Cottleston Pie

Monday before Christmas, I went to Bluebonnet Station, the USPS Post Office for 78758, to mail four Priority Mail packages. I took a magazine that I'd just started because, based on past experience, I imagined my wait would be probably be an hour or so. Amazingly, I was done in the post office within ten minutes, including doing my hand addressing on the Priority Mail address labels. They have new Automated Postal Center (APC) units which are essentially like the ATM for postal transactions, which is great.

Because it was busy, there was a postal worker standing next to the machine helping people quickly navigate the touch screens. That was both a good and bad thing. Generally, it was helpful in moving things along, but I wanted to understand which button I was pushing and why because if a mistake were made, I'm sure I'd later be told caveat emptor and that it was my fault, not the postal employee standing there advising me, for not taking responsibility for the buttons that I was pressing. This was going through my head at the time and a bit awkward as the employee seemed to wonder why I was so pokey and wouldn't just press the button he was telling me to press. I was scanning the screen, and I'm no speed-reader, to double-check his directions.

There seems to be some sort of Bermuda-triangle for Priority Mail between Virginia and Austin. The Louisiana triangle? The Tennessee triangle? My cousin and I mailed each other packages that same day, the 19th. We also both mailed packages to Maine. All packages to Maine arrived by the 24th (6 mail days) or well before. Her package to me arrived the 27th (7 mail days). Mine to her was not delivered until the 28th (8 days). Unimpressive.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
 — A Yale University management professor in response to student Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)