Although we have home delivery here in Millinocket, the mail is actually only delivered a few times a week. I can tell that because the previous day's mail will be wrapped in a rubber band. I don't actually mind because we so rarely get anything in the mail that isn't either shredded or burned, usually unopened, but it's not like we get to buy stamps at a discount because we're getting less service. My guess is that they're not paying overtime, and postal workers are generally slow, so anything that isn't delivered by quitting time is rubber banded and left for the next day. Then again, when we get mail, it usually comes before 10 am.
I think they are having trouble with trucking just like everyone else. I have noticed that the mail has SLOWED dramatically since the beginning of December and seems to be slowing even more lately. I received a notice from the VA yesterday that was mailed on January second. It took a week and a half to come about 100 miles. Maybe they are trying to meet standards set by Benjamin Franklin...although the nation was smaller and they didn't motorized vehicles, automatic sorters and jets to help then.
Twice-a-month delivery in Charlottesville (not a small town) is still an issue...been going on since "the virus whose name shall not be spoken" hit the scene. I know a few of the carriers in my rural county were infected, but I doubt that I've missed more that a day's delivery here & there. Dunno why such a difference, and I don't know why our carriers have not been pulled to service the people with louder voices and deeper pockets.
My bills seem to come through on a regular basis. But I've got a pet peeve with the USPS. If they don't deliver you any mail they din;t have cto pick up any outgoing mail you might have on the box, or that's what the PostMaster here said. I've had some of my utility bills and and Cable bill pinned on my box for four days and postman walk right by. And then to think the postal service never have enough money. They'd have less if it was left up to me, until they start doing what they should be doing: picking up and delivering my mail.
I just looked in the USPS website to see if your post master was being honest. It says this: "Letter carriers can pick up mail as they make their deliveries if the flag is up." Note the word "can," not "shall." A user on Quora who identified himself as an ex-carrier (1989-2011) said "As a rural carrier we were required to pick up outgoing mail regardless if you had incoming mail as long as the flag was up, we were also required to pick up mail without a stamp if you left money to cover postage and affix the stamps to the envelope." Another site said “Since 1929, postal policy has required a city delivery carrier to collect mail from a mailbox on the house only when he/she has mail to deliver to that box. This policy is necessary because mailboxes located at the door do not have the red signal flag, so the carrier would be required to walk to each door regardless of whether there was mail to be delivered or picked up." Mine always gets picked up. So the issue seems to be whether or not you have a flag, except even if you do the USPS website says "can" and not "shall" or "must." And it also seems that the rules vary by the nature of the route.
That seems to be the policy here, that 1929 policy. The PM here last year told me postmen didn't have to pick up my mail if I didn't have any to be delivered. I'll admit I didn't know it predated my complaint by so much. The PM probably thought and may have said under his breath: Dummy. I did not know such a policy existed. Makes me wondewr again about them Octopus.
Who's to know? I could not find clear rules anywhere on the USPS website. The info I found was posted by guys like us who claimed to know what they're talking about. The only reason they would call us dummies is we can't buy that service from someone else. Reminds me of the folks at my county's water authority. I like to force them to talk to me and not just hand me a piece of paper and brush me off...then they can go back to sleep if they want.
I grew up in a family that were knife traders. Haven't thought about it in years but my grandson was here the other day and I traded knives with him at his suggestion. He had aknkfe he had carried a long time and I had an old knife I had had for years. He said he gave twenty-eight dollars for his when he bought it. It goes for forty-nine, nighty-five now. Mine was a two bit knife and I told him so but he insisted. He said he bought one occasionally or traded one. Wonder if that's a gene inclination?
I believe such inclinations can be inherited...absolutely! And that's a good one to pass down. A guy at church makes his own knives...they are real nice.
We don't have flags in the city. Or maybe we do.I do recall seeing in some of the more swanky homes, a mailbox bricked in at the base and an old fashioneed mail box sticking up that had a flag. I wonder if a red flag on a stick would work.
Our postman drives a truck, but still walks up to the mailboxes on the houses. They threatened to make us put the boxes out on the street a long time ago. The heavy street parking in our neighborhood would make that very little more efficient. Possibly it's required now for new mailboxes. We had one nasty mailman years ago, but he retired. All the others have been very nice. So, I've always tried to never leave outgoing mail on the box, to save the guys from walking so much, but it's getting hard to find a public mailbox.
I was, of course, in the wrong. Most of the mailmen I have had were nice guys; and ow we've got gals. I have at least three different mail people elivering the mail on this block weekly. They are part time people. I no longer know who my regular mail man is. Most are part time. Don't suppose it matters.
Well my printer died today. So I did a search for best printers for i-Mac. The best price was at Apple.com and it gets delivered tomorrow via anyone except. USPS