Neither Snow nor Rain...

But what of the sacroficial alters? And the special knives to remove the still beating hearts of the suplicants (sp?)all to insure the continued prosperity of the kingdom? And the virgins? Sacraficed for crop abundance?  How about that pile of bones just beyond the cliff face, where the sacraficed were thrown? (and there were hundreds of skulls)...OH, Happy Halloween....

 OH MY GOODNESS....THE PRECEEDING WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE POSTED TO YESTERDAY'S TOPIC...he he he...ooops

I try to help out the postal service and keep mail volume high by return-mailing all junk I get with prepaid postage.

The two dozen postage-paid subscription cards that fall out of each new issue of Vanity Fair are placed right back in the mailbox when the issue arrives in the mail.

Ditto for other subscriptions, credit card offers with postpaid envelopes, and things with order forms.

Pro patria et Deo! They're gonna give me a medal of honor for this.

NCIS is probably not my favorite government agency, but it's my favorite TV show. Cote de Pablo is hot!

Since it all began, and after it became Privatized, the Post Office has been consistent ... the Service has always been Marginal, at Best ... and Postage has become just like womens' Bathing Suits ....... the more you Pay, the less you get ..............

In NYC we may lose some Post Offices.  The one nearest my home is slated to be closed.  I'll miss it.  Its always an adventure to go there.  The  lines are long and most of the clerks are pleasant.   I love picking out new stamps.  In my neighborhood the clearks really push those fancy designer stamps with movie star photos.  I also look forward to seeing my mail carrier everyday. I'd rather get an old fashioned greating card than an animated e-mail thing at Christmas or Valentine's Day.  

I love my tiny post office where the postmistress has become a friend of sorts. I love to get my new stamps & mail great packages to friends & family. If they close it I will have to travel all the way into town. There is nothing like getting a letter in the mail. I agree w/ JULIA- nothing beats a real letter or card. I remember when I was little & my father had to be out of town on Valentine's day. He sent a big greeting card w/ a red plastic bead necklace inside. I felt like the most special person all day. I would not have traded that necklace for anything.

Some folks are wired for audio.  Some folks are wired for visual.  And some are wired for tactile.  I'm a tactile-visual so don't even waste your time giving me spoken instructions since they go right through without stopping ;-)  ....  I get great pleasure in touching stuff and doing stuff.  Even walking out the door to the mailbox -- especially in the rain -- is somehow 'satisfying', since it involves moving my body, feeling the cool air, sensing the raindrops, opening that little door, feeling the (sometimes damp) envelopes inside, etc, etc.  Email doesn't do it....  I'd love to know how many marriages take place simply because of the human hunger for touch.  Lots, I suspect. The post office (or a private enterprise equivalent) will always be with us, if for no other reason than that the human animal likes physical stuff, and a virtual world simply isn't enough. 

I've found most folks complain (a lot) about the Post Office, and I've never quite figured out why.... compared to my health insurance company, my cable TV provider, and a couple of other bureaucracies I know, they are NOT at the top of my 'tear-my-hair-out' list.  In fact they're not even close.  You want to interact with a bureaucracy that is truly 'out of Kafka'?  Try the Department of Homeland Security.... oh, my!  And the military (way back) was a model of effectiveness (we got the job done) and a model of inefficiency (at incredible cost).  An old joke was that we could have bombed Hanoi back into the Stone Age if we'd just loaded all the B-52 bombers in the arsenal with our thousands and thousands of four-drawer safes filled with classified documents..... the image of tens of thousands of 400-pound safes falling from the skies, destroying every building on the ground still (occassionally) crosses my mind (a cornucopia of weird images, but what the hey...)

Am I the only one to notice that the VERY BEST rubber bands are the ones you can get (free!) at the Post Office Bulk Mail Center?  They never crumble, snap, or degrade like the ones bought at Home Depot or Walmart.  I'd love to know the purchasing specs the vendors have to meet!

An interesting question (broader than just the Post Office): As markets multiply (more and more of them, each filling ever smaller niches), what is the 'end game'?  It will be interesting, assuming our ever-more-complex civilization doesn't run into a Big Black Swan over the next 25 years, to see the 'texture' of life.  And more fascinating... the REASONS some markets got 'priced out' of the mix.  Will mail become a luxury service, like room service at The Broadmoor?  Or will mail become an anachronism, like door-to-door milk delivery?  Or will mail delivery move back in time, and will one 'go to the post office' to pick up and to send mail, with carriers cut out of the cost structure?  Or will the post offices become totally automated, with just a single tech making the rounds to fix the machines as they break (like my company's email system, heh, heh, heh)?

Personally, I think the act of pen to paper is very much a thing of singular style.It is with appreciation,and sadness,that I address each thank you note that I send for the cards of sympathy and contributions.  I removed the return address portion and put it into the card so I would have an easy time of it,and wrote the name and address of each check as well.The thank you cards are small,and sometimes I have too many words to just stop at the back...But I believe the feeling of a handwritten paper in your hand is somehow more of a link between humans,

The post office has never lost anything I've sent and none of my bills have been late due to them.  I really don't see the problem people have with the post office. 

shandonista i agree with your post....

There are some people I only communicate with via post.  There is a simple joy in choosing the right stationary, picking up my fountain pen, and setting out a few brief ideas.  The letters are never about anything life-changing, and they are the most important communications I make on those days. 
 
My most common letter corespondant is my 94 year old Great Aunt.  She was a school teacher in her youth, a night-owl antique's dealer and pin-setter in her middle years, and a League Of Women Voters mainstay over her whole life.  She can no longer see to read, so she borrows history books on CD to listen to from the library.  Every few months, she and I exchange letters, which she can write with the help of a computer magnifier, and mine now have to be typed in large print for her to even come close to reading.
 
I will mourn the passing of the post office.  I will not, however, mourn that annoying search for a stamp on the day that my credit card bill is due, nor the pile of flyers from fast food "restaurants" I never visit.

   
 
 
since I didn't get the card in the mail in time....
 
 
 
 
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MACDADDY !!!

Television  informs  me  that  USPS  now  has  4  handy  sizes  of  flat-rate  shipping  boxes......
I  was  thinking  perhaps  I  could  ship  my  kid  off  to  her  mother's   house,  and  me  somewhere  it  would  be  balmy  &  peaceful.    Strictly  to   refresh  my  batteries,  mind  you. 
Old  Man  Winter  is  ominously  approaching,   and  I'm  thinking  the  animals  have  better  sense  than  humans.....some  fly  South,  others  fortify  their  lairs  with  provisions,  fur  thickens  up.   Why  am  I  not  making  this  observation  a  learning  experience?

bert, i'd also seen the ads, which prompted me to try the service.....it's true, and it works.  was well received by one son in boot camp in georgia!!!! you can fill the box and it ships...the box is free, along with appropriate labels...you just pick them up at the post office and pay the flat rate when you send it....
 
 

Cuukoo1:   So  is  it  safe  to  assume  that  you  are  willing  to  seal  me  up  with  a  tape  gun,  and  ship  me  to  "General  Delivery,  Key  West,  Florida?"   It  is  cool  and  damp  here,  the  trees  are  starting  to  shed  their  leaves,  and  I  have  this  primal  instinct  telling  me  to  hunker  down  &  get  ready  for  Winter.....

Bert~time to grow your beard. Tucking your fur covered chin into the top of your coat lets your warmth sneak up to warm you in a most familiar way...kinda like the warmth under the covers when you don't wanna get outa bed on a dreary morning.  And it speeds up getting ready to roll out in the morning-no shaving.  And, lets face it, in the Spring,when you shave it off,you look way younger,and more attractive,just in time for flowering...

Road  Yacht:   I  really  do  have  a  great  beard,  but  I  have  found  that  keeping  a  beard  manicured  is  just  as  much  work  as  shaving.  Perhaps  I  could  add  the  beard,  then  use  pillows  to  supply  extra  girth....  Does  Macy's  {formerly  Marshall  Fields}  still  have  Santa  in  the  central  area  that  accommodates  their  giant  tree?  
One  more  thing,  make  sure  Cuukoo1  leaves  air   holes  in  my  shipping  box.

bert...do you one better...i'll send you to sunset key...a little private island just off key west....beautiful, just beautiful....you can catch a launch 24/7 over to key west, should you get tired of privacy, dolphins and such...

Cuukoo1:   Why  oh  why,  my  virtual  friend,  do  you  have  reasonable  suspicion  to  believe  that  I  would  EVER  get  tired  of  "privacy,  dolphins,  and  such?"   I  keep  trying  out  how  to  find  a  way  to  relocate  permanently  to  Ecuador's  Galapagos  Islands,  but  they  strictly  enforce  the  time  limit  on  their  temporary  visa...one  renewal  consecutive  to  1st  visit,  that's  all.   I  am  willing  to  give  them  an  affidavit  that  under  penalty  of  death  I  will  NOT  set  up  a  shop  selling  flimsy  trinkets  from  China  or  Taiwan.....

Bert~just win the lottery,buy a large yacht,and anchor just outside of the Galapagos limits;there then you will be the Emporer of your domain,and afforded the privleges of diplomatic travel...send for us to staff the ship...

Heck, I would even join the Mailcarriers to bring you treats,and catch the sepiaboat back for work

After on of the nastiest storms we have had in a loooong time, I am ready to join the crew on the yaught.    The mail man got through though my mail was pretty damp.  I won't say the same for the newspaper.  It was paper mache and even though i asked for another one it never came.
 
Doc Nolan:  I too am the tactile type.  I just don't undersand reading on a Kindle or some such thing.  Actually,  if i get a document via email I have to print it because information on the screen doesn't absorb into my brain at all.
 
Letter writing;  What are all the poor historians and biographers going to do if there are no letters read and write about?  They might get some emails if someone saved them (printed and saved them?) and historians with Twitter and Texting??????

If I could only draw:  a cartoon of cuukoo packing bert inside of a postal box, taping away all the edges...and bert inside, instructing her on how to do it..."and don't forget the air holes!" -- bert, you do make me laugh sometimes.
 
God help me for saying this, I am laughing, but sometimes bert, you remind me of Felix Unger...
 
I liked Felix, so don't get hurt feelings, please.
<smile, laugh, wink...>

Just yesterday, while foraging through some stored items, I came across letters that my mother sent to my father while he was serving in the Pacific Theatre (WWII for the  youngsters).   They have both been gone for years, but these letters were wonderfully touching and conveyed a softer, more loving side of my mother that I never knew. I fear my children and grandchildren will not have that same thrill, but hope that my kids have keep some of the cheesy postcards I have sent them throughout my travels.  I found the impetus for those in another box in storage.  The postcard that my mom had sent us kids in 1957, pointing out that my dad was in the fourth windo from the left on the fourth find.  A real treasure that I am so glad I shoved into a box a long time ago.

PARK4:   The Felix Unger, who's Analysts are Brothers ... Dr.'s Niles & Frasier Crane .......

... Frank Burns is probably his Podiatrist .......
 
 
... Dr. Calaghari, his Dentist .......
 
 
... Dr. Jejyll his Internist .......
 
 
... Dr. Phibes his Occulist .......
 
... Dr. Fu Mang Chou his E N T .......
 
 
Who knows ???????

I have letters my grandmother wrote to my grandfather when they were courting in the early 1900's.  She was such a flirt!  Letters and documents from my Great Grandfather including Letter to his fiance written in 1886.  He was one of the first white men in Colorado and had a trading post in Grand Junction.  Lots of Newspapers from 1925... saved on the days of my Great Great Grandfathers last illness and death. The articles and juicy scandals are great and the stock market is interesting to.
 
Also, Wills  and letters discussing purchasing property...  The Wills are maybe a page or two instead of the tomes they are today
 
One of the coolest aspects of my job is that I end up archiving my clients papers and end up learning the history of their lives.  I end up know more about the person then their family does which is kind of sad.
 
After their passing I have the hardest time sometimes to convince the family to keep the history instead of tossing it away.
 
 

One of the treasures saved in our family (and now on our family website) is a letter from my maternal grandfather's uncle, Mattthew Brown, telling his parents of the death of their eldest, Capt. John C. Brown, in the Battle of Milliken's Bend in June, 1863.  (They served together in the same volunteer unit.)  Every family needs a small cadre of folks dedicated to rescuing papers like these from oblivion....

The  most  touching  letter  that  involves  the  issue  of  war  &  peace  is  the  letter  that  Major  Sullivan  Ballew ,  Union  Army  1861,  wrote  to  his  wife,   to  share  fully  in  words  the  love  that  he  felt  for  her,  should  he  not  come  home.    8  days  later,  he  was  killed  in  the  1st  Battle  of  Bull  Run.   It  is  on  YouTube,   enter  his  name  into  their  search  engine,   then  click  on  the  link  with  a  contemporary  American  flag.    It  was  also  part  of  Ken  Burns'  documentary  on  PBS,  "The  Civil  War."   I  cannot  listen  to  this  narration  without  tearing  up,  it  speaks  to  the  general  futility  of   war  as  a  problem-solving  device...

 Nachista,
Thank you ,thank you, thank you !!!!
 
 
 
 
My Box-o Chocolates was just handed to me by my husband. It came to our rural post office by Priority Mail.
Chicken and mushrooms with fresh herb gravy
Rice pasta
Steamed broccoli
Homemade chocolate candy for dessert....
mmmmmmmm......

Next summer I shall brave the wilds:  General Delivery! I will mail resupply packages to sundry towns along the route of The Colorado Trail.... food, maps, and a lot of other necessities not always available.  My hike will involve many adventures... and 'general delivery' is just one more I'll grapple with, heh, heh....

For still less than fifty cents apiece, a uniformed representative of the United States Government will come to my house every business day, pick up my correspondence, and deliver it anywhere in the country.
They always get it there in a timely fashion, just as I have directed.
That's a pretty good deal!
 
On another note, I found my treasured Christmas dress on ebay, one of JP's 80s (or was it early 90s-John, can you clarify? lol) marvels: lipstick red fine wale corduroy, leg of mutton sleeves, funnel neck, button front, huge circle skirt, and beyond fabulous. It replaces one I had before, now lost to me through perfidious fortune. It was delivered to me yesterday during a furious rainstorm in a USPS box, left as far back on my porch as possible. When I got home and brought it indoors, it was dripping wet, but the dress was snug and dry.
It fits perfectly... 

OLIVIA- getting something in the mail that you have been yearning for is the most marvelous, exciting thing. It's a little like love in a box. I am getting a birthday package together for one of my oldest friends- it will be full of treasures & I will mail it tomorrow & she will get it Saturday. Yay! A well packed package never gets old. I hope I never stop looking forward to the mail.
OLIVIA- I'm sure you look gorgeous in your dress- spin around once for me.

AND PUL-EASE, DO NOT FORGET R.F.D....that was what brought the agrarian society to market,kept them informed,connected to their lineage,in other countries as well as hither and yon in ours. AND CATALOGS!!! What boy didn't drool over the Lionel trainsets for Christmas, or the Daisy BB guns....and DO NOT FORGET BATLLE CREEK MICHA-GAN...HOME OF THE PRIZE DECODER RINGS...how else would those lovingly saved box tops have arrived at their intended destination....WE KNEW OUR POSTMAN- - HE KNEW OUR BIRTHDAYS...He was our Knight in blue armour...even our dog wagged his tail for the mailman

And I may be wrong on this, but I remember some rule that gave the Post Office truck right of way over all other vehicles-even ambulances, if I remember correctly...

There is nothing like writing a letter on deckled cream-laid stationery with a good medium nibbed fountain pen and India ink.
Except receiving same.
 
Bebe-this dress was MADE for twirling! And yes, John Peterman, I wear it with riding boots, just for you.
It looks good with granny shoes, too...

AND THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE

Oh, and which of you (c'mon, be honest) didn't play.......post office

And speaking as I did of catalogs,and how we waitedfor them to balm our souls,and decorate our dreams(National Geographic not included)that was how we were introduced to our benefactor...that uncommonsized Peterman catalog,with that incredible duster.....HISTORY MADE