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10/22/18 You will see a name change on the blog. Lots of things have changed in my life in the past few years, and I feel compelled to share my story.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Rural America and the Local Post Office ~ Soon to be a Thing of the Past?

Good Tuesday to you all...another lovely day here on the high desert. It was a crisp 12 degrees this mornin'; sure makes you get through the mornin' chores in a hurry!


Good Mornin'!
Good Mornin' Sunshine!!
Today, I want to share a video with you that the Western Folk Life posted on their YouTube channel. They always have something interesting regarding life out here in the West.

I'm sure that if you live in the US, you've heard of the controversy of the proposed closures of hundreds of Post Offices...with the majority of them being in rural areas.

Kristin Windbigler did a wonderful job creating this video about the affect of closing her Post Office in Blocksburg CA would have on their community.

And really, it's the same story for EVERY rural Post Office that they want to close...somebody sitting behind a big desk in a big city pushes around a bunch of numbers (and gets paid a huge salary) figures that taking away services from the people who have the least in the first place is going to save them a TON of money...the numbers don't add up as Ms. Windbigler points out.

My 2 cents worth...I'm thinking that the farmers and ranchers of America should quit sending their products to the cities...maybe the way to the brains of the people who come up with these "bright ideas" is through their stomachs.




FYI, the Post Office here in Princeton is already a "contract" Post Office, and we were not on the "cut" list...but that doesn't mean we are safe from USPS to choose to not renew the contract in the future.

Half of Harney County gets their mail three days a week already as it is; Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm OK with the idea of closing Post Offices for Saturdays...makes way more sense than closing hundreds of rural Post Offices.

What do you think?

11 comments:

  1. Very interesting and very sad. Every day there seems to a some new and creative way of grinding people/communities down. I hope this little town is able to hold it's own.

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  2. What an excellent video! I've thought a lot about the loss of rural post offices but this brings to light some things that never occurred to me. I agree with you, I could easily live without Saturday mail service, but I don't think I'd want to let my local PO go without a fight.

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  3. I agree -- closing on Saturdays makes a lot more sense. From everything I've heard about this decision, it makes no sense at all.

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  4. I've never bought into the whole USPS going broke thing. A few years ago I read that the top level bicycle racers wanted to get on the coveted post office team because they had by far the biggest budget, for bike racing?! This is an organization that's losing money? It doesn't add up.

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  5. Canada Post is also into this "stupidity" thing. The usage is down due to email and social media things. So what do they do? Raise the cost of a postage stamp by 2 cents, thereby promoting a move by other people to find alternate means. Duh!

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  6. Yes, stop Saturday deliveries and keep the rural post offices. Losing them is like when so many small schools got closed and one more way country folk cannot connect with each other. City peop0le really don't get it.

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  7. I agree that ceasing Saturday delivery makes a lot more sense than closing the post offices...I am a city gal, but I grew up in the country, and definitely know what a lifeline your mail is! Seems that the people crunching the numbers are idiots...

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  8. I agree. I'm within 8-10 miles of 4 post offices here in our mountain communities just east of Albuquerque.

    Three of them are already closed on Saturdays and the 4th is only open until 12pm on Saturday.

    ~Lisa

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  9. Rural heck! They're closing the MAIN BRANCH of the Lexington Post Office too. No more bulk mail collection in the 2nd largest city in Ky? Excuse me?!? That's an "inconvenience". Your situation out there is sad. What a mess.

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  10. You have my sympathies re this. For the last ten years, our Royal Mail, has been constantly cut, less postmen/women, closure of Post Offices, mostly in rural areas. Where the older folks miss out. Pensions get collected from our post offices, and lots of other services. Its another nail in the coffin of the letter.

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  11. I live in Seattle and would have to do some figuring on how many post offices I'm within easy driving distance of, but off the top of my head three are within 10 miles... we could do with a couple less so rural communities could have theirs...

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