Michael: One of Those Disrupters

The fire blossom leaves
Spread throughout the canopy
Here in the highlands.

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Today, right as I was about to head out for my Saturday ride, DHL called to let me know they could, at long last, deliver the brake fluid I’d ordered from Chain Reaction Cycles on December 31.

Now for the details that caused me to miss my ride.

For one, the package wasn’t exactly there yet as their carrier from the airport was running late. Therefore they couldn’t give me an approximate time it could be dropped off in Volcan.

Fine, no problem. I’ve waited over 6 weeks, a few hours longer and one rowing session substituting for a short ride won’t kill me.

At this point it still amuses me how these delivery transactions transpire:

- I get a call in the morning notifying me my package can be delivered today.
- They ask me for my address, which is kind of humorous in itself because, being Panamanian, what they mean by address and what it means for me coming from the states, are two very different things. In the states you give them street names and numbers. Here you give then a description of how to get near to where you live.
- I ask them to call me back when they can give me an approximate delivery time.
- At one o’clock they call me telling me their courier is in Volcan at Romero’s Market.
- I tell them that’s about 20 minutes away. Do they want me to meet them there or would they bring it to Hotel Dos Rios which is only about 5 minutes away.
- Hotel Dos Rios it is.
- I jog on over there and sign for the package.

And that is why I’m about to hop on the rower instead of having gone for a morning ride.