I am feeling high with relief to have dealt with one of the biggest tasks of the holiday season: getting Paul’s sister’s Christmas package completed and mailed. It was ready a week ago, except for items from ONE delivery that still hadn’t shipped two weeks after I’d placed the order. I finally emailed the company, and they didn’t answer my email but the package shipped the next day, so. Anyway, those items arrived today, I swooped the box into the house and opened and it and put the items directly into Paul’s sister’s box and taped it up and took it to the post office, where I was prepared to come back another day if it was too crowded. It DID look crowded, but I’m glad I decided to look inside, because as I got out of my car THREE of the cars in the parking lot left, and two more people were coming out of the building as I was going in, and when I got inside I was first in line. I haven’t been inside the post office in a long time; there were big clear plastic sheets hanging from ceiling to desktop, and there were taped-off waiting areas on the floor to keep people six feet apart, and there were signs asking people to please keep themselves, other customers, and the postal workers safe. When I left there were three people in line, so my timing was exquisite.
It was about $40 to mail the package, but we are not even going to think about it. Honestly it’s a bargain, if I picture how much I would want to be paid to take that box to where Beth lives. And when I was calculating the price online before heading out, I experimented with how much would it cost if I added another pound, if I subtracted another pound—and even when I suggested taking out a pound and a half the price didn’t shift, so I think I was just in a size/weight range that was going to be about $40 whether or not I took out the package of candy. So I put IN another package of candy and felt happy.
ANYWAY IT IS DONE. IT IS MAILED. It is OFF my dining room table and off my time-sensitive to-do list and out of my hands and on its way to her, and even with increased mailing delays should have enough time to get there. I wish I could have sent it a week ago but it’s fine, it’s FINE.
GOLD STAR to you. I am in a similar situation, but it’s my parents’ package. If the one missing gift does not arrive today, I’m just going to mail what I have. The missing gift is a desk calendar, so it could easily be sent in a separate padded envelope. Virtual high fives!!
GREAT WORK!!
This makes me think there should be a reality TV program that helps with/celebrates people mailing things. Because it is SUCH an ordeal, for me ALWAYS, not just during a pandemic, and the relief is SO GREAT and I would watch religiously if such a show were produced. (And we have so many things to mail! Shoes to return! Gifts to send! Bills to pay! Care packages! Etc!)
Oh! A happy package-related incident: I pre-calculated the cost of my sister’s parcel before I mailed it, and so was prepared for it to be around $30. And then it was only $17!!!!!! Perhaps (likely) it was user error, but it felt like a Christmas postal miracle!
So great! I had a similar thing where I was shipping some outgrown kids clothes to a friend, so not exactly high priority, and it calculated online to about $20. I went to the PO, used the self service machine (so easy!) and it was only about $8. AND SHE GOT IT THE NEXT DAY. I procrastinated two weeks for nothing.
I’ve had the package for my brother, sister-in-law and niece ready since Sunday. Wrapped and sitting on the chair because I keep finding reasons to not go to the post office. But I will do it tomorrow! Maybe first thing so it won’t be crowded.
FYI – all the post offices i have been in have a self service kiosk for mailing packages!!
Only some of the ones around here do- I think it depends on the age/size of the building. The smaller/older city POs don’t tend to have them but the more spacious suburban ones do. Except every time I drive out to one the machine is always out of order anyway. Harumph.
I remember those. We lived in a big city and a lot of the post offices had those. It was great. We are in a small town and we don’t have remotely resembling it. Also we don’t get house to house delivery and have to rent a post office box. But our postal people are very friendly and it’s not real crowded so those are pluses!
Hooray for mailing things! And there is plenty of time before Christmas!
(but for everyone who is banking on putting things in Priority Mail and getting them there in time: I sent two two-day priority mail packages a full week ago; both are still in transit a full week (to the minute) after I sent them; one may not even have left my state yet, but spent four days “in transit to next facility” between the state’s main postal facility….and the same place, which it has now *in theory* left but… right. One week earlier, out of two paired parcels, one got there as scheduled [yay!] and the other spent 7 hours shy of a week in getting to its destination. So, uh, the online “delivery dates” are lies at present, so 1. do not mail perishable things that need to be unwrapped within 72 hours, and 2. budget in a bit more slush time when mailing things.)(Also please note that most of this is probably Postmaster DeJoy and the pandemic; the USPS itself and most of its day-to-day non-upper-admin employees are not responsible for this attempt to destroy the USPS as an institution that serves the American people. Read the transcript of DeJoy’s interview with congress if you want more clarity on which congressional representatives think what about the support vs. elimination of the USPS.)
I ordered a package from Etsy that was sent first class mail, and it took nearly two weeks to arrive for this same reason: it took six days to be “accepted” at the first place it needed to be sent from. (In Georgia. I assume things have slowed down a lot in Georgia.) Thankfully I’ve now mailed everything I need to mail!
As a Canadian, I am jealous of your postal fees! I mailed a friend’s daughter two small paperback books and it cost $13! to send within Canada! And that is why I usually order and ship directly from the website to their home, but then I can’t wrap it all festive-like (under the boring brown mail paper, that is). It means I can buy more for her since I don’t have to factor shipping costs into the gift budget, but it feels more transactional and removes the personal touch and I miss that.
Hahaha you NAILED IT. Mailing Christmas/care packages is very satisfying. In my family, I like it and take care of it, and maybe next year hubby will remember that when I sit down with him in NOVEMBER to talk about gifts. Because then when he says “let’s talk about gifts” on December 10th, it’s too late to order the cupcake pattern spatulas that would be perfect for his sister.
I am in a Secret Santa exchange and I’m still waiting for an item to arrive to me. I’m debating if I should just put the item I already have in the mail so my person gets *something* before Christmas (with all the apologies for the other being late) or wait a little longer and hope the Priority 2 day mail will actually get there in 2 days.
And that run-on sentence is exactly how my brain feels.
I’m leaning toward mailing what I have on Tuesday and then mailing the other items out when I get them. It’s all small enough to fit into small padded envelopes. And while I don’t really want to pay 2x for shipping, it’s my own fault that I didn’t get the one item ordered sooner.
I would definitely mail it. Priority isn’t priority anymore, and because of Covid mail goes out and then might sit at a distribution center for awhile. Where I live packages go back and forth between centers before they get delivered. I don’t think it will get any better before the holidays.
I’m sure that is a satisfying feeling and I think it will get there in time. Just wanted to add that if you have a scale at home, you can purchase and print postage from the USPS website at home. You might still have to run the box in if it’s larger but you won’t have to wait in line.
I live in Germany and just received a Christmas package my dear Aunt mailed to me and my family awhile ago from the US. According to the US Postal-sticker on it, shipping must have cost her a whopping 70$!!!
This year I was so on top of the package that we send to my husbands family in Italy, with Christmas presents and treats from home, and a birthday gift for our nephew. We got that sent right after Thanksgiving and are confident it will arrive on time. Yay me! And then my husband mentioned this week. that he drew his Italy brothers name in the sibling gift exchange. My head exploded.
I did come up with a t-shirt subscription that will ship to military address so nothing needs to be sent. But good lord, dear husband, why???