"Going postal" at the post office

[Zee]

It's in the mail!

LOL! It probably is.

[jainen]

the envelopes

>>I also have a few boxes of clasp-envelopes<<

Again, the envelopes! I don't get it. If they are so important to you, then pay what it costs to mail them. Otherwise find another use or take them back to Office Max.

You want efficient mail delivery that doesn't damage your package, don't you? Give up on last century's technology. You should be using self-seal Tyvek that slides through the big optical reader machines without a problem.

[vitkus]

Postage Problems

I have a client that has a franchise to AIM Mail Centers (I know there are serveral other names and businesses that do a similar operation). They can send anything via USPS; UPS; FEDEX; DHL etc. They can tell you which is the least expensive or the fastest way. Rarely is there a line, and I have an account with them so that they bill me monthly -so if necessary I can send an employee or a family memeber. I also use Stamps.com and am currently looking into a similar service which may be less expensive.

[Zee]

>>I also have a few boxes of clasp-envelopes<<

Again, the envelopes! I don't get it. If they are so important to you, then pay what it costs to mail them. Otherwise find another use or take them back to Office Max.

You want efficient mail delivery that doesn't damage your package, don't you? Give up on last century's technology. You should be using self-seal Tyvek that slides through the big optical reader machines without a problem.

Tyvek isn't "new" technology. I've also used Tyvek envelopes for many years. Guess what? My elderly clients have a very difficult time opening Tyvek envelopes. I use both. My experience with the USPO, is simple. "It stinks". I've had so many bad experiences, they are too numerous to mention here. Sure, I can toss the envelopes (and probably will). But, why waste them when a simple communication with advance notice to use them up could have saved our landfills a lot of garbage?

[George Boutwell]

You could always cut the clasps off the envelope and continue taping them as you already do (because, as we all know, the clasps are useless anyway and we have to wonder about people who would buy them).

[JohnH]

Pull them off

The clasps are easy to pull off - the post office machinery has been efficiently ripping them off the envelopes for years now.

If you slightly raise the clasp in a butterfly position you can give it a little twist and off it comes, since you're just reversing the process by which is is installed. Then you can use tape, which is what you should have been doing even when the clasps didn't carry a surcharge anyhow.

[Davc]

Late last year, the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, ruled that phone customers would soon be able to keep their telephone numbers with them when they changed carriers. That made it possible for a person to retain a familiar number even when switching, say from Sprint to MCI, and even from traditional phone service to cell phone service.

At the time, no one anticipated the cascading effect this would have. Now the concept has spilled over onto another branch of the federal government. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports on the latest expansion of portability.

If you were sitting far in the back of the packed conference room you may have missed the smile that broke across the faces of the 15 Post Service employees on the rostrum. But smiles they were indeed -- as the afternoon's surprise announcement was read at the end of the usual daily briefing to reporters by the Assistant Postmaster General Lester Crandall.

"I'm pleased to announce a new feature of our on-going "Go Postal" campaign," said Crandall. "It's yet another step to modernize our postal system and satisfy our customers.

"Every year millions of Americans are on the go: People who must relocate for work or other reasons. Those people may have been quite attached to their original homes or an adopted town or city of residence. For them this innovative measure will serve as an umbilical cord to the place they love best.

"So it is with great pride and pleasure I tell you that starting next month, the national Portable Zip Codes program will commence. With it, American citizens can keep their present zip codes wherever they chose to live, across the country or across town."

Crandall said that while the plan would at first take some getting used to, the kinks could easily be worked out. He's expected to meet with representatives of the nation's mail carriers next week to work on details.

While the portable zip code bid is subject to approval by the joint House-Senate congressional oversight committee, it's expected to face stiff opposition in the Senate Select Committee on Communications Technologies.

"This is like Kinko's expanding its reproductive services to include gynecology," said Sen. Phil Spigel of Arkansas.

He spoke with NPR by satellite phone from south Sudan, where he is on a fact-finding mission with the singer, Cher.

"Call me old-fashioned, but zip codes were meant to stay put," he said. "They serve a clear, unambiguous purpose: They tell the postal worker on his or her rounds where you live. When I return to Washington at the end of the year -- to zip code 20016, to be exact -- I'm certain I'll be thinking long and hard of maybe voting against it. Possibly."

But many people feel otherwise. A modern, mobile society -- they argue -- can no longer afford to remain grounded in locale-specific zip codes. Proponents of portability say a zip code is a badge of honor, an emblem symbolizing a citizen's place in the demographic, rather than geographic, landscape.

Ricky Jenoffer, a stockbroker, supports the new program.

"I was born and bred in Kenosha, Wis.," Jenoffer said. "I use to spend my winters ice-fishing with friends. But my company moved me to New York City, which was hard enough. But then the post office said I had to change zip codes. I couldn't be 53142 anymore. And that hurt. It was like I was out on the lake fishing you know, and suddenly like the ice wasn't here."

The stationary system of zip codes has been in place for decades, and in that time those five numbers evolved from just a series of digits to a status symbol -- like an expensive watch or a handsome hairpiece.

For years critics of the post office insisted that opposition to mobility of zip codes was a ploy by the Postal Service to further exert control over people's lives. Rex Morgan heads Citizens for Retention of All Postal Services.

"They just didn't get it," said Morgan. "They didn't understand that people work hard to get a 90091 zip -- moving shouldn't disconnect them from that part of their lives. Number are no different than names. You wouldn't want the government to tell you you had to change your name when you moved to El Paso, would you? So why should you be shamed by being stripped of the number you may have grown up with when you move? I applaud this new plan."

The new vanity zip code feature is only the latest addition to the Go Postal program, which began last April 1. USPS officials say Go Postal has already been a success, with millions of dollars of new revenue coming from the introduction of pop-up ads on postage stamps. They are hoping to issue the first portable zip codes by April 1, 2005. But first the House subcommittee must override an anticipated veto by a two-thirds majority of dissenting members. If that passes, the full Senate will have to take up the three riders attached to the bill by the postal subcommittee. If that fails, then only a 4-5 measure in both houses can pass. Only time will tell where this all stands.

Written by All Things Considered producer Art Silverman.

[JohnH]

I don't like this at all

Several years ago I read that most auto accidents happen within 25 miles of home, so I moved just to avoid that risk. Darned if I want the address following me around - it defeats the purpose of getting out of the danger zone.

[jainen]

a problem with this

>>must override an anticipated veto by a two-thirds majority<<

I don't see a problem with this. I know my representative will be voting for it as soon as his earmark to build a swimming pool for a local supporter is added.

[ChEAr$]

Clasps

There must be a way to remove those metal clasps preparatory to mailing.

Someone above quoted 1.47 for a three ounce "package"; I had to pay 1.48 today!

[FEDUKE404]

Am I ever surprised!!!

Wow......this thread was started almost tongue-in-cheek but has obviously ruffled the feathers of some folks.

I'm quite capable of moving into the current century, using FedEx for every return, throwing my old envelopes away, and letting everyone receive an electronic product only.

However, for now I just choose not to do so. That may or may not be "unreasonable" on my part.

Oh yes, I got out my abacus and calculated a three-ounce letter previously cost only $0.87 ($0.39 + $0.24 + $0.24), with or without a tax return contained therein.

But I did enjoy the post by Davc !!

FE

[George Boutwell]

If you slightly raise the clasp in a butterfly position you can give it a little twist and off it comes.

Plagiarism is ugly. Stop quoting the Kama Sutra.

[Joe Btfsplk]

Cut the clasp

I'm glad someone mentioned the clasp surcharge. I have something ready to mail with a clasp on the envelope.

I cut off the clasp, so now it will qualify as if there were no clasp.

I will have to consult some certified postage accountant to determine how much postage it will take.

The post office will probably have to raise postage again soon-- since everyone who used to just weigh their mail and send it will now have to go to the PO to get some expert assistance in calculating the postage.

[JohnH]

Oops - my mistake

Guess I got my directions confused. But at least now I know how the tape, labels, & tube of super glue wound up in my bedroom.

[veritas]

You know, if you have Adobe Acrobat (the full version - not just the reader) you could print the letter to "Adobe" (shows up as if it's a printer) and you could convert it to a .pdf (portable document file) as simply as if it were going to a real printer. That way, you don't have to be waiting on Lacerte.

The feature I find particularly cool is the electronic signature feature (and the typewriter tool) in Acrobat. It allows me to certify & secure all my .pdf's and send the doc's that require my 'real' signature via email.

The typewriter tool lets you add text to documents. It's particularly helpful for filling out arcane blank forms that aren't available in electronic form. Just scan the doc in, save as .pdf (my scanner software is set to automatically do this), open it, type and voila! a professional looking document.

Between the items you describe, converting docs to .pdf, and a simple scanner, you could see significant savings.

I rarely use the post office any more.

I send out to many letters for that. It would take forever.