We are at some 30,000 feet heading off to the midwest for a visit to the folks and the in-laws. Now as I always say, it’s not vacation when you see relatives, it’s vacation every where else. It’s leave right now, and will be leave for some time when the grand parents want to see the kids.
The national magazine editor while at the national convention in Las Vegas noted one ladies travel items. I’ve done plenty of travel in my time. A good number of long trips as a single guy and as well now as a married guy. It really is hard to determine what to bring on an extended trip. There is one thing that I have found, laundry service is a cool item, take advantage of it, leave the two weeks worth of clothes at home. But make sure that when you do travel always take a set of clothes in the carry on when flying. It gets bumpy at times and the drink may spill.
I have left the care of the packing to my wife since getting married. She has gotten a great handle on the things we need. We used to take 3.5 bags with us for just two and now it is the same amount of bags for five of us. We got our first taste of laundry service while in Kazakhstan nearly five years ago and have never regretted it when we used the service. What do you say has this to do with the postal service. It is to say, try something different every so often, even if it is to break up the monotony of every day routines. Have one clerk do somethings different every so often. Getting the whole crew of one doing something different can and will be stimulating.
That is exactly where the league can help. That is exactly what I have tried to do with this newsletter. Shake and bake so to speak with the layout and the content providers. I have asked many for content and have received in return. It has not been the easiest battle to wage, but one that had to be.
It can be difficult to get out of a daily grind and try something new. Who can remember when we did not have computers. Not the desktop computer or the portable ones. I mean computer in general. The ones in TV’s or even the ones in your car. Who can remember three cent stamps. Time sure changes things right. What has come up recently that has gone the way of the rail car. The railcar was a great idea for its time and the service was really great for some. A Pastor friend of mine told a story of how the rail car worked.
It would start out going west and pick up letters that were heading west, but only half way down the tracks. It would get dropped off at the town and the recipient would pick it up and reply right away. Then when the train got to the end of the line and returned back to base it would pick up mail going back and drop off mail as it returned. Thus you would have a letter written and gotten a reply back in one day. Almost faster than email. They were committed writers at the time, since there were limited means of communicating.
Side note, on the www.akleague.com web page, under the content link, there is a link to the Postmasters challenge from the Postal Museum site. Go there some day and spend 10 minutes answering the questions. One of the questions had to do with the mail bag on the hook the trains would pick up. Its a great way to know your knowledge and a great way to see how well you guess. With dial up connections it is something of a real challenge since some of the pictures do not come up very fast and there is only 26 seconds to answer the questions. I had a 50,000 point question, “What is this?” and the picture was taking it’s sweet time showing up. I took a 25% percent chance guess and got it right. So, go ahead and spend some time at the site and learn something.
Do you know the saying, blink and you will miss something as you go through small towns. Its about the same with the Postal Service. In May every year the Postal Service has the opportunity to adjust rates. Guess what, who now wants to have meetings or go on vacation in May. Here in my work station, I think it would be best if May gets blacked out for leave time, everyone needs to show up to get the latest when the adjustment time shows up.
In my home town an elderly lady passed on, a long time member of the community. She was 89. She was born right around the time of the airplane taking off and lived through going to the moon and an unmanned trip to mars. From washing clothes in the lake to running water in a modern, energy efficient wash machine. She probably lived through more changes than I can list here. So why do we really go to task when there is a little change for us. She lived through the great depression as well. Who are we to say it can not happen to us. The new Pay For Performance smells like a new cat in town, does it not.
The funniest thing that is going on in my personal life is my son Matthew. Matthew has the medical needs and has to have relatively close watch right now. He will have to monitor the issues his whole life. Right now at times he says “change me” and when we start to change him he turns around and say “no change me”. There is that same change issue that we all face in the work force. But as life goes on and we all work through issues of life, lets work the hardest at the change issues that work the best for man kind and for the Postal Service. That is why going to the state and national convention is so important for Postmasters. Get to know the issues ahead of the game and the implementation will go smoothly and then there is always the arena where you can have input. Then one can not complain, because you had an opportunity and did not take it. I hope everyone will take that opportunity in Louisville KY. Make sure, as well, that when you go to Louisville KY for the convention, take a side trip to see the Louisville Slugger museum and take home a small bat. That way the saying of Teddy Roosevelt will come into play. Walk softly but carry a big stick. Hope to see a large delegation for Alaska there and make sure to have a great Summer.
