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the punk rock flea market was yesterday. i worked from 10:00 am until 7:00 pm, and i made $30. but my table fee was $25, so really i only made $5, which isn’t an awful lot considering that i worked 9 hours. i did make an awful lot of contacts, though, including the curator for Form/Space Atelier, the gallery where the PRFM was held.
i got another order from the 90210 zip code, and now i’m almost totally out of the most expensive incense i currently stock(!), Zhingkham Kunchhab Chhoedtrin, which is bhutanese temple incense. i have now sent two emails to the manufacturer, Nado Poi Zokhang but it is my understanding that the chinese government has outlawed the exportation of incense from bhutan, so i’m not sure whether or not i’m going to be able to get more.
also i sent out an order to the UK recently, and the recipient hasn’t received it yet, which concerns me… but the USPS computer system has been down all day (at least that is what they would have me believe), so they can’t tell me whether or not the package has even reached their system or not. 8P
i finally got a straight answer from the USPS flunky. apparently their computer system finally came back online. he said that my package had cleared customs on december 1st (which is kind of strange, considering that i sent it out on november 23rd) and that it would be delivered two to three days after it cleared customs.
personally, i think that at least part of the delay was because it was addressed to “Pritti Modashia” and the customs form listed it as a “devotional statue”, which probably set off the terrorist detectors at the department of clownland security… 8/
The problem with sending things to the UK via the USPS is when it gets there (i.e. not necessarily the US Snail’s fault).
I post a lot in a ukulele forum that has a heavy Brit contingent and the horror stories they post are something else.
First, when the package you send arrives in England it’ll get hit with a heavy VAT (probably nearly as much as your customer paid you already). Then it’s turned over to the package delivery part of Royal Mail, officially called “ParcelForce.” The Brits call it “ParcelFarce.”
Suffice it to say that their record makes the USPS fuckups look like smooth sailing.
Be patient. Mostly it works out. Plus, the Brits are well aware of where the problem likely lies and won’t blame you.
HH