Something Goes Wrong.
That means this Adventure is underway. On Thursday, I received an email from MuzToo, the shop where the moto is stored, that it needs a new battery, a mirror, and a rear inner tube. The latter two items are not a problem, and I actually have both an inner tube and mirror part with me in my luggage. But the battery? That's a problem. Something has "gone wrong."
Batteries in the developed world are heavily regulated, both in production, and more importantly to this story, in shipment. This, consumers expect and receive high quality batteries (good), at a higher cost (bad) because the transportation of batteries are subject to tight regulations. YOU can see where this story is going, right?
So the email from MuzToo came in while I was at the Department of Justice getting my picture taken with a superb prosecution team, the Attorney General and Senator Murkowski. On the walk back t the hotel, I called Don Rosene at the Motorcycle Shop in Anchorage, and asked him to DHL the battery to an address in Osh, which I would text him as soon as I could find it on the internet. Don said no problem, and relief crept in, prematurely as always.
I found the address and spent an in ordinate amount of time trying to text it it Don. I had to walk a ways until I found a better signal, but finally it was off, and i returned to a lunch with my group of friends and former colleagues. The problem was, I thought, neatly taken care of, and I was somewhat smug. The tiny communication device in my hand had allowed me to accomplish things over vast distances in a matter of maybe 120 minutes. Like the French say, incredible (but they say it in French, and it really sounds incredible . . .).
Last night, as I was dozing, the phone rang, and it was Don. He was at DHL just as they were closing, as they had failed to pick ip the battery at the shop earlier. They didn't want to ship it because it was . . . a battery. Uh Oh. It had danger labels on it. Also, they didn't understand that the phone number on the address I provided was actually a phone number, because it did not look like any phone number they had ever seen. Of course not, it was for a telephone in Kyrgyzstan! Don was clearly not happy with them, but after I assured him that it was a telephone number, and that they could put my name on the airfoil with my telephone number, Don said he would let me know what happened within the hour.
I spent several minutes on the internet looking at what it takes to ship a battery by air. This was not a lithium battery, which you will recall has certain issues, and requires a separate set of regulations. It is a gel battery, generally safer to ship than wet cell batteries, unless, of course, the wet cells have not been activated with the "wet" acid, and then are much safer. But it is all doable, as long as the shipper and the carrier have read the regulations and know how to prepare them for shipment, and the secret words to put on the airbill: "Non-Restrictive Per Special Provision A67." That is the magic language that makes it all okay. I think you can ship a bull elephant by air if you put that language on the airbill.
Don texted back less than an hour later to let me know that they had finally accepted the battery, and it will be there Thursday, the day after I arrive. It probably has different routing. He also provided a photo of the airbill so I can track it if I choose. I'm afraid I will jinx it if I do. And the airbill has the magic language. I hope he didn't ship a bull elephant.
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