shipping update

This is an update on the package of toys/gifts that I sent to Germany for my 2 cousins' kids. My cousins see each other regularly, so I sent all the items in a single package to reduce the shipping costs.

After handing off the package at my local post office on Dec 12, the USPS tracking page showed no information (other than "Pre-Shipment Info Sent to USPS" dated Dec. 11 from when I bought the pre-paid label to put on the package) until this week. During that time I worried that the package had been stolen/mislaid/lost, but reassured myself that the tracking system was most likely unreliable - as I had seen them scan the label at the post office and not even that was shown in the tracking.

On Jan 8 the page finally showed something: "Processed Through Sort Facility", "Customs Clearance", and "Customs clearance processing complete" activity in Germany.

Yay! This relieved me, and I expected the package to surely be delivered in the next few days.

But yesterday to my great disgruntlement, the tracking was updated with "Payment of charges - Item being held, addressee being notified".

I come to find out that in Germany, packages - even gifts - worth 45 euros or more are charged an import duty.

I can't figure out how much of a fee is charged however, as the above page mentions duty fees and import tax and value added tax, and it's not clear to me which ones are applicable and which ones not. It sounds like at minimum, a VAT of 17.5% is charged.

The way the 2 pinpressions toys rattled, they sounded like pills in bottles - something that would raise the suspicions of customs officials. (I remember long ago when my mom sent my aunt some supplements that my aunt had requested, they were confiscated by customs). So I put cardboard on them to reduce the rattling, but wasn't entirely successful. Maybe that has something to do with why the package is being held.

On the customs label for the package, I had estimated the value of the contents at $100 which currently equates to 84.37 euros. If I had shipped the gifts separately in 2 packages, each one would have been worth 42 euros, under the 45 euro limit.

If I had known that, I would have done that and paid the higher postage to avoid my cousins being inconvenienced. I don't want them to have to pay a fee just to get their gifts! I mean really: "You've got some gifts. But you can't have them until you pay a fee."




Update: My cousin contacted me to let me know that she received the package. She did have to go to the customs office in a nearby town to pick it up. They made her open it while there to check the contents, but at least they did not charge her a fee, after all.

dream

short version: I realized I was about to die in the next instant. I woke up gasping for air.

long version:
I walked to the window to admire the pretty colors in the sky. It was just before dawn. I saw cars and pickup trucks floating up into the air, like airplanes taking off but without the noise, and slower. Then it occurred to me that cars can't fly, and the view became darker, less distinct. Peering into the darkness, I saw that the cars weren't flying, but rather driving up a curvy plastic-looking bridge. A car dealership must have been moving its fleet of vehicles up to the top of that building. One of the cars seemed like it was driving too fast, and would slip off the curvy bridge, but it didn't. But then there were 2 tractor trailers driving up, and they started slipping over the edge. I was no longer in the house, but rather in the passenger seat of a car, looking up. The tractor trailer was directly overhead and falling towards me. There was no time for me to get out of the car. I realized that I was about to die in the next instant. I woke up gasping for air.

Nothing flashed before my eyes in that instant. No memories or anything. Just the realization that this truck was going to crash down on top of me, and that I wouldn't survive it.

dramatic portrayals of females

In movies and shows like Criminal Minds, when women or girls are the victims, most of their on-screen time is spent crying, pleading/begging, whimpering, and screaming.

Whereas when men are the victims, they do much less of that.

Is there anything in real life to corroborate those kind of portrayals? Would a typical woman in that kind of a situation really act like that? Or is it mostly myth? It seems very unreal to me, and grates on my nerves.

When women are the victims, there are frequent cuts between the rest of show's action, to these scenes of crying, whimpering, etc. It is as if those sounds are meant to spur on the people trying to find and save them, or meant to provide a feeling of suspense for the viewers. It's like, oh those poor women are so helpless and in such danger, they must be saved, and quickly!

Wouldn't a real person, regardless of gender, spend more time struggling and trying to escape, as well as trying to verbally reason with their abductor, rather than crying and whimpering? Why are women portrayed as being so emotionally active and physically passive?