It seems the good old USG is going to even greater lengths to make certain aspects of the Foreign Service life more annoying.
A few months back, whoever is in charge of it decided to change the routing of our mail by adding a leg - in the wrong direction. So now it takes an extra 2-3 weeks for stuff to get here (on top of the original ~4 weeks).
Well, we're leaving soon so we won't have to deal with that any more. Excited for APO service in Bangkok!
What we do have to deal with is traveling on USG money. For the first time in over a decade of traveling on Foreign Service assignments, we have been told that we have to fly into the rinky-dink airport in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Never before have they told us we had to fly there. We've always flown into MSP airport. Why LaCrosse? It is geographically closer to our official Home Leave address (in Winona, MN) and - the real deciding factor - get this: somehow the USG fare is cheaper to LaCrosse than it is to MSP, even though the flight to LaCrosse connects through MSP. That's mind boggling enough, and I still don't understand the why now after all this time part.
So now, instead of the four of us conveniently flying into a large airport with our 8 suitcases plus carry-ons plus car seats plus stroller into a city where we have access to a borrowed vehicle, we have to tack on an extra connection via a tiny plane that won't accommodate much for carry-ons into a tiny airport in the next town over from where people live that could come pick us up, AND where there is no vehicle available for us to borrow. That's 140+ miles away, up near MSP airport.
Good times.
A few months back, whoever is in charge of it decided to change the routing of our mail by adding a leg - in the wrong direction. So now it takes an extra 2-3 weeks for stuff to get here (on top of the original ~4 weeks).
Well, we're leaving soon so we won't have to deal with that any more. Excited for APO service in Bangkok!
What we do have to deal with is traveling on USG money. For the first time in over a decade of traveling on Foreign Service assignments, we have been told that we have to fly into the rinky-dink airport in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Never before have they told us we had to fly there. We've always flown into MSP airport. Why LaCrosse? It is geographically closer to our official Home Leave address (in Winona, MN) and - the real deciding factor - get this: somehow the USG fare is cheaper to LaCrosse than it is to MSP, even though the flight to LaCrosse connects through MSP. That's mind boggling enough, and I still don't understand the why now after all this time part.
So now, instead of the four of us conveniently flying into a large airport with our 8 suitcases plus carry-ons plus car seats plus stroller into a city where we have access to a borrowed vehicle, we have to tack on an extra connection via a tiny plane that won't accommodate much for carry-ons into a tiny airport in the next town over from where people live that could come pick us up, AND where there is no vehicle available for us to borrow. That's 140+ miles away, up near MSP airport.
Good times.
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