We all the know the United States Post Office doesn’t turn a profit these days and relies on tax payer funds to operate. Since it performs an important public service? I’m not complaining.
We live in digital world where people pay their bills online and communicate through email or text. Gone are the days of postcards, hand written letters and the like.
I admit to missing that… but that’s another blog entirely.
Last week I drove to our local post office and mailed a box of books to North Carolina. Since all that was in the box were books, the clerk told me it would cost $9.59 instead of the normal $28.65. This started a conversation on how expensive it’s become to mail things which led to me uttering a statement I was told in no uncertain terms is completely and utterly wrong.
I said, “It’s a good thing Amazon ships their packages with the USPS, it’s probably the only thing keeping them afloat these days.”
Which is when the postal clerk gave me an extremely dirty look.
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She pointed to the box I brought in and told me if Amazon was shipping a $28 package they would pay the post office roughly a dollar for shipping.
What?
When I asked how that was possible she said the U.S. government signed a contract with Amazon when it first started shipping books back in 1994. Since it was mostly envelopes, the rate was low but… are you ready? Though the contract was renewed in 2013, the price wasn’t raised…. and we all know Amazon ships a lot more than books these days.
So basically, tax payers are subsidizing Jeff Bezos.
If you remember, I’ve been fruitlessly shopping for coffee and end tables. Ever since we got the new living room furniture I’ve been looking but not finding. Just when I was about to give up and resign myself to living with the old beaten up pieces…Amazon to the rescue.
I never thought about looking there for decent furniture. Figured it would all be pressboard and veneered crap. But when you’re desperate? You take a chance.
I started with the smallest end table.
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And it wasn’t half bad.
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Simple to assemble and made from surprisingly solid wood. Since I had good luck with that, I ordered the second slightly larger end table.
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Mission style, which blends nicely with the new dining room.
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With a drawer and shelf in surprisingly nice hard solid wood.
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I’m so tickled with the quality and remarkably low price, I’m going to order the third and largest piece for in front of the couch.
I’m thrilled.
My husband? Not so much…
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Since he’s the one who has to put them all together.
With the closure of so many brick and mortar stores, I admit I do a lot more Amazon shopping than I used to. And as much as I dislike the idea of lining the already full to bursting pockets of Jeff Bezos, it’s hard to argue with the ease and convenience he provides.
Will I get in the car and drive an hour to the mall, fight the last minute Christmas shopping crowds and drive an hour back through mad traffic just to purchase my yearly calendar?
I will not.
I’ll just sit on the couch, cruise Amazon, push a button and have it in my mailbox in two days.
Of course, calendar shopping isn’t what it used to be.
As proof, I offer these three selections that popped up during my search.
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Uh… no thanks.
I see enough of that in person.
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That’s a definite hard pass. I don’t need twelve months of rhinoceros urination.
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Price drop?
I can’t imagine why those aren’t flying off the shelf.
So I ask again, who buys these things and why are they so preoccupied with poop?
I’ve always loved bugs and insects, the bigger and weirder the better. My father used to swear he found a new variety in the garden every year and I believe it’s true. Their diversity is amazing.
That being said, you know I was thrilled when I found this little beauty in my flower bed the other day.
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Now that’s a spider!
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Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this product’s Amazon pricing?
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I think we’re down to four woodchucks now.
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I haven’t seen six together for quite a while so I’m guessing momma finally booted some of their big butts out of the burrow.
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Damn.
I wish they’d had these when I was young and in love with dinosaurs.
I’m an avid reader and start to twitch if my pile of unread material drops below a dozen.
I order so many books from Amazon I may be personally responsible for Jeff Bezos’s new yacht.
Our little local library can’t keep up with me and trying to buy books at thrift stores has me walking down the aisles shaking my head, ticking off titles and mumbling read it, read it, read it…..
Before joining Goodreads I never gave much thought to how much I read. I knew it was a lot, books are stuffed in every nook and cranny of our house and my Amazon deliveries are epic. But I don’t keep all the books I’ve finished… I couldn’t, they would literally bury me… so I never did a yearly count until now.
Goodreads has a annual challenge where you set a goal and check off as you go.
My prediction of the number of books I’d read this year was slightly off.
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I thought 75 seemed like a good number… but clearly it was a little low.
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It’s early May and it looks like I’m 50 books ahead of schedule.
