Where Everybody Knows You're Numb

Psych Lit · Guru

RE: post office closing

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Anonymous wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid.

<the crazy kid in the white house>

SPEAKING of neighbors ... (some call it "thread drift." I prefer "segue way.")

Had a dream last night which I'm still recalling, so it must'a been important.
I was in the neighborhood alley, jaw flappin' with a coupld of old boys (I think I was in the Mid West, from the feeling of the air/sky and greenery) and one of 'em had chopped down a big tree, and the stump was there in the alley to be picked up, and after they left, I rolled it back home, and decided I'd go rent a chain saw, and make the stepping stones I wanted for the "we're-back-in-my-Arizona-back-yard-now" pathway I've considered making to both the alley behind my home and my "Fortress of Solitude."

I guess that decides it for me.
I've been kicking around (not literally, lol) either doing that (tree stumps aren't around every available corner these days in Phoenix, oddly) or getting the concrete stepping stones (or perhaps making them, although I'm sort of disinclined to so do -- if I had a pacel of kids, and wanted to do some cool family momento thing, I suppose I could make some "family" stepping stones with them, but such is not the case.--

Such are the dreams of the everyday
Over the hill lesbian woman. :)

<still feelin' really BUTCH> uh OOOOOOOOOO gah! ::: flex... flex...:::

Well then, feeding into the drift....before you fire up that chainsaw don't forget your safety goggles. To further, further the drift, if you don't already own a pair of safety goggles get some. Dollar Tree has them. But, beware, they're probably full of pet killing food particles, bird flu viruses and lead.
Thanks for the tip. I'll run right over, and get a pair. LOL LOL.

(I actually DO have a pair, but the elastic on 'em is pretty shot, so probably time for a new pair, now that you mention it. I usually wear glasses of some sort whenever I mow the lawn or use the weedeater, though, "just in case.") One little misplaced pebble and "One eyed Owl" Not if I can help it.

First, though, I have to have another dream, and find out exactly where that tree stump WAS. IT wasn't perfect -- I recalled thinking it wouldn't be perfectly round, but rather sort of oval, but I was willing to settle.

<frugally "making do" even in my dreams>

Lemme tell you what, women dig the pirate patch. It's as good as bringing a new puppy to the park. I took a softball to the face my hs senior year. Hit the glass raybans dead on. A shard pierced my eyeball. I had to stay on my back for something like two or three weeks in total darkness and completely motionless.

Geez, BD! How terribly frightening that must have been!

After that it was an eyepatch for a couple of months. Much of that time is a real blur.

Pun intended?

Naturally, the selective memories are sharp as tacks. And those are the ones that included alot of women. Of course those were New York women, athletes, brainiacs and artists. It may not have been the patch at all. Who knows, who cares. There's my one eyed "dog" story. :)

I don't think I want to hear the other one.

wink

(I know, I know...)

Date: Fri Feb 6 12:00 PM, 2009

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid.

<the crazy kid in the white house>

SPEAKING of neighbors ... (some call it "thread drift." I prefer "segue way.")

Had a dream last night which I'm still recalling, so it must'a been important.
I was in the neighborhood alley, jaw flappin' with a coupld of old boys (I think I was in the Mid West, from the feeling of the air/sky and greenery) and one of 'em had chopped down a big tree, and the stump was there in the alley to be picked up, and after they left, I rolled it back home, and decided I'd go rent a chain saw, and make the stepping stones I wanted for the "we're-back-in-my-Arizona-back-yard-now" pathway I've considered making to both the alley behind my home and my "Fortress of Solitude."

I guess that decides it for me.
I've been kicking around (not literally, lol) either doing that (tree stumps aren't around every available corner these days in Phoenix, oddly) or getting the concrete stepping stones (or perhaps making them, although I'm sort of disinclined to so do -- if I had a pacel of kids, and wanted to do some cool family momento thing, I suppose I could make some "family" stepping stones with them, but such is not the case.--

Such are the dreams of the everyday
Over the hill lesbian woman. :)

<still feelin' really BUTCH> uh OOOOOOOOOO gah! ::: flex... flex...:::

Well then, feeding into the drift....before you fire up that chainsaw don't forget your safety goggles. To further, further the drift, if you don't already own a pair of safety goggles get some. Dollar Tree has them. But, beware, they're probably full of pet killing food particles, bird flu viruses and lead.
Thanks for the tip. I'll run right over, and get a pair. LOL LOL.

(I actually DO have a pair, but the elastic on 'em is pretty shot, so probably time for a new pair, now that you mention it. I usually wear glasses of some sort whenever I mow the lawn or use the weedeater, though, "just in case.") One little misplaced pebble and "One eyed Owl" Not if I can help it.

First, though, I have to have another dream, and find out exactly where that tree stump WAS. IT wasn't perfect -- I recalled thinking it wouldn't be perfectly round, but rather sort of oval, but I was willing to settle.

<frugally "making do" even in my dreams>

Lemme tell you what, women dig the pirate patch. It's as good as bringing a new puppy to the park. I took a softball to the face my hs senior year. Hit the glass raybans dead on. A shard pierced my eyeball. I had to stay on my back for something like two or three weeks in total darkness and completely motionless. After that it was an eyepatch for a couple of months. Much of that time is a real blur. Naturally, the selective memories are sharp as tacks. And those are the ones that included alot of women. Of course those were New York women, athletes, brainiacs and artists. It may not have been the patch at all. Who knows, who cares. There's my one eyed "dog" story. :)

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Anonymous wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid.

<the crazy kid in the white house>

SPEAKING of neighbors ... (some call it "thread drift." I prefer "segue way.")

Had a dream last night which I'm still recalling, so it must'a been important.
I was in the neighborhood alley, jaw flappin' with a coupld of old boys (I think I was in the Mid West, from the feeling of the air/sky and greenery) and one of 'em had chopped down a big tree, and the stump was there in the alley to be picked up, and after they left, I rolled it back home, and decided I'd go rent a chain saw, and make the stepping stones I wanted for the "we're-back-in-my-Arizona-back-yard-now" pathway I've considered making to both the alley behind my home and my "Fortress of Solitude."

I guess that decides it for me.
I've been kicking around (not literally, lol) either doing that (tree stumps aren't around every available corner these days in Phoenix, oddly) or getting the concrete stepping stones (or perhaps making them, although I'm sort of disinclined to so do -- if I had a pacel of kids, and wanted to do some cool family momento thing, I suppose I could make some "family" stepping stones with them, but such is not the case.--

Such are the dreams of the everyday
Over the hill lesbian woman. :)

<still feelin' really BUTCH> uh OOOOOOOOOO gah! ::: flex... flex...:::

Well then, feeding into the drift....before you fire up that chainsaw don't forget your safety goggles. To further, further the drift, if you don't already own a pair of safety goggles get some. Dollar Tree has them. But, beware, they're probably full of pet killing food particles, bird flu viruses and lead.

Thanks for the tip. I'll run right over, and get a pair. wink

LOL LOL.

(I actually DO have a pair, but the elastic on 'em is pretty shot, so probably time for a new pair, now that you mention it. I usually wear glasses of some sort whenever I mow the lawn or use the weedeater, though, "just in case.") One little misplaced pebble and "One eyed Owl" Not if I can help it.

First, though, I have to have another dream, and find out exactly where that tree stump WAS. IT wasn't perfect -- I recalled thinking it wouldn't be perfectly round, but rather sort of oval, but I was willing to settle. smile

Date: Fri Feb 6 10:34 AM, 2009

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid.

<the crazy kid in the white house>

SPEAKING of neighbors ... (some call it "thread drift." I prefer "segue way.")

Had a dream last night which I'm still recalling, so it must'a been important.
I was in the neighborhood alley, jaw flappin' with a coupld of old boys (I think I was in the Mid West, from the feeling of the air/sky and greenery) and one of 'em had chopped down a big tree, and the stump was there in the alley to be picked up, and after they left, I rolled it back home, and decided I'd go rent a chain saw, and make the stepping stones I wanted for the "we're-back-in-my-Arizona-back-yard-now" pathway I've considered making to both the alley behind my home and my "Fortress of Solitude."

I guess that decides it for me.
I've been kicking around (not literally, lol) either doing that (tree stumps aren't around every available corner these days in Phoenix, oddly) or getting the concrete stepping stones (or perhaps making them, although I'm sort of disinclined to so do -- if I had a pacel of kids, and wanted to do some cool family momento thing, I suppose I could make some "family" stepping stones with them, but such is not the case.--

Such are the dreams of the everyday
Over the hill lesbian woman. :)

<still feelin' really BUTCH> uh OOOOOOOOOO gah! ::: flex... flex...:::

Well then, feeding into the drift....before you fire up that chainsaw don't forget your safety goggles. To further, further the drift, if you don't already own a pair of safety goggles get some. Dollar Tree has them. But, beware, they're probably full of pet killing food particles, bird flu viruses and lead.

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Anonymous wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid.

<the crazy kid in the white house>

I'll trade you my Maxine for your neighbors on BOTH sides.

Ummm thank you, no. smile

(Although I reserve the right to change my mind up to a week after I see that "for rent" sign next door disappear.)

Let's just call it a draw, and agree that BOTH of us are (at least for the moment) supportive of our individual municipalities' nudity laws, and leave it at that. biggrin

Don't GO there! 'That way lies madness!'

-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 10:02, 2009-02-06

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid.

<the crazy kid in the white house>

SPEAKING of neighbors ... (some call it "thread drift." I prefer "segue way.")

Had a dream last night which I'm still recalling, so it must'a been important.
I was in the neighborhood alley, jaw flappin' with a coupld of old boys (I think I was in the Mid West, from the feeling of the air/sky and greenery) and one of 'em had chopped down a big tree, and the stump was there in the alley to be picked up, and after they left, I rolled it back home, and decided I'd go rent a chain saw, and make the stepping stones I wanted for the "we're-back-in-my-Arizona-back-yard-now" pathway I've considered making to both the alley behind my home and my "Fortress of Solitude."

I guess that decides it for me.
I've been kicking around (not literally, lol) either doing that (tree stumps aren't around every available corner these days in Phoenix, oddly) or getting the concrete stepping stones (or perhaps making them, although I'm sort of disinclined to so do -- if I had a pacel of kids, and wanted to do some cool family momento thing, I suppose I could make some "family" stepping stones with them, but such is not the case.--

Such are the dreams of the everyday
Over the hill lesbian woman. :)

<still feelin' really BUTCH> uh OOOOOOOOOO gah! ::: flex... flex...:::

Date: Fri Feb 6 9:49 AM, 2009

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid.

<the crazy kid in the white house>

I'll trade you my Maxine for your neighbors on BOTH sides.

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

BoxDog wrote:

Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Trust me on this ... no one wants to see my neighbors nekkid. biggrin

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

BoxDog wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:
gives a real-time audio tour of the night sky.
Discover constellations,naked neighbors, mythology, the real stories of what kids do after school outamazing facts and cover-ups and planets sans pluto? or is she back in favor?
I just saw this. LOL!
Thus far, I've discovered only some new bags.
Well, one, really.

:::blink::: :::blink:::

Thunkin bd on da head. now thats another fine mess youve gotten her into. for the bail money...bake sale or heist?

Yanno, in my earnest effort to break from my comfort zone? I'm thinking a powerful "one hit wonder". A song, a theme. Something tied to something else. But where you don't have to work once the project is complete. Something with wide appeal, novelty, heartstring tuggin, somethin. I miss the one hit wonders. Efficiently marketed it could be an investment in the future without any risks. The concern would be to stay OUT of TMZ's "look at them now segment". Plus the residuals, we'll have recurring bail money for when she hooks that camera up to the peeper like you suggest. ;)

LOL LOL Youse guys ...
"I see Paris, I see France,
I see the 'Cops' film crew ..."

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

BoxDog wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

WOW! that is indeed a very sweet gift! and what a supportive loving thing for someone to have done...

Yeah. :) She made me guess what it was (before the box even arrived) and almost had me believing it was a snow globe with bees in it.

i wonder if you could somehow attach the camera to that and get some pix?

Yeah, I've been thinking about that. But first, I need to figure out how to just get it so that I can use it in the more pedestrian way. Really this has a (for me, anyway) pretty steep learning curve. Lots of math.

-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 00:10, 2009-02-06

You might consider digging holes in a roundabout pattern that are about the size of a golf cup. That will allow you to engage the feet of the tripod into a stationary,level place that you would then just use the manual lever on the tripod to move it around. You could drop the little cups all over the yard, but with that size magnification you wont need to. Just be certain the cup holes are as level as you can get them, flush to the ground and smaller than the width of your feet so you don't fall into them. Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Is that creepy?

Good idea, but .... "Buck" biggrin

Did I mention that he thinks the alyssum I plant is intended as an after dinner breath mint? I went out yesterday to water, and the two clumps I'd dropped in the flower bed were completely GONE, except for some rectangular clumbs of potting soil, lying on top of the soil in the bed. The village had been pillaged. PLUS, every where I even wave a shovel, becomes a "I can help! Let ME help!" place, and the next day, I look down, and see last year's Olympic village. Plus, he buries every rawhide bone he gets his teeth into, and steals out of the recycle bin, drags out to the back yard, and chews up every plastic bottle he can get his teeth onto. This morning, I noted Mom's potato salad container, yogurt container, buttermilk container, and oh yeah, a peanut butter (plastic) jar all lying beside his toys. It's a daily thing. The thought of cups in the yard for more than five minutes after I'd left .... :)

I DO appreciate your sharing the idea, though. Thanks! smile

I may try something similar to that after I figure out how to get the telescope to work.

When my best bud since 4th grade and I took our "Farewell to Youth" road trip (in our early twenties ... sheesh, but she was going into med school, so it seemed that way at the time) over a two month period, we slept outside every night but one outside of Denver (I was sick as a dog, and there was a bad dust storm -- we stayed at a motel) and a few days with a pal of mine in Salem Oregon. She had had an astronomy course the last semester of school, and had all these star maps, and so nightly, we'd make our campfire (where it was legal) and then kick back, and track the stars, changing as both we traveled, and the summer wore on. It was an amazing activity, now that I look back on it ...

Now, I have this recorded thing which well tell me where to set the telescope, and what I'll see when I look through the lens. I imagine the stars will look about the same size as they did over 30 years ago in the Grand Tetons, before we had all this additional pollution. :)

BoxDog · Guru

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

WOW! that is indeed a very sweet gift! and what a supportive loving thing for someone to have done...

Yeah. :) She made me guess what it was (before the box even arrived) and almost had me believing it was a snow globe with bees in it.

i wonder if you could somehow attach the camera to that and get some pix?

Yeah, I've been thinking about that. But first, I need to figure out how to just get it so that I can use it in the more pedestrian way. Really this has a (for me, anyway) pretty steep learning curve. Lots of math.

-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 00:10, 2009-02-06

You might consider digging holes in a roundabout pattern that are about the size of a golf cup. That will allow you to engage the feet of the tripod into a stationary,level place that you would then just use the manual lever on the tripod to move it around. You could drop the little cups all over the yard, but with that size magnification you wont need to. Just be certain the cup holes are as level as you can get them, flush to the ground and smaller than the width of your feet so you don't fall into them. Or, if you really wanna see the nekkid neighbors go on the roof at night and rig a little something up there. Stargazing right into the new womans home. Cops can't tell till they look in the unit what your're peeping at no matter what the Jones lady says. ;)

Is that creepy?

BoxDog · Guru

Psych Lit wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:
gives a real-time audio tour of the night sky.
Discover constellations,naked neighbors, mythology, the real stories of what kids do after school outamazing facts and cover-ups and planets sans pluto? or is she back in favor?
I just saw this. LOL!
Thus far, I've discovered only some new bags.
Well, one, really.

:::blink::: :::blink:::

Thunkin bd on da head. now thats another fine mess youve gotten her into. for the bail money...bake sale or heist?

Yanno, in my earnest effort to break from my comfort zone? I'm thinking a powerful "one hit wonder". A song, a theme. Something tied to something else. But where you don't have to work once the project is complete. Something with wide appeal, novelty, heartstring tuggin, somethin. I miss the one hit wonders. Efficiently marketed it could be an investment in the future without any risks. The concern would be to stay OUT of TMZ's "look at them now segment". Plus the residuals, we'll have recurring bail money for when she hooks that camera up to the peeper like you suggest. ;)

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Psych Lit wrote:

WOW! that is indeed a very sweet gift! and what a supportive loving thing for someone to have done...

Yeah. :) She made me guess what it was (before the box even arrived) and almost had me believing it was a snow globe with bees in it.

i wonder if you could somehow attach the camera to that and get some pix?

Yeah, I've been thinking about that. But first, I need to figure out how to just get it so that I can use it in the more pedestrian way. Really this has a (for me, anyway) pretty steep learning curve. Lots of math. hmm

-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 00:10, 2009-02-06

Psych Lit · Guru

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:
gives a real-time audio tour of the night sky.
Discover constellations,naked neighbors, mythology, the real stories of what kids do after school outamazing facts and cover-ups and planets sans pluto? or is she back in favor?
I just saw this. LOL!
Thus far, I've discovered only some new bags.
Well, one, really.

:::blink::: :::blink:::

Thunkin bd on da head. now thats another fine mess youve gotten her into. for the bail money...bake sale or heist?

Psych Lit · Guru

BoxDog wrote:

Yeah, but I don't think THIS would'a fit into one of them ....

Bushnell Voyager Sky Tour Telescope 78-9945 Is A 900MM x 4.5 Inch, 114MM Reflector With An Illuminated Smart Mount.
The Bushnell Voyager® sky tour Telescopes feature an Electronic Sky Tour handset that gives a real-time audio tour of the night sky.
Discover constellations,naked neighbors, mythology, the real stories of what kids do after school outamazing facts and cover-ups and planets sans pluto? or is she back in favor? .
Illuminated Smart Mount guides to the objects highlighted by the Handset.
LED electronic red dot finderscope for fast positioning.
Large 1.25'' diameter eyepieces.
It's a "housewarming gift" for my "Fortress of Solitude"
I'm like ....

That's a very sweet gift. Congrats. 900mm? http://hubble.nasa.gov/Have fun! Is this in line with your aol-astrology we were discussing a week or two ago? Cause I really need to know if I can expect my April 17th thingy to come through.

WOW! that is indeed a very sweet gift! and what a supportive loving thing for someone to have done...i wonder if you could somehow attach the camera to that and get some pix?

Date: Thu Feb 5 10:32 PM, 2009

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

That's a very sweet gift. Congrats. <BD

It is, indeed, and thanks.
Problem is, I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to set it up. The manual is beyond worthless (with NO diagrams, tyvm) -- I used the outside of the box as much as anything to try to copy it in the set up.

Now, I can see my eyeball any time I want.
The MOON? No.
My eyeball? Yes.

I even googled "telescopes for dummies" and discovered all THOSE sites were more advanced than what I'm looking for.
I literally can't hit the broad side of the moon.

Is this in line with your aol-astrology we were discussing a week or two ago? Cause I really need to know if I can expect my April 17th thingy to come through.
Not sure about that. I've forgotten already. ROFL.
Sad, but true (it's the first to go, yanno...)

Sounds like you need to figure out if your gadget is a refractor or a reflecting telescope first. Alot like we talked about back with the SLR single lens reflex cameras versus the 110's and other point and shoots. See if the local U has a planetarium with a website, or ask jeeves. Maybe even just ask.com. 900mm is ALOT of juice. It wouldn't surprise me if you're set up fine but have to adjust the scope alot more than your instincts tell you to. Play with it. Keep Buck away from the legs. No, really. You forgot about our horoscopes? You were in charge of them! Now what???

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

BoxDog wrote:
gives a real-time audio tour of the night sky.
Discover constellations,naked neighbors, mythology, the real stories of what kids do after school outamazing facts and cover-ups and planets sans pluto? or is she back in favor?

I just saw this. LOL!
Thus far, I've discovered only some new bags.
Well, one, really.

:::blink::: :::blink:::

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

BoxDog wrote:

That's a very sweet gift. Congrats. <BD

It is, indeed, and thanks.
Problem is, I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to set it up. The manual is beyond worthless (with NO diagrams, tyvm) -- I used the outside of the box as much as anything to try to copy it in the set up.

Now, I can see my eyeball any time I want.
The MOON? No.
My eyeball? Yes.

I even googled "telescopes for dummies" and discovered all THOSE sites were more advanced than what I'm looking for.
I literally can't hit the broad side of the moon.

Is this in line with your aol-astrology we were discussing a week or two ago? Cause I really need to know if I can expect my April 17th thingy to come through.

Not sure about that. I've forgotten already. ROFL.
Sad, but true (it's the first to go, yanno...)

BoxDog · Guru

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

My Turn wrote:

night owl:

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?

______________________________________________________

alrighty....the first problem here is that you are comparing two different companies and two different services. Fed Ex offers a "2nd Day Service" at the approx cost of $12.50 for a one pound package. "Priority Mail" throught the postal service, with signature, which is what you are referring to here(because you say the delivery is 2-3 day) is available for a cost of approx: $5 for a 2lb or less package. the priority mail service from the post office, comes with a delivery standard of 2-3 business days, NOT a GUARANTEE. plus if you are tracking this online, the post office only updates the "delivery/signature confirmation" information at the end of each business day for prority mail. therefore, if you have not received it yet, it will not show you where the package is in transit.

if you wanted the same level of service as Fed Ex, at a lower cost, then the option that should have been selected is "Express Mail." this service will provide stop by stop online and telephone tracking capabilties and depending on the destination will provide for GUARANTEED delivery before noon or before 3pm the next day. the cost of this service starts at $12.60. this same service is available thru Fed Ex for approx. $17.57 for delivery by 3:00pm or $20.57 for delivery by noon.

Well, was just delivered.
Postage was $45.55, so I'm thinkin' it wasn't sent by the USPS to save money.

holy crap. Not knowing the shape or size of what you had delivered, there's something called "flat rate" shipping with the usps. For something like 12 bucks they offer three size boxes to choose from and regardless of weight it gets anywhere in the country in about 2/3 days. I might have already written this, maybe not, meant to. Too late. That's absolutely outrageous. For the record, the post office will deliver the actual empty "flat rate" boxes, free of charge to your home.

Okay, still at work. Anon.

Yeah, but I don't think THIS would'a fit into one of them ....

Bushnell Voyager Sky Tour Telescope 78-9945 Is A 900MM x 4.5 Inch, 114MM Reflector With An Illuminated Smart Mount.
The Bushnell Voyager® sky tour Telescopes feature an Electronic Sky Tour handset that gives a real-time audio tour of the night sky.
Discover constellations,naked neighbors, mythology, the real stories of what kids do after school outamazing facts and cover-ups and planets sans pluto? or is she back in favor? .
Illuminated Smart Mount guides to the objects highlighted by the Handset.
LED electronic red dot finderscope for fast positioning.
Large 1.25'' diameter eyepieces.
It's a "housewarming gift" for my "Fortress of Solitude"
I'm like ....

That's a very sweet gift. Congrats.

900mm? http://hubble.nasa.gov/ Have fun! Is this in line with your aol-astrology we were discussing a week or two ago? Cause I really need to know if I can expect my April 17th thingy to come through.

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Anonymous wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

My Turn wrote:

night owl:

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?

______________________________________________________

alrighty....the first problem here is that you are comparing two different companies and two different services. Fed Ex offers a "2nd Day Service" at the approx cost of $12.50 for a one pound package. "Priority Mail" throught the postal service, with signature, which is what you are referring to here(because you say the delivery is 2-3 day) is available for a cost of approx: $5 for a 2lb or less package. the priority mail service from the post office, comes with a delivery standard of 2-3 business days, NOT a GUARANTEE. plus if you are tracking this online, the post office only updates the "delivery/signature confirmation" information at the end of each business day for prority mail. therefore, if you have not received it yet, it will not show you where the package is in transit.

if you wanted the same level of service as Fed Ex, at a lower cost, then the option that should have been selected is "Express Mail." this service will provide stop by stop online and telephone tracking capabilties and depending on the destination will provide for GUARANTEED delivery before noon or before 3pm the next day. the cost of this service starts at $12.60. this same service is available thru Fed Ex for approx. $17.57 for delivery by 3:00pm or $20.57 for delivery by noon.

Well, was just delivered.
Postage was $45.55, so I'm thinkin' it wasn't sent by the USPS to save money.

holy crap. Not knowing the shape or size of what you had delivered, there's something called "flat rate" shipping with the usps. For something like 12 bucks they offer three size boxes to choose from and regardless of weight it gets anywhere in the country in about 2/3 days. I might have already written this, maybe not, meant to. Too late. That's absolutely outrageous. For the record, the post office will deliver the actual empty "flat rate" boxes, free of charge to your home.

Okay, still at work. Anon.

Yeah, but I don't think THIS would'a fit into one of them .... biggrin

Bushnell Voyager Sky Tour Telescope 78-9945 Is A 900MM x 4.5 Inch, 114MM Reflector With An Illuminated Smart Mount.
The Bushnell Voyager® sky tour Telescopes feature an Electronic Sky Tour handset that gives a real-time audio tour of the night sky.
Discover constellations, mythology, amazing facts and planets.
Illuminated Smart Mount guides to the objects highlighted by the Handset.
LED electronic red dot finderscope for fast positioning.
Large 1.25'' diameter eyepieces.

It's a "housewarming gift" for my "Fortress of Solitude" biggrin
I'm like .... biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin

Date: Thu Feb 5 1:16 PM, 2009

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

My Turn wrote:

night owl:

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?

______________________________________________________

alrighty....the first problem here is that you are comparing two different companies and two different services. Fed Ex offers a "2nd Day Service" at the approx cost of $12.50 for a one pound package. "Priority Mail" throught the postal service, with signature, which is what you are referring to here(because you say the delivery is 2-3 day) is available for a cost of approx: $5 for a 2lb or less package. the priority mail service from the post office, comes with a delivery standard of 2-3 business days, NOT a GUARANTEE. plus if you are tracking this online, the post office only updates the "delivery/signature confirmation" information at the end of each business day for prority mail. therefore, if you have not received it yet, it will not show you where the package is in transit.

if you wanted the same level of service as Fed Ex, at a lower cost, then the option that should have been selected is "Express Mail." this service will provide stop by stop online and telephone tracking capabilties and depending on the destination will provide for GUARANTEED delivery before noon or before 3pm the next day. the cost of this service starts at $12.60. this same service is available thru Fed Ex for approx. $17.57 for delivery by 3:00pm or $20.57 for delivery by noon.

Well, was just delivered.
Postage was $45.55, so I'm thinkin' it wasn't sent by the USPS to save money.

holy crap. Not knowing the shape or size of what you had delivered, there's something called "flat rate" shipping with the usps. For something like 12 bucks they offer three size boxes to choose from and regardless of weight it gets anywhere in the country in about 2/3 days. I might have already written this, maybe not, meant to. Too late. That's absolutely outrageous. For the record, the post office will deliver the actual empty "flat rate" boxes, free of charge to your home.

Okay, still at work. Anon.

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

My Turn wrote:

night owl:

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?

______________________________________________________

alrighty....the first problem here is that you are comparing two different companies and two different services. Fed Ex offers a "2nd Day Service" at the approx cost of $12.50 for a one pound package. "Priority Mail" throught the postal service, with signature, which is what you are referring to here(because you say the delivery is 2-3 day) is available for a cost of approx: $5 for a 2lb or less package. the priority mail service from the post office, comes with a delivery standard of 2-3 business days, NOT a GUARANTEE. plus if you are tracking this online, the post office only updates the "delivery/signature confirmation" information at the end of each business day for prority mail. therefore, if you have not received it yet, it will not show you where the package is in transit.

if you wanted the same level of service as Fed Ex, at a lower cost, then the option that should have been selected is "Express Mail." this service will provide stop by stop online and telephone tracking capabilties and depending on the destination will provide for GUARANTEED delivery before noon or before 3pm the next day. the cost of this service starts at $12.60. this same service is available thru Fed Ex for approx. $17.57 for delivery by 3:00pm or $20.57 for delivery by noon.

Well, was just delivered.
Postage was $45.55, so I'm thinkin' it wasn't sent by the USPS to save money.

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

My Turn wrote:

night owl:

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?

______________________________________________________

alrighty....the first problem here is that you are comparing two different companies and two different services. Fed Ex offers a "2nd Day Service" at the approx cost of $12.50 for a one pound package. "Priority Mail" throught the postal service, with signature, which is what you are referring to here(because you say the delivery is 2-3 day) is available for a cost of approx: $5 for a 2lb or less package. the priority mail service from the post office, comes with a delivery standard of 2-3 business days, NOT a GUARANTEE.

OK. It was officially "accepted" according to the Post office Monday morning, so I'll be watching for it today. Fed Ex "updates" every stop along the way -- when shipped out, when received, etc., and I was disheartened to see the last entry every night at the USPS as "accepted in Michigan" and nothing else. Good to know the tracking isn't done the same way

I don't know how it was mailed, only that it's about 3 feet long and ten inches square, so I'm guessing it weighs more than two pounds, although I can't say for sure, I have to sign for it, and on the USPS site, it says "2-3 business days"

tap... tap... tap....

OK, just checked the USPS (where I have set up an email alert for every entry -- didn't get an email, but it says the package arrived here at 8:37 this morning. If it's delivered by the regular letter carrier, that's after his route begins, so I don't know if I'll get it today, or not. Hope I do.

I have a "thing" about time. I'm the kind of person who, if I have a 3PM meeting am there NO LATER THAN 2:45, and wait in my car for 15 minutes or so. If I'm there at 2:50, in MY mind, I'm "late." That's training from the theatre talking.

If someone tells me for instance, "see you in the morning" I expect to see them before noon. Or BY noon. Noon-thirty, even. Ditto "tomorrow." For me, if you say "I'll be back tomorrow" then don't stay away for a week without so much as a call, yanno? The more I deal with that kind of irritant in one place, the more accutely aware of it I am in others.

My best pal is always late. I EXPECT her to be late, and am pretty OK with it, except when she's on time. If someone driving, and picking me up, and says she'll be by my house at 3PM, then I am outside, on the front porch with all my stuff and the door locked behind me at 2:45PM, regardless of the weather. I don't want THEM to have to wait. With my best bud, it's different, so then, when she DOES show up on time, I may not acutally be on the porch, and that bugs me about ME -- that I wasn't waiting for her ... that she had to wait on me.

It's just so much more simple if people say what they mean, and mean what they say, yanno?

Psych Lit · Guru

My Turn wrote:

Psych Lit wrote: the counter person at the local po tells me that its a waste to pay extra since its gonna get there at the same time anyway. the difference is being able to track the merchandise?

exactly.

oh well. im glad i dont spring for it then. lol. im hoping the new bathing suit arrives tomorrow. ive been ordering them all over the place since the sales lately have been ridiculous. i swim every day and the chlorine does a number on the elastic and the fabric 9 dollars for a suit at old navy, 19 at ll bean clearance, and 11 at macys. im now shopping for a few new rash shirts to match these. (those have worked out really well. i no longer freeze in the pool.)the problem is that you cant be choosy with the colors of these sale items. normally i choose black or navy for swimsuits but im now into aqua and raspberry and chocolate!

My Turn · Senior Member

Psych Lit wrote: the counter person at the local po tells me that its a waste to pay extra since its gonna get there at the same time anyway. the difference is being able to track the merchandise?

exactly.

Psych Lit · Guru

My Turn wrote:

night owl:

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?
its happened to me too this week. im waiting for a bathing suit i ordered last week and on sunday i got one of those its been shipped things and its wednesday and i went to the po this morning and no suit. im thinking the delay is prolly at the outlet point rather than the mail point. the few things i mail usually get where they are going in 2 days tops if i mail them before 10am.
______________________________________________________

alrighty....the first problem here is that you are comparing two different companies and two different services. Fed Ex offers a "2nd Day Service" at the approx cost of $12.50 for a one pound package. "Priority Mail" throught the postal service, with signature, which is what you are referring to here(because you say the delivery is 2-3 day) is available for a cost of approx: $5 for a 2lb or less package.
the counter person at the local po tells me that its a waste to pay extra since its gonna get there at the same time anyway. the difference is being able to track the merchandise?

My Turn · Senior Member

night owl:

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?

______________________________________________________

alrighty....the first problem here is that you are comparing two different companies and two different services. Fed Ex offers a "2nd Day Service" at the approx cost of $12.50 for a one pound package. "Priority Mail" throught the postal service, with signature, which is what you are referring to here(because you say the delivery is 2-3 day) is available for a cost of approx: $5 for a 2lb or less package. the priority mail service from the post office, comes with a delivery standard of 2-3 business days, NOT a GUARANTEE. plus if you are tracking this online, the post office only updates the "delivery/signature confirmation" information at the end of each business day for prority mail. therefore, if you have not received it yet, it will not show you where the package is in transit.

if you wanted the same level of service as Fed Ex, at a lower cost, then the option that should have been selected is "Express Mail." this service will provide stop by stop online and telephone tracking capabilties and depending on the destination will provide for GUARANTEED delivery before noon or before 3pm the next day. the cost of this service starts at $12.60. this same service is available thru Fed Ex for approx. $17.57 for delivery by 3:00pm or $20.57 for delivery by noon.

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Well, all I know is something which is supposed to be delivered in "2-3 business days," and for which I have to sign, in order to receive, was mailed to me from Michigan Monday morning, and as of right now, it's not yet left it's city of origin.

Think that would'a happened with Fed Ex?

My Turn · Senior Member

Psych Lit wrote:

My Turn wrote:

when an applicant is considered for three positions and not hired, the applicant can be removed from the hiring register and will no longer be considered for future positions, altho they can apply and retake the test any time it is again offered to the public.

i will address the 5 day delivery proposal and the lay off issues...be back a little later!

wow, are you a postal worker?

yep yep. was. i did 11 years at the po and did so many jobs there...unloading trucks, sack room, the incoming operation (010), manual distribution clerk, machine distribution clerk (LSM), window/retail clerk, finance clerk, acting supervisor, OIC (officer in charge/relief postmaster), secretary to the postmaster, labor relations associate and human resource associate. i was also one of the ones that left in the last reorganization with a buy out bonus, all of my 500+ hours of sick leave and 440 hours of annual leave (unused vacation time), my monthly check and my health and life insurance....

Psych Lit · Guru

My Turn wrote:

when an applicant is considered for three positions and not hired, the applicant can be removed from the hiring register and will no longer be considered for future positions, altho they can apply and retake the test any time it is again offered to the public.

i will address the 5 day delivery proposal and the lay off issues...be back a little later!

wow, are you a postal worker?

Psych Lit · Guru

10 dollar computers to everybody in india. apparently thats what it costs to produce them en masse. now they do apparently think in terms of social progams.

Are those the "hand crank" ones I read about a couple of years ago, which generate their own electricity? Those (created for impoverished nations where lots of homes don't have electricity)

A similar program i think. the last batch was set to sell at 100 dollars and people could purchase one for their kid for 200 and one would be given to a kid in a developing nation. there were problems with the operating systems tho so there werent a lot of takers in the us, not when another 100 will get you a high powered toshiba.

the ap news blurb said this about the power source and it was pretty general.

"The laptop will reportedly have a two gigabyte memory and wireless Internet capability, but officials have not publicly demonstrated a prototype -- or yet explained how it can be produced at such a low cost.
The government has earmarked more than 46 billion rupees (939 million dollars) to develop the low-power gadget to work in rural areas with unreliable power supply and poor Internet connectivity."

were really cool. The thing about the computer is, that if used "right" it is probably the single greatest contribution to education since the first chalk stick scratched across a black board in a classroom some (relatively short) two hundred plus years ago, when paper and pencils for school kids was a luxury.

Now, people in the most remote areas have access to an incredible wealth of information at their fingertips -- everything from birth control, and how to raise children, to medical perscription interactions, and philosophy.

as long as the content of web browsers are not censored. i doubt india will do that tho. they value both knowledge and technolgy. censorship has been a problem with china and some middle eastern countries apparently. google has the china light browswer which blacks out certain forbidden knowledge.

They can discover how a plant grows -- what it needs to flourish -- one who may live in a town or village without so much as a library may now find Chaucer and Shakespeare, Voltaire and Spinoza "online."

as well as the indian writers and philosophers! how exciting for kids to see people who speak like them and look like them achive success.

I used to frequent the library -- often stymied by the absence of the information I most wanted at my particular branch. I could put a request in for it, but that would be up to a week at least -- sometimes longer. I still use the library -- I renew online, and put in my requests for "holds" online as well. Most of my information, though, is available online, if I just google it correctly.

its wonderful to have access and not have to go to the library or be constrained by library hours anyway. i have these sites bookmarked for searching for things outside the u's databases.

http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=searchArticles
http://oedb.org/library/features/236-open-courseware-collections#DS

I'm sort of with your fuddy duddy friends, Psych, on the land line thing. Mostly, because I've found myself in a situation where I was babysitting in a home which had no land line, and terrified the whole time that the "extra" cell phone left for me to use was going to have a dead battery when I most needed it. Who hasn't experienced a sudden disconnect due to a depleted cell phone battery? I think in households where there are kids a land line is still a "good" and perhaps "necessary" thing.

yeah ive toyed with the idea of at least getting one of those jack things that plug into the broadband and any phone for 10 dollars a year. that i can see doing. its the 140 a month for something i dont use that seemed silly. the other bad thing of cell only use is that they cant zap in on where you live when you call 911 so if you only have moments before ya blackout its nice to have the dispatcher be able to locate you immediately.

-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 04:10, 2009-02-03

My Turn · Senior Member

okey dokey...on the issue of cutting delivery days from 6 to 5....well, imo, it is not going to happen. a cut of a weekday delivery would impact businesses far too much. companies big and small depend on the checks and business papers that come thru the post office way to much to be open to the idea of no mail delivery during the week. as far as saturday, not gonna happen either. if one could see the sheer volume of mail that is processed daily, to hold back all the mail for saturday and shift it to monday would be biting of ones nose to spite its face. the limited hours saved with no saturday delivery would be eaten up and then some with the overtime hours the carriers and clerks would get on monday. wont work. additionally, the post office is open way more hours than the retail counter. mail processing facilities are a 24/7 operation. the mail still moves every single day...the processing facilities must get the incoming mail out to other processing centers and associate offices because there is always more coming in. there are employees working every single day, even christmas day. almost every local post office has at least one employee on duty on sunday for express mail delivery. and many have the PTF's come in to unload trucks, case mail and sort packages.

as a general statement, this issue of eliminating a mail delivery one day per week is the same tired line that has been dragged out by the postal service way too many times....if it is not public knowledge, then take it from me, i heard it numerous times during my time at the post office. this is mostly brought up approx. every four years, when the union contracts come up for re-negotiation.

so along those lines...for those that are concerned about massive layoffs...not gonna happen either....once a career employee has attained 6 years of service, they are guaranteed lifetime employment protection from lay offs. additionally, every time the new contracts are written all three unions, the NALC, APWU, and the Mailhandlers, write it into their contract, the same provision for those who do not have their 6 years in, that says, during the life of the contract, there will be no lay offs of career employees that have less then 6 years service.

if it came to having a "reduction in force," this would most likely be done by eliminating the "89 day casuals" first. second would be non career TE's that are only employed for a period of 359 days. other reductions would come from attrition, thru natural attrition of people resigning or retirement....additional attrition is facilitated by offering early retirement packages to those close to retirement age...and many times those deals are very enticing to the those who could have retired and chose to stay past their 30 years....or even a custom "retirement" incentive for those not near retirement age, but have attained a certain number of years of service...this allows those people who chose this option to leave the post office, keep their health and life insurance if they desire and want to pay the premiums, and still get a small check per month. then reorganization takes place and any other (non-essential) employees (mostly management) is then placed into the vacant positions if their position is eliminated.

so really, while ANYTHING is possible....i am not very worried at all that we will see an elimination of one delivery day, nor that the post office will be doing anything to add to the massive number of unemployed people.

-- Edited by My Turn at 15:16, 2009-02-03

My Turn · Senior Member

BoxDog wrote:
The USPS isn't a branch of the Federal gov, more importantly, not tax supported.

absolutely correct....i am glad this was posted as most people do think the po is a federal entity....it is a quasi-government/private organization. essentially, a private, self supporting organization, but still operates under the confines of governmental rules and regulations.
While I rarely mail outbound, and nearly all incoming is happy mail (junk mail excluded) I rely on the usps for an average of 3-5 internet purchases weekly. So, we can't get around a postal system of some sort. Not now, without facing a monopoly if FedEx comes out the only carrier standing, or UPS. UPS already does not provide normal Saturday service. The potential downsizing on the postal table is compounded by the fact that the post office is comprised largely of ex-military, surviving spouses of military, former law enforcement, minorities, women and "others".

Can you imagine what the term "going postal" would take on if a mere, say 3% of the 600,000 were to "snap"?

it is a common misconception that the post office is more violent than other private sector work places, thanks largely to the headline value of a violent incident in the post office and comedy venues such as saturday night live....actually, an average of 2 million acts of violence occur in the U.S. workplace every year, and only 3.1 percent of non-fatal incidents at work occur within federal government agencies. another 56.1 percent occur in the private sector, 33.7 percent occur in state or local government, and 6.7 percent occur in self-employment environments. convenience stores, gas stations, fast-food outlets, liquor stores, and taxi services have always had a greater exposure to violence because of the nature of those cash-based, extended-hour businesses. aside from homicides, we cant forget about the 18,000 employees who are non-fatally assaulted every week while on the job. similar to homicides, 85% of those employees assaulted worked in those same high risk occupation categories.

as far as the make up of the employees, there is NO special consideration for women, minorities, law enforcement, etc...none. the only category of applicants given a "helping hand" in the hiring process are the military. depending on several factors, which i am sure no one is really intersted in, a former military applicant will receive either 5 or 10 points added to their score on the Battery 470 test. also, there are provisions for certain categories of former military personnel to access the test without waiting for it to be opened to the public. additionally, every single military score goes above the general public on the hiring register. so for example, if a non-military applicant scores a 95 on the test, s/he will be placed on the hiring register below every military applicant granted the 5 or 10 point veteran preference, which means, all military applicants with scores of 110 down to 75(the cut off is 75 because one needs to score a 70 to pass and claim the 5 or 10 points) will go above the civilian applicant with the score of 95.

then when it comes time to hire, a hiring register is pulled...if one is looking to hire 15 employees the first 45 names are extracted from the register. the applicants are called in for pre-employment consideration paperwork and interviews. the problem here is that hiring is done on the rule of 3. this means that for every position to be filled 3 people are interviewed. one of these people MUST be selected and the other two returned to the hiring register. the next position to be filled will take the 2 that were returned to the register and add the next name, and again one of these must be hired. this does result in many, many times selecting the lesser of the three evils, only to have to hire them for another vacancy. plus one needs to remember that all the 10 pointers have service connected disablities, which could be anything from headaches, to hemrroids, back and knee injuries, to psychological issues. one particular scenario in which i was involved was which applicant to choose for a letter carrier position where all 3 we were presented and HAD to choose from, were not in the best interests of the service...one had a 70% disability rating relating to his back and knees, the other 100% based on paranoid schizophrenia, and the third had an 80% rating based on neck injuries and diminished abilities of the entire left side of his body. which would you like to hire for your employee??? once all the positions have been filled, the rest of the names are returned to the register for the next time. being that the register is only "active" for 4 years, it is quite possible that very very few civilians are reached for consideration. at no point in the hiring process is there any special consideration for women, minorities or law enforcement. at least once the civilians are reached there is more leeway in the rule of three where, when an applicant is considered for three positions and not hired, the applicant can be removed from the hiring register and will no longer be considered for future positions, altho they can apply and retake the test any time it is again offered to the public.

i will address the 5 day delivery proposal and the lay off issues...be back a little later!

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Psych Lit wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

And where on earth will people who don't have money for car insurance, heating oil, parking tickets, medications, food etc., come up with the money for a computer so they can get to their mail, or porn? I swear, if anyone thinks for a second that computers for everyone is a reasonable social program I'll scream.

hee hee. well no. i wouldnt consider it a social program but libraries have them for use for everybody. at the end of 2006
80% of US homes had computers. india is about ready to deliver 10 dollar computers to everybody in india. apparently thats what it costs to produce them en masse. now they do apparently think in terms of social progams.

Are those the "hand crank" ones I read about a couple of years ago, which generate their own electricity? Those (created for impoverished nations where lots of homes don't have electricity) were really cool. The thing about the computer is, that if used "right" it is probably the single greatest contribution to education since the first chalk stick scratched across a black board in a classroom some (relatively short) two hundred plus years ago, when paper and pencils for school kids was a luxury.

Now, people in the most remote areas have access to an incredible wealth of information at their fingertips -- everything from birth control, and how to raise children, to medical perscription interactions, and philosophy. They can discover how a plant grows -- what it needs to flourish -- one who may live in a town or village without so much as a library may now find Chaucer and Shakespeare, Voltaire and Spinoza "online." They can also find out what their leaders are doing, and how it's being viewed by the rest of the city, state, country, world, and hopefully ingest what they've read, and make better personal choices and evaluations. I used to frequent the library -- often stymied by the absence of the information I most wanted at my particular branch. I could put a request in for it, but that would be up to a week at least -- sometimes longer. I still use the library -- I renew online, and put in my requests for "holds" online as well. Most of my information, though, is available online, if I just google it correctly.

when i looked to see that stat i also saw that the number of homes without any kind of phone service increased from 1.7 percent to 2.9 percent. given the cost of phone service thats pretty remarkable. i also saw that 20 % of households dont have a landline. i gave mine up 10 years ago and everybody told me i was crazy. i got a lot of what will you do if theres a fire or a disaster and you cant charge your phone? I guess its mostly younger people who have grown up with their cell phones who dont think it neccessary to have land lines. i wonder how people with no moolah afford cell phones? i sometimes think there is a whole underground economy out there.

I know some people who are ... essentially homeless, and bounce around from one living space to another. The work place, the elementary school -- these venues need a contact phone number for a person -- oftentimes, the cell is the best and "only" way for them to be reached. The first place I ever noticed an abundance of cell phones (when I couldn't afford one, certainly) was while riding on the city bus. I puzzled over that, until I realized most of the users probably didn't own a vehicle, and many probably moved around a lot. Their cell phones were sort of their lifeline to continuity in their worlds.

I'm sort of with your fuddy duddy friends, Psych, on the land line thing. Mostly, because I've found myself in a situation where I was babysitting in a home which had no land line, and terrified the whole time that the "extra" cell phone left for me to use was going to have a dead battery when I most needed it. Who hasn't experienced a sudden disconnect due to a depleted cell phone battery? I think in households where there are kids a land line is still a "good" and perhaps "necessary" thing.

-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 04:10, 2009-02-03

Psych Lit · Guru

MyCat8it wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

I just opened this thread, so I haven't seen any replies yet.

I personally count on that 6th day of mail to get something to a client in time. I also look for money in the mail every day of the week. Saturday is no exception, and I loathe Sundays when there is no hope of a check coming.

However, if I'm alone, and I doubt I am, I'd give up Saturdays for the sake of saving $1.9B.

if this does happen i wonder if there would be adjustments? Like asking clients to use pay pal or a similar service? Or work product delivered to clients electronically upon receipt of payment? I saw an article by a free lance writer who was concerned about timely payments too and then mentioned that the writing they did for aol was direct deposit. If more places did that it might end up being a good thing rather than a scary thing. at least in terms of the customer. that 600K workforce is something else again tho.

BoxDog · Guru

Psych Lit wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

And where on earth will people who don't have money for car insurance, heating oil, parking tickets, medications, food etc., come up with the money for a computer so they can get to their mail, or porn? I swear, if anyone thinks for a second that computers for everyone is a reasonable social program I'll scream.

hee hee. well no. i wouldnt consider it a social program but libraries have them for use for everybody. at the end of 2006
80% of US homes had computers. india is about ready to deliver 10 dollar computers to everybody in india. apparently thats what it costs to produce them en masse. now they do apparently think in terms of social progams. when i looked to see that stat i also saw that the number of homes without any kind of phone service increased from 1.7 percent to 2.9 percent. given the cost of phone service thats pretty remarkable. i also saw that 20 % of households dont have a landline. i gave mine up 10 years ago and everybody told me i was crazy. i got a lot of what will you do if theres a fire or a disaster and you cant charge your phone? I guess its mostly younger people who have grown up with their cell phones who dont think it neccessary to have land lines. i wonder how people with no moolah afford cell phones? i sometimes think there is a whole underground economy out there.

India is it's own thread. That aside :) Anywhere in the country where 911 is a service a landline will dial it, regardless of phone service to that line.

MyCat8it · Senior Member

Psych Lit wrote:

so dropping one day of mail delivery will save the nation 1.9 billion dollars a year and we arent doing this because why?

personally i could do without mail 6 days a week. aside from junk mail and christmas and birthday cards i dont get any mail. all the bills are electronic and nobody snail mails me anymore.

id think that giving up saturday delivery wouldnt be such a pain for people. checks can be direct deposited and really do we mind getting the bills a day late?

id imagine in a few years we wont have a postal service at all. or if we do a very limited one. it will be another thing like milk and bread deliveries of past years.

I just opened this thread, so I haven't seen any replies yet.

I personally count on that 6th day of mail to get something to a client in time. I also look for money in the mail every day of the week. Saturday is no exception, and I loathe Sundays when there is no hope of a check coming.

However, if I'm alone, and I doubt I am, I'd give up Saturdays for the sake of saving $1.9B.

Psych Lit · Guru

BoxDog wrote:

And where on earth will people who don't have money for car insurance, heating oil, parking tickets, medications, food etc., come up with the money for a computer so they can get to their mail, or porn? I swear, if anyone thinks for a second that computers for everyone is a reasonable social program I'll scream.

hee hee. well no. i wouldnt consider it a social program but libraries have them for use for everybody. at the end of 2006
80% of US homes had computers. india is about ready to deliver 10 dollar computers to everybody in india. apparently thats what it costs to produce them en masse. now they do apparently think in terms of social progams. when i looked to see that stat i also saw that the number of homes without any kind of phone service increased from 1.7 percent to 2.9 percent. given the cost of phone service thats pretty remarkable. i also saw that 20 % of households dont have a landline. i gave mine up 10 years ago and everybody told me i was crazy. i got a lot of what will you do if theres a fire or a disaster and you cant charge your phone? I guess its mostly younger people who have grown up with their cell phones who dont think it neccessary to have land lines. i wonder how people with no moolah afford cell phones? i sometimes think there is a whole underground economy out there.

BoxDog · Guru

Psych Lit wrote:

BoxDog wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

now this brings up an interesting thought. if 600K peoples jobs are at risk because of diminishing usage of the mail system, something that seems like it will continue to diminish, what might be done to rethink the postal service to meet the changing needs of people and save those jobs?

Have Christmas twice a year?

Actually, whoever comandeered the <200 dollar donations for obamas campaign should probably be seriously challenged or dared to save this failed economy, in a similar fashion. Screw Geithner, all of them. Bring on the fundraisers!
a bake sale? lol. im still not convinced that its all not mass hysteria. im not convinced because the true facts are being kept from us so as not to upset our sensibilities.

Really, something as simple as a patriotic call to the people to purchase one stamp per week and mail a letter or postcard to a stranger across the country might be all that's needed to keep those particular half million jobs afloat and have the trickle down, fuzzy good feeling of a pen pal project. Fun with economics.

i like this idea. i like the idea of using mail for something that is pleasant anyway. i actually got to see my mailman today. he brought news that there will be a town meeting on some development planned for the main drag and all people living within a certain radius had to be informed so they could protest if they desire to do so. my mail is usually redirected to the po next to my work so i can have easy access to it but in this case he had to bring it directly. now that ive met him ill have to leave him milk and cookies or a bottle of hooch at christmas.

really tho, if snail mail is something that will be replaced by computer correspondence within a decade how can they retool to be relevant? we have a virtual army of people in place that visit peoples homes every day. what else might they bring that would be useful?

Because they will never find a way to get that vintage 70's pair of chukka boots, n.i.b. from a woman in Nebraska to me via EBay by squeezing it through a computer. Someone will need to hot foot that internet purchase, if nothing else, unless we want that market to fail as well. And where on earth will people who don't have money for car insurance, heating oil, parking tickets, medications, food etc., come up with the money for a computer so they can get to their mail, or porn? I swear, if anyone thinks for a second that computers for everyone is a reasonable social program I'll scream.

Psych Lit · Guru

BoxDog wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

now this brings up an interesting thought. if 600K peoples jobs are at risk because of diminishing usage of the mail system, something that seems like it will continue to diminish, what might be done to rethink the postal service to meet the changing needs of people and save those jobs?

Have Christmas twice a year?

Actually, whoever comandeered the <200 dollar donations for obamas campaign should probably be seriously challenged or dared to save this failed economy, in a similar fashion. Screw Geithner, all of them. Bring on the fundraisers!
a bake sale? lol. im still not convinced that its all not mass hysteria. im not convinced because the true facts are being kept from us so as not to upset our sensibilities.

Really, something as simple as a patriotic call to the people to purchase one stamp per week and mail a letter or postcard to a stranger across the country might be all that's needed to keep those particular half million jobs afloat and have the trickle down, fuzzy good feeling of a pen pal project. Fun with economics.

i like this idea. i like the idea of using mail for something that is pleasant anyway. i actually got to see my mailman today. he brought news that there will be a town meeting on some development planned for the main drag and all people living within a certain radius had to be informed so they could protest if they desire to do so. my mail is usually redirected to the po next to my work so i can have easy access to it but in this case he had to bring it directly. now that ive met him ill have to leave him milk and cookies or a bottle of hooch at christmas.

really tho, if snail mail is something that will be replaced by computer correspondence within a decade how can they retool to be relevant? we have a virtual army of people in place that visit peoples homes every day. what else might they bring that would be useful?

BoxDog · Guru

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

now this brings up an interesting thought. if 600K peoples jobs are at risk because of diminishing usage of the mail system, something that seems like it will continue to diminish, what might be done to rethink the postal service to meet the changing needs of people and save those jobs?

Have Christmas twice a year?

Actually, whoever comandeered the <200 dollar donations for obamas campaign should probably be seriously challenged or dared to save this failed economy, in a similar fashion. Screw Geithner, all of them. Bring on the fundraisers! Really, something as simple as a patriotic call to the people to purchase one stamp per week and mail a letter or postcard to a stranger across the country might be all that's needed to keep those particular half million jobs afloat and have the trickle down, fuzzy good feeling of a pen pal project. Fun with economics.

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Psych Lit wrote:

now this brings up an interesting thought. if 600K peoples jobs are at risk because of diminishing usage of the mail system, something that seems like it will continue to diminish, what might be done to rethink the postal service to meet the changing needs of people and save those jobs?

Have Christmas twice a year?

BoxDog · Guru

Psych Lit wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

The USPS isn't a branch of the Federal gov, more importantly, not tax supported.

thanks! i didnt know this. i knew they were somewhat separated tho i did think that they were somewhat tax supported.

The game plan to cut a delivery day, likely Tuesday, will probably save the service and a large number of the 600,000 proposed "layoffs" that are on the line.

now this brings up an interesting thought. if 600K peoples jobs are at risk because of diminishing usage of the mail system, something that seems like it will continue to diminish, what might be done to rethink the postal service to meet the changing needs of people and save those jobs?

They have ties to the feds, but not in a financial way. The changes being discussed (dismissing upwards to a half million employees and reduction of hours) will have no effect at all on the Federal deficit or growth stimulation. In the words of a 30 year postal worker I know, "you think you can walk that letter to New York for less than 42 cents, go for it."

i guess it becomes a who uses the services and what are they doing situation? if the bunk of this comes from corporate sources shouldnt the cost be shifted onto those users? or perhaps they might be given an opportunity to help redefine how the postal system might look in 20 years? for me its a pain in the a ss. i have to make a trip to the po to pick up mail and 99 percent of the time i get there and the box is stuffed with junk mail and flyers. i only stop and pick stuff up once a week.

The reason this is becoming so polarized is the sheer volume of working folks a layoff this size would produce,

imagine the shock wave if 600,ooo people were laid off?

and the fact that people still believe it to be a branch of the federal government.

While I rarely mail outbound, and nearly all incoming is happy mail (junk mail excluded) I rely on the usps for an average of 3-5 internet purchases weekly. So, we can't get around a postal system of some sort. Not now, without facing a monopoly if FedEx comes out the only carrier standing, or UPS. UPS already does not provide normal Saturday service. The potential downsizing on the postal table is compounded by the fact that the post office is comprised largely of ex-military, surviving spouses of military, former law enforcement, minorities, women and "others". All of these people could very easily be added back into our pool of "competition" when considering competing for "normal" private job openings. While the same has never been true of average citizens walking in and passing all the hoops to comply with civil service jobs they in fact do fit ours quite well. Can you imagine what the term "going postal" would take on if a mere, say 3% of the 600,000 were to "snap"? Obviously, down the line there will be legislation for a postal system bailout. Or, even more troubling, a branch of business run by the government and coined the USPS. But actually BE the US, postal service.

Psych Lit · Guru

Anonymous wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

The USPS isn't a branch of the Federal gov, more importantly, not tax supported.

thanks! i didnt know this. i knew they were somewhat separated tho i did think that they were somewhat tax supported.

The game plan to cut a delivery day, likely Tuesday, will probably save the service and a large number of the 600,000 proposed "layoffs" that are on the line.

now this brings up an interesting thought. if 600K peoples jobs are at risk because of diminishing usage of the mail system, something that seems like it will continue to diminish, what might be done to rethink the postal service to meet the changing needs of people and save those jobs?

They have ties to the feds, but not in a financial way. The changes being discussed (dismissing upwards to a half million employees and reduction of hours) will have no effect at all on the Federal deficit or growth stimulation. In the words of a 30 year postal worker I know, "you think you can walk that letter to New York for less than 42 cents, go for it."

i guess it becomes a who uses the services and what are they doing situation? if the bunk of this comes from corporate sources shouldnt the cost be shifted onto those users? or perhaps they might be given an opportunity to help redefine how the postal system might look in 20 years? for me its a pain in the a ss. i have to make a trip to the po to pick up mail and 99 percent of the time i get there and the box is stuffed with junk mail and flyers. i only stop and pick stuff up once a week.

The reason this is becoming so polarized is the sheer volume of working folks a layoff this size would produce,

imagine the shock wave if 600,ooo people were laid off?

and the fact that people still believe it to be a branch of the federal government.

BoxDog · Guru

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

so dropping one day of mail delivery will save the nation 1.9 billion dollars a year and we arent doing this because why?

personally i could do without mail 6 days a week. aside from junk mail and christmas and birthday cards i dont get any mail. all the bills are electronic and nobody snail mails me anymore.

id think that giving up saturday delivery wouldnt be such a pain for people. checks can be direct deposited and really do we mind getting the bills a day late?

id imagine in a few years we wont have a postal service at all. or if we do a very limited one. it will be another thing like milk and bread deliveries of past years.

The USPS isn't a branch of the Federal gov, more importantly, not tax supported. The game plan to cut a delivery day, likely Tuesday, will probably save the service and a large number of the 600,000 proposed "layoffs" that are on the line. They have ties to the feds, but not in a financial way. The changes being discussed (dismissing upwards to a half million employees and reduction of hours) will have no effect at all on the Federal deficit or growth stimulation. In the words of a 30 year postal worker I know, "you think you can walk that letter to New York for less than 42 cents, go for it."

The reason this is becoming so polarized is the sheer volume of working folks a layoff this size would produce, and the fact that people still believe it to be a branch of the federal government.

I could easily do with mail delivery four days a week ... or even three. Don't think I'd miss a beat, actually. I can't remember the last time I wrote a check, let alone the last time I mailed one off. 98% of my financial stuff is done online these days.

I lament the dying of the snail mail letter, but it's a fact of life in the wake of email. When I did write letters, my life was usually completely different three days later, when it arrived at its destination.

Of course I LOVE getting snail mail -- especially, now, when most which arrives at my home is for one of three people not including me.

When I started writing and sending letters, a first class stamp was eight cents. I still remember well, those brown stamps. "Air mail" was more, of course ... like maybe ten? Now, most of the stamps I have are the "non denomimational" ones issued right after a price increase to fill the time void, where even the letter carrier can't tell by looking at them, how much they're worth. I have no clue what a postcard or first class letter costs to mail these days. It's been that long.

If they eliminated delivery on certain days, like Tuesdays, then letter carriers would have a lot more mail with which to deal on Wednesdays, which could be a problem for them. Also, yikes, if you mail something on Friday, if it doesn't get delivered until the following Wednesday....

I've begun ripping my name and address off the pizza coupons, grocery ads, The Flyer any other JUNK that appears on Tuesday and Wednesday. I take the untraceable JUNK and stick it in an outgoing mailbox. I loathe junk mail. As for postage rates I keep a sheet of the stamp du jour just because. So letters, thank yous, invites, condolences and postcards are all the same to me, one 42 cent stamp. I'm pretty postage casual. Mailing a video or book is a "handful" of stamps, and a usps issued flat rate box for no matter how much it weighs, whatever you can possibly fit into that one price ships all is about 10 bucks now, print your own label and they pick it up at your door. And it gets most anywhere in the country in 2 days. I love that service. I don't have a single thing left that I "do business with" via old fashioned mail.
*****************

ok, along the same line I just opened (unknowingly) someone elses annual 401k summary. Cripes, the net loss for her plan year 08 is -47,424.58. A "hit" of -48.32% in one year. She allocated her contributions pretty conservatively. All the same, she was a good employee and invested 25% in her employer, Honeywell. On March 1 she will have put in 27 years with the company and in one year the largest net loss in her career was in her own employers common stock. That net loss alone is -33,530.42. Her brother, a female and then a male friend are listed as beneficiaries at 40/40/20 percent respectively. I'm not going to be the one responsible for making this piece of news find its way to Carolyn. No way. This thing is for the shredder.

-- Edited by BoxDog at 20:36, 2009-01-30

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

Anonymous wrote:

Psych Lit wrote:

so dropping one day of mail delivery will save the nation 1.9 billion dollars a year and we arent doing this because why?

personally i could do without mail 6 days a week. aside from junk mail and christmas and birthday cards i dont get any mail. all the bills are electronic and nobody snail mails me anymore.

id think that giving up saturday delivery wouldnt be such a pain for people. checks can be direct deposited and really do we mind getting the bills a day late?

id imagine in a few years we wont have a postal service at all. or if we do a very limited one. it will be another thing like milk and bread deliveries of past years.

The USPS isn't a branch of the Federal gov, more importantly, not tax supported. The game plan to cut a delivery day, likely Tuesday, will probably save the service and a large number of the 600,000 proposed "layoffs" that are on the line. They have ties to the feds, but not in a financial way. The changes being discussed (dismissing upwards to a half million employees and reduction of hours) will have no effect at all on the Federal deficit or growth stimulation. In the words of a 30 year postal worker I know, "you think you can walk that letter to New York for less than 42 cents, go for it."

The reason this is becoming so polarized is the sheer volume of working folks a layoff this size would produce, and the fact that people still believe it to be a branch of the federal government.

I could easily do with mail delivery four days a week ... or even three. Don't think I'd miss a beat, actually. I can't remember the last time I wrote a check, let alone the last time I mailed one off. 98% of my financial stuff is done online these days.

I lament the dying of the snail mail letter, but it's a fact of life in the wake of email. When I did write letters, my life was usually completely different three days later, when it arrived at its destination.

Of course I LOVE getting snail mail -- especially, now, when most which arrives at my home is for one of three people not including me.

When I started writing and sending letters, a first class stamp was eight cents. I still remember well, those brown stamps. "Air mail" was more, of course ... like maybe ten? Now, most of the stamps I have are the "non denomimational" ones issued right after a price increase to fill the time void, where even the letter carrier can't tell by looking at them, how much they're worth. I have no clue what a postcard or first class letter costs to mail these days. It's been that long.

If they eliminated delivery on certain days, like Tuesdays, then letter carriers would have a lot more mail with which to deal on Wednesdays, which could be a problem for them. Also, yikes, if you mail something on Friday, if it doesn't get delivered until the following Wednesday....

Date: Fri Jan 30 8:19 AM, 2009

Psych Lit wrote:

so dropping one day of mail delivery will save the nation 1.9 billion dollars a year and we arent doing this because why?

personally i could do without mail 6 days a week. aside from junk mail and christmas and birthday cards i dont get any mail. all the bills are electronic and nobody snail mails me anymore.

id think that giving up saturday delivery wouldnt be such a pain for people. checks can be direct deposited and really do we mind getting the bills a day late?

id imagine in a few years we wont have a postal service at all. or if we do a very limited one. it will be another thing like milk and bread deliveries of past years.

The USPS isn't a branch of the Federal gov, more importantly, not tax supported. The game plan to cut a delivery day, likely Tuesday, will probably save the service and a large number of the 600,000 proposed "layoffs" that are on the line. They have ties to the feds, but not in a financial way. The changes being discussed (dismissing upwards to a half million employees and reduction of hours) will have no effect at all on the Federal deficit or growth stimulation. In the words of a 30 year postal worker I know, "you think you can walk that letter to New York for less than 42 cents, go for it."

The reason this is becoming so polarized is the sheer volume of working folks a layoff this size would produce, and the fact that people still believe it to be a branch of the federal government.

Psych Lit · Guru

so dropping one day of mail delivery will save the nation 1.9 billion dollars a year and we arent doing this because why?

personally i could do without mail 6 days a week. aside from junk mail and christmas and birthday cards i dont get any mail. all the bills are electronic and nobody snail mails me anymore.

id think that giving up saturday delivery wouldnt be such a pain for people. checks can be direct deposited and really do we mind getting the bills a day late?

id imagine in a few years we wont have a postal service at all. or if we do a very limited one. it will be another thing like milk and bread deliveries of past years.