Saturday, March 29, 2008

What is stuck in my head today



Though this isn't how my life is here, there are many things in this video which are very familiar to me. It will be fun to look back at this gem.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Purple to brown belt


Purple to brown belt, originally uploaded by allysther.

Hey!

"Mom--how do you spell "hay"?"

"Sound it out. You can do this one!"

"Hmmmm..H...A...Y?"

"You got it. Good job."

"Do you know there is another way to spell hay?"

"Oh? How else would you spell it?"

"AH! I have to go to the bathroom! I'll be right back!"



Ok, it's not as if I could argue with that!

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Thank you, USPS. It's about time!

I t looks like the Post Office might finally have noticed that they make a huge amount of money collecting boxes for APO addresses. I say collecting rather than shipping, because they honestly only do half of the work (if that much!) and do not provide all of the services available for Stateside addresses. I'm not complaining about what they do, I'm just saying that I'm glad for the price cut.

So this is the special Priority Mail APO/FPO Flat Rate Box. It is 12x12x5 and will cost only $10.95. The same sized box will be available for non APO addresses but it will cost $12.95.

Let me explain why I say that the postal service does only half of the work when you send a box to an APO or FPO address. I'll explain it step by step.
1 You take the box to the post office, fill out the customs form and pay the postage. It costs the same (or less with this new box) as sending the box anywhere in the States.
2 The USPS takes the box as far as New York or California.
3 The box is handed to the Military Postal Service (MPS). This is a service which is run by all branches of the military and is dedicated to getting the mail to those of us who live overseas.
4 the MPS takes the box the rest of the way. Once it has left the USPS it can not be tracked in any way. Insurance still works, and I suppose you could ask for a return receipt, but don't bother with delivery confirmation or Express Mail. Especially Express Mail! Priority mail makes sense, because it will get to the MPS a bit faster, and because it is usually almost the same price as First Class mail, but I've had Express Mail take the same two weeks as a standard letter.

So that's the news. The boxes will be available as of 3 March, but it is possible that you will have to request them. The link above will let you order them and have them shipped directly to your door, for free. Did you know that you can request USPS shipping products for free and that they will be delivered with your normal mail? And that the postal carrier will also pick up you boxes once they are all packed up and ready to go? The flat rate boxes are great for this, because you know the price. Happy shipping!