hello July board! I read this thread everyday and feel like I know most of you (regulars) really well, even though I am a mostly silent member. but I feel/relate to everything you guys say, miss my baby, am planning my wedding for feb (hoping and praying - probably foolishly - but in the same boat as Jeraly - planned for 7 months after filing and my in-laws already bought airline tix from London to Seattle) and love the support and updates and information I get here! not to mention the sanity So a little about me, I live in Seattle, my fiance is from London, I commute there once a month for about a week (lived there over the summer) and am so ready to have this whole thing done and have a 'normal' life like other married/engaged people! I often question our decision to live here as it would have been so much faster to move there - but the good reasons still stand despite this incredibly difficult and painful process!


anyway, what I was really coming on here to rant about is FEDEX!!!!!! is it possible to go postal over Fedex?? anyway, I don't know about the rest of you, but I am about 110 days from NOA1, and while I was still inside the original 90, I was pretty much okay, but since passing 100, I find my stress level rising even though I try to hard to keep it in check and stay positive, and knew there were delays so its expected it just still sucks. so anyway, to relieve some stress I decided to bake my baby some chocolate chip cookies and fedex them to him. it seemed so domestic!!! so last night I drop them off, happy that international shipping only takes 2 days and they would be fresh when they got to him. this morning I check the tracking # and they are delayed due to 'improper paperwork'. So I call fedex and I have to fill out a form that they neglected to give me at the Fedex shipping center (idiots!) so they fax it to my work, I call back to have someone walk me through it (making sure to get it right - don't want any more delays), and I fax it back. An hour later I call to make sure they got it and my package is on its way. This is the 4th fedex person I have discussed this shipment with in the last 12 hours and have clearly stated that I am shipping chocolate chip cookies to my fiance to each one. The last 'customer service representative' I get on the phone tells me, "I'm sorry ma'am, you can't ship chocolate chip cookies internationally, they are a prohibited item". apparently chocolate is on the list of prohibited perishables.

I start to scream, are you kidding me??? Why are you the first person to tell me this??? he doesn't know why any of the other 4 Fedex employees didn't catch it. so I ask, If I had written just cookies on the waybill instead of chocolate chip cookies, they would have shipped??? he says, yes. okay somebody shoot me.

so naturally I break into hysterical sobbing. all I wanted is to send my man something sweet, cheap and thoughtful. I can't be with him right now so I just wanted to reach out and surprise him - is it to much to ask?? and as I continued to cry to my best friend at work, she pointed out that my frustration is no doubt coming from all these things that are completely out of my control standing between me and the love of my life. its the long delays with the visa, its the distance, its the time difference, AND NOW is the freaks at Fedex - I proper lost it this morning and am still feeling helpless and frustrated and I just knew everyone on this board would understand. So, I am sorry for the long rant, needed to vent. I truly value this board - somehow it helps to know there are others in your shoes

Sara

I am right there with you!

We are a few days apart on filing, and like you I hope to be married in February. The 7th actually.

good luck to you, Im sure we will be approved soon... trend seems to indicate within the next few weeks.
xx

I worked at UPS for a while. I figured rather than going 'postal' it would be called going 'parcel'. I'm not sure what the proper term would be for Fed ex though. haha

Seems quite stranged that chocolate is the big problem for sending your cookies. I sent my dear plenty of chocolates by USPS and declared them as such and never had a problem sending them.

No doubt, your fiance will be happy and excited for your though and effort. Just make sure you get those cookies back so they don't go to waste. hehe

Brian

I to have shipped chocolate chip cookies to Egypt in the past with no issues. However if I may recommend something that works for me. When I do the waybill I stay as generic as I can. Not chocolate chip cookies...just cookies. Not Picture album...just pictures. Keep it shorter and simple and less descriptive. I find this works wonders.

I just gave the same advice, in another thread

I had to mail a package of personal documents back from the Iraq to the States. There's a FedEx office here on base, and since I was under a bit of a time crunch, I decided to use them.
The package (a standard flat envelope) cost me over $30.00 to ship, and from checking the tracking numbers, it took over 9 days JUST to leave the country!
Letters and packages sent from the APO (for example, my K1 filing) take less time and are, of course, cheaper.

I've shipped chocolate plenty of times too, wonder if thats recently changed? Anyway, looks like we are aiming for a Feb wedding too, a wedding that has progressively moved back month by month. Naively, when we first started this process, we were hoping for October! I am praying to hear something this week - most others who filed close to my date have gotten their NOA2 already.