Today a holiday in NYC?

[Brandis]

Sorry for the strange title... I'm in pre-Doc Dance mood. On wednesday I was informed, that my cruise documents were to be sent out that day and was given a DHL tracking number. So of course now I'm checking their site about any progess of my docs all the time. Living in Switzerland, I'm aware that the transfer time can be between 2 and 6 days. But the docs are now sitting in DHLs NY facility since thursday morning (I expected it to be put on the next plane out that day)... Is there some kind of regional or even national holiday right now?

Anxiously waiting for my docs, :-)

Marc

[dakrewser]

On wednesday I was informed, that my cruise documents were to be sent out that day and was given a DHL tracking number. So of course now I'm checking their site about any progess of my docs all the time. Living in Switzerland, I'm aware that the transfer time can be between 2 and 6 days. But the docs are now sitting in DHLs NY facility since thursday morning (I expected it to be put on the next plane out that day)... Is there some kind of regional or even national holiday right now?
The New Yorkers are still observing their three days of mourning. This story, from the New York Times, might help explain.
******************************
A Bronx Cheer, Calling Out to Dr. Heimlich

By CLYDE HABERMAN
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif
Published: October 22, 2004


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/dropcap/n.gifUMBED by defeat and unable to think where else to turn after the debacle at Yankee Stadium, we called the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene yesterday.

No, not the mental hygiene division, though that wouldn't have been a bad idea, given our Red Sox-induced despondency. We were curious whether the department now planned to require that the Heimlich maneuver be taught in every New York classroom. Come to think of it, why not make every workplace in the city provide that kind of instruction?



That way we would all know what to do the next time we saw New Yorkers choke.
As it turns out, said Sandra Mullin, a department spokeswoman, "the Heimlich maneuver is a part of the health curriculum in middle and high schools." That's good to know.

Maybe Kevin Brown, the disastrous losing pitcher Wednesday night, could go back to school for a refresher course. He would fit right in, this 39-year-old man with the emotional quotient of an immature seventh grader. What kind of person who makes $15.7 million a year working with his hands renders himself almost useless by punching a wall, as Mr. Brown did recently?

On a team of lavishly paid chokers, he stood out.

Then again, the Yankees' spectacular collapse this week was the best display of teamwork the city has seen in a while. It was a solid group effort, and it gave new depth to the team's nickname: the Bronx Bombers. As noted yesterday by the forthright Derek Jeter, the Yankees' estimable shortstop, "We didn't deserve to win."

New Yorkers, baseball fans or not, are unaccustomed to the thought that they are undeserving of anything desirable. An outsize sense of entitlement is hardwired into the civic DNA.

Perhaps - and this is extremely difficult for a lifelong Yankees fan to say - this drubbing by Boston is a camouflaged blessing. Maybe it will prove to be a lesson in humility that makes us better, with enhanced empathy for others and their pain.

You want to know agony? A friend, Michael Posner, who is executive director of Human Rights First, grew up near Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. He loves the Cubs, who have not won a World Series since Theodore Roosevelt was president, in 1906. They haven't even been in a World Series since Harry Truman's day, in 1945. They make the supposedly cursed Red Sox look like that unbeatable guy on "Jeopardy."

Nothing, Mr. Posner says, prepares you better for human-rights work than rooting for the Cubs; you learn to stand up for the weak and the vulnerable. Could New Yorkers catch a whisper of that spirit after their own team's shocking display of frailty?

Yeah, that's what we thought. We don't buy it, either.

For Yankees fans, it is Sophoclean tragedy that the team has not gone to the World Series for an entire year, and has not won it since, oh, way back in 2000. Winning is a cardinal virtue in New York, a city where even the great Mickey Mantle was booed if he went for stretches without delivering.

Politicians like winners, too, of course. If they are the mayor or the governor, they make predictably unimaginative bets with their opposite numbers on who will win an important series like the one just ended.

IF they are like former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a true Yankee-blue fan since boyhood, they go to many games. Television cameras this week showed Mr. Giuliani in a Yankees cap with FD and PD sewn on either side of the team's NY logo. This was a tribute to the city's Fire and Police Departments. But by design or not, the cap was also a way for Mr. Giuliani to remind millions of viewers - just in case he runs for president someday - who can claim to be Mr. 9/11.

Some people managed yesterday to see omens for this year's presidential race. Their theory is that Boston's comeback victory augurs well for Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. Maybe. But the World Series might be a more meaningful test, and given that the Red Sox have not won a Series since 1918, there is not a lot to say on this score.

Intuitive leaps would have been easier had the Yankees made it to the Series.

Since World War II, they have played in seven Series in presidential election years. Each time they lost - 1960, 1964 and 1976 - the Democratic candidate won. Nearly every time they won - 1952, 1956 and 2000 - the Democrat lost. The exception was 1996, when both the Yanks and Bill Clinton triumphed.

Oh, but this is all silly, we can hear you muttering. It's only a game.

Sure. And you believe that.

[Leslieswiger]

Just checked with my Aunt in NYC and she said no luck. My partner is from Meilen out on the lake. Trust that all your DOC's arrive and your cruise will be most enjoyable. Happy Sailing..Leslie:)

[Brandis]

I live in Zurich, so Meilen ist just a bit farther up the lake. It is one of our lake ports. :-) There is a ferry transport over to Horgen... About 5 minutes ride across the lake. ;-)

By the way, no change in the status of my docs yet... I'm not worried that they won't arrive on time, but knowing that they are in transit and I'm not holding them in my hands yet is still annoying. I'm sure you all can relate to that feeling. :-)

Marc

[Charliesmom]

Have you emailed DHL to find out what is happening with your documents? Or you might call your local DHL office and have them check on them. It is very unusual for stuff to sit in a particular city unless there is something wrong.

We had purchased some stuff from a store in NYC and they were sending it to us FedEx. It didn't come and we found out that the store had put the wrong address on it. We got the tracking number from the store, called FedEx and we got it the next day.

Roberta

[elmorejj]

DHL seem to be the slowest of the mail services. My docs took 7 days from Seattle to Columbus Oh. The regular post office would have done better!! Fed Ex seem to be much faster, I ordered sea food on Monday from Alaska, and by 9am Wednesday, it was at my door......jean :cool:

[Brandis]

In the online tracking tool I can see my adress and it is correct, plus, the documents haven't left their sorting center yet...

I called our local DHL office and they can't find it in their system, apparently, international shippings only show up there when they go on the plane, at least that's what they told me...

I now sent an e-mail to DHL USA, but their answer could take 2 business days as well.

Marc

[Brandis]

It seems they don't scan the package at every station... When I checked last time yesterday, it still said "10/21/04 7:32 AM Arrived at DHL facility NYC". This morning it was:

"10/24/04 10:15 PM In Transit London, UK"

I guess it is slowly approaching Switzerland... :-)

Marc