After 80,000 Words I’m Finally Back
A lesson about shipping data
After three weeks of working through a huge order for just one client the job is done. Unfortunately there really is no rest for the wicked and we have two more clients in the cue who want a similar amount of work done.
I’d be working my fingers to the bone on one of those jobs right now but the client shipped the data without giving it much thought. All the data I need is contained on four DVDs and they sent them to us from the US by post.
The DVDs were just bundled together with no separation and stuffed into a packet. Each DVD had been labelled with a thick black marker.
By the time the DVDs reached us the ink on each label had been transferred to the readable face of the DVD above it and the one DVD that had no ink on it was scratched (all of the others were scratched too).
The end result is that I have four completely unreadable DVDs and now the client is facing a considerable delay while they ship a fresh set.
And the lesson is that if you are sending data through the post make sure that it’s carefully packed and each disk is separated from the others. For an extra couple of cents the DVDs could have been packed in protective sleeves.
