Zip Codes

Finally!  An A-Z Challenge where "Z" was an easy one! :)
According to the USPS, Zip codes were developed in the early 1960s as a way to more accurately and specifically sort mail for delivery.  ("Zip" stands for "Zoning Improvement Plan") July 1 will be the 50th anniversary of the Zip Code system!
My first digit (3) represents the Southeast region.  The second two numbers (01), represent the main population area within that region- in my case, Georgia, followed by the beautiful city of Atlanta.  The final two numbers (87) zero in on my local post office.

Maybe I was drilled very well in how to address an envelope when I was in school, but it has always astounded me that people forget to include the zip code sometimes.  To me that's like not addressing it at all! LOL

Here are some interesting Zip Codes I found:

• General Electric in Schenectady, NY has a unique zip code in sequential order: 12345
• Detroit, MI has a mail boat called the JW Westcott that delivers to ships in the Detroit River.  It has its own zip code of 48222.
• The public knows the White House zip code to be 20500, but there is actually a secret zip + 4 for the President and First Family to get private mail.
• New York's World Trade Center complex had its own zip code of 10048 before it was destroyed on 9/11/2001
• My own beloved city of Savannah, GA's zip code is the first few numbers of Pi: 31415

USPS

Well, obviously. :)

I thought you'd like to see my local P.O.

Isn't it cute!  I never use that blue box.  I usually have a package that needs postage, or I check my box (yes, I did finally get one!), or I just like to drop off letters at the counter and wish the ladies working there (who have come to expect me a minimum of 3x a week) a good day.

I tried to find when this branch opened, but Google isn't cooperating.  I know it has been in existence at least since the 80s, because I can remember it being a community fixture when I was a little girl and we moved back here from Virginia.  I'll have to ask next time I'm in (probably tomorrow) if the workers know the date it was built.

I did find this section of USPS Facts on the USPS website (go here for the whole thing):

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A Day in the Life of the U.S. Postal Service

Each day, the Postal Service picks up, processes and delivers millions of letters and packages. No single operation in the world comes close to this level of connectivity to so many households and businesses. Here’s just ONE day in the life of the United States Postal Service (figures are averages):

215 million — revenue received, in dollars

157 million — dollars paid to postal employees in salaries and benefits

528 million — number of mailpieces processed and delivered

22 million — average number of mailpieces processed each hour

366,000 —average number of mailpieces processed each minute

6,100 — average number of mailpieces processed each second

226.7 million — pieces of First-Class Mail processed and delivered

262.4 million — pieces of Advertising Mail processed and delivered

727,167 —number of packages picked up through Package Pickup

4.3 million — number of miles driven by letter carriers and truck drivers

7,753 — number of letter carriers who deliver mail entirely on foot — The USPS Fleet of Feet

130,592 — number of address changes processed

2,160 — number of addresses added to our delivery network

1 million - number of peple who visit usps.com

809,210 — dollar amount of online stamp and retail sales at usps.com

1.6 million — amount of money spent on postage for Click-N-Ship labels

44.1 million — number of Click-N-Ship labels printed

18,750 — number of passport applications accepted

358,553 — number of money orders issued

1.6 million — dollars spent at Self-Service Kiosks in Post Office lobbies

3.2 million — customers served at more the 31,000 retail locations

0 — tax dollars received for operating the Postal Service

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 152 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With more than 31,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 42nd in the 2012 Fortune 500.

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And yet we snail mailers are constantly told that the 238 year old institution is broke, being run into the ground and may soon be extinct.  Hmm.

And speaking of USPS history, I'd really like to go to D.C. and visit the National Postal Museum at the Smithsonian.  Anyone been?

Return To Sender

Nothing makes me sadder in mail adventures than seeing something I sent out weeks ago back in my mailbox with a sticker on it telling me it couldn't get to where I wanted it to go. :(

One time, I sent a letter to a pen pal in Germany, whom I had connected with through social media.  I used the address from her awesome custom stamp and made SURE it was right.  It came back some 2 weeks later, saying it couldn't reach her.  So I sent her a message to double check the address, which was EXACTLY what I had used!  I put it in another envelope, RTS stickers and all, and tried again with the SAME address and she got it 3 days later.  One of those postal mysteries that leaves you scratching your head and going "???!".

And then there is the hassle of convincing people (mostly businesses) who send mail to individuals who no longer live at your address that they should stop sending things addressed to that person.  (I'm looking at you, insurance company!)  I had to physically walk into an office, hand them the stack of mail that had kept arriving weeks after I had made calls to remove my address from their list, and very slowly spell it out for them to STOP. SENDING. THESE.  I think they FINALLY got the message!

I sent out to a pen pal from France a few weeks ago and it came back RTS.  I had her parents address that she had given me as a backup though, and so far I haven't heard anything so maybe she got it and will write back soon.

Do you ever get things returned back to you, readers?  I hope it doesn't happen very often!

Mailboxes

Our poor mailbox.  It has sweetly and patiently stood vigil at the road in front of Gran's house for many years.  It has withstood hail, tornados, scorching summers, several floods, and the baseball bats of stupid punk teenagers who don't have anything worthwhile to do on a Saturday night than destroy other people's property.

It's so pitiful, I don't even have the heart to show you a photo of it.  The door is missing, the flag rusted into place ages ago, and the numbers are broken and falling off of the post.

Of course, now that the weather has a few nice days thrown in, we are looking to fix it up replace it with a pretty new one.*  This got me thinking on some designs and I thought I would share some fantastic mailbox photos I found around the interwebs.  :)

For those who just can't let go of technology...

For the Hobby Enthusiast:

For the Geek following their Fandom...

For the Northerner who is sick of the snow and a bit stir crazy...

*Have you seen how much some of the prettier ones go for at places like Home Depot and Lowes??  $400+!  God Save The Queen, I could send each of my pen pals a letter a week for that! (Maybe.)
And I am still making up my mind on the "to get a P.O. Box or to not get a P.O. Box" question.
How's the state of your mailbox, my dear reader?

LWA, Long Letters and the Library

I've already mentioned the Letter Writer's Alliance a few times here on TMP, but I couldn't pass up the chance to include them in my postal themed A-Z!!!

I've been a member since 13 September, 2011!

I got a letter from Donovan just last week and I LOVE her sense of humor!  I have to write back ASAP.  My time is pretty spliced at the moment, and if I'm to succeed at some of my major long term goals, I have to acknowledge that MOST of my time in an average day isn't my own, at least for a while.

But I am still making time for the things that matter to me.  I'm still working hard, knowing that while I will never be a perfect person, I can perfect some of the facets of my life to be better versions of themselves.  Things like... writing back in a timely manner, for example!

Are you an LWA member?  I've met a few pen pals via LetterMo who are!  If you are not, you should definitely consider it.  A lifetime membership costs less than a movie ticket.  Check out the blog HERE.

Now on to the second part: long letters.  Am I the only one who can't bring myself to send a postcard sometimes because there just isn't room to do the correspondence I want to convey enough justice?  Please tell me I'm not the only person who habitually, after filling up both sides of a blank card's inside, carries over to a second 7th or 8th page??  Granted, a lot of times my additional "pages" are cut down to the size of the card, so they aren't full sheets.  But still.

Of course, a logical train of thought would be that if I didn't let so much time elapse between letters, I wouldn't have so much to try and write about all in one sitting, and therefore the letter would be shorter than the paperback novels unauthorized autobiographies pleasantly lengthy epistles I end up penning and trying to process through the mail system within the 3 oz limit.  It may be that I'm just frugal with my stamp money.  After all, it's limited and strictly budgeted, so I try to get as much news and pieces of life to the recipient as the $0.46 allows!  Maybe that's the real reason about the "doesn't send postcards".  I'm more apt to send a blank postcard enclosed with a 3 page letter to a pen pal than to send the postcard by itself.

Anyway.
Here is a fantastic children's book that we love called "The Long, Long Letter."

It's very cute.  Go grab it at a library near you.  Don't know where your closest one is?  Use this handy Locator!  :)
The Dog River Library is one of my favorite places to write letters.  It's quiet (well, duh!), and a lot of times I use their copier to keep a copy of my outgoing (see my explanation of this in yesterday's post.) because it ends up being cheaper than having to continually buy new cartridges for my ink guzzling printer at home.  It's also a great place to write letters, because I'm an avid reader and a lot of my pen pals are too, so they are always asking what I've read recently or ask me to recommend favorite books.  Rather convenient to simply look in my bag at what I've just checked out or am returning! ;)

Source

Did you honestly think that I could go more than 5 blog posts without working in a reference to Jane Austen?  Silly goose!  Have a lovely combination of the "Keep Calm" motto and Mr. Darcy.  Yes, I know it, I spoil you rotten.  You're welcome. :)
Do you write short or long letters?  Do you love getting long letters?  Or not?  Why?
Comment away, dear readers!