USA

Tucson, still

On Monday morning I received e-mail from MAN-Bresse, France, announcing that the spare parts had been sent by UPS and giving a tracking number. The delivery was envisaged for Wednesday morning at 10:30 am. I transmitted this information to Volvo workshop then I went there. After I went, by bicycle, to buy guides books Lonely Planet at Barnes & Noble, the chain of bookstore in the USA. The store is located at end eastward of Broadway Blvd. I was very disappointed, no guide for Central America was on shelf, not even that for Mexico at about 100 km! Back to the hotel I stopped at Wal-Mart located at less than one kilometer further away from my hotel and Volvo workshop.

On Tuesday I worked entirely to finish the installation, started during my long stay in Draguignan, of the infrastructure of my website to accommodate pages of the trip to Mexico, Cuba and to countries of Central America. Long work requiring meticulousness and patience together with many tests to check the relevance of navigation within pages. It remained still work to be made. The access is possible from the synopsis of the journeys, open book icon of on the left side of in the top banner. From time to time I threw an eye at the UPS site to follow the routing of the parcel of the spare parts weighing 51 kilos!

On Wednesday morning I consulted the UPS site to ensure the delivery at 10:30. What surprise, the parcel was blocked by the customs at Louisville, KY, for absence of documents to carry out the clearance. I telephoned to MAN-Bresse, France, to inform the file with the UPS agency concerned by forwarding. New waiting started. The end of the year approached unrelentingly.

On Thursday, the omens blew heat and cold, moreover the climatic conditions were not either favorable, overcast sky, strong wind and announcement of disturbances.

• Initially the cold, I always did not have any news concerning the customs clearance of the spare parts blocked in Louisville, KY. In the early morning I returned to Vanguard Volvo to ask news. Alas the contacted people, receptionist customers and shop foreman, were frankly not laid out in my connection. I warned the person in charge of the store with who I establish a fusional relation. He contacted UPS, service assistance. After a long wait and the transfer to UPS International he required information to resolve the situation which was given two hours later with a six-pages transfer by fax coming from the customs of Louisville, KY. He explained me what it was necessary to do, to fill out the questionnaire then to return it to UPS International. Curiously the information request by the customs related to the bearing exclusively, part number: 51.93410-0149. Back to the hotel, 50 meters further away, I wrote e-mail to MAN-Bresse in order to answer at the customs request. By safety I tried to send the documents by fax without success, I decided to reiterate at the time of opening of the MAN-Bresse offices, that is to say midnight at Tucson. But time passed…

• Then the heat, in preparation for my trip to Mexico I looked to establish a contact with supposed MAN workshop in Querétaro where I wished to make my truck revised. But I had only an address and a phone number. Not speaking yet Spanish it was difficult for me to make a phone call. I spoke to Michel W about it., specialist in sand dunes in North Africa. He proposed to me that he contacts Fermin Mr., Spanish, owner of a motor home built by UNICAT. I had met him in 2008at Dettenheim, Germany. At once Fermin called MAN-Querétaro and sent e-mail of explanation. Someone answered him in English. The contact was established quickly. I hold a meeting by Skype with Fermin to finalize the contact. I was to send e-mail to Mexico to specify my waitings. The solidarity of the travellers is not an illusion.

But, tomorrow is another day… I took my dispositions to spend a new weekend at the hotel.

Windemere Hotel

On Friday morning, in the night around 0 a.m., Tucson time, MAN-Bresse announced to me being in inventory procedure, but that it dealt with my request. Approximately two hours later, a new message specified me that the documents had been transmitted to the headquarter at Man-Evry, France, then to Germany in emergency procedure. I will be held informed. Alas it was the weekend… The end of the year approached and I was always in the expectancy. However the gear box had been dismounted ready to receive the new parts. Weather forecasting of the weekend was also very bad. It rained as in the Var in the south of France.

The weekend was long and rainy.