Please Stop Delivering My Mail Already

I am not a government efficiency wiener. In fact I’m about the only person you’ll ever meet who thinks taxes are too low (yes, really, but I’ll address that another time).

For now, I think it’s high time the Post Office stopped delivering US Mail so frequently. They should only deliver it a maximum of 3 times per week, say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Now this might reflexively offend your sensibilities. After all, no living American has ever been without their daily snail mail fix. But if you take a moment to let the feeling pass, you might see some merit in the idea.

The bulk of the mail you now receive is well, bulk mail. These days, few if any important documents arrive in the mail at all. If it’s important or time-sensitive, you receive it electronically or if a physical item is required, via Fedex.

Oh sure, we all reminisce about how great it was to get that perfumed letter from a distant love (all 3 times) or how exotic it was to have a pen pal in 1974. But even then, time was not of the essence, just as now you don’t wait by the mailbox in desperate anticipation of your Val-Pak.

Now you may bristle at the notion that your paycheck will be delayed an extra day, but I’ve got news for you. If you receive your paycheck in the mail, you’re already receiving it at least a day later than you ought to. And isn’t it time you started paying (and receiving) your bills online?

I have no idea how substantial the cost savings of 50% less frequent mail delivery would be or what else we could fund with the vast sums of money saved, but one thing is for certain. I am not going to do any of the research necessary to find out.

In other news, Gayton Gomez has finished her first novel. I can’t tell you anything about it but she did admit there were space aliens in it (tangentially anyway) so you know it has to be good. If wry wit and tortured sensibilities borne of a lifetime full of pain appeal to you, you should read this book. Next newsletter, I’ll find out what the title is.

For those of you who really don’t have a feel for what Fitpacking destinations are like and actually care (an intersection of about 2 people) check out this slideshow produced by megastud Roger Jones taken on the North Cascades National Park Trip this August. Unlike the other lame links contained in this newsletter, this one is really worth clicking: http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d5445774d4467314f4456384d6a45344e5467304d44553d0d0a&sb=1

Speaking of Fitpacking, it recently merited a mention in the InsureMonkey Blog: http://www.insuremonkey.com/community/2009/08/04/planning-a-vacation-consider-a-fit-trip/. Sure, InsureMonkey may sound minor, but I’m hoping it’s the stepping stone to similar, but even greater media leviathans such as the WarrantyLemur Blog or the UnderwritingDungBeetle Blog.

I was recently featured in a PBS article about health insurance. They only asked me factual stuff and not my opinion. That’s too bad because I would have come out strongly in favor of the death panels that the wacky far right came up with to scare people. But if you want to read the article: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/health/july-dec09/exchange_07-23.html


If you’re a big fan of SMU football, well I guess you’re either an 18 year old frat boy or you’re an adult who really should be spending more time with your family that you’re so desperately trying to avoid. However if you insist on following the team, booming baritone Chris Martin will be doing play-by-play on TWC Metro Sports (whatever that might be) on the following dates: 10/10, 10/17 (all at 7pm), 11/7, 11/14, and 11/28 (2pm).


And finally, I would not be fulfilling my personal mission of harassing you with barf bags if I didn’t send you a link to some recent media coverage, this time from South Africa: http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=341324. My next goal is to obtain media coverage in Lesotho.

Remember that this newsletter is posted to the Steve’s Mildly Informative Stuff Blog: http://stevesmildlyinformativestuff.blogspot.com/.