Our Glorious USPS

ridski said:

 This is true. I haven't had a regular carrier for sometime. But going back to the emails from USPS, I just checked through every one from this year and found nothing in them that wasn't addressed to me, if that helps to alleviate your concerns. I'm not saying that joan_crystal is wrong here, just that while she has seen letters on those emails addressed to others, I never have.

 I have received scans of letters addressed to others, most recently a letter this past week which was addressed to someone else on my block (same first digit in the address but second digit was wrong).  The letter never arrived.  I assume the letter carrier delivered it to the right address.  This is not the first time this has happened.  If the letter does arrive with my mail, I have the heads up to notify the intended recipient that I may be receiving mail intended for them.

ETA:  I also receive mail from time to time for a local community organization for which a deceased family served served as contact person.  They never changed their mailing address after he died.

some of the carriers are great and do go above and beyond...some years ago, i was trying to catch an injured bird, carrier dumped him mail and snagged the bird in his bag.  I was able to move it into a box and take it to the raptures trust.  a lot of carriers are probably just as annoyed with USPS as we are.  I see the carriers out 7pm with a headlamp on in the winter....that is expecting too much from them.

Big news on the USPS front:  https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2021/05/usps-fills-leadership-ranks-with-new-deputy-postmaster-general-board-member/ 

The Senate on Thursday also approved the nomination of Amber
McReynolds, the chief executive officer of the nonprofit National Vote
at Home Institute and the former director of elections in Denver, as a
member of the board. The Senate voted 59-38 for McReynolds to serve on
the board through December 2026.

It's possible that the new people will sort out the mess, but they're facing enormous obstructions.  Rachel Maddow did a segment on the USPS last night -- infuriating.  

jmitw said:

joan_crystal said:

jmitw said:

it's a little concerning that scans of your mail could be sent to someone else by mistake.  it could be something you would rather a neighbor not know...like from a mental health center or a court.

 All you see from the scan is the envelope, not the contents.  Address of sender is not always legible, if there at all.  Contents even from mental health center or court could be anything.

 but still the envelope would give the name of the medical provider or court.  i it is legible and says County Behavioral Health or County Probation dept, that says a lot.  there would be a vet bill from behavioral health or probation.

its one thing for the scans to exist in the USPS database, but another to actually be send to a neighbor.  I have some neighbors that are very abusive, it is not safe for them to see any mail I am getting.  one is delusional and paranoid and will come to a nefarious conclusion.  I could get a letter from a mental health non profit asking for donations and he may starting going off on me for being crazy....he has made many bizarre accusations already.

 Sounds like much bigger issues exist than a possible scan of sensitive mail being sent to a particular neighbor, js. Report any harrassment that occurs. 

I'm getting faster shipments from NJ (via Amazon) to Hong Kong than tomcat is within the lower 48.   I suspect that Amazon puts its shippers, including the USPS, under more time constraints due to contractual obligations than small shippers and that is causing re-routing and delays.   All speculation, of course.