As readers may know I’ve lost my luggage…the worst nightmare of travelers. It leaves you feeling dirty, wearing old clothes and socks, and generally unclean. Fortunately quality hotels offer shaving kits and toothbrushes for personal hygiene. That’s a consolation at least. The Wrest Hotel where I’m staying in Hobart, Tasmania offered such an amenity for which I’m grateful.
I’d also like to say that everyone I’m met in Tasmania has been very kind, and even went out of their way to offer me amenities last night to help me through my travel troubles. I declined with thanks knowing I’d be able to get a shaving kit at the hotel.
It does add insult to injury though when you discover that whatever corporate person chose the shaving kit did so on the basis of cost alone. I discovered with a soap laden face that the shaving kit gave a new meaning to the term “safety razor”. It is so safe in fact, that it does not cut whiskers! Truly a design of the orient made at rock bottom prices.
I suggested to the concierge that the person that made this purchase decision should try shaving with it himself. He replied “yes sir, I know they are terrible”. There were no other options, the hotel store was closed, and none within quick walking distance.
Combine that with the fact that they block outgoing SMTP for email on their Internet service ($10 per hour!) and I’m one really unhappy camper.
So I’m going to leave this up until the Wrest Hotel shows me their new shaving kit. Leave a comment. After all shouldn’t the paying customer be king?
I want to reiterate that Alan, Garth, Bruce, Beth, and many others here have been gracious and my visit was otherwise splendid. Hobart is a great town of beauty and of warmth. I just despise corporate weasels trying to save a nickel where it really is important to provide a basic courtesy for the distressed traveler. At least I can help future travelers left in this situation get a clean shave.
So if anyone sees a smelly, disheveled, unshaven man wandering through airports in AU today muttering about blacklists and weather stations, please come up and say hello. 😉
UPDATE: Some people didn’t see the humor and satire in the headline or in the body. Chill folks. I found the whole thing silly because the razor was 100% nonfunctional, and the concierge agreed with me. Sometimes management needs a prod, and this prod done with some humor might help the next guy that needs help. Besides, you haven’t heard half of my inconvenient travel adventures. 😉
BTW I did catch up with my luggage in Adelaide…so now if you’ll all excuse me, I need to shave. -A
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Speaking of Al, he has a massage to relieve this kind of travel related stresses.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33472914/Portland-Police-Bureau-report-on-Al-Gore
Anthony, my sympathies for your lack-of-luggage predicament. Although this probably won’t help the immediate situation, it is good to remember what the letters in Delta Airlines actually mean.
D E L T A — an acronym for
D on’t
E xpect
L uggage
T o
A rrive
I wish I could take credit for this, but it is not original to me. Cannot remember where I heard that.
You are less than a kilometre away from a supermarket. If you walk towards battery point along Sandy Bay road past the University and the McD’s, you’ll find it tucked in behind the shops on the left by the traffic lights. Why not just walk down there and buy yourself a decent disposable and some shaving soap.
QANTAS sent my luggage the wrong way once. It wasn’t a disaster but a major inconvenience (abbr.: PITA).
It so happened that the suitcase was stuffed with Christmas goodies; chocolates, etc. from Melbourne to put under my parent’s tree. It was a hot December. I flew (home) to Perth. The suitcase somehow went to Darwin. It took another day to reach me.
I understand that you’re entitled to compensation if your luggage doesn’t reach you within 24 hours. That’s to cover the purchase of clothes.
The chocolates were saved by careful packaging; insulating layers of paper and aluminium foil; in a rigid plastic case.
When travelling away from home, I have at least one change of underwear and several pairs of socks in carry-on; along with a small towel. They’re used to cushion my “precious” appliances; electric razor, camera. etc. And I can roll my small change into a spare pair of socks prior to going through the security checks.
More precisely it is 1.3km or 16 minutes walk according to google maps. Supermarket is at 195 Sandy Bay Rd.
david elder says: “…The Australian way does make for a more relaxed atmosphere, but also can leave significant problems unfixed.”
And leave insignificant problems fixed.
Mr Sock Puppet says: “Have you compared what other hotels provide, or are you holding the Wrest Hotel to some undefined standard…?”
Well, old sock, the universal standard for “free shaving kits” is that they shave the possessor. Otherwise, they’re not “free shaving kits,” then, are they?
Ric Werme said: June 23, 2010 at 6:32 pm
“Science News had an article about the declining population of skates off the new England coast many years ago. They attributed it to an example of by-catch having an effect on fisheries, but then got a couple letters, one from someone who’s first job in a New England restaurant was to make “scallops” from skates.
Apparently skate wing pseudoscallops are common.
Google scallop skate for more than you can read. Or, charge you up for the next trip to the Revolting Restaurant.”
Rick, Hobart is replete with fine restaurants where the scallops are not pseudo, so we dine in those. Since you’ve made pseudoscallops, you’ll know that real scallops are adorned with a prominent orange portion called roe here and coral elsewhere. The waiter told me my scallops were devoid of roe because the roe had been cut off and discarded! Made me glad that I’d not ordered T-bone steak for the main course 🙂
John Trigge said @ur momisugly June 23, 2010 at 7:43 pm
“I trust you will be sartorially elegant in Adelaide tonight
I will be attending but will not shave today, just to make you feel more comfortable.”
Anthony looked fine last night. And I haven’t shaved in over thirty years, so I suspect that my whiskers will have affected Anthony’s demeanour far more than mere designer stubble will 😉
James Sexton says:
June 23, 2010 at 5:27 pm
“LED headtorch
Writing case
Space blanket
12oz inflatable mattress
Empty water bottle
Snacks including dried fruit nuts boiled sweets etc
polythene bags
foldaway umbrella
Socks and briefs
travel plug and charger
mosquito headnet
small first aid kit
lighter
Teabags (its a Brit thing)
Hat
Small towel”
Uhmm……you get abandoned on an island as a child? I couldn’t possibly get all that stuff in a “carry on”!
Heh, that’s the ‘minimal kit’ My lady and I squeeze a full backpacking kit into hand luggage when we take cheap flights to the Mediterranean mountains on our hiking trips. If you do some research and choose or make your kit carefully, you can keep it light and small. Our stormworthy tent weighs a pound and a half. The stove weighs half an ounce.
I use an electronic gram scale to check everything. It is a bit anal, but when you’re cruising up mountainsides with only 15 pounds on your back including food and water, it makes sense.
Ian H said @ur momisugly June 23, 2010 at 9:03 pm
“You are less than a kilometre away from a supermarket. If you walk towards battery point along Sandy Bay road past the University and the McD’s, you’ll find it tucked in behind the shops on the left by the traffic lights. Why not just walk down there and buy yourself a decent disposable and some shaving soap.”
And if you’re really lucky, you won’t be assaulted by drunken young thugs, who will be let off with a caution when brought before the beak, having promised on their honour to never, ever do it again. Well, not ’til the next time they’re drunk anyway…
Ah, but did they have cable? I caught on that you are also a fan of DC. The latest episode was indescribable. What did you think, A? Did you get to see it?
Mr Sock Puppet says:
June 23, 2010 at 6:02 pm
S’funny. I had a different reaction. I put a few bucks in the jar for a beer.
But Anthony, when in in Tasmania, along with two larger islands to the east, you are supposed to morph into a greenie and grow a beard.
The Horror!
No outgoing SMTP… My tongue has been cut out. Good job you have your blog to communicate through Anthony.
Surely you have a webmail service on your domain?
Re: Bernd Felsche June 23, 2010 at 9:08 pm
The chocolates were saved by careful packaging; insulating layers of paper and aluminium foil; in a rigid plastic case.
—
That kind of careful packaging can backfire. I did a similar thing once with some nicely gift wrapped Turkish Delight for my mother. Resulted in being pulled over by customs and unwrapping it as it looked a little dodgy on the x-ray machine. Also learned not to pack vintage Port in hold luggage.
As for Tallbloke, he’s missed off his copy of HHGTTG and Thumb
Antony you got it exactly wrong way 😉
The management has saved nothing by making this arguably cheap purchase .
On the contrary they WASTED unholy amounts of money .
Indeed as there is nothing that holds them to provide shaving kits to travellers who only pay for sleep accomodation , the right decision should have been to buy no shaving kits at all .
Alternatively if they decide to invest money in order to increase their turnover then it is absolutely necessary to do so in an efficient way because otherwise the customer not only won’t see any improvement but he’ll feel unhappy .
And in this latter case they have to check if the turnover indeed increases with such an investment done .
You are right to blame the management that is clearly incompetent in this case .
But not because the shaving kit was cheap .
It was too much expensive for what it did and they should stop buying such …. altogether .
Advantage is that it saves money and the 0.1% of customers who lose their shaving kits will neither add nor substract anything significant to the turnover if they are told “Sorry we provide no shaving kits here .”
Atomic Hairdryer:
That level of packaging is probably OK for domestic air travel. It came to mind while packing. I have the habit of thinking “too much”.
No customs checks between Victoria and Western Australia; until we secede so that we’re no longer compelled to feed the rent-seeking States. 😉
Atomic Hairdryer says:
June 24, 2010 at 1:57 am
As for Tallbloke, he’s missed off his copy of HHGTTG and Thumb
Ah yes, I forgot to mention that one end of the small towel is soaked in vitamin complexes and reduced proteins, and the other is soaked in anti-depressants. 😉
Regarding razorgate, just use one of these as it’s totally natural, sustainable, and renewable: http://www.northwestmagazines.com/images/razor_clams.jpg As Ivar would say in Seattle, “Keep clam.”
Think, dear Anthony, you didn’t understand the satire: That razor was GREEN!
Zeke the Sneak:
Teabags (its a Brit thing)……hmmm, quite suspicious. Are you a “tea-bagger”?
I can say that jeans and a t-shirt, with a blazer and some leather shoes can look quite presentable in a pinch.
Above all, Anthony Watts can stand tall and deliver his message without any need at all of fancy cologne or a fine suit, since he has done his duty and toil in research, and his work has the potential to change many lives for the better if heeded. And it will be.
Enneagram says:
June 24, 2010 at 8:50 am
Zeke the Sneak:
Teabags (its a Brit thing)……hmmm, quite suspicious. Are you a “tea-bagger”?
Ha ha, yes, as a matter of fact I am TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY! 🙂
Anthony.
Whenever you get a chance remind The Aussies that England beat them easily in the first one-day cricket international and are doing pretty well against them in the second!
Cheers!
Jimmy.