Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared).

Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart.

In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so.

Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October.

Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow up. But I was hoping to get some news while I was in California, and although there were two calls to my cell phone from Iceland that I missed, and one message that got erased, I can't be sure they had anything to do with the shipment.

Back in Iceland in December, I call the company. I know it is jól, I know they are busy. I am busy too. Not going to make to big a deal out of it, I mean it has been this long. But I do want my stuff, so I sort of ask when this might be done and how, not being too demanding.

Customs forms to fill out, and then wait. Pay for services here in Iceland, and then wait. Find a company willing to drive the stuff to me, and then wait.

The day it was supposed to arrive was practically a party at my house. My friends were over, we were having coffee and joking. So exciting! My stuff is coming! Facebook update, anxiety about where to put everything, I was ready!

Ah, the disappointment, when I saw the boxes, 7 of them, labeled with someone else's name. It was really sad, not just for me and my friends, but for the boxes too I think. Came all that way for no reason? I mean it is just terrible, the waste of fuel, the waste of time.

So now there are lots of emails back and forth about who is to blame, and how this happened. Yes, one pink sticker with a barcode and the word Reykjavik is on one of the 7 boxes (which are all nicely labeled 1 of 7, 2 of 7, etc.). Impressive really that the 7 boxes all stayed together, even if they came to the wrong place. My stuff is most likely in Brazil, and I hope they can find a way to get these two shipments to cross the Atlantic without routing through the Pacific, as they did last time.   

Yes, it has been many months. Hard to reconstruct all the steps, impossible to know exactly when what mistakes happened, all I know is I sit here without my shipment of goods.

Comments

Jon Frimann said…
Ég vona að þú fáir dótið þitt sem fyrst. Kannski getur þú notað eitthvað af þessum vefsíðum sem rekja sendingar til þess að athuga hvar dótið þitt er.

http://www.track-trace.com/
Lissy said…
It really is so bizarre, that no one anywhere along the way noticed that the address on the boxes all said Brazil.
Anonymous said…
vá hrikalega pirrandi!

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