US Customs should not be a factor in any purchase under $800. The Chinese sender is required to fill out a customs label indicating the value of the shipment. Since there is no duty on small purchases, they just come from China Post to USPS and then to you. Shipping time is pretty variable seemingly with no rhyme or reason. Some items that cost under a dollar (including postage) arrive in a little over a week while others with the same value take 30 or more days.
Every order I get, I’m on it like stink on a monkey.
Pending or shipped.
Once shipped, what carrier/tracking#.
Status of package (“label created”, “acceptance”, “hand off to airline”, etc.).
Where, once it hits the US.
I’m practically waiting by the door and doing a cat-dance when Mr Mailman brings it.
And it’s still flagged as “unfinished” ’til it gets checked out and okayed (ie, nothing missing/broken, etc.).
I got an html/js page with my “order activity”, that figures out by the tracking number what carrier it is, and what’s the link to just click on and check it.
I got an html/js page with my “order activity”, that figures out by the tracking number what carrier it is, and what’s the link to just click on and check it.
so if it’s flagged as a USPS tracking number, it sticks it into the “formula” and makes it a link. So I click on that, and like magic, I get taken to the query-page for usps.com.
Yeah, evolved from a text-file just to keep track of a couple UV drop-ins. Just wanted to make sure I got ’em while some other orders were in transit, etc.
Added the order number, amount, etc., separated by tabs. Then, why not make it a simple html page, cute it up with colors, etc.?
It just grew, grew, grew, made it instead a sort of checkbook-ledger instead of just an order-list. Added colors for debits, credits, deposits, etc. Automagically append an ↑ after interest/deposits/refunds, a ↓ after debits, etc. via CSS.
All sorts of nifty add-ons.
It’s about 1-2 steps away from becoming Skynet at this point.
My package finally emerged from the black hole of Chicago customs, and is scheduled for delivery today! 21 days from shipping notice. Not bad, just seems longer when you’re eager for something to arrive. Like a small pile of Titanium.
“Hard” chalk which the Angry Nuns used to write on blackboards. Quite nice, smooth almost glassy exterior. Dunno how many boxes’ worth I pilfered from class when I was a kid.
“Soft” chalk, usually colored, which kids would use to scribble on sidewalks. Rough texture, often small “bubbles” inside, wore down quite fast. Also sometimes used for chalk-on-paper artwork. Finish by spraying with hairspray to “fix” the chalk in place and keep it from brushing off.
The rough grainy HA finish on the L2 and the like was/is like the latter.