They Came From A Land Down Under
ENTRY #50
1009.25
As I mentioned in the last entry, my friend David Herrington agreed to pick up some issues of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine while he was in Australia attending Aussiecon 4. Well, I finally have them in my possession.
I actually got them in two batches. I'm on an email list for ASIM, and when Dave mentioned that he would be attending Aussiecon, I posted a question to the mailing list, asking if they were going to have a table in the dealers room, because if they were, I was going to ask Dave to get a subscription for me. I received a reply in the affirmative, and I asked Dave if he could get the subscription for me. He said no problem. We also discussed his picking up back issues for me as well.
Not long after that initial discussion, Edwina Harvey, one of the editors, announced a special deal -- 20 back issues for A$60. Unfortunately, it was also limited to Australian readers, because of the cost of postage.
I joked with Edwina over email, saying something along the lines of, "You really know how to hurt a guy" over the Australia-only part of the deal. She then mentioned that since I did have a friend coming to Aussiecon, they would put a package together, and he could pick it up at the convention.
I already had the first 10 issues, so I made a request for anything from issue #11 up. After that, it was a matter of waiting.
At the August meeting of the local SF club (local for Louisville, that is), I gave Dave the money for my subscription, and the back issue bundle. I also gave him my mailing address to give to the nice people at ASIM, so they would know where to send my subscription issues. And then, it was a matter of more waiting.
Waiting until September 2, the first day of Aussiecon 4. Dave sent me an email telling me that he had picked up the bundle, and signed me up for a subscription. He told much money remained from what I gave him (I had given him more than enough, thank Ghu), and asked for further instructions.
The people at the ASIM table had suggested to Dave that he mail the back issue bundle to me, which made sense. It would be easier than carrying them with him for the rest of his trip, so I agreed with that assessment, and asked him that if there was anything remaining after mailing the package, to pick up as many additional back issues as possible.
And after that, there was more waiting. (Do you sense a theme here?)
The wait started to end on September 10. When I got home that day, I checked my mailbox, and I found a card from the post office. Dave had sent the package to my home address, instead of my post office box. Normally, the carrier just leaves the package at the door of my condo. This time, however, the carrier left a note telling me where I could pick up the package, beginning the following day.
The pick-up location was an annex a few blocks away from Louisville's main post office. It's within what I would call biking distance from my condo, but just barely. The main sticking point here was that the following day was Saturday, and at least here in Louisville, all of the post offices close at 1:00 PM.
Sometime around mid-morning on that Saturday, I set out on my bike with an empty backpack for the aforementioned annex. I knew where it was, so getting there wasn't the problem. Unfamiliarity with the terrain was more of a problem. Just a little hillier than I thought.
I coasted up to the annex with more than enough time before closing. I handed the card to the clerk, and after a moment or two, he located my package. (Actually, I spotted it before he did, and directed him to it.) He had me sign the card, and after putting the package in my backpack, I was on my way home.
(I still don't know why the carrier just didn't leave the package at my door. Maybe it was because the package was coming from overseas.)
I managed enough patience to wait until I got home before opening the package. And I stayed relatively calm while opening the package. Once I had the package open, though, I was positively giddy as I took note of the bundle of back issues.
I had already learned that ASIM had already sold out of issues #11, #12, and #20. The bundle included issues #13 through 19, and #21 through #33. (And Dave mentioned that I had acquired their final copy of #16.)
I only gave the magazines the briefest inspection, because I had to go back out and take care of some other tasks. Letting Dave know that I received the package was at the top of that list. Settling down with the magazines had to wait until later that evening.
And it was Wednesday when Dave called to let me know he was back from Australia. He was coming down to Louisville on Friday (he lives in the Indianapolis area), and wanted to discuss handing over the rest of the issues he had acquired. We played phone and email tag Thursday and yesterday before he finally arrived at my condo.
When Dave signed me up for a subscription, he picked up the current issue, #47, as my first subscription issue. After mailing the package, he picked up issues #34 through #39. More ecstasy, although once again it had to wait. Dave came down for the weekly Friday night FOSFA dining out. I usually don't take part (primarily because of scheduling conflicts), but for once I did, and had a pleasant evening with friends.
I still want to get the remaining issues that I don't have. Getting issues #40 through #46 shouldn't be much of a problem, although I'm thinking that doing it one or two issues at a time might be less expensive in terms of postage. The real trick is going to be finding copies of #11, #12, and #20.
-30-
1009.25
As I mentioned in the last entry, my friend David Herrington agreed to pick up some issues of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine while he was in Australia attending Aussiecon 4. Well, I finally have them in my possession.
I actually got them in two batches. I'm on an email list for ASIM, and when Dave mentioned that he would be attending Aussiecon, I posted a question to the mailing list, asking if they were going to have a table in the dealers room, because if they were, I was going to ask Dave to get a subscription for me. I received a reply in the affirmative, and I asked Dave if he could get the subscription for me. He said no problem. We also discussed his picking up back issues for me as well.
Not long after that initial discussion, Edwina Harvey, one of the editors, announced a special deal -- 20 back issues for A$60. Unfortunately, it was also limited to Australian readers, because of the cost of postage.
I joked with Edwina over email, saying something along the lines of, "You really know how to hurt a guy" over the Australia-only part of the deal. She then mentioned that since I did have a friend coming to Aussiecon, they would put a package together, and he could pick it up at the convention.
I already had the first 10 issues, so I made a request for anything from issue #11 up. After that, it was a matter of waiting.
At the August meeting of the local SF club (local for Louisville, that is), I gave Dave the money for my subscription, and the back issue bundle. I also gave him my mailing address to give to the nice people at ASIM, so they would know where to send my subscription issues. And then, it was a matter of more waiting.
Waiting until September 2, the first day of Aussiecon 4. Dave sent me an email telling me that he had picked up the bundle, and signed me up for a subscription. He told much money remained from what I gave him (I had given him more than enough, thank Ghu), and asked for further instructions.
The people at the ASIM table had suggested to Dave that he mail the back issue bundle to me, which made sense. It would be easier than carrying them with him for the rest of his trip, so I agreed with that assessment, and asked him that if there was anything remaining after mailing the package, to pick up as many additional back issues as possible.
And after that, there was more waiting. (Do you sense a theme here?)
The wait started to end on September 10. When I got home that day, I checked my mailbox, and I found a card from the post office. Dave had sent the package to my home address, instead of my post office box. Normally, the carrier just leaves the package at the door of my condo. This time, however, the carrier left a note telling me where I could pick up the package, beginning the following day.
The pick-up location was an annex a few blocks away from Louisville's main post office. It's within what I would call biking distance from my condo, but just barely. The main sticking point here was that the following day was Saturday, and at least here in Louisville, all of the post offices close at 1:00 PM.
Sometime around mid-morning on that Saturday, I set out on my bike with an empty backpack for the aforementioned annex. I knew where it was, so getting there wasn't the problem. Unfamiliarity with the terrain was more of a problem. Just a little hillier than I thought.
I coasted up to the annex with more than enough time before closing. I handed the card to the clerk, and after a moment or two, he located my package. (Actually, I spotted it before he did, and directed him to it.) He had me sign the card, and after putting the package in my backpack, I was on my way home.
(I still don't know why the carrier just didn't leave the package at my door. Maybe it was because the package was coming from overseas.)
I managed enough patience to wait until I got home before opening the package. And I stayed relatively calm while opening the package. Once I had the package open, though, I was positively giddy as I took note of the bundle of back issues.
I had already learned that ASIM had already sold out of issues #11, #12, and #20. The bundle included issues #13 through 19, and #21 through #33. (And Dave mentioned that I had acquired their final copy of #16.)
I only gave the magazines the briefest inspection, because I had to go back out and take care of some other tasks. Letting Dave know that I received the package was at the top of that list. Settling down with the magazines had to wait until later that evening.
And it was Wednesday when Dave called to let me know he was back from Australia. He was coming down to Louisville on Friday (he lives in the Indianapolis area), and wanted to discuss handing over the rest of the issues he had acquired. We played phone and email tag Thursday and yesterday before he finally arrived at my condo.
When Dave signed me up for a subscription, he picked up the current issue, #47, as my first subscription issue. After mailing the package, he picked up issues #34 through #39. More ecstasy, although once again it had to wait. Dave came down for the weekly Friday night FOSFA dining out. I usually don't take part (primarily because of scheduling conflicts), but for once I did, and had a pleasant evening with friends.
I still want to get the remaining issues that I don't have. Getting issues #40 through #46 shouldn't be much of a problem, although I'm thinking that doing it one or two issues at a time might be less expensive in terms of postage. The real trick is going to be finding copies of #11, #12, and #20.
-30-