Max and I are heading up to Sheffield tomorrow on the train for Joy of Six on Sunday. As I packed up our stuff, I realized it would be too heavy to carry everything. So, I decided to send the mat, trees, and elevation pieces in three parcels via Parcel Force. They were picked up yesterday for delivery by 1 PM today at Peter Berry’s Baccus offices. The parcels arrived today at Baccus—well, two of them did. The mat seems to be somewhere in transit.

Talking to Parcel Force, I discovered that next-day delivery before 1 PM excludes Saturdays. So even if they find the parcel, they can’t deliver it because Saturday delivery wasn’t an option for next-day services. “Can I pay for Saturday delivery?” I asked, feeling utterly frustrated. “Yes,” came the response, “but only if we attempt to deliver it.” “You mean on Monday?” I clarified. “Yes.”

“I need the item on Sunday,” I said, exasperated. “That’s why I wanted it delivered before 1 PM on Friday.”

“Can I go to the depot in Rotherhithe if the parcel shows up?” I asked in despair. “We don’t know where the parcel is right now,” the Parcel Force guy replied empathetically, reminding me of my old German teacher when I hadn’t read that week’s text. “But if you find it and it turns up at the delivery depot, can I pick it up?” I pressed on. “Only if we attempt to deliver it first,” he said, sounding like a Kafkaesque bureaucrat from the Paranoia RPG universe.

“You mean if you fail to deliver it on Monday?” I muttered under my breath. “For heaven’s sake, Parcel Force!” I screamed internally.

So now, I need to improvise a mat, roads, rivers, and other bits and pieces. It’s possible to pull off, but I’m really angry that I can’t take the work I’ve prepared and bring to the show.

Anyway the show must and will go on,

So we will be there, father and son ruling the galaxy well at least a small part of it, miniatures, trees, dice and hopefully still have jolly good time even without the mat.

See you Sunday,

I might try to talk some sense to them tomorrow but I already living in Plan B.

Anyway this was the idea, we will see what I come up with in the interim. Sorry for anyone who had looked forward to see it as intended.

/ Keep on toysoldiering …