The mooncake was CONFISCATED because of BIRD FLU concerns?! WTF?!

This is the conversation Corey and I had about the mooncake I sent him:

[15:29:03] mrptptpt: what are you trying to pull here? you just want to tease me or something?
[15:29:38] AlenaBrolxFlami: I don't know, but I gotta go to meet Yee Poh and people for afternoon tea, then meet Eric for dinner and a Committee Meeting.... be back at maybe 10
[15:30:23] mrptptpt: okay... then I'll interrogate you about this later. your box came today, and I am most displeased!!!!
[15:31:30] AlenaBrolxFlami: ..... WHY?!!!!!!!!!
[15:31:55] mrptptpt: well, are you leaving now?
[15:32:24] AlenaBrolxFlami: yes
[15:32:42] mrptptpt: then you will have to wait until later! mwa ha ha!
[15:33:49] AlenaBrolxFlami: DAMN YOU
[15:34:24] mrptptpt: well, next time, please try to arrange your schedule around my whims so I can properly time these things
[20:38:18] *** "mrptptpt" signed off at Mon Oct 05 20:38:17 2009.
[20:38:23] *** "mrptptpt" signed on at Mon Oct 05 20:38:23 2009.
[21:22:00] AlenaBrolxFlami: SHUT UP!
[21:22:15] AlenaBrolxFlami: okay, home an hour earlier than I thought - Dylan wasn't there
[21:22:40] mrptptpt: okay, since you're back, I guess I'll go take a shower
[21:22:52] AlenaBrolxFlami: so now... what is so detestable about these mooncakes?! don't tell me that your entire family has like an egg / lotus paste allergy or something
[21:23:00] AlenaBrolxFlami: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! DAMN YOU
[21:23:46] mrptptpt: well, like I said, I don't know what you're trying to pull here
[21:27:39] AlenaBrolxFlami: what?! does mooncake bring back memories of an unresolved childhood trauma?
[21:27:53] mrptptpt: I'll be back, I need a shower :P
[21:28:18] mrptptpt: the card and box are nice
[21:28:31] mrptptpt: the mooncakes, not so much
[21:28:50] AlenaBrolxFlami: don't tell me, they're not here... or they got damaged in transit
[21:55:30] mrptptpt: well, I opened it up, and the two mooncake slots I could see were empty... so I lifted up the paper in there, figuring maybe it was just a box you already had, so you sent me half of it or something, but the other ones were empty too...
[21:55:52] mrptptpt: okay, what the heck is this?? so I lifted up the plastic thing to see if you hid something under there or something... no....
[21:56:07] mrptptpt: okay..... ah, the paper! from customs!
[21:56:34] mrptptpt: apparently Canadian eggs are banned due to bird flu............
[21:57:47] mrptptpt: "MOON CAKE W/ EGG YOLK IS PROHIBITED FROM COUNTRIES AFFECTED HPAI (H5N1) TO PREVENT THE INTRODUCTION OF BIRD FLU. PLEASE FORWARD A COPY OF THIS NOTICE TO SENDER."
[21:58:27] AlenaBrolxFlami: WHAT THE HELL?! NO WONDER!
[21:58:38] mrptptpt: oh, and it says you're going to jail for this. but they spelled your name "Leslie Na" on the customs thing, so you're probably safe
[21:58:46] AlenaBrolxFlami: and of course I don't know if you can get mooncake without egg yolk
[21:58:50] AlenaBrolxFlami: uh-huh
[21:59:23] mrptptpt: I told my parents about this, and they said it was really stupid to send an empty box, through... why can't they just do a return to sender?
[21:59:42] AlenaBrolxFlami: and I was JUST joking around with a friend about the avian flu tonight when he asked me whether I ate any chickens in the last 24 hours or so :P
[21:59:43] mrptptpt: so it would be better if they were lost in the mail or something.. then you could at least do an insurance claim on it.. I doubt you can now
[22:00:04] AlenaBrolxFlami: oh, that's true... I don't think I can now
[22:01:24] mrptptpt: well, it says China is the problem country, flagged in the country of origin field. so maybe Canadian eggs are okay, but Chinese ones aren't
[22:02:12] mrptptpt: maybe they're checking everything that looks Chinese to weed out all the mooncakes that are probably in the mail this time of the year, since it specifically mentions "moon cake" in the remarks section I copied to you
[22:02:28] AlenaBrolxFlami: ah, maybe that's why... I knew that if I said "mooncake from CHINA," it might not get through... but snacks from Canada SHOULD be okay, or so I thought
[22:02:36] mrptptpt: my parents thought the box was very nice, though :P
[22:04:13] AlenaBrolxFlami: well, that's nice...
[22:04:48] mrptptpt: so.... thanks for the effort, customs sucks :P
[22:08:38] AlenaBrolxFlami: I guess you're welcome... customs is CRAZY!
[22:16:42] mrptptpt: but really, they screened it in Seattle... isn't it easy enough just to send it back to the Vancouver area instead of sending an empty box to the destination? How far away is Seattle? An hour or two?
[22:26:37] AlenaBrolxFlami: Depending on border traffic (I assume you're asking about car time), about an hour and a half or two hours
[22:34:59] mrptptpt: well, whole lot closer than sending it here :P I guess they can't start doing that though unless they started returning everything to the senders or something
[22:37:07] AlenaBrolxFlami: I guess so... I have no idea how that would work
*snip of irrelevant stuff*
[00:14:00] AlenaBrolxFlami: by the way... I don't think it says I'm going to jail
[00:31:36] mrptptpt: well, it sort of does :P
[00:32:22] mrptptpt: "These violations may result in criminal or civil penalties"
[00:38:50] AlenaBrolxFlami: ah... well, I don't think I'm sending anything else to you then!
[00:40:42] mrptptpt: well, I don't know how that works, but I wouldn't think that would be something you get in legal trouble for, unless it happens a lot or is something a lot worse than moon cakes :P
[00:41:35] AlenaBrolxFlami: yeah, but best to be cautious :P

Facebook quizzes taken from Heather, Sara, and Darren:

Leslie means 'from the gray fortress.' It is 'female' name and 'Gaelic.' (You mean it's not really a female name, and not really Gaelic, either?! OH MY!)

Leslie completed the quiz "Which Baby-Sitters Club Character Are You?" with the result Kristy. A self-proclaimed "tomboy," you pride yourself on preferring baseball over manicures. You are famous for your great ideas and can-do attitude, even if your loud mouth and stubbornness make you a few enemies along the way. You never let a dissenting voice stop you, and most of the time, you succeed. No worries if you fail, though... your stepdad (real-life millionaire Watson Brewer) will always let you live in his mansion.

My celebrity birthday match is John Ritter. John Ritter was an actor and comedian, best known for his role in the television sitcom Three's Company. He also played father Ben Healy in the Problem Child movies. (I forget... did he die this year?)


Poo nugget for Tuesday, October 6: It's Perforated For Your Pleasure - Non-perforated toilet paper was the norm until the British Perforated Paper Company introduced perforated toilet paper in 1880. Unlike some other toilet paper (such as Scott, available at the time), perforated toilet paper didn't come on rolls.