My Package

Well it finally arrived. The package Lindsay sent me TWO WEEKS AGO finally made it to Lund. Here is a brief description of the route it took from Fort Collins, CO to my place in Lund, Sweden.
Sept. 15th - Postmarked Fort Collins, CO

Sept. 16th to Sept. 20th - Circled globe 8 times (3 times counter clockwise and 5 times clockwise) due to accidental error in bar coding.

Sept. 21st - Package is located inside Russian borders by remote controlled drone completing intelligence operations near the Kremlin. The KGB is notified of the intrusion and the package is confiscated. Upon inspection of the contents the package is deemed a non-weapon of mass destruction and turned over to postal workers working inside Moscow.

Sept. 26th - Notification of arrival in Sweden is conveyed to me by Lindsay who used the reference code to access a secret United States Post Office database that confirmed it was in fact within Swedish territory. Here's where the story gets interesting....I thought I could simply pick the package up at the post office before my class and my weekend departure for Denmark. Upon arrival at the post office I was informed that my package was not at the central post office (that is maybe 5 blocks from my flat), but instead it was at the western most office which is probably 50 blocks from my house. Makes sense right? Anyways, knowing that I would already be short on time due to a printing mishap earlier that morning (mishap was that no one in this bloody country owns a god damn printer) I decided the package would have to be picked up on Monday.

Sept. 29th - Following lunch with a friend I decided it was time to make the trek to the post office to pick up my package. I seized a moment of pause in the "on again, off again" rain shower (that's suppose to be here all week) and set off. About 10 minutes into my 'hike' I wanted to reference the map. Travel Tip #248: anytime you check a paper map during any sort of storm that contains moisture, that storm will intensify upon the sight of the map leaving your pocket and inevitably dump moisture in quantities that make the map useless and completely impossible to read. Finally, I was close (and by close, I mean I was on the wrong side of a major highway that has 6 foot high wire fences protecting it). I made my way the last 40 miles or so and finally saw the flag signifying the post office. The sun even came out a bit as though it was congratulating me on my trip. I grabbed the door handle and....what? It's locked. Are you kidding me? Oh, right, there's the sign. Apparently this post office closes for 5 hours a day in the middle of the day. From 10:00 to 15:00 "no mail for you"! Most people would think this is quite odd and inconvenient, but those people are rational and not living in Sweden. At this point I've spent the better part of an afternoon trekking in the rain and there is no way in hell I'm turning back without my package. So I wait it out. Half hour under the overhang of the front door to the post office.......finally, signs of life. I show the lady my confirmation number along with an ID card. She smiles to me and retrieves my package. It's over now...I've got what I came for.