The SurpriseBox Worldwide Trip 2

[Halvar]

I think it's a good offer by Muirium to split the package and send part of it back to MrInterface.

However, let's hear some opinions of people that come after Muirium, especially those who have to send it internationally. Do you prefer a smaller choice and less postage for sending it to the next guy? Or would you prefer to see the whole thing and are willing to spend the postage? I'm pretty sure Muirium can identify some less interesting stuff to send to MrInterface, but OTOH, tastes are quite different on what is interesting.

What would be an acceptable weight? 5 kg? 10 kg? Going back to 3 kg would seriously cripple the choice at this point imo.

[Muirium]

I didn't say I'd send anything back to MrInterface. I mean potentially split it up and send the contents domestically to the various UK people on the list. But I'm just guessing out loud for the moment, because all I know is how ludicrously HEAVY it has now become. Once it's here I can begin to figure something out.

Parcelforce (Royal Mail's parcel brand) is pretty much out of the picture. Like I said last page, international shipments with them are laughably expensive. If you fancy getting a handle on the situation, you can try entering some dummy weights and dimensions on these two cheaper carrier's sites:

http://yodel.co.uk/send
https://international.myhermes.co.uk

Last year, I thought £20 to ship the little Surprise Box across the Atlantic was steep. This year, I have a horrible feeling £20 will be what each of us winds up spending on it just domestically, before the poor bastard who must take it back to Europe!

Creative thinking will be required!

[HzFaq]

Just for reference, I shipped a 3.78kg box to Germany at the weekend and it was £32 untracked, closer to £50 with tracking. Getting 12kg back to Europe would be pretty bad; £70 with tracking according to this...Might be worth having a whip-round for the finally shipping back to MrI just so that one of us doesn't get super-dicked by that.

Shipping around within the UK might not be so bad (around £10 with myhermes), but its still a fair old whack.

ninja'd by Mu, posting it anyway...

[Muirium]

I'm thinking of mixing this with the Secret Santa. If there's full boards in there (my guess is there could be 3…) shipping them individually may be smarter. Without the Surprise Box's (already totally BROKEN!) strings attached.

But I'll only know when I open it. It's a proper Surprise!

[Halvar]

Ah, sorry Mu, I misunderstood that.

BTW, I paid about 20 € to send it from Germany to Austria using Hermes (about 11 kgs).

[Chyros]

Ah, sorry Mu, I misunderstood that.

BTW, I paid about 20 € to send it from Germany to Austria using Hermes (about 11 kgs).

Yeah, that sounds more like normal shipping charges. In the UK however, privatisation hasn't QUITE worked out all that well for the people.

[Muirium]

Depends which people. It worked splendidly for those of us who actually count. Hint: neither me nor you!

Hermes is the same carrier over here as in Germany, I think. But everyone follows Parcelforce's lead and charges much higher prices here, because reasons.

[Chyros]

Depends which people. It worked splendidly for those of us who actually count. Hint: neither me nor you!

Hence why I said "the people" :p . But I agree, it's worked out splendidly for the others. As have many, many other things in UK politics for a while now.

Honestly, when I came to the UK three years ago I was quickly charmed by this country and its people, and have not regretted my stay here for one moment. But I've learned what politics are like here, and it disgusts me to the core of my soul.

[Madhias]

Hey, I had to send it from Austria to Scotland! But it was not internationally though, since we are inside Europe. Last time I sent a keycap (one keycap) in an envelope to the USA and it cost as much as this 12Kg box. Here in Austria all boxes are tracked, so there I did not had to pay more. Also the weight was not important, since there is just a maximum you should not reach (which is about 32Kg). And there is just a size limit, so it was not that expensive! But going outside Europe is for me also always expensive.

To be honest, I don't know who put in the keyboard(s) in but it was not a good idea. It is even horrible when packing the box again, because it/they don't fit and you have to put everything around.

But the weight is not because of the keyboard(s)... Probably 10% of it

[Muirium]

We bitch and whine about shipping here because it's nothing like that. Shipping just to nearby Ireland costs the same as Russia! All international shipping is mighty costly. Any chance Austria Post can open up post offices here? I'd use them all the time instead!


@Chyros: American politics gets slammed all the time because it's so nakedly filthy, dumb and corrupt. But ours is just as rotten to the core. The media, however, is more friendly with those in charge — old Oxbridge chums — and so we decorate our brutal inner culture of downright theft and murder with pomp and flourish. Rule Britannia!

[Muirium]

Good news: The box is here!

Bad news: It's absolutely huge!

Actually, the physical size isn't so bad. Still way too big — about 43x38x35 cm or the size of a large microwave oven in shipping box — and it's chock full of stuff. As in masses of stuff! The outer box itself is enough is enough to give away who increased the size so much. It's a shipping box for Signature Plastics!

I am actually quite amazed, and grateful, for what's inside. A quick delve through the contents easily took me half an hour. There's some gems in there, some of which I'll be snatching for myself, and stuff I know other people will be mad for. But I need to put my thinking hat on and figure out quite what to do with it next.

I really wish you know who had kept himself to Mr. Interface's 3 kg limit by concentrating on the best stuff! What I'm considering right now is asking the other guys in the UK list if they'd be cool with me showing them the bulky bits so we can work out what to do.

[Muirium]

Incidentally, here's the cheapest international* shipping I can find for this size of parcel:

https://www.yodeldirect.co.uk/quotes?co ... 5#/results

£21 to get it back to Mr.Interface. Not bad. But no tracking. Which is also against the rules, I know, but going by Parcelforce would be ruinous… <goes to check> … Well, £70 apparently.

Screen Shot 2015-11-04 at 1.50.00 p.m..png (134.17 KiB) Viewed 5922 times

http://www.parcelforce.com/price-finder

Hint: It didn't quite cost Madhias 98 Euros to send to me with a tracked service. Sigh.

I'm surprised. They wanted almost that much for a far smaller parcel from me recently. Anyway, it's a good chunk of change either way. I'm still keen to shrink the parcel a bit first.


*Yes, shipping to -any- other country is charged as international here. You lucky bastards!

[HzFaq]

What I'm considering right now is asking the other guys in the UK list if they'd be cool with me showing them the bulky bits so we can work out what to do.

I nearly suggested something like this a few days ago; get a catalogue going and send that around via PM instead of physically posting loads of heavy stuff around.

[Madhias]

Incidentally, here's the cheapest international* shipping I can find for this size of parcel:

https://www.yodeldirect.co.uk/quotes?co ... 5#/results

Anyone knows about country yodeling? That came to my mind when reading the name yodeldirect.co.uk

Spoiler:

[chzel]

But the weight is not because of the keyboard(s)... Probably 10% of it

What's so heavy What? What?What?What?

[Muirium]

No spoilers! I'll see if we can get it all over to you in the end.

[7bit]

Good news: The box is here!

Bad news: It's absolutely huge!

Actually, the physical size isn't so bad. Still way too big — about 43x38x35 cm or the size of a large microwave oven in shipping box — and it's chock full of stuff. As in masses of stuff! The outer box itself is enough is enough to give away who increased the size so much. It's a shipping box for Signature Plastics!

I am actually quite amazed, and grateful, for what's inside. A quick delve through the contents easily took me half an hour. There's some gems in there, some of which I'll be snatching for myself, and stuff I know other people will be mad for. But I need to put my thinking hat on and figure out quite what to do with it next.

I really wish you know who had kept himself to Mr. Interface's 3 kg limit by concentrating on the best stuff! What I'm considering right now is asking the other guys in the UK list if they'd be cool with me showing them the bulky bits so we can work out what to do.

A photo of the box would not be against the rules.


Is it still the big Signature Plastics box. or was it too small already?

[Muirium]

Read your post. The answer's in my quote!

[Halvar]

So what do the people think who really shall have to send it internationally? Should the weight be reduced, and what weight would be acceptable? Opinion-wise, I hear a lot of Mu and relatively few other voices of people affected by this down the road in this thread so far. Speak out if you don't want to send 12 or more kg across Europe. Or if you "don't want to miss a thing".

wheybags( Ireland ) ( PONGED )
HzFaq ( UK ) ( PONGED )
urbancamo ( UK ) ( PONGED )
Andrewjoy ( UK ) ( PONGED )
Muirium( UK ) (PONGED)
scottc( UK ) ( PONGED )
hoggy ( Isle of Man ) ( Able to ship across atlantic ) ( PONGED )
JotaCe ( Portugal ) ( PONGED ) ( First 3 weeks of november not available )
chzel( Greece) ( PONGED )
flopix ( BE ) ( Can collect in Ireland ) ( PONGED )
GOING HOME ( The Netherlands )

[andrewjoy]

I am in 2 minds about it. More space in the box is handy with me as i plan to put something large in it, but it would spoil it if it did not have its full impact.

I honestly don't know

[Muirium]

So you're volunteering to be the last man in Britain? Sounds good to me!

Spoiler:

[HzFaq]

I'm not an international shipper but I'm happy to chip in a few quid for final leg shipping if it turns out to be bananas.

I'm also not super bothered by £10+ shipping within the UK; I say keep the thing big and fun. We can enforce strict size/weight rules next time .

[hoggy]

Don't worry about shipping to Europe, I can cope. It's my contribution to the community for being relatively quiet of late.

[chzel]

I'm OK with it, as long as it doesn't grow too much from now on, or I'll have to keep a bunch of stuff for myself!!

[Muirium]

Okay, if everyone after me is cool with the MAX BOX strategy — especially Hoggy who has volunteered himself for the expensive bit — that makes things a bit simpler. I had a mountain of stuff out of the box, all over my desk today, figuring out what to take. I picked my first items, and I had to clear a corner to take these little 60% shots:

Red, Kish and Blue.jpg (410.82 KiB) Viewed 5676 times

What do you think? Red, Kish and Blue, or the full RGB?

The full RGB.jpg (391.7 KiB) Viewed 5676 times

I like the twin red, white and blue look. Pairs well with my red Escape key. And yes, I checked, I didn't remember to order a set of these for myself in the massive Unicomp GB! So whoever threw this set in the Surprise Box has a thank you from me. Now I need to track down a printed red Escape to go with them…

Oh, incidentally, I'm not typing on my Kish today, but rather one of the keyboards inside the box. I won't keep this one, but it's certainly interesting. Hint: I'm looking down a lot at my fingers as I type all this. It's an unusual physical layout.

[Madhias]

[HzFaq]

Full RGB is classic, go full RGB with the red esc.

[Muirium]

Oh, you don't want me to leave those green Shifts in the box when it heads down to you?

[HzFaq]

I don't have any IBM boards, you keep them .

[andrewjoy]

Are they unicomp or genuine IBM ?