Note: This was the Friday Special last Friday...it woulda brightened your day except the internet server had a sad. Thank goodness it brightened up today. Read on...
Is a week a long time? It sure is, particularly if you are waiting for a new piece of equipment to arrive. If you have been revved up to the point where your mental flywheel is disintegrating by reading the internet reviewers of some new item...if the starter has kicked you, and right in a delicate place - your wallet...if the wholesalers have been trumpeting some new item like Dizzy Gillespie on speed...well you are probably not going to be calmly going about your daily tasks in the knowledge that you will, one day, eventually be rewarded.
You're going to be in a positive
state.
The state you are going to be in is Western Australia, and for most practical purposes it is the end of the line. The rail line, the road line, the clothesline, and sometimes the breadline. East of us is desert and west of us is salt water. South is wine and north is FIFO, and we are in a pocket of calm. It would be as well to adopt this as your motto and govern yourself accordingly.
Yes, things can arrive from New York in three days. Wait'll you see what those freight charges will be...It often used to be said that Nature was indifferent to the happiness of man, but in comparison to an international shipper with your credit card number, Nature is a kindly grandmother with a plate of warm brownies. The theme song of the air freight guys is a low whistle...
So what can you do when your new toy is delayed by having to arrive in Sydney, be cleared by Customs, then stored in the wholesalers, then get shipped on a freight train to Kewdale, then sit at that depot until the wholesaler here collects it, then come out to CE, then be received, docketed, ticketed, rasterized, pasteurized, homogenized, and so on...? Effectively nothing, except fret. And therein lies the secret. Like a school concert or slow-motion train wreck, the retail supply chain will take as much time as it takes. Compose yourself. Do not gibber or express anxiety...because I can assure you that will be the only thing that comes close to being an express in the whole week.
If you ever wondered why they invented beer, this is your answer. And Western Australia has some of the world's great beer.
