Snail mail. What do you think about the term?

Benny here. Something's been bugging me lately. It's the term "snail mail." From where I sit, I think we do a pretty good job of moving the mail. While can't compete with instantaneous sending and receiving, we've never been quicker.

• We deliver 97 percent of our mail on time.
• Most of our mail is delivered within three days -- coast - to - coast.
• Just look at the speed of our processing

But really, snail mail?

For word lovers, (which I am), the term is what is called a "retronym," which is a term coined to differentiate an original term, previously used alone, from a more recently constructed term.

For an example, an acoustic guitar, which used to be called a plain old guitar, is now "acoustic" to distinguish it from an electric guitar. Similarly, "snail mail" as a phrase didn't come into use until the term "e-mail," short for "electronic mail,"  arrived on the scene somewhere around 1982.

Around 1983, the term "snail mail" was being slung around to describe anything that wasn't electronic.

The term was used ast least once in the 1840's to contrast the already operating postal mail with the new instantaneous telegraph. The Philadelphia North American stated "The markets will no longer be dependent upon snail paced mails".

As an aside, one clever project called "Real Snail Mail" actually fits encoded chips on the backs of snails, encodes them with electronic messages, and then tracks their progress as they "deliver" their satche.. (see project here.) Their theme is "improving slowness."

What do you think? Offended by the term? Do you embrace it? Or do you not care?
Comment here and then take our poll on the upper right corner of the blog (click here).

Even more love is in the mail

Benny here. You know, I'm a great romantic. Although, I could never get Mrs. Franklin to go fly kites with me, I did send her other charming gifts like fruit from France, shoes from Pennsylvania, and a red trinket from my trip to Transylvania.

My nemesis Alexander Hamilton made my wife jealous when he gave Mrs. Hamilton a new carriage. But I got my revenge when I took all his money in a card game and he had to give me his horse for payment. That left his wife with a wonderful ornamental carriage for her front yard. Lovely.

These days I go simple. I think there's nothing finer than a card with a postmark from one of the love-named towns around this great country. Here's the list:

Bliss, NY, 14024
Loveland, CO, 80538

Heart Butte, MT, 59448

Juliette, GA, 31046

Loveville, MD, 20656

Loving, NM, 88256

Loveland, OH, 45140
Romance, AR, 72136
Romeo, MI, 48065
Valentine, NE, 69201
Valentine, TX, 79854

To get a love-themed postmark, mail your stamped, addressed Valentine’s Day cards in a larger envelope to:

Postmaster, (Town name)
Valentine re-mailing
City, State and ZIP Code

Credit card offers -- making a comeback?

Credit card issuers sent out 180 million credit card offers to U.S. consumers last month, a 34% increase from the month before and had the highest monthly total since last December and the largest increase this year, according to Mintell Communication.
It's down signficantly from a year ago, but it may be a sign of the times.

Chase and American Express sent the most credit card offers. Each issuer had its most active mail month this year, as Chase more than doubled mail volume from Sept. 2009 and American Express sent nearly 40% more offers.

What do you think? Have you seen more credit card offers? Comment here.

Love is in the air?

Love is in the air, and in the mail again.
What could be finer than a love letter with a special postmark?

The city of Loveland, Colorado has kicked off its annual re-mailing program for lovebirds who want a special "Loveland" postmark on their Valentine's Day envelopes.

There are other remailing programs, including Valentine, Nebraska; Romance, Arkansas; Loving, New Mexico; Romeo, Michigan and Juliette, Georgia. But none are larger than the Loveland program.

To have valentines re-mailed with the Loveland postmark, enclose your pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelopes (envelopes should each have 44-cent postage; postcards should have 28-cents postage), add extra stamps/postage for heavier/odd shaped and square valentines, mail in a large stamped envelope or package with postage to:

Postmaster
Valentine Re-mailing
446 E. 29th St.
Loveland, CO 80538


Deadlines for re-mailing and delivery by Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2010:

* Valentine cards/envelopes destined for re-mailing outside of the U.S. to  U.S. military troops stationed overseas, or to other countries and international destinations, should be in Loveland by February 4, 2010.

* Valentine cards/envelopes destined for re-mailing within the U.S. and outside of Colorado should be in Loveland by February 9, 2010.

* Valentine cards/envelopes destined for re-mailing within the state of Colorado should be in Loveland by February 12, 2010.

Woof!

Across the U.S., more than 37 percent of households own dogs with an average of nearly two dogs each.

That adds up to a total dog population of just over 72 million.

Is this too many dogs? How many do you have on your route or in your neighborhood?

Comment here.

Postcards are unique snapshots of America

Benny here. I have always loved postcards. There’s never been much room to spill much ink, so I could write a few words, write out an address and stick a stamp and be done. The front images can be beautiful, whimsical or just informative.

Back in my day, you had to have an envelope. I once got a letter once from Alexander Hamilton after he visited his mother-in-law. “Wish you were here,” he wrote. This would have fit perfectly on a postcard.

In 1873 the Postal Service sold pre-stamped postcards that sold for a penny and those were the only cards that could be mailed until 1898, when the restriction was lifted and postcards of all types began to flow into the system.

Did you know that postcards have been made out of wood, aluminum, copper and cork?

Collector’s Weekly has a nice page that talks about the history of postcards and they highlight WW1-era Silk postcards that had a printed message, wrapped around cardboard and sent in see-through glassine paper envelopes. Check it out here.

What’s the best postcard you’ve ever received? Comment here.

Please restrain your bear

Dogs are a safety concern for postal carriers on nearly every route in America. And, when a canine problem persists, delivery can be curtailed to a home or a neighborhood.

But leave it to an Alaska rural carrier to contend with bears on his delivery route.

Paul Tomaro works out of Juneau’s Mendenhall Station. He has spent most of his 26-year postal career on the same route. Although he sees bears often, Tomaro doesn’t pay much attention to them. They leave him alone and he reciprocates.

But he recalls one occasion when he was falsely accused for a bear’s mischievous ways. “As I drove up to the customer’s mailbox, I saw a 300-pound black bear banging on the customer’s garbage can,” he said. “The contents were all over the ground.”

The bear saw Tomaro and ran away. The customer heard the commotion and saw Tomaro’s vehicle suspiciously close to the mess. “She saw the garbage on the ground and accused me of hitting the can with my vehicle,” he said.

Tomaro explained the situation and suggested the bear was still nearby. The customer made a hasty retreat indoors.

Dealing with the weather can be a “bear,” too. Tomaro has two Jeep Cherokees he uses on his 23-mile daily route. The four-wheel drive vehicles serve him well during Alaska’s frigid winters. Three years ago, he contended with 500 inches of snow over the winter. “The roads are usually cleared of snow, but I have to drive on the shoulder to make my deliveries and that’s where the snow piles up,” he said.

At least Tomaro doesn’t have to cope with the bears during the winter. They’re smart enough to stay undercover in hibernation until the temperatures increase.
 
Got a comment about this story? Do you have your own animal story to share? Click here.

Facing the cold days. Caption Contest!

Can you think of a good caption for this photo?

Suggest it here.

Photo courtesy of Dave Pope

Read, respond and recycle

Benny here. In my day, recycling wasn't really a big deal. We had a big country and lots of resources. But today, with increased population and environmental concerns, we all have to think about our impact on the world around us.

And that goes for the mail too. It's a touchy subject. Because mail is necessary for commerce, for our jobs and for a big chunk of the economy. It's also printed on paper that when it is read, is traditionally discarded.

We want to make recycling of mail convenient for customers, but we also need to be sensitive to our mailers that pay the postage. We want to encourage people to read their mail.

So we've come up with a good alternative: "‘Read, Respond, and Recycle."

In thousands of postal lobbies, Post Office box customers across the country can recycle their mail with convenient recycling bins that encourage customers to open their mail, respond to it and then responsibly dispose of it.

A complete list of participating post offices can be found at Earth911.com, using the word “mail” in the search engine. The list is sorted by ZIP Code.

More information on green initiatives and consumer products can be found at usps.com/green.

If you already have one of these recycling bins, how are they working? What do your customers think? Comment here.

USPS and sustainability

The Postal Service issued it's first Sustainability Report, describing what impact we are having on the world around us. The report, entitled "Delivering a Greener Tomorrow," outlines three sustainability goals: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing waste to landfills and engaging USPS employees in sustainability programs and processes

A few highlights are:

• A 9% decrease in overall energy consumption between 2005 and 2008 and decreasing facility energy use 18% over the same time period.
• Recycled 232,000 tons of plastic and paper in 2008
• Diverted 20,000 tons of paper waste from landfills through 4,000 Post Office recycling bins is office lobbies.
• Reduced energy intensity by 17% since 2003 and increased alternative fuel use by 61% since 2005
• Investing $150 million annually in facilities upgrades
• Purchased more than $200 million in recycled products

What do you think about our green efforts? Enough? Need more? Comment here

Open up and say....

Ahhhhh!

Thanks for the photo, Anita Miller, Grand County, CO

Coats for kids

The Twin Cities PCC and Twin Cities Post Offices launched Coats for Kids to benefit the Salvation Army. To date, more than 150 coats and assorted hats, gloves, boots and other winter clothes have been donated.

Look who's back!

The temperatures outside may have been frightful, but that couldn’t keep more than 50 delightful postal retirees from making their appointed rounds at the 3rd Annual Retirees’ Breakfast at the Topeka, KS, Main Post Office last month.

Current and retired employees relished the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and develop new friendships. The Breakfast is paid for each year by the local social and recreation committee, and donations from current employees.


“It’s a great way of keeping in touch with our retirees,” said Topeka Postmaster B. Steven Pinkerton. “They are a vital link to our past and represent a wealth of knowledge and experience that the Postal Service can draw from as it moves forward.”

"I left this building in December of 1976, and it is good to return and see how it has changed,” said Retiree Bill Miller. “It is still the Post Office, but the operation is a lot different.”

“Thanks for having us again!” said Retiree Jimmy Hinton. “It is good to have a chance to visit with everyone and walk the floor once again."

Once you retire, will you stay in touch with your coworkers? Tell my why...or why not, by clicking here.

"Going postal." What do you think about the expression?

"Going postal" has been a part of the American slang vernacular for a number of years. It cropped up after several incidents of postal workplace violence incidents that occurred in the late 80s and early 90s.

Though the Califano Report called the term a myth which gave the Postal Service "a bad rap," the term persisted as a general reference to violence in or outside any workplace. It has been thrown about in a number of cultural references, including movies, books, video games and music.

For many postal employees, the term is the ultimate insult.

But, these days, I’m also seeing the words crop up in other, non-demeaning uses. A chain of mailing centers calls themselves, "Goin' Postal." When we sponsored the U.S. Postal Service bicycle team with Lance Armstrong on the pedals, media and postal communicators used the term as a source of pride.

Some employees are intent on "taking the phrase back," turning it into something positive. "Going Postal" to these people means that the customer has made a choice to use USPS.

The Fredricksburg Star ran an op-ed called, "Going Postal, the right way, every day," that extolled the Postal Service and praised our operation.

So, what do you think about the term? Should USPS adopt it as its own? Fill out the poll on the upper-right corner and click here to leave a comment.

Your Postal Podcast #20, now online

JUST CLICK AND LISTEN
Mother Teresa! iPhones! OPRAH!

Hear about all of them on the January 2010 edition of Your Postal Podcast, available now -- just click here:

Our stories this month includes a feature about how to use your iPhone to track packages, as well as a review of this year's new stamps. You'll also hear from a letter carrier recently featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show as a result of her heroic deed.

For a transcript of this, the 20th edition of the podcast produced by USPS Corporate Communications, please click here.

YPP #20, like all previous editions, can be downloaded free from the iTunes store or through any other RSS feeder. Or, simply listen directly from the YourPostalPodcast.com website.

The Your Postal Podcast Team wants your feedback and story ideas. To reach them, please click here.

What do you think about the podcast? Comment here.

What can postal employees do for Haiti?

PMG Jack Potter sent out a message to all employees, sharing our collective grief over the Haiti tragedy.

"As we begin a new year, I would ask you to keep all those who have lost loved ones, or who are still searching for their loved ones, in your prayers. Tragedies like this, which in the past would have taken weeks or months for us to learn about, demonstrate how small our world has become and how fragile we all are."

He also encourages employees to help.
"Many local and national charities are hard at work providing relief to the victims of this disaster. I would encourage you, if you see fit, to work with your local disaster relief groups to provide financial support so helpful to those people of the world in desperate need."

The  U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has recommended cash contributions as the most effective way to provide relief assistance. USAID provides a listing of nonprofit agencies working to provide assistance at http://www.usaid.gov/locations/latin_america_caribbean/country/haiti/eq.

Too many holidays?

Benny here.  We have another holiday coming on Monday, in celebration of Martin Luther King's Birthday.

Federal News Radio has caused a little stir by asking about the number of federal holidays. They are asking whether it would be prudent for federal employees to give back a couple of holidays, to help balance the books.

One of their listeners suggested eliminating George Washington's Birthday or Columbus Day.

What do you think? Do we have enough holidays? Not enough? Just right? Which ones, if any, should we give back? And why don't we have a holiday for my birthday?  Leave a comment here. And you can also weigh in with the poll in the upper right-hand corner of this blog, found here.

Ohio letter carrier takes turn on "Who Wants to be a Millionare"

A Frazeysburg, OH, letter carrier is going prime time!

Andy Walcutt has been selected to appear on  "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."

He's been trying out for the show for years, but has never made it this far. The show was taped back in October.

Walcutt's appearance on the show will air at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

Within the next 30 days, Walcutt should receive a lump sum check of his winnings from the show. Due to contractual obligation, he can't say how much he won, but he's grateful for the experience.

To comment, click here.

Good news! USPS Volume and revenue up for December

Don't you think it’s time to talk about some good news?

Lot’s of you wrote last month that lobbies, plants and mail satchels were full. And lots you were noticed Priority flat-rate boxes seemed to be a big hit, thanks to some smart advertising (Thanks Al!)

Well, the numbers are in and it’s all true.

Nationwide, Priority Mail revenue was up 12.7 percent for the month of December. Out of every ten packages sent, eight of them were sent Priority Mail. And our walk-in revenue was up 1.5 percent. Not bad in a sour economy.

Total First-Class Mail cancellations still topped 3.1 billion for the month, which was only down about three percent.

What do you think? Is this good news? Can we build on this for the future? Drop me a note here.

Express package meets with fowl play, but employees flock to save contents

FROZEN CHICKEN NOT ON MENU

Rosie is one lucky bird, thanks to special care of Sioux Falls, SD, P&DC employees who took the chicken under their wing until she could wing her way to her final destination.

The prize-winning show bird had been sent as a gift from California to Mt. Carmel, TN. But the owner put a wrong ZIP Code on the label and the bird landed in Sioux Falls P&DF –– a thousand miles away from where it belonged.

And right behind her arrival an Arctic cold snap rolled in, which prevented any live animals from flying in the bays of airplanes.

There was no other choice but to keep the bird at the plant. The owner was called who consented to her care and gave special feeding and care instructions.

The employees at the plant cared for her during her stay. Rosie dined on various breakfast cereals, fruit and cat food. Using a lid from a small container, she even had a custom watering dish.

Using an air vent tab and tape, an employee gave Rosie had a secure perch where employees could keep an eye on her –– and she could have a bird’s eye view of what was happening.

“She was very social and comfortable,” said Mail Processing Clerk Alice Kadinger. “She didn’t seem to feel cooped up at all.”

The new owner, Shalla Miller, was thrilled with the extra care that went into her prize bird.

“She’s in the pen with her mate right now and she’s obviously very happy to have warmer temperatures,” said Miller. “She’s not interested in any more side trips to the Dakotas anytime soon.”

What do you think about this story? Comment here.