It is always fun to join into an era of something new.  Maybe something different might be appropriate.  So it is with this newsletter.  So it is with the Postal Service.  It seems like the Postal Service is going through a very interesting era with cost cutting and trimming facilities and even staff almost every where.  It certainly starts to divide the adults from the children.  Unfortunately it is always a time when voices of misunderstanding rise up and become heard. 

With this newsletter, I have started an era of separation, I had in the past ran from one end of the room into another area of the house when printing this paper.  The printer is not in the same room as the computer, so I hit print on the computer and run to the printer to start sorting and folding the different pages.  I now have a separation from the running into a different room and am able to stay in one room.  So long to the running.

I must say that doing this task has been a chore that has been a challenge  at times and a great amount of fun.  Putting the layout together and getting all the information in a nice format is a large chunk of time.  As well as not getting Writers Block since getting this assignment way back in 2004. 

If there is anything in this life to remember is that things do not change at a slow pace,

instead it is in mega and giga hertz.  I just took my monitor to the waste site that I purchased back in the late 90’s.  The computer to the set has long gone to the land fill many years ago.  That computer system was a blazing 166mhz and was well over 3k to purchase.  Then of course I purchased some software and one can watch the bank account empty faster than the stock market drop these days.  With that in mind a postal worker, no matter if in admin or craft, can not sit idle and think that the system will go on the same as always. 

So I tried a few different formats with this newsletter.  I tried a full 8 1/2 x 11 format at one time, not enough information to fill it.  Tried the 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 format and was too much information.  So I have come back to the old standby, 7 x 8 1/2.  I put more pages to the issue if needed and have the format saved as a template.  If it needs to be another paper larger, then it is ready for me. So no matter how much material I have, I have an issue size just waiting to fill up.

Then there is the whole issue of the wonders of technology.  That blazing computer I had years ago is now replaced with a very compact system that is 2.4 ghz and the printer is a whole lot faster then the 8 pages a minute model with which I started.  The current model does up to 20 per minute and that is in color.  When the printing gets going, there has to be complete tunnel vision for me.  If anything or anyone asks a question, my production line is messed up. 

So picture this as I print out the newsletter.  The first pass of printing is the even numbered pages.  Then I take out a handful while they are printing and straighten them up and stack them.  I only do 25 issues at a time as to not heat up the machine.  I turn the 100 papers around when there are 4 papers per issue and print the odd numbered pages.  Every fourth paper that comes out gets straitened and folded in half and set aside.  I then start the whole process over again with the even numbered pages and while those are printing I then take the first 25 issues and fold them in half to get a nice letter size issue to put in the mail. 

As always and we say this at work, its small things in a day that make us smile and get us through the tough times.  I was able to get some of my old scanned stamp pictures off a hard drive that I had in that blazing fast computer as well as some Post Office photos that I had on an ORB disk.  I am able to network an old windows machine with this new machine and get the old stuff moved over.  That was exciting and rewarding.  I did not want to lose them. 

So the moral of the story is that do not get in a rut doing the same old things the same old way.  There is an old Southern Gospel song that has a cute line.  It states something to the point of “Get out of the boat and start walking on the water.”  But move on from the same old way, and move on with technology and just try swimming upstream for awhile and then going down stream will seem easy.

Do not think that everyone has the same way of doing things.  Share the wealth of information and knowledge with your fellow Postmasters.  Be surprised as to what others do not know and help them up the ladder.  Got any GREAT IDEAS,  jot them down and email them to me.  I will then let the populous know.  In todays language, lets spread the wealth of knowledge around to the bottom and let the knowledge trickle up from the bottom.

Have a great New Year, a Merry Christmas and a thank filled Thanksgiving Day.