1--The bad news is that the local postmaster who has been so helpful in the past is no longer there. He is no longer employed by the USPS....sigh 2--This AM I called about making an appointment with the person in charge. I spoke with the 'officer in charge'. When I asked his name, he gave me his first name, and would not give me his last name. Why would he have refused me that info? 3--I explained that I had several padded mailers that I had received in and they were unopened, and the customers who had sent them had been overcharged. I was wanting to bring them in, and have him (or anyone for that matter) inspect them and determine that they had indeed been overcharged. I explained that I then wanted a signed piece of paper saying that they were overcharged. He said he could not help me and gave me the telephone number of Consumer Affairs in Louisville. Well, I know from talking to someone down there a while back that there was at that time no Consumer Affairs Manager and that NO ONE was even an acting manager. gggrrrrrrrr........ 4--This week I received in a bubblie from Williamsport OH 46134 that was overcharged. It weighed .7 OZ yet was charged $1.05, which is for a 2 OZ large envelope. That means that either the clerk failed to weigh it, or else their scale needs calibration, thus is overcharging a lot of customers. I got a tel# for that PO, and when I called it, I get a non working # recording.........ggggrrrrrrr.........shot down on getting that done. 5--I was on the phone probably 30 minutes or so this AM with the USPS complaint #, getting 3 separate complaints filed. I have the confirmation numbers on all 3 of them and someone is supposed to call me back within 2 business days. Yeah right. I'm not holding my breath on that one. On the one report that was filed for overcharge, I have asked that the overcharge be sent to me. I wonder how they are going to handle that. shall I go on? Anyway, I this AM I learned about Restricted Delivery. Below is the info on that. Restricted Delivery Be sure your mail gets into the right hands. When you want your mail to reach a specific recipient, use Restricted Delivery. Sometimes, you might have private or highly classified documents that you require to be seen only by the addressee. Restricted Delivery ensures that your mail is only delivered to the person you specify, or to the person authorized in writing to sign for intended recipient. I just checked and the cost on a 13 OZ First Class Parcel, sent Certified, with Restricted Delivery signature and signed receipt of the person that accepted it being sent back to me would be less than $11. The exact amount escapes me now. What a bargain, huh, if the Parcel gets to someone who does their job? I have started to compose my letter to The Honorable John E. Potter..but will have to abandon that until I am feeling better. Postmaster General U.S. Postal Service 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20260-0010 I also found an email address for him this AM, not that anyone would even really read any of the complaint emails and actually respond. I found the addy at the Answers.com site, so don't put much faith in it being up to date or valid. E-mail: pmgceo@usps.gov Light bulb moment. I can try taking in the overcharged envelopes, (one at a time might be best) along with an email from the member who sent them and they can authorize me to file for and collect the overcharged amount. I would think that would generate paperwork and that paperwork could then be used as additional evidence (proof) of the 2 year 9 month old problems of post offices across the US overcharging.

wheelman, I'm just across the pond from you in Wisconsin. I live about 4 miles west of Lake Michigan just north of Milwaukee. The lake does indeed keep me warmer in the winter. I only fall to about -10 or so each winter, while just west of me they see some nights of -20 to -25. I've had palms in the ground since 2008... and that oldest one is still alive today! Here is a picture of it from early last week. That trachy was planted as a tiny 3 gallon in July, 2008. I protect it with a double poly box (air space in between). Over that I have a 1 1/2 inch layer of styrofoam and inside is a space heater set at 40F. Works great! I usually leave the foam off the south side unless we're expecting below zero weather. Sun free heats it during the day and the palm gets light. Bonus! I put the boxes on when lows start getting below 20, so about Thanksgiving or so and they come off in mid to late March. 20F doesn't phase trachys at all, as long as it gets above freezing during the day. Here is a picture from last winter. And here's a picture of the yard from last week.

At my local store, they had the dark red Bing and white Ranier cherries for $1.99 a pound. I got bags of both! If you want to pit them, here's an easy way: You need a plastic drinking straw, a long-neck (beer) bottle and some patience. Set the bottle in front of you, center a cherry on top, then the straw, and press down hard. The pit will be in the bottle and your cherry will be hollow.

I have noticed that when using Internet Explorer - you don't' get the full effect. When I use Chrome or Firefox - I can see some of the pictures moving - like todays waterfall is flowing. Beautiful. The raccoon would peek out of the tree the other day, then go back in. Another good reason to ditch IE - LOL!