Packing & Shipping

There are some things in life that people dislike doing. Packing an odd shaped object and shipping it is something my Dad takes a disturbing amount of pride in. When Holly and I got married my folks came down and brought down a picnic table and chairs. The only item missing was the umbrella that went with the table. A challenge was born.

Now you must understand my Dad ships more items than an Internet retailer. I regularly receive packages from my Dad. Especially at work as there is always someone to receive the package. These packages range in size and shape from a simple envelope containing a magazine and letter to a large 3'x3'x3' box containing a 5 disc DVD/CD changer with surround sound speaker system packed so tight with foam peanuts, wrapping paper, and plastic air filled cells I had to disassemble it with a reciprocating saw. The people int he mail room at work love receiving packages form my Dad. It is always a fun challenge to determine what my Dad could possibly be sending now.

I knew that the mail room was in for a surprise when my Dad called me and told me he was going to send the umbrella, but stilled needed to work on how he was going to get it down to KC. Once the packaging material was established he went to work. When it arrived in the mail room at work it looked like this:

The umbrella was packed in two concrete tube forms. To keep the umbrella from sliding out the ends, my Dad decided that nothing else would work except for custom made wood covers screwed into the ends of the tubes. To hold the tubes together another custom option was needed. He inserted two wood trapezoids where the tubes connected together in the middle and screwed four 2" wood screws into the customer wood trapezoids. I have to say that the umbrella was received without any problems, however, the mail room people are convinced that I received a large sex toy. Thanks Dad.