great pics - very thorough (and entertaining)...

Good Luck!

Trevor

[two utes]

Hi Karen.Great report. Glad to see that everything is alright now. But, what's all that white stuff where green grass should be?
Good luck with the challenge.:):):)

[KJoFan]

Heh, I wish it was green grass still! I really am not a fan of winter. However, I think I'd take the white over the brown of the grass right now, brown is even more depressing! :)

Thanks, good luck to you as well!

[Elcid]

Hey Karen:

Very nice pics and story! Your survivors are looking great, perhaps they are going to give you an edge in this competition! :)......Good luck and keep the pics coming!

take care,
Sandeep

ps. Al, I hope you've been taking a mild dose of Asprin through all this :D:D:D:D

[KJoFan]

Karen, the two pictures of the FedEx truck literally made me laugh out loud. I love that the driver is wearing a Santa hat! :laugh:

I'm so glad these fish made it to you safely. They already look like they're starting to settle in. I bet your survivors were happy to see some more of their brothers and sisters.

Ryan

I thought the Santa hat was really the finishing touch on that part of the "story". :)

Unpacking the box today was a much more joyous occasion and I'll have you know we thought the exact same thing as you about seeing brothers and sisters. Such that we even narrated the event accordingly. :D

[renae]

Great thread Karen, glad all is good with these fish.All the best with challenge.

[Darren's Discus]

Karen,
great pics,all the best !



cheers

[Ardan]

Glad all went well today.:)
The discus are looking great:)

Ardan

[KJoFan]

Everyone seems to be settling in well. I went ahead and fed FBW a couple times today and a couple tries at some ONFO pellets. Everything seemed to go over well. Eventhough six just arrived today I figured it didn't hurt to feed and do a WC tonight since the original three had been in the tank for a day and I didn't start with seeded sponges. There were two or three that were just anaware it was feeding time tonight but I'm sure they'll catch on in the coming days. I think I'll probably stick to the Ocean Nutrition pellets and FBW for right now until they're all eating well, then work my way into other foods...maybe. :)

[KJoFan]

Forgot to add that the size of the water change was about 90%. I opted not to resalt the water as I think everyone is doing fine. Water change time was a little traumatic, i.e. scared of the siphon tube...dashing to the other end. But they are not shy otherwise, they come right out to eat and let me stand right in front of the tank and watch them.

[brewmaster15]

Karen,

I think I'll probably stick to the Ocean Nutrition pellets and FBW for right now until they're all eating well, then work my way into other foods...maybe.
One of the pellets I feed here is ONF1. :)

take care and good luck,
al

[alxjss]

Hi Karen. Great pics. U made the drive very enlighting:) Glad u went and picked up the little guys. Also glad everything turned out good. U r on ur way. Good luck challanger:D


And what I have learned is...once you pack them....say a prayer to your patron God, offer sacrifice, burn offerings, go to confession..whatever it takes...but be sure you are on the powers that be's good side...because you really are powerless once you ship them...doesn't matter if they hold for pick up or delivered to their door priority... Its all timing and luck...

I spoke with 5 different fedex reps this morning and all 5 told me so many different stories that I finally started chalking it up as a loss... and an expensive non-replaceable one.:(

This is the first time that I am actually relieved that Fedex didn't know what was going on with it....if they had...the fish would have been in limbo until tomarrow morning which was the jist of all the reps story.

One thing to note...all the excuses are the same this time of year...its weather delays ..not so they can explain it to you...but so they don't have to refund your shipping.:mad:


-al

U poor guy. :( U were stressed just as much as we were. Don't worry Al, no good faith stands unrecognized. Hopefully, it will be soon. What a dedicated hobbiest. U r not just a brewmaster Al, to me u r the Discus master as well:o:angel:

[pinkertd]

Hi Karen! Wanted to say good luck to you with the challenge! I'm sure I will learn some things along the way from all of you. I haven't been able to spend much time on simply lately, but need to find more time, this challenge has me so excited to see all the new posts!:D

[Kindredspirit]

Great Pictures! Doesn't look like that Fed Ex guy was too pleased you took his picture! Ya gotta love it!

Great presentation, Karen:)

[KJoFan]

Karen,

One of the pellets I feed here is ONF1. :)

take care and good luck,
al

You know what? I knew that and took note prior to receiving the fish. ;) I was running low on Color Bits and wanted to try something different so figured why not try that. The rest of my fish aren't head over heels about them yet but I'm sure they'll come around. I like them because they are smaller and slightly moist so I think they are easier for them all to eat and create less mess than the bits did.

[KJoFan]

Thanks Debbi and Marie. I think this is going to be a fun time for everyone and I think we're all already learning something from it with all the shipping issues and everything. Also, I wanted to make my threads somewhat entertaining because that's just more fun! :)

[GrillMaster]

Yes it looks like this is gonna be a fun thread!

I can hear the fed ex driver now. Sittin around the dinner table with the wife an kids tellin them about how this broad drivin in front of him was takin his picture through the back window...heh heh heh

Glad yer off an runnin! Good luck. I am definately subscribed! :)

tc
Mark

[tpl*co]

The lady noted that the bottom was cold and it was wet so I promptly opened it when I got in the car to make sure all was well, and it was thank goodness. So off we went towards home and who should come up behind us but...



When I read this I thought, OMG, let it not have flashing lights, and you getting a speeding ticket trying to get the fish home on time! LOL.

But then it looks like the Fed ex guy was flying since he passed you ;). (but who can give a speeding ticket to Santa?)

Take care and glad everything made it there OK.

Tina

[KJoFan]

If you look at the first picture again Tina, you'll see the thing on the dash...it's a radar detector. ;) Not that I advocate speeding or anything...:rolleyes2:

I just got myself right out there behind him and let him lead the way! :)