USPS:

I was at the post office today for stamps. The nice attendant showed me the options, I chose, and completed the deal. As I was entering the info into my checkbook, (s)he immediately put my purchase into a clear plastic envelope about twice the size of my purchase. I didn't ask for it, nor was it needed, I could safely shield the stamps out to my vehicle (sunny day, no rain or snow). After thinking about it, I should have asked the attendant "No, Thank you" on the bag, but I didn't want to delay the people behind me. We have all heard about the increase in first-class postage to $.46. We have all heard about how badly the USPS is losing money. WHY would (s)he AUTOMATICALLY put my purchase into an item which obviously costs them money and I didn't need? (S)he could have ASKED first. If the USPS is losing money so badly, why waste money on that flimsy piece of plastic, and to turn around and charge me more for postage?!?
If their theory is correct, then I have to start raising my rates for what I do, because my business has been slow for about three years now! Makes sense?????
Just my thots.......

The checker at Target today was trying to put the 5-lb. cardboard box of Cuties in a bag today. I told him to skip it and he asked, "Are you sure?" :faint:

IMHO the USPS jumped the shark a couple years ago. When the cost of operations out pace the revenue collected from customers it's time to take a hard look at the budget and figure out what can be cut to return the business back in to the black. Continuing to increase rates to the point that the USPS makes itself uncompetitive is how they got to where they are today.

Now the USPS has announced that they will be reducing service while increasing prices again. That's enough to drive me to online bill paying (most of the time it's free aside from the small amount of time it takes to set up the payments) and shipping through commercial companies that can move stuff for the same of less cost and often times do it faster with accurate tracking of every shipment.

Will we ever see a complete restructuring of the USPS? IMHO, not as long as it has any linkage to the US Government. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the history of the USPS vs. the British Royal Mail. I have to believe that some of the same issues came to bear on the Royal Mail in the past but it's still around so maybe there is a solution in history that could be applied again now to the USPS.

Slight tangent; I love reading the paper but I every time I buy one I ask myself why because I can get all of the information in the paper (and lots more) online for free. When I'm done with the paper I throw it away/recycle it depending on what's available, unless I need the Sunday funny papers to wrap a present for someone.

Then there is the over packaging of products that really don't need that much protection. I bought some ink cartridges a few days back; plastic blister pack on the outside, cardboard box as the next layer, and then a foil/plastic pouch as a last layer before you get to the ink cartridge that has a couple of caps over the ink nozzles and a strip of plastic tape over the electrical contacts.

I'm not big on the "green" aspect of recycling, I just call it something different. You give me a bag to contain my purchase, count on me using that bag again for something else. Stuff that comes in plastic containers, glass jars, and cardboard boxes? Count on me using those containers again. I don't do it to save a Polar Bear from drowning due to "climate change," I do it because I'm "aggressively frugal."

One problem with the post office is they can hardly do anything to change without congress' approval.

Imagine a CEO running a private company, having to deal with a micro-managing board of directors that doesn't show up for decision making meetings.

A lot of the Baby Boomers' parents grew up during the Great Depression and then the sandstorms that devasted a good part of the Heartlands during the 30's. I was raised to conserve where I can - of course this has carried over to my adult life.

I'll betcha NOT MANY Congress members grew perhaps wondering if they would be able to get by just one more day.....they have no CLUE how to watch the budget!

So, here we go again, picking on someone (an individual) without asking her about her thought process. Did she do this on her own? Was she required to do it? Why don't you find out before rambling on?

One of the problems with the USPS is the union. I believe we need unions, but this is an example of a union out of control.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/op_ed/2013/02/labor_costs_doom_saturday_mail

All told, employee compensation and benefits account for roughly 80 percent of USPS’ costs. A 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes that this “percentage ... has remained similar over the years despite major advances in technology and the automation of postal operations.”
....
In 2009, the Federal Times reported that the USPS averages 45,000 hours of “standby time” every week, when employees sit idle, costing the USPS more than $50 million a year.

At the end of the day, there’s surprisingly little that the Post Office can do to change this ailing and failing system. In the rare instances when the USPS and unions seek a neutral third-party to help renegotiate union contracts, the arbitration negotiator is not legally obligated to consider the Postal Service’s financial situation. The result? New union contracts, same old financial problems.