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Old 09-08-2021, 08:31 PM
Mike D Mike D is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 5,358
The shortest distance between two points is Not the USPS!

Nothing of any importance, just some musing on my part.

I ordered some spark plug cable ends from a company in Fort Wayne, Indiana on August 27th to be delivered to Tucson, Arizona. On September 1st I received a notice they had shipped. Being a curious kind of fellow I decided I'd track them to see where they went.

First they went to Indianapolis. Made sense, Indy is a major distribution point. Next they went to Kansas City, seemed odd but what do I know? At least they were moving in the right direction, West. The next stop for them was West Valley Center (Ogden) Utah. Huh? "Oh well", sez I, "Maybe the truck driver doesn't use Google Maps". I mean Ogden is only 800 miles North of Tucson but it is in kind of parallel with Tucson West-wise. Easy mistake to make, I guess.

The next link in the journey does baffle me though. They sent the package to Boise, Idaho, 400 miles North and West of Ogden where it sat for two days while they tried to figure out what to do with the package. They did the usual thing a large corporation/business does. They punted the package BACK to Ogden where, at last report, it is sitting waiting to be shipped, hopefully, to Tucson.

Distance between Fort Wayne to Tucson 1825 miles.

Distance between Fort Wayne and Indy 125 miles

Distance between Indy and K.C. 485 miles

Distance between K.C. and Ogden 1075 miles

Distance between Ogden and Boise and back again 800 miles

Distance between Ogden and Tucson 800 miles

So, for a shipment to travel 1827 miles it appears the shortest route is, as of the present estimate, 3300 miles. Now, THAT'S how to run an agency!

Assuming the package arrives tomorrow, it will have travelled at the blistering pace of 15.25 MPH. Whoa! Look out Pony Express! We're coming after your jobs!
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Last edited by Mike D; 09-09-2021 at 05:34 AM.
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