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New Post Office development...in your town too?


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New Post Office development...in your town too?
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2008-08-01, 12:55

I just noticed that my local branch, where I go if/when I ever need to mail a package or pick something up, has removed the stamp-buying machines from the main lobby. Actually, they did this several months ago, but then put up a sign saying that a new machine was coming ("ooh, digital, high-tech iStamps!" ). I haven't been there in a while and was there 30 minutes ago, where that lobby area is now completely empty and barren of any stamp machines...old school or new-fangled.

Was just curious if this was a nationwide U.S. Postal Service initiative, or do I just live in an exceptionally lousy area?

(thank Farenheit for the editing)

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2008-08-01 at 14:14.
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Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2008-08-01, 13:05

Hmm, come to think of it, I did see a sign on the machine say it'd be taken out... Haven't looked if it is still there. Will let you know next I stop by.

For time being, you could take this guy's advice:


(Hey, there's a stamp machine!)
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Xaqtly
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2008-08-01, 13:09

I just buy stamps at the grocery store when I go shopping. Saves some hassle.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2008-08-01, 13:12

Yeah, I'll start doing that (although my grocery line escapades have been well-documented here too).

I've never enjoyed the whole post office thing much, but I swear...it seems like the past year or so, it's just gotten sillier and worse with each visit. I don't think I've ever just walked in and quickly made a purchase or sent something. If it's not a huge line of people taking forever, it's a slow or indifferent clerk. Or equipment issues.

A weird thing. This facility I go to, near my house, is quite new and modern (built within the past decade, so we're not talking some run-down, 80-year-old crumbling building and pulley-based, gas-powered machines).



But it is always a complete c.f. I'd go somewhere else, but they're further away and the few times I have been elsewhere, it's pretty much the same. A deadly combination: many (most? I've never really encountered a fast, efficient one) postal employees and the regular schmo mailing a package (or, worse, packages).

I don't even go to the Post Office from mid-November to mid-January...I'll wind up killing someone to death.

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Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2008-08-01, 13:18

I wonder if it's just me and my bad luck, but I've yet to find a store that sells stamps... I've asked and they say, no they don't sell it. You gotta go to PO. .
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2008-08-01, 13:24

Well, I know for a fact that one of the two grocery stores near me (I alternate between these two) doesn't sell stamps, so if the other one doesn't...I'm back to square one.

I remember stamps being sold in gumball-type machines at places like Woolworth's or other regular stores. They were larger and more boxy (not the round glass), but you put your money in (slots for nickels, dimes or quarters), place a dial on your selection (or put the money in a designated slot?) and pull a lever and a stamp(s) would drop out the bottom. It wasn't digital (this was years and years ago), just a mechanical, gumball type dispenser machine.

But I've not seen these in quite a long time, now that I think about it. But when I was a kid, I'd always notice them in stores I went to with my Mom or grandmother. I guess those were getting broken into as well (for the money and the stamps, which carry a bit more value and use than a piece of bubblegum).

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Fahrenheit
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
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2008-08-01, 13:58

That was a long ol' rant about post offices. At least your whole fucking building isn't closing down.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2008-08-01, 14:03

Yeah, at least. Is your building going away? Or are you just throwing that out there in general?

Not sure the whole thing could close down, as it's fairly new and the only one in this part of town. But, you know...small blessings, huh?

Takes more energy, I guess. I knew I should've included that disclaimer...
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Moogs
Hates the Infotainment
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
 
2008-08-01, 14:46

Not sure. Can't say I recall ever seeing a big stamp machine in the post office I usually visit. I know there was one in the post office I used to go to but I have no reason to go there anymore so can't comment if it's still there. I imagine they stay only if they make the PO money. If no one uses them it's just an electricity drain / space taker. Probably most people at your PO buy stamps at the service counter?

...into the light of a dark black night.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2008-08-01, 14:50

Not sure. I never did (why would I want to stand in line like that?). I always used the machine...dart in, grab what I needed, back out. Less than a minute. But now, with all of them removed, you have to go to the other part, with the lines and clerk. Fine, if you're mailing a package or picking up held mail or whatever; waiting in line is just part of it, and I'm okay with it in those situations.

Not so fine if you're just buying a stamp or two and you wind up being there for nearly 15 minutes on your half-hour break. For a stamp. It's just wrong.

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Moogs
Hates the Infotainment
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
 
2008-08-01, 15:06

Heh. Yah I'd agree. If you really want stamps conveniently just buy them online from the postal web site. Now that gas is $3.20 a gallon paying for shipment is probably cheaper than driving to the PO for some folks.

...into the light of a dark black night.
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turbulentfurball
Right Honourable Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Québec
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2008-08-01, 15:29

A Post Office is the last place I'd go to buy stamps. The queues are always frustratingly long, and I could probably count 10 or 15 stores that sell stamps that are closer than the nearest Post Office. But then again, almost every corner store sells them.
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Fahrenheit
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
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2008-08-01, 15:38

Who doesn't buy stamps in rolls anymore? You're all time wasters!
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2008-08-01, 17:14

I really don't mail stuff anymore. I do my bill-paying online, so that whacks out 90% of anything I'd ever need a stamp for, really. A few birthday cards a year (2-3?), as I'm usually in a position to hand-deliver any sort of birthday or Christmas card. Once in a blue moon I'll need to mail a small package somewhere.



I don't buy the big rolls because they'd just sit there for ages, and the stamps would go up 3-4 during that and I'd constantly be confused about what I could use, what I couldn't, etc.

Listen, get off my nuts about it and just agree that a stamp machine in the lobby of the damn post office is not that weird or freaky of an idea; and that taking it away kinda sucks on a few levels.

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