a quick rural life (and first world problem) rant - The Yellow Card

[Kali]

I get my mail at a post office. It is 5 or 6 miles from my house and involves a minumum of a 20 minute trip by vehicle due to road conditions and needing to get on the interstate. It is open Monday through Friday until noon and for an hour or two on Saturday. Box access is open all the time. There are 9 lockers for packages that don't fit in the regular mailboxes. The postmaster places a numbered key in your box and you use it to access the locker your package is in. Reasonable system, right? If you have a gigantic package that desn't fit in the lockers or sometimes during the winter holidays when there are a lot of them, you will get a yellow card in your box informing you to call at the desk for your package (also for certified mail).

Stupid "smart" phone quit working so on Tuesday evening I ordered another (used) one. I am not overly fond of telephones, but the ranch IS a business and I get calls about various things all the time so I sort of need to have one. People get lost or want access to hunt, take pictures, walk around looking for rusty metal. There are "emergencies" like cattle on roads or fences down. That sort of thing.

Of course it wasn't delivered until Saturday, when we were working cattle so no way to get to the PO during the brief time it was open. Same company and model phone arrived in the regular mail box two months ago so I knew I would finally have a working phone by Saturday afternoon, right? Nope. No package in the mailbox. And no key. I got the yellow card. "Please call at the desk for your package."

[Yonnie3]

1. This happens to me.

If the sender paid for a signed delivery receipt, I'm screwed no matter the size of the package.

[Kali]

4. I'm rarely in a hurry for anything, but this time...

[wasupaloopa]

2. We had 20 acres in the lower Sierra Mountains. No cable, needed a satellite dish and dial up modem

Also for satellite for T V. Had a well and a 50,000 gal storage tank. Gravity fed water pressure. A well and pump. The pipes would freeze and break emptying the tank. I had to constantly fix our barb wire fence to keep the free roaming cows off our property. It was open range territory.

Had to make sure the bacteria in the septic tank were what they should be. Drove 18 miles to the post office. Took our trash to the dump weekly.

Had to make sure we had enough feed for 4 horses 6 dogs and two cats.

In the evening as the sun set over the mountains and there being no sound but that which nature makes while mucking horse shit was the most peaceful time if the day.

[Kali]

5. there are certain trade offs

and it is definitely worth it to not live in the city (to me, anyway). I won't go into our water situation, that cause hypertension problems.

[Kaleva]

3. The desk at my local PO is open 2 hours a day. From 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

On Saturday, the front desk is open from 9:00 am to 10:30 am. Box access is open 24/7.

Most every week, my step-daughter will call or text me asking if I could go to the PO to pick up a package for her or her husband.

[Kali]

6. they are trying their best to kill the USPS

it is a shame.