Just got back from a USPS office. The mail is still going out and arriving.

[MineralMan]

I mailed a couple of tax returns for my late parents' 2020 filings. Things seemed to be pretty normal there at the Post Office. Everyone was masked up from the people working there to the customers. There's a sign on the door, and still those markers showing people where to stand to keep social distancing going.

I've been sending a lot of stuff like that via Priority Mail. A big flat rate envelope designed to hold a thick stack of 8.5x11" paper costs $8.50 to send that way. Tons cheaper than FedEx, and you get tracking information. I do track my mailings, and they always arrive by the time I'm told it will take, if not a day earlier.

So, I'll know when the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board gets my late parents filings. I couldn't Efile them, like I did my own tax forms. But, for $8.50, I'll know they got there. The tracking system works fine.

I've also used overnight Express Mail to mail critical stuff. Now that's more expensive, but still a good deal less than Overnight from FedEx, and the USPS still delivers on Sunday for Express Mail. You have to pay a premium to get even Saturday delivery from FedEx, and Sunday is out of the question.

It's still a bargain, the US Mail. A real bargain.

DeJoy is a dick. I'm sure he'll be gone, once President Biden has time to take a deep breath and get rid of him, but he's busy right now trying to help some big deal bills get through Congress. I can wait. Meanwhile, the mail is still being delivered, even if a little late, and the USPS premium products, like Priority and Express mail are still getting there quickly and at a much cheaper rate than the other courier services.

I'll continue to be patient with our President and let him choose the time to dump DeJoy. Yes, I will.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. We were waiting for someone to retire or term to end, that has not happened yet, right?

[SoCalNative]

3. I believe

the person in question's term is up in December.

[FoxNewsSucks]

2. I always use the post office

It is in fact, cheaper and generally more reliable. When I can, I also ask for things I buy that are shipped to be sent by USPS. Some places will do that, usually individually owned businesses. Corporations don't because they are apparently have contracts with Fedex or UPS.

The problem with the postal service isn't the higher tier pay-extra services. Those are pretty much the same, I've also noticed that. But a lot of deliveries people get, along with correspondence, that is not one of the Express or other tiers is a lot slower. Three times slower on the mail I get, even things right here in the same city.

And overall, the goal of finding a way to privatize the postal service is the biggest threat. These things are symptoms of that effort. Along with that retirement scam which was imposed to hamstring the PO's budget, harm the postal union (largest in the country) and derail the plans for all postal vehicles to be electric.

Biden doesn't have to personally fire DeJoy, and in fact can't. But he can order the replacement process started. And unlike the comedian who likes to say "Git 'er done!", whoever Biden tells that to will be expected to "git 'er done".

In this case, it would take care of one fairly important thing that many would notice, and remove that as a distraction.

[Retrograde]

4. The slowdowns appear to be spotty

I haven't noticed any slowdowns in my area: my ballot in last month's recalled election arrived the day it was supposedly mailed, and the elections office received and verified my vote 2 days after I sent it back, the concert tickets I ordered came 2 days later. So far delivery times seem about normal.

Unlike the item I ordered from Amazon, which Fed Ex must have walked across the continent - that took 3 weeks from when they said it shipped to when it arrived.

[MineralMan]

5. Yes, they are spotty.

For regular first class mail, it certainly takes longer than it has in the past, especially to smaller cities and towns. Even cross-metro mail often takes two days. I'm not all that bothered by that, really. If I need faster delivery on something, I can expedite it in a number of ways, and do, if it's important. The USPS has a couple of expedited mail services, which I use frequently. I've been more disappointed with the private courier services like FedEx and UPS for such deliveries than I have been with the USPS.

Frankly, I don't rely on first class mail much any longer. I don't get bills by mail any more and I pay bills online almost exclusively. Letter mail? Well, I don't send that very often either, since I can use email and social media for most such contacts.

We're still sending about about 75 Christmas cards every year, though. We mail them early enough to make sure they arrive in a timely way, though. We pick cards carefully and send them out with a handwritten message to our friends and family who are strung out all over the country. We don't send many letters, though. Almost none.

We recently moved across our metro area. The USPS has been very good about mail forwarding, and nothing seems to have gone astray. I'm also getting my late parents' mail from their old address, and sending out a change of address to those mailers if they matter.

My wife handled our change of address thing and, in the process, signed up for the USPS's mail notification email thing for both of us. I like that, it turns out. I know when things will arrive and and like having that information. I'm surprised that service is as good as it is, actually.

The mail is changing. The needs of mail are changing. Do I like the changes? Well, not all of them, but I still find the USPS to be a valuable part of the services I get from our government. I do not want that to be privatized in any way.

[womanofthehills]

6. Add a few days onto anything shipped priority

Two or three day delivery is now four & five.

[MineralMan]

7. Hasn't been my experience lately.

However, my mailings are from a major metro area to another one.