At the post office

[peoplesuck]

You have to pickup in their security shack. You fill out a form and show them your "tried to deliver" ticket with the tracking number on it, plus photo ID.

Several employees came and went to work while I was waiting. They were searched coming in and coming out. I asked how that went at shift change, the guard said it could take awhile, but the company takes security very seriously so it gets done.

So I asked a friend of mine who worked there about a year ago, and he confirmed it. Said it was a minor hassle but you just got used to it.

I highly suggest, if you get a lot of packages, to use a retail mailbox like UPS store or whatnot. They become your mail agents, signing for packages, forwarding, scanning, etc; They can really be a life saver, if they are not open 24 hours many will have package delivery boxes, you let them know you will pick up your packages tonight, and it goes in the package cage, and the key goes in your mailbox.

[raudf]

As for APO and FPO addresses, the mail is indeed handled by military personnel - but those personnel are deputized agents of the USPS. I remember that little tidbit from my Navy days.

Ah, see, all I had was very vague memories as a kid.. a couple of decades ago. I just remember that we had to go to the warehouse to get the mail

I also knew it didn't fully apply to bases inside the US, because in Meridian, we had mail slots in the door and I used to watch the mail carrier drop off the mail. The main reason I remember the mail slots is because of how often I had to break into the house via it, due to keys being locked inside. And occasionally having to do it for the neighbors too. This is the reason I will not have mail slots in any exterior door..

[ADeMartino]

Hey, I like the USPS. I use them for everything in the US. I'll even use them to mail to Canada and Western Europe, because the service is good and reasonably priced.

Yup. The system has a few flaws, true, but overall, I think it does an awesome job. I can only recall ONE time in my life that it ever took more than about five days to get a letter (based on the postmark) - EXCLUDING, of course, my days in the Navy, where it was not unusual for it take a month or more to get a letter. Not the USPS's fault, of course - the delays were mostly due to the way the supply systems worked.

Considering the sheer volume of mail the USPS handles, and how relatively inexpensive it is to send a letter or package, I cannot speak ill of it. Especially in comparison to the postal system in other countries I've been to.