Different reactions to “crisis” & FIGs

Look how “chill” Cookies looked when in the cage, although it was a hard to get her in and she cried out of panic for a while. But once I got to the car ride to airport, she was calmed.

So the airline guy measured the size of the squares of the cage, and it was 1 cm too big! OMG!!! I was in denial that this was happening, after all the hassle I did to get to this point. The export agent was with me at the airport, she couldn’t do anything, and she sold me the cage. Obviously, I was a bit mad at her for not knowing the requirements. But I was blamed myself for not checking all the details and relied on her instead. We didn’t pass that step of the journey, didn’t even show the paper work, export permit and health certificates. Cookie went back to home with the agent, I felt defeated and anxious about next steps.

During my 36 hrs journey to Brasilia, I explored options for the next try. Here’s the current plan:

• I hired a different agent, who seems more professional and had good review from a colleague of mine bringing 4 cats to brasilia. I had to beg them to take our case as it’s less than 3 weeks away from planned travel date. But she took our case and asking all the right questions. I feel a bit more assured.
• They even provide the specialized cage for qatar, modifying the regular case.
• Husband will fly with Cookie alone the day before the rest of us fly. In case he has issue, we still have an extra day to address.
• Still pending to figure out if Sao Paolo to Brasilia domestic flight requires any documentation. In case it’s needed and we can’t get it before flying, husband will either stay in Sao Paolo to get the paperwork and fly next day (vet check up basically) or drive from Sao Paolo to Brasilia.

We have a plan, came up relatively quickly because I approached it in a cold minded way.

My husband was furious with the agent for creating this problem by selling us the wrong cage. I told him: this is past, we need to figure out fixing it. He asks if we can return the useless age (100 USD), I said, I’ll ask but I doubt it and we should just add it to the cost of taking Cookie. At this point, the cost of bringing Cookie is not a factor for consideration anymore as we NEED to bring her no matter the cost. Starting over the whole process (from getting the export permit, health certificate, new age) with another company means extra cost. He wonders if we can try again with the same agent with the new cage. I said no, I’ll go with the surer option with the professional agent, even if we have to pay double or triple because our space for error has shrink to none.

This mindset of focusing on solution instead of spending energy in frustrations and regret is helping me move on.

This brings me to FIGs, I didn’t participate in Feb but I think this is a good time for me to do.

FIGs from my first day in office

• Colleagues came to say hi, even from a different team and different floor. I felt very welcomed.
• More than 3 colleagues asked me out for lunch.
• I asked IT, admin, for help and they came quickly.
• An assistant even brought me a new box of tissue paper, just because.
• We had a meeting outside of the office, and we left office 10 min before. Soooo happy for no traffic and short distance to everywhere in Brasilia.
• 2 Argentinians, 1 German, 2 Brazilians speaking 3 languages over the course of 1 hr work lunch. I still get amazed by the incredible work place I have.
• Staying in the save hotel, running the same route, having dinner at the same shopping mall. Even if it’s just my second trip here, they brought me comfort.