The bug man cometh

We are frustration just now. 

Well, not NOW. 

We were, but now many things are resolved.

1. We needed some bubble wrap to pack up our precious crockery. Since time was as short as patience, before boarding the plane back to France I ordered some from Amazon. "It'll be delivered on the 2nd August!", they said.

We normally have things delivered to a point relais - sometimes the Post Office at Terres Neuves, sometimes the Carrefour at Tauzia, sometimes the Amazon locker at the railway station. Occasionally objects are too bulky to be left somewhere like that so you have to have them delivered to your home. Like bubble wrap.

I tracked our package. It was out for delivery. That was good, as we were waiting in. Then - oops - it won't be delivered today after all, but some time between the 2nd and the 7th August. We were dismayed. We couldn't guarantee that someone would be in all that time. Thankfully the bubble-wrap came today, in a cardboard box.

2. Moving our internet seemed too easy. The advice video said to just go with whoever installed the fibre equipment in your area, so that meant us sticking with Orange. They said they could send a technician on 12th and would deliver the new router beforehand to a drop-off of our choice.

We chose the Post Office at Terres Neuves. It's just 10 minutes walk away and right by a tram stop. Orange confirmed our choice and Colissimo, the Post Office parcel service, said it would be delivered there soon. Ideal! 

Not so fast. Instead of the Post Office at Terres Neuves, the delivery service dropped it off at a car parts unit out on the way to the motorway. I checked for directions. There was neither a tram stop nor a bus stop nearby. It meant a long walk through the summery wind and rain. The package got soaked. I got soaked. Everything got soaked.

Colissimo sent me an email asking for feedback. My feedback was dominated by the question "Why?????"

3. Then we heard that the bug man was coming to apply a product non-toxic to humans but lethal to cockroaches. I know some of the folk in neighbouring buildings have seen cockroaches, but we never have in this building. Still, if they're next door...

He would come on 3rd August. Please ensure to be in or leave your key with your neighbours.

Our neighbour moved to Paris a few weeks ago and has not yet been replaced. We'd have to stay in. We took it in shifts. Eventually he came while I was battling the elements to get the router. He was a tall young man in overalls, keen to confirm that there is no evidence of any cockroaches in our building. But he poisoned them anyway.

I suppose the moral of the story is to always have things delivered to the Railway Station.