Cheap and cheerful???

[Mr. Whippy]

Sooo....

Nate, how did the tool hold up? 

Just picked it up from the post office today.  (We don't get home delivery and have to get to the post office before it closes--missed last week due to tractor shopping).

My first observations are:

1.  It's much smaller than an Atwood with much lighter metal.  I'm planning on testing them today (Saturday) and will report back.

[Chako]

This will be interesting. 

[J-sews]

[Grant Lamontagne]

(Image removed from quote.)

Ditto...

Def

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[AHB]

(Image removed from quote.)

Ditto...

Def

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+1 ...

[jzmtl]

Just picked it up from the post office today.  (We don't get home delivery and have to get to the post office before it closes--missed last week due to tractor shopping).

Did they finally closed the local post office? I recall you were saying they were trying to do that.

[Mr. Whippy]

Just picked it up from the post office today.  (We don't get home delivery and have to get to the post office before it closes--missed last week due to tractor shopping).

Did they finally closed the local post office? I recall you were saying they were trying to do that.

Not yet, but I believe it's a foregone conclusion.  The USPS is losing money so fast, they may have to declare bankruptcy.  Sad really.  Lots of options they refuse to even consider.

[Chako]

I wonder if free postage within the US has something to do with that.

[Mr. Whippy]

I wonder if free postage within the US has something to do with that.

No, free shipping is built into the price of the item (USPS Flat Rate boxes).  Mostly people are not mailing stuff at the same volume (online bill paying, email, e-vites, e-birthday cards, email sales promotions).

 At the same time, USPS refuses to make changes that would increase walk in traffic.  I can walk into an Office Depot (UPS) or Fedex location up until 10 pm and on Sat and Sun and ship a package. USPS is generally 9-4 weekdays and 9-12  Saturday.  When I suggested maybe they shift their hours from 9-1 pm (our post office) to 4-8 pm, they acted like I suggested changing the laws of physics.

Anyway, looks like I'm going to have to change post offices.  

[Mercury]

My local Post office is only open until 3pm daily.  The one in the Town I work in is only open until 4:30pm.  They are so lame!  I work from 8 to 6 every day, I don't see why the PO can't keep normal hours.

[Chako]

Starting to sound like banking hours.

Well many years ago, Canada Post got out of the small outlet business...therefore, most Canada Post outlets are now privately owned. That increased the hours and the service all around. Still Canada Post that does the actual delivery...and they are slow on a good day.

Point of fact, I have noticed I don't get mail when it rains.

[Tofty]

We never get mail 

[Mercury]

I get random mail.  There are days when she delivers at 9am and days when she delivers at 5pm.  I can always count on it being later if I am expecting something, but if it's bills we have it really early!

 The problem with my local office is the average age of my community, which is 53.  The older portion all still go to the post office to mail anything, even letters, so there is a huge line whenever I go in.  A lot of them have second homes here so they are flying in and having to get about 15 lbs of mail, still more can't figure out why their forwarded mail isn't arriving, and a few have enormous packages to send and they don't like the price.  And every single one of them thinks they are personal friends with the clerk, so they try to stand there and joke for much too long.  I just know our clerk well, so I address her by first name, make small talk while she weighs what I'm shipping(almost always a tool), and then leave with a wave. 

[turnsouth]

... The problem with my local office is the average age of my community, which is 53.  The older portion all still go to the post office to mail anything, even letters, so there is a huge line whenever I go in. 

This is actually a good thing. Being a philatelist, I've gotten to know my Post Master over the years (yes I'm one of those who thinks they are personal friends with the clerk, so they try to stand there and joke for much too long. ) And in recent conversations, I've learned that as the USPS has begun gutting the organization in order to make it profitable, the number one thing they look for in whether or not to close any particular office is if it is making money. So the longer the lines, the better 

[jzmtl]

When I suggested maybe they shift their hours from 9-1 pm (our post office) to 4-8 pm, they acted like I suggested changing the laws of physics.

You want union postal workers to work after hours? Are you insane? 

Most of our postal outlet here are contracted to various drug stores and operate with similar schedule to them, i.e. till 9 PM most of the days.

[turnsouth]

Great OT Union story:

My brother-in-law ran the carpet installation division of a large office supply company in Detroit, he had a problem though, his crew was not union, so he could not bid on any "union only" jobs. To fix this he got his crew together and asked if they wouldn't mind organizing under the Carpenters Union, and that he would give them all a one time pay raise to cover the union dues.

They all agreed, so he called the head of the Carpenter's Union in Detroit, told him about the plan, and also told him of the one concession that he wanted in the contract. Since his crew did mostly business at night, he wanted their regular time pay to be the first eight hours they worked in any 24 hour period, anything above that to be over time. The union head said no and would not budge, he stood firm on 8am to 5pm as being the only regular time, and any other hours were overtime.

So when they could not come to an agreement, he called up the head of the Teamsters in Detroit. The Teamsters leader was absolutely floored that a manager of any company would actually call him and ask for his crew to be part of the Union (Management - Union has always been a hate-hate relationship around here). The Teamsters head agreed to the terms, contracts were drawn up, and everything was signed and done in two weeks. The head of the Teamsters even sent my brother-in-law a large screen projection television as a "thank-you" gift, everyone was happy.

Well, when he won his first "union only" bid (a new construction project), the head of the Carpenter's Union heard about it and called him up, and my in-law told him that his crew were Teamsters now, and that there is nothing he can do about it. There was a lot of shouting, and they both got smurfed off, with the head of the Carpenter's telling him that "You're not getting away with this"

When the time came for his crew to start work on the project, they could not get in. The Carpenter's Union was picketing and blocking the entrance. My brother-in-law called the Teamsters head and told him that the Carpenter's would not let his crew work, the Teamsters head said: "Give me a little time, and call me back when they are let in"

About an hour latter my in-law's phone rang, and it was the head of the Carpenter's, he said to him: "We have a little problem here". As it turns out none of his building materials were being delivered, and also none of his garbage was being picked up (both jobs run by the Teamsters ) My brother-in-law said to him "We don't have a problem, you have a problem" and hung up the phone.

Five minutes latter the picket line was gone, and never heard from again.

[mudtoy]

This has been a fascinating thread to read on a long commute, honestly I was sorry when I got to the last post, I'm fairly new to this world, it's great to see the passion, I have my first Atwood en route from Ma. to Australia as I write, can't wait to get it!


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