Listening to my intuition.

This is a bonus post. It might be super boring. It's not really a rant. I'm going to schedule a link to this post - to pop up on Nov 1st of 2021 - so I can refresh my memory of this day.

There is no way to know exactly how many times this year I talked about bumping all my holiday mail to November to give the USPS a break - and I did manage to get my own mail sent promptly. But, I did not lean on my daughter hard enough and her cards arrived on Saturday, Dec 12th. I addressed them on the 13th and planned to mail them on Monday the 14th. 

My addressing of her holiday cards is my gift to her each year and it's one of our few *traditions* so, I wasn't forceful enough at getting her to order the cards early. But, I did not want to refuse to do them just because she missed my requested deadline. I can be an effective enforcer when I want to be.

The consequence of cutting her some slack was a life lesson. Actually there were two life lessons. The grandkids think that I make the best ginger cookies in the whole world and last year I made some in the shape of gingerbread men and mailed them to the kids so they could decorate them. Of course they wanted them again this year and I figured I would back off my no-mailing-in-Dec vow because it has been such a dismal year.

Lesson learning is on its way.

Early on Monday I heard from my postal worker son that the USPS expected Monday to be the worst day of the season due to people preparing to get things in the mail over the weekend and then showing up on Monday at the stations. My son shared some details of what he was seeing and hearing at the main USPS plant in Des Moines and it was startling. Things are definitely backed up. Log-jammed. I won't quote the quantities he was describing - but there are delays. There is so much stuff that it's getting hard to maneuver.

I was kicking myself because I could have taken the package to a grocery store courtesy counter on Sunday evening and there would have been no line and the package would have proceeded at the same pace. Instead, I headed out on Monday around 2 pm. Grrrrr.

At the first post office, there was literally a traffic jam. I decided against sitting in the line to shove my daughter's cards into the drive through boxes because I figured it might be so stuffed by the time I got there that I would not be able to insert my daughter's cards. 

Then I had a brainstorm. Drive to the BigHelpfulBrother's house and have him print out a click-and-ship label for me - online. You can do that, if you can weigh the package. And you can pay online with a credit card. We waited for a while to get the website to respond -- and it appeared that it was also overwhelmed - there was no way to know if we were in a 5 minute line or a 5 hour line. They do not have an *estimated wait time* feature.

So, I headed out to the second station. The parking lot was full and because of the 6-feet required between people, the line was out the door and I had not worn warm enough clothes. So, I proceeded to station number 3 which has a huge lobby and was prepared to just stand in line for as long as it was going to take. There were at least a dozen cars in the lot but when I got in, there were two clerks working and only one person waiting behind the two customers that were at the counter. Wow. Super lucky.

I took a photo of the lady who was ahead of me. Notice the elf ears attached to the sides of her hat. Then notice that basket on her left arm. It held 16 packages that each had to be punched in. In less than 5 minutes, she was at the first clerk's counter. The lady at the second clerk's counter was sending international mail and I could tell that it was going to take a long time. 

So the wait wasn't horrible. I should have taken another picture of the piles of packages that were everywhere. It was like nothing I have ever seen. So, I lucked out on my wait. I texted my daughter as I waited in line that this was truly the last time I ever set foot in a post office in December. And this is not an overly dramatic response. I won't be asking anyone else to amend their schedules for holiday mailing. But, for me, I'll feel better knowing that I am not adding to the situation.

Ms ElfEars was one of those people who liked to keep a conversation going during the time she was standing there. The clerk was very polite - and participated in the chit chat. During their conversation, we learned that the 16 packages were going to a group of people who normally got together in person and since they could not get together this year, they were going to have a virtual party and the packages contained party paraphernalia so that everyone could feel like they were together when they Zoomed their gathering. She spent $118.00 on postage to send party trinkets. 

This made me wonder -- maybe there is more mail this year because people are looking for ways to connect since they can't get together. It's a reasonable way to respond to the situation. I wonder how much she spent on the party trinkets. The packages were super cute holiday bubble envelopes. At least they are respecting the seriousness of the situation by having a virtual party.

OK, you thought this was winding down. No. There's more.

RebeccaE from the UK sent me the cutest article about a cartoon with a Jean Wilson character. I will cover that article in a later post. She sent another article about the carbon footprint of emails. Oh.My.Gosh. Clearly, that has never been on my radar. So now I have to ponder that. Yikes. I don't think I'm equipped to weigh all these options.

Luckily I have an addressing job that will keep my mind occupied today. And, lucky for you, if you are in the mood for my stories -- there is another one coming up about the challenges of finding pens and markers during these times.

Onward.

P.S.  My daughter knows how to make roll out cookies. I will send her the gingerbread man cookie cutter and her kids will be thrilled to make their own. They are old enough now that the tradition can be morphed into their own.