Day 1350: The Chair, Part 46 – The Delivery

So, after the Dutchman picked up my money and set-out on his owe journey to pick-up the chair I settled in to writing my graduate thesis… which was the OTHER thing I was doing while in London; besides working, having a second child, and purchasing a multitude of chairs.

Now, if you are an avid reader of SchutzHappens, you’ll know that I go through manic writing spells where I post almost daily, and it probably won’t surprise you that I’m known for losing track of time when in the ‘writing zone’.  So, after about two hours of writing Serena popped in to see how I was doing and to know if I had heard from the Dutchman.  I was a little taken back that two hours had already passed, but still, I wasn’t worried about the Dutchman.  As I mentioned in my previous post, based on the Dutchman’s hourly and mileage rates, I had estimated spending about $50.00 for his services, and I had estimated around two to two and a half hours for the round trip.  As far as I was concerned, the Dutchman was still on schedule. 

That said, I was a little concerned that he hadn’t called.  I was expecting him to call when he picked up the chair.  Which should have been at the 60 minute mark.  So yeah… I called him… and my worst fears were realized.  Well… not my worst fears, just a minor setback… but a costly one.

By the time I reached the Dutchman he had the chair, but he had only just then gotten back on the road.   Over two hours into the trip and he was only at the halfway mark.  Disaster!

Based on what the Dutchman told me, he got tied up in a bit of traffic, however he was still able to reach the British couple’s house in about an hour and a half.  However, when he arrived the couple was not home… they had gone out to lunch.

Now… this is pretty irritating… mainly because I called the couple as soon as the Dutchman left my flat and the couple new where he was going from and most importantly, they knew he was on his way.  When I was on the phone with them the guy even say, “Great, then we’ll probably see him in about an hour or so.”  But then they just left.  And when the Dutchman arrived, found no one home, and called them, they told him to “sit tight, we’ll be back after lunch”.

Time is money people! 

When something like this happens… you can’t do anything except grin and bear it.  But bearing it is much easier than grinning about it.

In the end, it only took the Dutchman about an hour to get back.  So, at least my estimated hourly fees didn’t double… but it got pretty close.  And luckily, my estimated mileage fees were pretty much on the nose.  All in all, I was out about $70.00.  Which was fine until I discovered the British couple for what they really were… charlatans.  And since then I have resented having to keep the Dutchman on the clock while the crooks enjoyed their lunch.