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?