Yes, the U.S. Postal Service is testing the sale of greeting cards at 1,500 local post office, and the test begins with a selection of cards from Hallmark.

A Postal Service study confirmed that customers think selling greeting cards at post offices is appropriate and that they would buy them if offered, Bernstock said. The goal is for the cards to help boost postal retail sales by 30 to 40 percent.

A 2006 law allows the Postal Service to sell various mailing and packaging products and other mail-related items, including cards. Officials awarded the one-year deal to Hallmark's Sunrise Greeting card line, with the option to extend the deal for two more years.

If the greeting card business is successful, the USPS plans to try to introduce more products beyond their current selection of shipping supplies and stamp-related gifts. This could include prepaid cell phones and financial products, which are available in many other countries' post offices.

The Postal Service's 'get well' plan? Greeting cards. [Federal Eye/The Washington Post]

(Photo: tjean314)

The Postal Service will not increase prices for market dominant products in calendar year 2010.

Simply stated, there will not be a price increase for market dominant products including First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, periodicals and single-piece Parcel Post.

Why? Well, they're trying to make us remember why we love mail in the first place. " Promoting the value of mail and encouraging its continued use is essential for jobs, the economy, and the future of both the Postal Service and the mailing industry."

Translation: Maybe if they stop hiking stamp prices, we'll all stop paying our bills online.

PMG SAYS NO PRICING INCREASE FOR MARKET DOMINANT PRODUCTS IN 2010 [Press Release] (Thanks, Jeff!)

(Photo: gumbyliberation

Have states started seceding again? Has there been a fateful earthquake that has removed the coasts from the mainland, and we somehow slept through it? "It's either that or the route from Virginia to Pennsylvania is going to be VERY circuitous," Steve wrote.

Any postal workers or other insightful people who can explain this mystifying note?

I was sitting at home this past Saturday, watching TV, in my customary
seat which just happens to be next to my front door, overlooking my
front yard.

An odd noise happened, like something hitting the front door and I
glanced out the window to see the mailman turning away from the steps
and walking away across my yard.

I got up, saw the package that he had just unceremoniously rolled
across my concrete porch and lost my cool. I ‘yelled' to him (since he
was already next door) and asked him to kindly *not* roll packages
when he delivers them to my house but place them down.

Rather than apologizing, he went on to explain how many times that
package had been thrown during shipment. Needless to say, this did not
help my mood. I pointed out that that is as may be, but I didn't see
them do it, I saw *him* do it. I asked for, and received, his name and
said that I'd be reporting this to the post office.

To his benefit, he did stop by a bit later, not to apologize, but to
hand me a ‘While you were out' slip with the phone number underlined
for customer service so I would know who to call.

My quandary is: This is the person who is going to continue to deliver
my mail. Do I really want to file a complaint against him? But then,
on the other hand, I already told him I was going to, so any
retribution he does is already on his mind, so whether I do or not,
he's going to exact revenge (if that is his wont).

So: Do I or don't I report him?

(On the plus side, the item in the box was, as near as I can tell,
unharmed by its shoddy treatment, thanks to good packing and being
mostly unbreakable anyways. Now, the hard drive I'm expecting in a
week, that I might be worried about.)

Was he being passive-aggressive by handing Jeff the correct phone number, or helpful? Does he expect that his bosses will not take Jeff's complaint very seriously?

More importantly, should parcel bowling be a sanctioned U.S. Postal Service sport?

(Photo: ewen and donabel)

The USPS will also roll out by the end of this month a more tightly integrated system for printing postage for items sold on eBay, previously announced by eBay in April. Currently, the process works like this:

1) After you sell an item and the buyer transfers payment, you go eBay's Selling Manager page.

2) Choose Print Postage (as shown in the accompanying image), and you go to the Web site of eBay's payment service, PayPal.

3) Log in to PayPal, and you go to a form for printing postage.

4) Fill out the form with the size of the package and other details, and then print out your label.

5) You log in to PayPal so the postage can be automatically deducted from your PayPal account.

The new tool will eliminate one step: the need to log into PayPal. Now, you'll be able to choose your shipping method, enter the size and weight of your package, order insurance, and print out the shipping label without having to leave eBay.

The upside for buysers is fewer shipping obstacles mean you'll be getting the stuff you overpaid for more quickly, hurrying the onset of buyer's remorse so you can get over it quicker and move on to the next ill-advised auction.

USPS Integrates with Bill Me Later, New eBay Shipping App Coming [AuctionBytes]
(Photo: The Joy Of The Mundane)

T.J. wrote to us:

[The company] states that they send you "necessary" materials to take this text and quoted me at $24 at the beginning of my call, either they are outright lying or I severely misheard the number quoted to me, because at the end of the call they told me my total was 138.97 dollars, which was already charged to my account before I could say no. To cancel the order I had to call another number, which no one ever picks up at, luckily I called a number of other phone numbers I found at their website only to be informed that I had already canceled. Which was frustrating on top of the fact they had charged my account twice with the overdraw buffer so about 280 is sitting in pending limbo in my bank account right now, and for the last week.

But here's the scam part: the post office, after being contacted directly, is not hiring, period. They have no scheduled tests in this state (Minnesota) for the future at all. As someone looking for work in this world as so many are I wanted to spread that this is the case and not to call this company and buy a package from them out of desperation for a great paying job.

If you're looking for real postal employment, check the USPS careers page. Both the FTC and the real federal employment site, USAJOBS.gov, have posted warnings about this particular scam.

FTC Stamps Out Postal Job Scam [FTC]
CONSUMER ALERT - FEDERAL JOB FRAUD [USA JOBS]

(Photo: dougmcfarland)

One tipster writes:

I don't want to bore you with all the details, but basically the USPS wanted to confiscate an iMac rather than pay for the repair I had bought off of eBay that arrived at my house with a cracked screen. I spent, literally, 30 hours dealing with the St. Louis office postal insurer's office trying to get someone to answer my questions about why they weren't abiding by the very regulations that they post on the web in regards to insurance claims. The good news, though, is that I actually won. I fought the MAN and actually won, despite all the shenanigans they pulled on me. The claims appeals supervisors never contacted me back, nor did the consumer advocate (locally or at the national level). What finally got a response, and what reminded me of all this nonsense, was that I managed to guess Autria Finley's email address which was never included on any of the form letter correspondence that I received from them. I emailed her and got an almost immediate judgment on the case. The underling claims adjuster had not forwarded any of my requests for review to her. I also never got a direct phone number until I reached her through email, and had to go through the voice mail hell each time I tried to reach the claims adjuster. The best part of the story was about two months after my check arrived for the repair, and post office had released the computer back to me, I received a call from the USPS California accounting department stating that I had been paid in error despite the letter stating otherwise from the claims department. I told the adjuster in no uncertain terms that he was wrong, and that I had the emails and letter from Ms. Finley detailing the claim. He asked me for her phone number, and it was at that point I realized that even if you work for USPS, you can't get these people's contact information.

We love that even employees of the post office don't have contact info for the higher-ups. Anyway, the email address for Autria Finley is afinley@email.usps.gov. We were about to send this along to Pedro when he emailed us to say:

I woke up just a short while ago to your mail and called my friend to let him know it was posted. He just got a from a Michelle Williams with the usps saying they would honor the claim in full. We're thrilled. Thanks again for all yours and the readers help! I will let you know once it's actually paid out. As you can imagine this is a huge weight off our shoulders.

Hooray for the power of the internet. If you've experienced similar problems with USPS and denied insurance claims (and judging from our emails, you have), try getting in touch with Ms. Finley to see if that can help your claim out.

Pedro writes:

In February I had a friend in Orlando ship me a large box of 5 brand-new Lenovo R500's I had him pick up for me. He insured the shipment for $3,000 and sent it parcel-post to me in San Diego. They told us a delivery time of 7-9 days would be an approximate timeframe, which came and went without a package in sight. All the while I'm tracking the package and its status was never changed from: PACKAGE ACCEPTED ORLANDO, FL. I called several times before the 7-9 days and was only told to wait the 7-9 days. After 9 days had passed I was told it could take up to 14 days. I spoke to several agents at the 800-ASK-USPS number, my local post office and the Orlando, FL post office and got different information from every single place. After 21 days my friend was allowed to fill out an insurance claim, which he did, which was supposed to be processed immediately, yet took another week to be sent from the Orlando PO to their insurance department. Another four weeks later we received the gift of the attached letter stating that they decided to award us $112.14 of the $3,000 we insured the package for. We're in the process of appealing but I'm appalled at the $112.14 price-tag for my lost computers. It's unreal.

Pedro included scans of the receipt showing he bought $3,000 worth of insurance on the package, as well as the letter from USPS offering him $74 for the package and $38.14 for postage.

We hope your appeal works out, Pedro. If it doesn't, consider alerting the leadership at USPS. We couldn't find their email addresses (maybe they view it as competition) but we're guessing a letter would reach them. Unless they lose it.

Here are some post offices that are open late in various metropolitan areas. Due to cutbacks, fewer post offices are extending their drop-off hours this year. Don't despair, however, it's easy to search the USPS website for 24 hour "automated postal centers." Good luck, procrastinators!

Chicago: 433 W Harrison ST FL Lbby (Open 24 hours)

New York City: James Farley Post Office 421 Eighth Avenue and 31st Street (Open 24 hours)

Denver: General Mail Facility Center at 53rd and Quebec (Open 24 hours)

LA: Airport Station, 9029 Airport Blvd. (Open Until Midnight)

San Francisco: Airport Branch (660 W. Field Road) (Open Until Midnight)

San Diego: 2535 Midway Drive (Open Until Midnight)

Miami: 2200 NW 72nd Ave. (Open Until Midnight)

Virginia: Hampton Roads General Mail Facility at 600 Church Street in Norfolk (Open Until Midnight)

Austin: 8225 Cross Park Drive (Open Until Midnight)

New Orleans: 701 Loyola Ave. (Open Until Midnight)

Tampa Bay: St. Petersburg Main Post Office 3135 1st Avenue S., St. Petersburg Drive (Open Until Midnight)

Indiana: Gary Post Office, 1499 Martin Luther King Drive (Open Until Midnight)

DC: 2 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NE (Open Until Midnight)

Ohio: 675 Wolf Ledges Parkway, Akron, 2650 Cleveland Ave. N.W., Canton, Cleveland Main Post Office, 2400 Orange Ave. (Open Until Midnight)

St. Louis: 1720 Market Street (Open Until Midnight)

Dallas: Dallas Main Post Office, 401 DFW Turnpike - (Open Until Midnight)

Philadelphia: 3000 CHESTNUT ST (Open Until Midnight)

Seattle: Seattle, Riverton Station, 15250 32nd Ave S. (Open Until Midnight)

Atlanta: 3900 Crown Road SW, 227 Sandy Springs Place, (Open Until Midnight)

Detroit: 1401 W. Fort St, 12245 Beech Daly Road, 200 W. Second St. (Open Until Midnight)

Utah: Ogden Main Post Office 3680 Pacific Ave, Provo East Bay Post Office 936 S. 250 East, Salt Lake Main Post Office 1760 W. 2100 South (Open Until Midnight)

Kansas City: 1700 Cleveland Street (Open Until Midnight)

Arizona: 1501 S. Cherrybell Stravenue, Tucson, 4949 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix (Open Until Midnight)

Minneapolis/St. Paul: Minneapolis Main Post Office 100 S. 1st St, St. Paul Main Post Office 180 E. Kellogg Blvd.,Air Mail Center 5001 Northwest Dr. St. Paul (at MSP International Airport) (Open Until Midnight)

New Mexico: Albuquerque 1135 BROADWAY BLVD, 900 PINETREE RD SE RIO RANCHO, NM (Open Until Midnight)

Keep in mind that some of these post offices are open for drop off only and are not providing regular retail services.

Add your own late night post offices in the comments and help your neighbors get their taxes in on time. Thanks!

(Photo:jenna_belle)

The post office blames FedEx and email, along with the decline of advertising mailers that has occurred with the economic downturn, for its troubles. Various studies have estimated that cutting a day of service, probably Tuesday or Saturday, could save between $1.9 and $3.5 billion annually.

We pay most of our bills online, most of our packages come via UPS or DHL, so the only mail we usually get is magazines and ad fliers. Would you care if the mail came only five days a week?

Postal Service Considers Cutting Delivery Day [MSNBC]
(Photo: Consumerist)

They put the new shirt in the mail without mentioning it to me, and I hadn't received it at the time I posted. Thanks, Woot!, for fixing everything! Let's all hope that the U.S. Postal employee who stole the original shipment falls into a letter sorter.

PREVIOUSLY: The Post Office Stole My Woot! Shirt!
(Photo: I still have a weet smile) [shirt.woot!]

For those who haven't used Shirt.Woot! before, it's very similar to regular Woot. A shirt goes on sale each night for $10 and remains available for 24 hours or until it sells out, whichever happens first. This design sold out in around an hour. Woot holds onto a number of shirts that they then sell for $15 after the one-day period ends. My design was still available for $15 when I sent an email explaining that I would prefer a replacement to a refund. Woot agreed, but quickly reversed themselves, claiming "that design has been discontinued," even though it was still clearly on sale for $15. I instead have my $10 back, but what I really wanted was the shirt.

Crushed, I decided to take my useless bags to the Post Office for an explanation. They offered none. Since Woot doesn't insure their shipments, the Post Office declared that they were blameless.

This isn't the first time Consumerist has had a bad experience with a Woot! order. I may not have an awesome shirt, but at least I no longer trouble myself by visiting Shirt.Woot! at midnight to look for new designs.

Update: Woot! replaced the stolen shirt!

Hi, I work the counter for the United States Postal Service and right now we are in a really big financial mess, they claim to have lost about one Billion dollars this past fiscal year. I was told yesterday by my supervisor (and I saw the written memo from the District) that stated we are not to offer first class, parcel post, or media mail.

If a customer comes to the counter with anything other than a letter, we are not to offer anything other than Express Mail or Priority mail.

So if a customer comes to the counter with a 5 ounce small package I am supposed to say "Good Afternoon, would you like to ship this Express Mail overnight guaranteed, it includes $100 of insurance and free tracking for only $16.50?"—Customer looks at you like you are crazy, especially if the package is just going across town—"Ok, then we can send it Priority Mail and it should get to its destination in 2-3 business days for $4.80 and we can add insurance for loss or damage, and for an extra 65 cents you can add delivery confirmation." At this point I am supposed to shut up and let them either be duped into paying at least $4.80 or wait until they say - how about first class, or is there anything cheaper?—at that point I can offer the first class postage. For the package I described, a 5 ounce parcel, the cost would be $1.85 or almost $3 cheaper than Priority Mail. My advice is to always ask if there is a cheaper way to ship. Once asked we can tell you, but we won't volunteer the information.

Some tips if you are going to the Post Office, Express Mail will get it there overnight. Priority mail AND first class will usually get it overnight if it is going within your city or usually within your state. If the package is going farther than a neighboring state the Priority Mail will get there in 2 or 3 days, with first class usually a day or two later than Priority. We are not supposed to offer parcel post mail—I do agree with that, parcel post is usually within a dollar or two pricewise of Priority Mail and will take anywhere from 7-14 days or even longer to get where it is going. If you are only sending books, media mail is the ultimate cheap way to go, usually 1/3 the price of parcel post. A warning though—media mail can be opened, and we do open it if we suspect it is not media mail. In that case the person recieving the package will pay the difference in price.

(Photo: justmyowntwocents)

Please see attached photos. We recently went to a first birthday party, and received a thank-you card in the mail today. Unfortunately, the sender used a $0.41 stamp and did not write in their return address (see 'envelope.png'). As a result, our mail carrier took the time to fill out 'invoice.png'.

Let's do the math, shall we?

Entry level mail carrier salary is $40,000 per year. That's $769.23 per week, or $153.85 per day. Let's give them 10 hour days on average, and that's $15.38 per hour. 60 minutes in an hour, and that's $0.26 per minute. So assuming it only took one minute to stamp the envelope with the 'POSTAGE DUE' stamp, write in the number one, take out the 'carrier's statement' envelope, write in our address, our last name, his name, our town, and our zip code...he just cost the US Government $0.25. And that doesn't include the gas he burned idling at the top of my driveway.

And we thought that the paperboys who wanted their $2 were batshit crazy. However, if we literally interpret the postman's invoice (.01¢), you actually owe just one-one-hundredths of a penny. (The correct notation would have been $.01) Loyal Consumerists know that many people are confused about dollars and decimals.

7 News in Denver reports that a Colorado man has been officially warned that reusing a United States Postal Service "Priority Mail" cardboard box is a violation of federal law. We're not even talking about mail fraud but simply reusing them for other types of shipping. Could reusing these boxes actually be a federal crime? Find out more about this outlaw...

I mailed the package on November 27, 2007 via USPS Priority Click-N-Ship from Salt Lake City to Great Neck, NY. It contained heirloom Christmas ornaments and 25-30 year old hand knit Christmas stockings that I was sending to my daughter, as we were spending Christmas at her home this year. Although the package was insured, these items are not really replaceable, so I was very distraught throughout the whole ordeal. The total postage was around $19.

Priority Mail between here and there consistently takes only 2 days, which is exactly what the USPS.com web site says as well if you price the postage. After a week I feared it was lost and started calling, and calling, and calling... Over the next 4 weeks, I made at least 50 phone calls, talked to 18 different USPS employees, including several supervisors (some as many as six times) in Salt Lake City, Denver, Jersey City, NJ, and Great Neck, NY. My package was finally delivered on January 2, 2008 to Great Neck. Here are the search results from the online "Track & Confirm" link, which detail my package's bizarre journey:

Label/Receipt Number: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Detailed Results:

Delivered, January 02, 2008, 1:24 pm, GREAT NECK, NY 11021
Arrival at Unit, January 02, 2008, 8:13 am, GREAT NECK, NY 11021
Processed, December 31, 2007, 10:33 pm, KEARNY, NJ 07032
Processed, December 29, 2007, 3:27 pm, JERSEY CITY, NJ 07097
Processed, December 21, 2007, 9:39 pm, DENVER, CO 80217
Processed, December 16, 2007, 6:46 pm, JERSEY CITY, NJ 07097
Processed, December 07, 2007, 6:44 am, DENVER, CO 80217
Processed, December 02, 2007, 12:02 am, JERSEY CITY, NJ 07097
Electronic Shipping Info Received, November 27, 2007

What happened? I am still trying to find out. The first error occurred in Salt Lake City, where the package was sorted visually by an actual person. My package was put with the bulk mail, which is processed at totally different facilities than the Priority mail. Then, every time it was scanned in Jersey City, it was sent to Denver. No one can explain why this happened. I got the number for the Jersey City bulk mail center and started calling them on December 7, when I saw that it was sent to Denver. No one could explain why it was sent to Denver. What is most baffling to me is that I was told that the scanners do not recognize packages as "Priority", despite the fact the package was prepared online and the barcodes are full of more than enough information to figure out the package is Priority mail! Apparently the postal service does not use their own informational databases to error check their package sorting. If it is incorrectly sorted at the beginning, good luck ever fixing it!

When I explained the the package contained irreplaceable items intended for Christmas, Phil and Richie in Jersey City assured me that they would "flag" the package so it would be manually removed when they got it again. That did not happen, and they sent it to Denver again! By now I was so frustrated that I was in tears. I was calling the Denver bulk mail center and the Jersey City center nearly every day. Lillian, a supervisor in Jersey City, said they had notes all over the facility to look for the package. Finally Phil found it on Saturday, December 29th, called me, and later delivered it to the nearby Priority Mail center.

Both Phil and Lillian claimed that an old UPS label on the bottom of the box was the cause of the problem, but it was not only half torn off, but also blacked out with marker. I am reasonably sure the barcode was not readable by scanner. Besides, Phil admitted the packages are scanned only once at each facility. Since my package was entered into the tracking database every time it was processed, it was obviously scanned correctly and the mutilated UPS label was not the problem. They simply refused to accept any kind of responsibility for their repeated errors.

Every person I talked to in consumer affairs during this ordeal told me I was entitled to a refund, which I certainly agreed with. After the package was finally delivered, I called, explained the situation, and requested a refund. I was told I did not qualify for a refund, because they do not guarantee any delivery except Express Mail! Despite the fact ALL of the literature for Priority Mail says "2 to 3 days", apparently 5 weeks seems like a reasonable timeframe to them. I had to do even more calling, escalating, and fax my copy of the label (even though their own tracking database clearly shows all of the errors they made) to get my refund. After all this, they would only refund me by giving me $19 in stamps, despite the fact I had paid for the label with my credit card on their own web site. As if I ever want to send anything with the USPS again! I contacted my credit card company to initiate a chargeback.

I have learned a few things from this experience:

• 1. If you really want any accountability, guaranteed delivery times, or solid tracking, don't use USPS.
• 2. Be sure to plaster Priority Mail labels all over your boxes to make sure they are sorted correctly.
• 3. Just use FedEx, UPS, or someone else!

In the end, it still seems no one has any idea why it was sent back and forth between Jersey City and Denver in the first place, and they don't really care enough to debug their system so it doesn't happen again.

Thanks for reading!

(Photo: The Library of Congress)

They stopped passers-by and asked if they were residents of Caledonia County; a "yes" answer won a summons to appear at the courthouse for jury duty immediately, right now, this minute. They rounded up 45 people that way in all, to join the 34 already at the courthouse.

Most people apparently did not mind being summoned for surprise jury service. According to the sheriff, "99.9 percent were just excellent" about being summoned on a sidewalk and ordered to report to the courthouse immediately." Deputies were also dispatched to the local post office and supermarket.

The defense attorneys were less than thrilled with the idea of sidewalk jury.

Defense attorney Sleigh filed a motion to quash the impromptu jury pool, saying the proper way to proceed would be to simply postpone the jury draw and then draw from an all new jury pool during the next round of jury draws. Sleigh was not sure the new jurors were unbiased and he had questions regarding the method used by deputies to pick jurors. He also questioned whether picking jurors in front of the St. Johnsbury post office could provide geographic representation.

Eaton noted the Charron case is 574 days old and is one of the oldest cases on the District Court docket. He rejected Sleigh's objections and told the parties the jury draw would begin.

Sheriff Rounds Up Jurors [The Caledonia Record via The Lede]

"I'm sort of the guy who set the pace here," Conway said, pointing out that he and his wife are the first residents of Concord Creek. "I'm cemented in."

Postal regulations require new developments to place mailboxes on one side of the street so mail carriers don't need to venture far from their trucks. Several nearby developments have mailboxes on both sides of the street.

If you plan to install a mailbox soon, something you probably only do once or twice in a lifetime, check with the postmaster ahead of time. Tell us in the comments who you think is right: the postmaster with the rule book, or the resolute homeowner. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Mail is signed, sealed, but it won't be delivered [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Her excellent letter, inside.

Jennifer writes:

"I'm not sure if what to call this story...I'm not sure if it's an actual consumer story, but it does involve one government agency, an HMO, Walmart, and a killing spree- so it should be interesting if nothing else. It was originally just a cool moment of customer insurrection at the Post Office, but it gets better (or worse.) .

Today was the last "errand day" before the first day of school, so we got up extra early to run through our list of chores. The first stop is the post office, which is so notoriously busy we showed up at opening time to avoid the rush. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself when I got in there- three clerks and only two people ahead of me. The first was a mail carrier who was finished pretty quickly but apparently had some chatting to catch up on. The second came to pick up a letter which was apparently very, very heavy, because it took them fifteen minutes to ring up..

By this time, there were about twenty people in line behind me, which was okay, because it was my turn. Alas, it was not to be. Two of the three clerks seemed very occupied with things out of sight, and the one I expected to call me up seemed to have forgotten how to make eye contact. After about five minutes of fiddling about, while customers behind me in line started sighing and twitching, she picked up a tray of rubber stamps and left the room. Almost immediately afterward, the other two followed, leaving the desk empty for a good ten minutes. Not once did any of them speak to, acknowledge, or even make eye contact with anyone in the line, which by now stretched out the door and was beginning to get grumbly. The postmaster poked his head out briefly and then ducked back out of sight. The clerks began to return, one by one, but still failed to notice the twenty-odd people milling about making snarky comments about the postal Service. I decided it was a now or never moment, and waved at one of the clerks who seemed to be walking off again. She looked sort of surprised that I was speaking to her, mumbled something about 'being right back,' and started off again. I made some sort of protest, and she waved me over- and still, no eye contact.

One of the louder grumblers just sort of lost it and started demanding some attention. After his third, very audible, "excuse me," one of the other clerks actually looked at him- and then walked away. My clerk grabs my box and rings me up- for what, I'm really n ot sure, because she never asked me how I wanted to send this box. Mr. Grumbly is now demanding she go fetch the postmaster, but she can't do it, because she's "helping a customer." I t ake my box back and tell her no problem, go ahead and get him, I'll wait, and I'd like to see him too. She waves Mr Grumbly to the Passport Office for "customer service," but he's not having it. So the boss lady comes charging out from the back and starts ordering the guy to "Calm down, sir, you're causing a disturbance," at which time all hell breaks loose as about twenty people announce their support of "sir" and his commotion. Mr Postmaster sticks his head out briefly and retreats, and boss lady tells us that the postmaster is not in today. Dumb looks all around.

When left, customers were gathering outside , planning a group complainathon. (BTW- Fremont main PO at Dusterberry) A partial victory for the People, not a complete disaster.

So this is where I planned this to end, but the saga continues- next stop, Walmart. The Fremont Walmart is a particularly dank, crowded, scary place to which I never willingly go, except that today I have to exchange grandma's gift of dockers an d yellow t-shirts to my punk rock seventh grader. Follows the long line at customer service, which requires I surrender my Driver's license number (?) I take my little plastic card, grab a cart, and head for the boy's department- or at least I try, but my cart won't let me- every few steps, it lurches hard to the right and nearly whacks a passer-by in the butt. I turn a corner and a display of 'sauce pitchers' explodes off the shelf all over me, and of course everyone is looking right at me as if I'd pulled a Uri Geller. I find my stuff and lurch to the checkout, where one of the biggest Walmarts in California has TWO checkers on the day before school. The wait is an hour, and I have no book and the only available reading is Angelina & Brad, Jon Benet, and forty-one quick n easy crockpot recipes. When I finally get to the front, I have half a dozen items which refuse to scan...and of course, every single cranky person in line is glaring at me, because I must have intentionally chosen the only package of Batman underwear in the store that won't scan. A complete disaster, made even worse by the discovery (back home) that a pair of jeans is defective and needs to be returned.

Next up is good old Kaiser, where my five year old is going for his fourth immunization shot this week. Not that he needs any, but they have mysteriously 'lost' all of his immunization records from two separate branches. He's back again because four times they have told me he has what he needs to start Kindergarten but each time I present the new record, the school sends me back, where Kaiser gives him another 'replacement' shot and sends us back. (the one flower in this heap of cow pie is Monica, the tireless employee who hunts down records, calls doctors for me, and gives me secret back-door phone numbers, we LOVE Monica!.) Two days before school starts, they called to tell us the records are gone, and the appointment they deemed unnecessary is now necessary- and unavailable. I am directed to call a special number to beg for an emergency appointment, because my son cannot go to school without these shots, and if he is not in school by day two, he will be sent to an 'overflow school' a mile away. I make the call on my cell while running errands, and use up ALL of my minutes while on hold for three hours, after which I give up, leave an 'urgent message' which is of course never returned. The next day I call the pediatric unit to beg interference and they tell me there has never been any appointment necessary for injections. Skip a few more annoyances, and we're getting the last shot. I stop by the pharmacy to pick up my older son's medications "while I'm here," where they want to charge me a hundred bucks because they are not generics. Skip three hours of me trying to explain exception codes (and even producing my checkbook to show three months of sixty-dollar payments) to Kaiser pharmacists , and I'm out of luck because the one person who has any idea what's going on is gone for the day. I cough up the hundred bucks, but I can't have the medicine until I sign a form, where I am asked to print my name and Driver's license number. the clipboard containing about a half-dozen other people's numbers is left on the counter for about twenty minutes. I complain to the pharmacist, who tells me the info is 'confidential,' and I point out that can hardly be the case if I have access to six stranger's vital statistics. He shoots me a worried look and takes off, and at the end of all my haggling over co-pays, he tells me that his manager agrees and as of today they have a new policy. So Kaiser, seventy-eight, People, one. I think.

In between Walmart and Kaiser, we witnessed the tail-end of an "accident" on the road near our house; we later discovered our neighbor a block over went batshit and spent the afternoon running people over. Not really relevant but I guess it put things in perspective."

According to court records, between January and March of 2005, 503 Netflix DVD movies destined for Lyons, Colorado were reported missing or stolen. Netflix told investigators the loss represents 23.33 percent of all DVD movies mailed to that postal area.

[via Hacking Netflix]