It looks like I will be spending Thanksgiving in what’s left of Columbia, SC.  I booked my flight with American Airlines this morning.  Getting there is going to be pretty sweet (well, defining sweet as the least amount of time as possible crammed into a couch seat) as we have a direct ICN-DFW flight.  Just over 17 hours with the connection to CAE.  The return is via Narita and will take 24 hours.  I’ll worry about that discomfort later.

I tried to book on United from work yesterday where I found an incredible fare of $980. For whatever reason the internet connection kept timing out when I tried to pay.  From home this morning the same flight was over $1100 and I couldn’t bring my self to pull the trigger. Instead I cashed in the miles I’ve accumulated on my credit card which paid for one $1300 American ticket and part of the other one.  So I’m one thousand bucks out of pocket for both tickets and not complaining (much).

In other news I beat my arch rival Vidal in darts last night 9-7 and I’m real happy about that.

ROKdrop shared this link to some photos of North Korean women.  I was struck by their natural beauty.  Just last night I was having a conversation with one of the bartenders at Shenanigans about how too many women in southern Korea engage in needless plastic surgery.  Her day job is writing for the fashion industry and she too was distressed about the trend of many Korean females to try and “westernize” their appearance.

There is just something about a traditional Korean look that trips my triggers. Or maybe I’m just old fashioned. Or old.

Speaking of old, as part of the above referenced conversation with the bartender we talked about getting older.  She’s all of 28 and already feeling like life is passing her by. Being 60 myself I found it difficult to muster much empathy.  I told her the worst part about being old for me was becoming invisible.  She didn’t get it of course, but what I meant was I’m surrounded by a sea of Korean beauty but to the young and attractive I may as well not exist.

In some countries I’m still a “hansome man”. Not so much in Korea.

In unrelated news, I awoke to the sound of thunder this morning.

Into each life some rain must fall.

And finally, there’s this:

I’ll put this in the category of things can always be worse…

So, I celebrated Chuseok in the traditional way.  Stuck in traffic.  The in-laws live in Nowon, about 10 kms from our place.  Took one hour to get there.  And an hour and a half coming back.  I thought all the Koreans went to their ancestral homes in the countryside for the holiday?  Not this time.  Apparently.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the other blessings of Chuseok.

I recently concluded a major battle with my (now former) e-juice provider, Vaping Zone. They are located in my hometown of Columbia, SC and they’ve been my go-to source for supplies every since I overcame my cigarette addiction by becoming addicted to vapor.  I never had any problems with them whatsoever until the order I placed on 29 August for 10 bottles of juice and two new e-cigarettes.  The order came to $185. which included paying an extra ten bucks for Priority Mail shipping with insurance.  I normally receive such shipments in 3-5 days, so when two weeks had passed with no sign of my package I began to panic.  Literally.  I was perilously close to running out of juice, and as I mentioned above, I’m addicted.

I go to the Vaping Zone web page and look up my order which also includes the Priority Mail tracking number.  And when I entered that number in the USPS website it indicated that my order had been received by the Army Post Office on Yongsan on 11 September. So I gave the tracking number to our admin person who fetches the mail and asked her if she could have the postal folks find my package.  She came back and reported that my shipment had come without a name on the box (which is required since only SOFA personnel can use the APO) so it had been “returned”.

Damn!  I wrote a lengthy and kindly worded email to the support folks at Vaping Zone explaining the situation.  I recounted as to how I was in desperate need of more juice and asked them to please reship my order ASAP.  I awoke the next morning to a two line response saying “we always put a name on the shipment and if it is returned we will reship”.  This response was totally unresponsive to my needs and greatly pissed me off.

So, I sent another email telling them that.  I also pointed out that I had spent $800 dollars with their business this year and that I deserved better than a bullshit response that didn’t resolve my issue.  I noted that I had insured the package so it was on them to either re-ship my order and give me a refund.  Two days later “Amanda” in shipping emailed me that she had checked my order and confirmed my name was on the shipping label.  She also provided the tracking number to prove her point.  Except the tracking number was for an entirely different order!

I ended up bumming a bottle of juice from a vaping buddy to keep me from going into nicotine withdrawal and wrote again saying I wanted my shipment or a refund.  I pointed out that mistakes can happen and that is forgivable but their shoddy customer service was not. They still have not responded.  And so I set about finding me another supplier.

That turned out to be a Minnesota-based company called Vapes.  Although their selection of vaping oil is not as large, their prices were significantly cheaper.  So I ordered up 5 bottles and hoped they’d arrive before I depleted my borrowed juice.  They did.  And I was really surprised to find an extra bottle of liquid and a handwritten note that said “use coupon code ‘military 7’ for a discount.  I tossed in a freebie!  Thanks!”.  Wow.  I was gobsmacked to be treated like I mattered even though it was my very first order.  Suffice to say, I have found a new vaping home.

And oh yeah, they also threw in a bunch of these cool stickers. Can’t wait to decorate my car!

Epilogue:  I finally received my order from Vaping Zone, no thanks to Vaping Zone.  The admin person brought in a battered box that had been opened and resealed by the Post Office (I’m assuming the APO).  They apparently opened the package in order to retrieve a name.  Because as I had said and Vaping Zone denied, the shipment did not include one.  Sorry bastards.

Well, on the plus side I won’t be running out of supplies anytime soon now…