Category: News&Update

Going on vacation, mail, and packages. Sometimes we all need a break, and although the travel industry has taken a serious hit during the pandemic, families are still planning vacations, as well as couples, who want to get away for the weekend, or several weeks at a time. Las Vegas, a college football game at your alma mater, the NFL, NHL, you name it being around entertainment excites a lot of people, but one thing that we have to take care of when we leave home is our mail, and packages. Planning ahead is key, if you, and your family are going to be traveling for an extended period of time, and if you have a good neighbor, the buddy system works, let them know that if any mail, or packages are left at your home while you’re gone on vacation, to retrieve it, and hold it until your family returns from being on vacation. It’s important to note that your Mail carrier isn’t a mind reader, so they don’t always know when you go out of town, if you can request a PS Form 8076, which is an authorization to hold mail form, and fill out the form in detail, and leave it on your mailbox for the carrier to retrieve, or take it to your local Post Office so that they can give the form to the Mail carrier, who delivers your mail to notify them to hold your mail, and packages, because you, and your family will be out of town during the week of October 1-18, 2020, and your families mail, and packages will be held during that time frame. There are two options that the customer has, you can request that all accumulated mail, and packages be delivered to your home upon your return, or you can request that you will go to your local Post Office to retrieve all accumulated mail, and packages upon your return.
The 1-800-ASK-USPS option allows you to electronically hold your mail, but the thing to note is that your Letter Carrier doesn’t have access to print out the PS Form 8076, a Manager, or Supervisor, must print out the form to give to a Mail Carrier, so if the Mail Carrier doesn’t receive the PS Form 8076, they will assume that you’re still at home, and will leave mail, and packages at your home, so one of the best things to do is to ask your Letter Carrier for some of the PS Form 8076’s to have on hand whenever you decide to go on vacation. Communicate with your neighbor, let them know that you will be out of town, and offer to retrieve their mail, and packages, as well in the event that items are being piled up on their porch as well in the event that they’re on vacation. Porch Pirates look for clues that you might be out of town, and mail, and packages piling up on your porch could give them clues that your family might be out of town on vacation, so this is why communication is so important, while your out of town, you can sleep better knowing that your mail, and packages are being held by your Letter Carrier, and your backup plan with your neighbor is in effect if your Letter Carrier doesn’t receive the PS Form 8076. Going on vacation, mail, and packages. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!

Unplugging machines, medicine, packages, and mail. Sounds like a crazy title, but this is the world that we now live in, and unplugging machines to stop citizens from having the ability to use mail-in ballots to effectively practice social distancing, and vote during the 2020 Presidential election has become a topic around the world, but an even more dangerous game from unplugging machines is that mail is taking longer to get to its destination, and customers are being effected around the country. A customer reported that they mailed a birthday card to a relative in California from Texas that normally takes 3 days to reach, or 4 days max, with a first class stamp on the card, or whatever the appropriate postage is depending on the size of the envelope, and the card took 3 weeks for it to arrive in Los Angeles, California. If it takes a letter that normally should take 3-4 days max to reach the location to where it’s destined to go 3 weeks, then people will begin to use alternate solutions to get their mail sent to the appropriate locations in a faster manner, by using FedEx, UPS, DHL, and other competitors, who will charge more for their service, but will deliver items in a more rapid period of time.
Unplugging machines also has an effect on medicine, veterans depend on getting their medicine on a timely manner, and now that the unplugging of machines has happened around the country, a Pharmacist stated that the VA was having to go to other delivery merchants because the medicine that they were shipping was taking to long to get to the Veteran’s, and sometimes a couple of days can make a difference between life, and death. Some customers are complaining that driver’s license are taking 45-60 days to receive, when in the past the turnaround was less than two weeks, and normally, a permit is only good for 30 days, when most individuals who apply for new driver’s license after going to the Department of Motor Vehicles should receive their new license in less than two weeks after completing all of the required paperwork within the Department of Motor Vehicles. The dangerous thing about driver’s license is that some police officer’s will want to write tickets for an expired driver’s license, when the customer is still waiting to receive their new driver’s license, they will look at the driver’s permit, and say,”30 days have expired, I don’t want to hear it, you’re getting a ticket!”
What is the solution regarding unplugging machines around the country? It’s simple if they’re old, and need to be replaced, replace them, but if they’re functional, plug them back in, people need to be able to vote safely during this pandemic, people need their medicine on time, as well as their packages, and mail. If a label is placed on a package, and a delivery date is promised, it’s up to the delivery service to deliver the item in a timely manner, because with smartphones customers are able to track their shipment from when it leaves the respective merchants facility to when the driver delivers the item to their front door. Unplugging machines, medicine, packages, and mail. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!
Photo credit: azcentral.com

Getting a divorce, and changing your name back to your maiden name. Most couples when they get married plan on staying together forever, but sometimes things don’t always workout the way that they are planned, and couples separate, and sometimes in time they reconcile, but in the event of no reconciliation, divorce papers are filed, and sometimes the spouse will decide that they want to change their name back to their maiden name. So in the event of the husband having the last name of Rogers, the ex-wife wants to reclaim her maiden name of Jones. So the first step that needs to happen is the soon to be Ms. Jones will need to talk to Human Resources at her job to get her name changed in the system, as well as going to the county courthouse with the divorce decree, and talk with the social security office to inform them that her name is going to be changed back to her maiden name, and to present the appropriate documents to make this happen, as well as going to the drivers license department to have her name changed on her driver’s license as well. Once the real estate that was owned by the couple is sold Ms. Jones needs to fill out a change of address form as an individual in her former married name of Rogers, and an entire family name in her soon to be maiden name of Jones, so that all of her mail will be forwarded to her new address, if there are children involved, and say for example Ms. Jones was married previously, and the child’s last name is Sanchez, then a change of address should be filed in the child’s name as well, because if the child is in school, and a report card, or progress report is mailed to the house, then in order for Ms. Jones to receive the report, a change of address must be on file for the child as well, but it’s also important to notify the school of any address changes as well so that the parent, who is the legal guardian will receive information on a timely basis. Getting a divorce, and changing your name back to your maiden name. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!

Using old address labels to send mail, and packages. How many people use old address labels to send mail, and if you own a home based business, or even a business that you have leased, and have moved to another building to lease, your company is still using old address labels to send letters, and packages to clients? This happens quite often, and doing this could result in you having trouble receiving what you might have sent to a potential client in the event that your change of address has expired, or you didn’t submit a change of address for your business, or home based business.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way that many businesses operate, and now more people are working from home, so to earn extra money some individuals have started home based businesses to earn extra money, and in the process of opening up your new home based business, you add a suite number on to your address, as well as a new business credit card that you have applied for, and have been approved to receive in the mail, so your regular address is 7520 Bighorn Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57117, but when you applied for the business credit card you changed the address to 7520 Bighorn Ave. Suite 2525, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57117, and now you’re including this suite number in all of your business mailings, and within three months you receive a call for a job promotion that will transfer you out of the state to Atlanta, Georgia, so you submit a change of address using your address at 7520 Bighorn Ave., but you don’t include the suite number that you created for your business, and you continue to use the old address labels one year later after moving to Atlanta, Georgia, this could cause you to have problems in the event that an item is returned to your business, and the customer is demanding a refund for a package that was damaged in the mail. The customer states that they sent the item back to your former address at 7520 Bighorn Ave. Suite 2525, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57117, but you tell them that you been living in Atlanta, Georgia for the past year, and the customer sends a screenshot with your business address label on the USPS box, so now you will have to provide a refund to the customer, and attempt to call your former Post Office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to see if the package with a value of $300 can be returned to your new business location in Atlanta, Georgia. Using old address labels to send mail, and packages can be a gamble, update them when you move to save yourself the trouble of losing valuable mail, and packages. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!

The right to vote safely during the pandemic, the answer, the collection box. Mail in ballots have become a huge issue now that the tables are set in the upcoming election between President Donald Trump, and his opponent Former Vice President Joe Biden. There have been concerns of there being voter fraud, and dead people mailing in ballots, but if you have people to look at databases one would see that humans who are deceased can’t apply for driver’s license once they’re dead, and they can’t fill out a voter’s registration card once they’re dead as well, because the voter registration card has a box to check if the resident no longer lives at the residence so that the voter’s registration card will be returned in the mail, and if the address isn’t updated by the individual then more than likely the Postal carrier will catch the error, and will return the voter registration card to the sender, but knowing who your resident’s are plays a factor on if the Postal carrier delivers the voter registration card, or returns the card to the sender.
The pandemic has been going on steady in the United States since March, and as deaths continue to mount, wearing a mask, and social distancing will have a major impact on people going to the polls to cast their votes. This election in 2020, will be one of the most important elections in the history of the United States because Americans should have the right to be able to vote safely, and let’s face the facts everyone doesn’t want to stand in line in long polls in a mask to vote, because various humans have health issues, and standing in long lines could cause voters to faint, or pass out due to not being able to breathe inside of a mask for an extended period of time, and when people decide to remove their masks, then there’s the threat of COVID-19, and also in long lines people will not want to separate, and be six feet apart from one another, especially if the come to vote as a family.
What can be done to help to control these long lines, and the threat of COVID-19? The collection boxes that the USPS has sitting out front of the different Post Office’s, can provide a solution because you don’t have to get out of your car to cast your ballot, and if you have trouble finding these blue collection boxes, you can google the locations where they might be located in your city, so that you can safely drive up in your own personal vehicle to cast your ballot during the upcoming Presidential election. Why is this safe? As a voter you drive up in your vehicle, and drop your ballot inside of the blue collection box with the Postal Service emblem on it, and someone from the Postal Service who works in collections, or a Postal employee will come outside of the Post Office to retrieve the mail safely to send off to the plant to get stamped to send your ballot to the appropriate location to count as a vote during the election. If pulling up outside to drop off your election ballot gives you fear of someone attempting to break into a collection box makes you feel uncomfortable then you can pull up to a Postal Service location, and go inside of the building, and drop off your mail in the outgoing mail location that is clearly labeled for letters, and flats, and the time that the box is pulled for collections, so you have two great options to drop off your mail, and to practice social-distancing to avoid the inconvenience of standing in long lines, to avoid the risk of COVID-19.
How do I receive a ballot in the mail to vote? A voter can go to www.vote.org to register the process is simple, it probably doesn’t take no longer than 3 minutes to fill out your information, and the ballot comes directly to your house where you can cast your ballot during the upcoming election. Like anything else regarding mail, and ballots it’s wise to keep your ballot separated from your mail, because you might forget where you put your ballot, and if you wait until the last day trying to find your ballot it might be too late, and all ballots must have a postmarked date on them to count as a vote during the election.
Can the military vote during the election if they’re not in the United States during the election? Yes, the military can, they can fill out an absentee ballot application, and their vote will count in the upcoming election, it doesn’t matter if they’re on a ship out a sea, or overseas in a foreign country, as long as a member is serving in the military during the time of an election they have the right to cast a vote as all eligible Americans, who are citizens of the United States have the same right.
What can be done to improve the voting process? With the advancement of internet technology, people should be able to log-in on their very own computers to vote, software can be setup like at the airport with Immigration, and Customs Enforcement to use biometrics to take your picture to authenticate who you are, when you cast your vote, along with all of your family members who are eligible to vote, and meet the standards, and qualifications to be able to cast a vote. Your internet protocol address will authenticate all members who live at your address, and can be used as a cross reference when you file for a voter’s registration card when you apply for one, and it’s mailed to your home of record.
If the President of the United States can put in a request for a mail in ballot in his state of residence, then all Americans who are eligible to vote should be able to do the same, we’re currently in a pandemic, and every citizen should be able to exercise their right to vote in a safe manner, being smart, and safe, and saving lives during COVID-19.
A fun fact from the USPS: The Post Office Department was founded in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. His annual salary was $1,000. Before 1971, the PMG was a Cabinet member. https://facts.usps.com/benjamin-franklin-first-postmaster-general/
The right to vote safely during the pandemic, the answer, the collection box. www.iwantmymail.com Admin More than just a blog!

This package doesn’t belong to this address. How many times do you think that the Letter Carrier that delivers your route hears this? Probably more than we’d like to think, but it happens everyday, around the world, 24/7/365. What should I do if a package, or packages, are left at my house, when the previous resident has moved? The first thing that a resident should do is see if the package has an email address on it, or a cell phone number on it that uniquely identifies the individual who is supposed to receive the package. If there’s an email on the package, you could send the former tenant an email to inform them that a package was left at your residence that belongs to them if it doesn’t inconvenience you. Sometimes residents don’t always move far from where they previously lived, especially in a big city, unless they received a job promotion that had them to move 3 hours away, or had them to move out of state, and in some cases out of the country. If there isn’t an email address, or cell phone number on the package, then the next thing that the resident would have to do is call the company who delivered the package, if its the Postal Service, you can put a sticky note on the package that says, that the resident has moved, and normally the next day the Letter Carrier will pick up the item, and will properly endorse the package once they return to the office. If the package was delivered by UPS, FedEx, Amazon, DHL, or any other logistics provider, you can’t leave the item outside for them to pickup assuming that they deliver to your residence everyday, you can call them and inform them that a package was left for the former resident, and normally if they have a driver in the area, they will retrieve the package to return it to their respective office, or facility. Leaving a package outside, and writing, “not here,” can cause more problems than anything because if the item wasn’t delivered by the Postal Service, they will not take it, and leaving the item with, “not here,” written in bold black letters with a sharpie can attract porch pirates to steal a package. This package doesn’t belong to this address. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!

When dealing with packages, leave them out of site to protect them from theft. What exactly does this mean? If the house has a barrier where the package can be hidden from the eyes of porch pirates, then place the package in a safe, and secure place. All houses, apartments, condos, and etc., aren’t built the same, and in the case of the photo, the flower pot on the side of the steps would be a perfect place to put the package, because if the owners are still at work, and there isn’t a camera present, and there aren’t any neighbors outside, then a porch pirate could take advantage of the opportunity to steal your package. Delivery personnel must also respect when a package has fragile written on it, so not tossing the package onto the porch would be appreciated by your customers, but sometimes the personnel who separate, and load the packages at the delivery merchant warehouses into the respective routes that the delivery personnel will deliver to your respective neighborhoods will throw the items into a container of the route that your delivery driver will deliver to their respective routes, so packages thrown on top of each other could easily damage a package that has fragile written on it. If it’s raining outside a customer will always be thankful that the delivery driver took a few extra steps to put their package out of inclement weather, because sometimes if the package isn’t in the best type of box, rain can ruin the package, and the items inside of the package if it stays outside, and is getting rained on all day before the customer comes home from work, school, the grocery store, and etc. When dealing with packages, delivery personnel must realize that customers receive an instant alert when a package is scanned as delivered, so if you’re not at the address of the customer when they receive the alert, they could call your supervisor to find out where is there package if it’s not on their porch, or mailbox where you scanned the package as being delivered. When dealing with packages, leave them out of site to protect them from theft. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!

Voting, mail, and COVID-19. Although 2020 isn’t over, there’s a Presidential election that gives American’s the right to vote, but with COVID-19, and everything associated with the pandemic, standing in long lines trying to social distance will deter a lot of people from going to the polls to vote. What are my other options, you might ask, www.vote.org allows you, the voter to go online, and fill out your information to have an absentee ballot delivered to your home free of charge, all that’s required is that you need to be registered to vote, and fill out the online form with your personal information, and in less that five minutes the registration process will be complete. The thing that’s important to remember is that if you move, you need to take the responsibility to update your information, because you don’t want your absentee ballot going to Long Beach, CA, where you previously lived, and now you live in San Diego, CA, so it’s important to fill out a change of address form online, or you can go to your local Post Office to receive the form if you don’t see your letter carrier out on the street delivering mail. If, and when the absentee ballot comes to your place of residence, don’t lay it to the side with your other mail, because you might forget about it, and potentially miss the deadline that the absentee ballot has to be postmarked in order for your vote to be valid. If you happen to move before the election, and you have time to register, it’s imperative that you go to your local government office to get registered if you prefer to go to your respective polls in your district, and if you decide not to early vote during the grace period that is allowed in the area that you live in. One important thing to remember is that often your driver’s license will have to match your voter registration card, because if it doesn’t you might potentially get turned away, so with the election being less than 100 days away you have time to fix an errors that you might have. Voting, mail, and COVID-19. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!

Leaving town, and ordering packages during the COVID-19 pandemic. In some states as the world turns with the COVID-19 pandemic some people are choosing to leave areas where the COVID-19 numbers continue to spike, and the number of positive cases continue to grow, some people are choosing to go back home to where their parents are, or where they have relatives living. The reason for this is safety, and the numbers are low, and they see this as a reason for choosing to relocate due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19, no one truly knows when this pandemic will end, but more people are working from home, and are continuing to order packages from the comfort of their homes, and smartphones, but the thing to remember is that you still have mail going to your apartment that you’re renting in New York City, NY, but you have moved back to your parents home in Dover, Delaware, the thing that you need to do is put in a temporary fowarding order with the United States Postal Service so that you can receive your mail at your parents house in Dover, Delaware, because if you don’t put in a temporary forwarding order, your mail will continue to go to your apartment in New York City, NY, as well as changing your Amazon account or any other online account that you might have that you might possibly have items auto-shipped from every month, or every two weeks, if you don’t correct these accounts your Amazon order, Target order, Adidas order, and etc., could be shipped to your address that your currently not residing at, and when porch pirates see items starting to stack up on your porch for days, they’ll figure that your out of town, and this will attract porch pirates to steal your packages that you have worked hard to order, and pay for out of your hard earned money. It’s your responsibility to fix your living situation, and to forward your mail if your leaving town for a significant amount of time, the Postal Service, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and all other logistics companies don’t necessarily know that you have moved, fix your online accounts so that you will not have to endure problems with theft, or mail being delivered to an address where you no longer reside. Leaving town, and ordering packages during the COVID-19 pandemic. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!

A friend is ordering packages to our address. How often does this happen in the new internet age of ordering packages with a simple click on our smart phone devices? It probably happens more than we would think. The Wilson family has been living at 12900 Applesauce Dr. Charlotte, NC 28130 for the past 3 years, the maiden name of Mr. Wilson’s spouse is Smith, so inside of their mailbox they have mail for only Wilson, and Smith, and no other names is highlighted inside of their mailbox. Fast forward to the present, and the Wilson family has a friend named Rachelle Stallone who travels for her job on a monthly basis, so she orders items from Amazon, and has them sent to the Wilson address in Charlotte, NC. This is an arrangement that all parties approve, but it’s important to update the mailbox with the name of Stallone, because if Ms. Stallone is going to order packages, then more than likely some mail might possibly come to the Wilson home with her name on it, and if the Letter Carrier doesn’t recognize the name in the mailbox, then more than likely the mail for Ms. Stallone, or even packages that she has ordered online could be returned to the sender, that’s why communication is extremely important in the package, and mail business. There should be no problem for a friend to order packages, and have them sent to your address, as long as the homeowner, and the friend have an understanding, as well as keeping delivery personnel in the loop if possible. If Rachelle Stallone decides to cut her travel to Charlotte, NC then she would need to update her accounts where she orders items online, because if she doesn’t update her auto-ship accounts they will continue to point to her friends address in Charlotte, NC, when she actually lives in Burbank, CA. Staying up to date can make a difference when a friend is ordering packages to your address. www.iwantmymail.com More than just a blog!