PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic USPS package

Is this going to be as bad as it sounds? Our Canadian Postal Service is a huge powerful union, my father in law ordered stuff for his granddaughters on December 15 from Eddie Bauer and Canada Post has a Christmas season package cut off on Dec 16. Thing ended up, despite the expedited USPS to Canada Post, sitting in Mississauga (near Toronto) until January 4, because of the 'cut off date and we get lots of vacation at Christmas'. Had it been ups it would have been next day.

Anyway I ordered a mic from Amazon, and the sent it USPS for only $20 Canadian, the tracking # does not work, they company says they shipped it, USPS says they never picked it up yet..probably faster by Dog Sled. (In that we are getting snow for the 7th straight day.....

Had that happen with an order before
Here is how it all shook down.

The phone jockey checked his little computer which said it was shipped (they had paid for shipping and set date)
When the USPS got there they were out of stock so it never got picked up.
Company still said it had shipped, until I worked my way up to someone who physically looked into it (instead of just looking at their screen)

It was back-ordered and nobody told me until I pushed a little bit

Nice. All my good experiences are with UPS although my brother in law's company who uses them all claims they are no good. But they get hundreds of packages a day.

If you want it to stop working, let the gummint do it...

They just built a new post office in town here.
My best friend works there-
He said the new post office is 1/2 the size of the old one and has one bay for semi's (the previous one had three) ..
and they are suppose to pick up the slack from another office that got shut down.
They must plan on becoming obsolete!

competition from fedex, ups, and others is sounding the death nell to the usps and canada post. the usps tracking numbers never seem to mean anything and they don't hit their system for several days, unlike ups which can track the package every leg of the journey.

Sounds to me like they could get the postal service actually working and maybe be competition rather than the competition being the problem.

The reason that fedex and ups are doin' so great is that the usps sucks so bad.

Can't wait 'til the gummint is runnin' the healthcare with such wonderfully dumb systems...


--Mac

Good thing the gov't doesn't run the healthcare here. They just pay for it with my money. My doctor decides what and when I need it. No prior approval, except from me. And he found me a cardiologist, a rheumatologist, and a pain specialist. The gov't has to pay those dudes with my taxes too. Sometimes takes 3 weeks to get to see the specialist, except for the cardio guy, but he's ok, he plays sax with a local jazz group and comes to my Brass Band gigs. On Friday he's at the Press Club playing sax. And on Wed. afternoon I can call my cousin Larry who is the starter at his golf course and have him ring me from the first tee while waiting. (Did that once actually just for a laugh after Larry said he tees off at 1 unless he's in the OR.) Larry got a pacemaker from him and gets a weekly consult. I'm doing better than Larry he died last year, but the fire station is 3 houses down and the gave him a boost and he came back.

I once paid extra... a LOT extra... to have the USPS deliver a package OVERNIGHT to my wife who was in a hospital in another state. She got it a week later. I don't do that anymore. Parcel post is no slower than NEXT DAY, but it costs less. Apparently they both go on the same truck

I send 2 packages a week of materials to Niagara Falls which is a 2.5 hour drive. 8 bucks by Canada Post and it's always there next day if mailed by 5, with a tracking number and I can watch it go. But Christmas here they got some weird rules. I was worried because 90 percent of what I've ordered thru Amazon gets here next day after shipping.

I have no experience with the USPS.

But living next door to the US and you can absorb the paranoia, and that's not a good thing. I'm going to take the night time meds and calm down. Damn US beat us at hockey and I wish I could have a dram or beer but I never drank in January before (except at midnight Dec 31 each year), unless I was on vacation. Saves some cash....

We are considering starting a naked airline for travel to the US. The airline would give you a disposable jump suit for the flight and hand out tooth brushes and stuff at the disembarkation point. But for 2 weeks how am I gonna get my scary dangerous drugs into the country when I need a large box? I'm outta luck I guess. Even if they made those in the US I heard a congressman say they were inferior cause they cost less. I can understand a US company making drugs and selling us the seconds. I demand the best ones, and the right to PAY man......LOL..ugh ugh ugh my tongue got stuck in my eye tooth and I couldn't see what I was saying. I'm gonna go put those teeth in the plastic container and let them clean overnight and ponder WHY the HECK is it snowing for the 6th consecutive day!!! My wife's so tired from shoveling that she can hardly press the on button on the dishwasher.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG...

John,

Quote:

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But living next door to the US and you can absorb the paranoia, and that's not a good thing.

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Remember, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you! And unfortunately for the USA, "they" really are out to get us.

Second, if you do ANYTHING that involves the US "guv'ment", then I guarantee that your experience is going to suck really hard. I know I've been a very vocal supporter of the USA and it's people. But I will be the first in line to say the cliche' of "government is best which governs the least", or something close to that.

The USPS is a prime example of that. Next time, I would suggest a free market capitalist approach and use UPS or FedEx. ANYTHING ran by the "guv'ment" will be a major disappointment.

Third, here is a more "ergonomic" snow shovel for your wife;

http://www.amazon.com/Suncast-SC3250-18-Inch-Shovel-Ergonomic/dp/B000A1E690

Hopefully, this will leave her fingers sufficiently nimble to push the button on the dishwasher.

Bob

that shovel is precious, bob. thanks for the chuckle.

The USPS will occasionally come thru.

I once sold a 1947 Gibson L-7 archtop guitar thru eBay to a buyer in Japan. I don’t speak Japanese and he didn’t speak English, so our communication was “spotty” to say the least.

His first question was “the possage is how much????”

His “feedback” after getting the guitar was “The guitaar reached safe Japan by your shade. I very appreciate you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”.

I take it he was pleased.

LOL.

Bob

Don,
Those type of shovels are made to easier on the back, something I found out last year when I nearly put myself in the hospital from shoveling snow.

Personally, I prefer the 4 wheel drive, enclosed cab, sit at the kitchen table and drink coffee model, but they tend to be expensive, and up here, have a tendency to often only communicate in Spanish.

Gary

gary, my son who lives in marysille, the strawberry capital of the known world, said the snow was terrible last year and he, his wife, and their daughter all had car wreaks on the same day after being caught in a blinding snowstorm. me, i like john's solution to shoveling.

having been born and raised in the nort' woods of minnesota, i am no stranger to snow or cold but i have never gotten my snow blower stuck on the roof like john did. and that was in a mild june, i think.

I was known, when living up north, for never shoveling the snow. Heck even here I tell her no at a certain point. You drive on it and pack it down. In the spring God takes care of the rest. But you had to shovel the roof, it would cave in otherwise. Until Lake Huron freezes over, we can get 3 to 5 feet of snow in a day or so. Add a NW wind and voila.

That's the kind of shovel we have. And a huge scoop that glides along with 5 cubic feet of snow, you tip it. That works well. Hopefully my bone scan that's coming up will let me start doing stuff again.

I don't understand why your government is going to run health care. Here we have the Sisters of St. Joseph running the Catholic Hospital, who send the government a budget and they run the Urgent Care centre. We used to have a hospital run by the University, but they amalgamated with the other major hospital and those 2 run the Children's hospital and the Helicopter emergency division. The government oversees doctors, and approves expansions. The hospital board runs the hospital and the doctors run their practices. My doc works 11 to 6 every day including Saturday, and there are 4 walk in clinics withing a 10 minute drive, open 24 / 7. You can go where you want, but you can't get narcotics from the walk in clinics.

There are no government employees sitting deciding if you get some treatment, no decisions on your care in their hands, and they review the doctor's record keeping and billing to the government to make sure he or she doesn't screw them. Once in a while I get a summary of what was billed in the mail, asking me to ensure it's accurate. That stops some doc from billing for stuff he can't. Right now he gets $25 bucks if you phone about the flu, $20 for every flu shot (I got 2 didn't pay a nickle). My wife got 2 flu shots yesterday from the local health unit at work and I had the option of going in to the fire department a month ago for the same thing.

My doctor runs his practice. My uncle is a doctor and a millionaire several times over and he was a GP. My niece and her husband are GP's. Between them I cannot keep track of where they are on vacations.

The paranoia crack is more about the security at airports. Crazy. An explosive dog is going to hit on anyone who played with fertilizer. You can't shut down airports because some guy is a gardener. The point of terrorism is to make the other side paranoid, stop them from enjoying life. Seems to be working.

I saw Sicko the other night, noting else on so the wife and I watched it. | ended up literally crying over the state of your health care system. No one should be turned away because they cannot pay. Ever. It should be a human right.

I thought your motto was "Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free..." did that include the right to die because you cannot afford medicine or a doctor or an operation.

I suspect you'll figure this out. Demand total freedom of choice, any hospital, any doctor. We pay way less per capita, and I don't see a downside.

You can plunk down $2500 to MedPoint here. They provide over and above the regular plan. You get a 5 hour exam. All the necessary tests for your age and condition. If you don't really qualify for an MRI cause you want one, they charge $1000 and send you in a limo to Detroit. You get next day appointments for the year. And an on-call doctor 24 / 7. That's free enterprise on top of our system. They bill for a standard office visit, and you pay the extra. Lots of employers who need top notch employees include that in your 'package'. You get a dietitian, and wellness planner.

Chiropractic is not %100 percent covered, I think about $25 per visit.

Think it through. No matter what the HMO lobbies are telling you, the system here works pretty well. Not perfect I admit. But I'd bet you $500 bucks I can call my doctor at 9 and insist to talk to him in person within an hour and it is happening. No question. And I won't pay him a dime. And he won't get a dime. He will tell me to drop in as soon as possible, I'll get weighed, blood pressure taken by the nurse, and he'll be with me for 10 to 15 minutes, shake my hand and tell me to take care, call him if anything comes up.

As to the Post office cure, I have no clue how yours works. Ours is overpaid, but most of the province (state to you), gets the mail there next day if you post before noon. The day after if you post before 5. They clear the boxes twice a day.

Snow?

What's that?

Haven't seen any.

And luvin' it...



--Mac

Shaddup. It's pretty for Christmas Day and then ...goodbye.

Right now I have a hanging drift off the front of the roof 2 feet down from the eaves.. I'll take a picture and post it later...

I spent my time in the white, John.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Colorado Springs, Colo (!) where I recall snowflakes hitting the windshield that were as big as my head one winter, the things looked like paper cutouts from a child's art project.

Thule, Greenland AFB -- Where B-52s disappeared in the drifts...

Imagine what its like to be a black guy, wake up and everything is white! (grin)


--Mac