My daughter and I were at the post office yesterday and as we drove away, I said, Isn't the post office miraculous? There are millions of people in this country in millions of cities and millions of streets, and I can write a letter, stick it in a box and in three days the other person gets it. Amazing!

I think the USPS is underappreciated, especially when compared to similar agencies in other countries.

What's really cool is that in our part of the state, we have next day delivery within a 100-mile radius, while still paying for regular postage! Even parcel service is next-day to some of the closer towns.

I'm a USPS fan myself. My local USPS people all know me since I sell books via amazon and am in there frequently (though I wish it was much more frequently) to ship packages to buyers. They haven't lost or delayed a package yet and I ship the cheapest possible way all the time.

The wait is sometimes frustrating especially if I forget and go around lunchtime, but how can we expect them to cope with 20 people coming in at one time.

I'm glad to see you giving a good report to the Postal Service...as would I.

Over the last 5 years I've had to mail many maps and photos monthly due to my internet sales sites. With the maps I tried UPS and FedEx but both managed to rip, tear or render useless several expensive maps. No small feat since these were packed in specially made tubes that an Abrams tank could run over with little harm. How UPS managed to shred two of these is beyond me. So.....I went back to the Post Office for my mailing needs and haven't had nearly the problems.

My one suggestion would be to add a "Mexico" window at the downtown Midland post office where those sending their wages home South of the Border could all congregate and not take up so much time from those of us who simply want to pay for postage.

Jim, I've learned to time my visits to the branches to avoid known rush hours. And, of course, that known rush month...December.

Wallace, I haven't been in the downtown post office in probably 15 years. I take it that it's still something of a madhouse.

I'd like to add my praise to that listed above. I'm a regular at the Central Station (just outside Midland International Airport) since it's 'on the way' to my office at NewsWest 9. Fast, efficient service, and I've gotten to know a couple of the staff behind the counter pretty well over the years. Also, the front counter there tends to be less busy than other stations during 'crunch month.'

I'm with Jennifer on the amazing factor. And the folks who work at my local post office are *always* friendly, helpful and patient.

And they have really cool address-related tools on their website!

Jeff, Brian...I'm pleased to hear you compliment the USPS staff, especially in light of an article I've just read (and which I'll try to comment on in another post later) that holds up postal workers as the epitome of disgruntled, unmotivated employees. I just don't see it.

But, I suppose that different locations have different dynamics. That's true of corporate offices...we shouldn't expect the USPS to be any different in that regard.

There is at least one disgruntled, unmotivated worker at my local post office. This particular person could have his/her (I'm not telling) picture next to 'disgruntled' in the dictionary. There are probably others there too. And... so...? I meet disgruntled, unmotivated people everywhere I go. If anything the USPS has less than its share given the monumental task it must perform.

As you said, "we shouldn't expect the USPS to be different in that regard." Quite true.

Wallace - are you still mailing out your girlfriend's maps for her?

Something tells me that Wallace would be wise to find a good florist...or, even better, a jeweler...muy pronto.

Oh, I can't wait to send a nasty card to them. We just found out, after weeks of complaining of mail arriving as late as 10 o'clock at night or not at all, that our carrier had just been fired... for throwing mail in a dumpster. That's right, chances are, the three paychecks that my brother hadn't gotten and was spending significant amounts of time and money trying to track down and get cancelled and reissued, were likely in a dumpster.

That kind of sours the kiosk thing for me.

Phelps, that's pretty bad, I have to admit. Still, statistically speaking, with 700,000 employees you're going have some idiots like that in the pool.