New York Renovator

My husband is a part-time mail carrier. It’s not an easy job, especially in Upstate New York in the winter. Since the United States Post Office is in the news a lot right now (with all their financial problems and the threat of cutting Saturday delivery to make ends meet), I thought it would be cool to mention a few things about the post office– things you may not know because the media fails to report it.

Just for the record, I am against the USPS ending Saturday delivery. I think it would be fatal to the USPS, a really stupid move. What they SHOULD do is end the mandatory (super-expensive) pensions and perks that they dole out to retirees and veteran workers. [Note: I know this is a touchy subject, especially in light of the hooplah going on in Wisconsin. I feel the same way about things in NY-- it's too expensive to maintain a top-heavy government, and painful choices are being made.] There’s also quite a bit of waste in the USPS that can be slashed, but it takes acts of Congress to make these changes. The USPS is under government control, but they don’t receive a PENNY in tax money. Another example of waste is that some postal areas blend delivery areas– this doubles the expense of delivering mail because TWO or more offices serve ONE area.

Anyway, I saw a list called “13 Things Your Mail Carrier Won’t Tell You” at the Reader’s Digest website, and thought it was very worthy of passing on. These are all things my husband has brought up in one way or another. I include the best here. My own comments are in regular type.

• Maybe your dog won’t bite you. But in 2009, 2,863 of us were bitten, an average of nine bites per delivery day. That’s why I wince when your Doberman comes flying out the door. My husband has told me quite a few stories of some VERY close calls he’s had with dogs that “wouldn’t hurt a flea.” Uh huh. Folks, do you want your mail? Keep the dog inside. My kids need their dad home, not in a hospital.
• Remember this on Valentine’s Day: It takes our machines longer to read addresses on red envelopes (especially if they’re written in colored ink).


Photo from Wikipedia

• Media Mail is a bargain, but most of you don’t know to ask for it. Sending ten pounds of books from New York City to San Francisco through Media Mail costs $5.89, compared with $16.77 for Parcel Post. Besides books, use it to send manuscripts, DVDs, and CDs; just don’t include anything else in the package.
• The USPS doesn’t get a penny of your tax dollars.
• UPS and FedEx charge you $10 or more for messing up an address. Us? Not a cent. My husband will even make up the difference if an envelope is not properly stamped.
• Paychecks, personal cards, letters—anything that looks like good news—I put those on top. Utility and credit card bills? They go under everything else. Junk mail, flyers, and mail for stuff like is cased at the bottom.
• Mail carriers also have to endure- day after day– the smut and glut of porno and “ladies” magazines. Some magazines, like Playboy, are required to conceal their magazine covers with plastic or paper, but the “ladies” mags like “Shape” or “Cosmopolitan” do not, and those covers are sickening. I feel so sorry for mail carriers who have to endure that junk. You know, if the USPS forced such magazines to pay a little extra to cover their stuff, I’ll betcha that would solve the USPS financial problems in a one week, not to mention a whole lot of consciences and marriages.
• Sorry if I seem like I’m in a hurry, but I’m under the gun: Our supervisors tell us when to leave, how many pieces of mail to deliver, and when we should aim to be back. Then some of us scan bar codes in mailboxes along our route so they can monitor our progress.
• Yes, we do have to buy our own stamps, but a lot of us carry them for customers who need them. Very true! My husband always has a stash of stamps and he adds them gratis. He’s such a swell guy. Sad thing is, no one ever seems to realize how generous he really is. He also gets out of the car and moves your trash cans that have blown out in front of your mailbox, even though he does not HAVE to legally deliver your mail if there’s an impediment to your box.
• Please dress properly when you come to the door. A towel wrapped around you doesn’t cut it. And we definitely don’t want to see you in your underwear—or naked! My husband has had a few very uncomfortable encounters with ladies who treat the mailman as if he was some kind of nobody, not worthy of respect. It’s not fun to have to deliver mail to jiggly ladies who wear less cotton than an aspirin bottle. :-p
• We serve 150 million addresses six days a week, so we’re often in the right place at the right time. We pull people out of burning cars, catch burglars in the act, and call 911 to report traffic accidents, dead bodies, and more. My husband actually came to the rescue of an older, heavyset gentlemen living in a rural area who had fallen and couldn’t get up. His wife was trying to help him, but she was too weak to lift him. Together, my husband and the lady couldn’t even lift him, so my husband waited with the couple at their home until a rescue team arrived, because the wife was so stressed. It took the rescue team half an hour to get there, and that was time out of my husband’s day (and he was late for his second job, too).
• Most of us don’t mind if you pull up to our trucks while we’re delivering and ask for your mail a little early. But please get out of your car and come get it. Don’t just put your hand out your window and wait for me to bring it to you.
• We go to great lengths to deliver to every address, no matter how remote. That’s why, in the most rural areas, even UPS and FedEx rely on us to make their final deliveries. True. And some places are VERY remote. I have had to rescue my husband out of some places, too. One rural place, he ran out of gas. And another time, during a snowstorm, the van slipped into a ditch and fell in sideways. I had to try to tow him out (couldn’t) so we called a tow truck. All the while, the mail delivery was delayed. What was really sad was that, while we were out in the storm waiting for a tow truck, a customer on the route with a honking big SUV roared by us, didn’t even stop to help. But he got his mail with a smile, anyway.
• Those plants around your mailbox are beautiful, but I’d like them better if you kept them trimmed back. Please don’t plant flowers because bees and ants like them.
• Is it hot enough for me? The heat index is 110 degrees. What do you think? (Instead of asking that, offer me a cold drink.)
• Despite the “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” motto, we’re instructed not to deliver to a mailbox if the snow and ice around it isn’t cleared. Most of us take the motto to heart, though, and do our best to deliver in even the most hazardous conditions. My husband does everything humanly possible to deliver the mail, even for rude people who do not shovel their boxes out. And you know what? If the mail can’t get delivered that day, it has to be delivered the NEXT day– that’s TWO days mail that has to be delivered in ONE day in the same amount of time. And my husband has actually had to call in unavailable for his second job because the mail delivery was so heavy that day– so, he LOST money because he lost HOURS on his other job, because some folks didn’t shovel their mailboxes out and that made a chain reaction with the mail load. So give the mailman a break.
• I have people who leave a letter in their box and tape 44 cents in change to it. I’ll take it, but the next day I’ll be waiting in line like everyone else to buy you a stamp.
• It’s a small thing that makes my job so much easier: Please park your car in the driveway instead of in front of the mailbox. I live on a busy street, and while I never park in front of my mailbox, lots of people do. That means, I don’t get my mail because their car is in the way.

I hope this gives a little perspective on the USPS and the millions of men and women who work there. These people work very hard and deal with a multitude of mail products, people, weather and animals. I think they deserve our support! Thanks for reading.

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I took the boys to the dental hygienist the other day. I just love this dentist’s office, everyone is so friendly and the place is so clean and colorful. So as the hygienist worked on my son’s teeth, we chatted for a while. We talked about education in general, and online education in particular, which is becoming very popular.

She said to be a dental hygienist, all you need is a two-year degree. The courses are mostly science-based, and it’s a pretty heavy dosage of a science education. Honestly, as fun as the hygienist made her work look, I don’t think that’s something I’d really like to do. I like teaching– not necessarily in a school, but I like giving instruction on tjhings I know. Maybe I’d be better suited as a tutor or some kind of a specialist in instruction. That would be fun, I think! Then again, there’s the education. So many employers are paying less attention to merit and more attention to that piece of paper from a college. But the good thing is that online institutions have become just as competitive and instructional (even more so, now) as “real” colleges and universities. One particular place that has some interest is the School of Education at Saint Xavier University. They are based in Chicago, but have become renowned for their outstanding MS Curriculum. The curriculum is suited for modern instructional methods, including integrating technology, literacy, and development of curriculum for K-12 all the way up and into college level and specialized instruction. I think it looks great! If you are interested in learning more about Saint Xavier University’s online program, check out the website. The School of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and they offer degrees in business, education, and health care.

The more I think about our present economy and the employment future, the more I see that the days of getting a 9-5 salaried job at a factory for your lifetime is OVER. Workers today have to be more innovative, more flexible, and more educated than at any time in our history. I’m keeping all this in the back of my mind for myself but also for my children. I think online educating is the way to go: it’s extremely flexible, affordable, and convenient.

I saw an interesting news article at CNN, Is Your Job Recession-Proof? Here in Upstate New York, most people can (and have) answered that question with a resounding “no.” We’ve seen not only a massive exodus of people leave the state, but a massive exodus of jobs. New York State is perhaps the most hostile for business, or we’re a close second to California. Excessively high taxation, high and stringent regulation, penalties for non-union and non-corporation businesses, and an extremely high cost of living are the main causes. It’s been building to a climax for nearly 30 years now, and the poor frog in the pan is almost cooked through.

However, there are some temporarily recession-proof jobs in the state. But they are all all government jobs. And government jobs are paid for by taxpayers in the private sector. When you have a decreasing population, a remaining population with fewer jobs and lower wages, and a high cost of living, the schism between cushy government jobs and the working people is overwhelming and totally unsustainable.

So it is with this knowledge that I read the CNN article. Their list of recession-proof jobs is as follows:

1. Education –we’ll need more teachers, says CNN; we’ll get only more administrators, says Mrs. Mecomber. Education jobs are 100% funded by taxpayers.

2. Energy sector –oil, gas, and geothermal industry, and more engineers. Taxpayers pay for research and some corporations get government support/bail-outs.

3. Environmental sector –engineers and scientists for research into “green” technology. Again, research is heavily funded by taxpayers.

4. Health Care –nurses, technicians, etc. Health care is already bankrolled by the states; should it go national, expect a collapse of the economy, not a boost. Like P.J. O’Rourke said, “f you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”

5. Security –border patrols, police, Homeland “Security” jobs, etc. These are 100% taxpayer-funded jobs.

Now, there are a lot of jobs in the private sector that belong in that list. But by and large, education, environment, health care, and security are mainstays of governmental jobs. I do not see how on earth that jobs can continue to grow in the government, with wages and perks going higher and higher, while the taxpayers are suffering job losses and extremely high cost of living. Taxes are continually going up, and taxpayers are going under. You’d think that there would be a clarion call for government to shrink in size, and build a new policy toward encouraging small business. Nope. Everything is going to China or India, except government jobs. Oh wait– some government jobs are going there, too, because fewer and fewer taxpayers are able to support the great big behemoth that is U.S. government and all its bureaucracies (not to mention all the perks, pork and taxpayer-funded cruises).

I don’t see how this kind of economy can sustain itself in a capitalist economic system. Of course, I don’t think many in government want a capitalist system anymore. Doesn’t this type of economy they are pushing on us look a lot like fascism?

Thanks to Attempts at Sustainable Living for the CNN news story.