Another job application, spring-like weather, call to FedEx

It’s been a productive day. I get up earlier this morning, have breakfast and check the news, then open my career to-do list spreadsheet. There’s a Finance Manager position at Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency with a submission deadline of tomorrow, so I set about customising a CV and cover letter for it. It takes about 1.0-1.5 hours for me to analyse the job description, identify key words, and incorporate the relevant qualifications and competencies into my standard CV. It’s a long shot, since they are looking for candidates with commercial experience, and I’m not even sure I’d enjoy the work but I figure it’s worth submitting an application regardless. Interestingly enough, I have a 2nd tier connection on LinkedIn with the director of the department (who I assume would be my boss), although the person in our common networks is a colleague of mine from a long time ago and not someone who knows me very well. 

In the afternoon, I head out for a walk while catching up with my friend O in Strasbourg over a WhatsApp phone call. There’s a light rain falling as I step out the door, despite the dry forecast, so I turn back and swap out my coat for a rain jacket. The rain clears up quickly, and the day turns out to be rather pleasant with highs in the lower 50s F / lower 10s C. I head first towards St. Patrick’s Cathedral, stopping into a nearby cafe for a coffee, but there’s a lot of noise from the renovation/construction work in the adjacent park so I decide to move on to somewhere else. I pass by Christ Church Cathedral, then down to the Essex Quay on the south side of the River Liffey, turning back eastward past the Dublin City Council building, then northward across the Grattan Bridge and eventually settle down on a bench near the Ha’Penny Bridge. By now the clouds are broken up with patches of blue sky, and the descending sun is shining brightly from the south. It almost feels springlike! There are a considerable number of people out and about, although I wouldn’t say the streets are crowded.

View of the Ha’Penny Bridge with the calm, reflective river beneath:

Looking southward towards Temple Bar, with the Central Bank Tower and crane looking over the older buildings:

Christ Church Cathedral (on right) with the stone bridge connecting to a synod hall (on left) built on top of the former prebendal church of St. Michael’s that now houses the “Dublinia” exhibition on medieval Dublin:

After enjoying the nice weather and finishing up the call with my friend, I head back home picking up a sandwich on the way since I haven’t had lunch yet. The package that was supposed to be delivered last week from the U.S. still hasn’t arrived, and the FedEx tracking history shows that it is still in Memphis, TN with the status “in transit.” I call the FedEx U.S. customer service number, and after speaking with a representative, they give me a number for a clearance manager at Ireland FedEx. I must have written the number down incorrectly, because the call doesn’t go through when I dial it, so I look up the main Ireland FedEx customer service number online. I’m connected to a friendly representative who is very polite and understanding. In looking through the notes she finds that the package was turned back from Ireland and returned to the U.S. because it contains a “restricted commodity,” although it’s not specific as to which item(s) this refers — the shipment doesn’t contain anything particularly suspect, just a few household items ordered off Amazon, some lounge/track pants, and speciality iced tea sachets. The rep puts me on a lengthy hold to enquire further with the customs clearance team. When she comes back on the line, she doesn’t have any further information to give me, but she says that someone should be following up with me tomorrow via email. After the call, I search for a list of restricted import items for Ireland. There’s the usual obvious stuff such as dairy, dangerous/hazardous materials, live animals, medicines, etc. There are also some unexpected oddball items on the”import restrictions” list such as porcelain/chinaware/ceramics, molasses, lottery tickets, footwear (although I’ve shipped over shoes successfully before?!), wool, and… tea (which I’ve also shipped over before?!). So perhaps the tea is the problem? Hopefully I’ll give a definitive answer soon, and FedEx can either send the package back to Ireland again or return it to my shipping service.

Until next time….