I use much of the available technology these days to stay in touch with family, friends, and for business. Then favorite son Tyler plants this bug in my ear to start a blog…suggesting I use WordPress (like his at tylerandtammy.wordpress.com). Perhaps “Beeba” thinks I can better communicate and express myself to my network audience via this media. Hmmmmm, I probably have several from that lot that may not want me to reach out and communicate any more than I already do. So anyone that happens to read this, please continue the personal and work email correspondence, text messaging, cell phone, home phone, U.S. Postal Service (who?), etc. We will see if this works out as an outlet of and/or for creative expression. In the mean time Tyler, you’re going to have to show me all the bells and whistles of the blog site cause I might just come up with something to say, sometime.

And speaking of the U.S. Postal Service, here’s a blog first story for y’all – it has played out over the past several days:

Last week, the U.S. Postal Service delivered a charming green envelope to my post, addressed to “Nana and Papa ______”. The interesting thing about the address was four things in common with the intended recipient of the mail and my home address, those being: 1) the first letter of our last names, 2) the 2-digit house number, 3) the first word of a multi-word street name, and 4) the first number of the zip code. The rest of the address was “Dallas, TX” with a zip code not around these parts of Texas…no return address was on the envelope.  I said to myself, “Hmmm”.

The envelope displayed what I suspect was the handwriting of a young teenager (no turnip wagons jokes please). Judging by the color of the envelope, I also suspected it was a special occasion, Hallmark-type greeting card. Wanting “Nana and Papa” to for sure get their mail, I stuck the envelope back in the mailbox, raised that seldom-used (if ever) side-mounted red flag, and congratulated this Boy Scout on a good deed done. 

Two days later, the green envelope found its way back to my mailbox.

Somewhat annoyed, I this time take it to the local Post Office drop box (knowing the mail is picked up directly by the Dallas main post office – not handled by the local postal office what so ever). I thought “OK, I’ve put some distance between me and the envelope and the Dallas uniforms will ‘sort it out’. This boomerang envelope episode is over!”.

Well, Dallas couldn’t sort it right either…the envelope was delivered back to me two days later.

Irritated, I this time circle the zip code, underline the “Dallas, Texas”, and re-mail it via the Denton Post Office drop box (knowing that mail is sorted by the main post office in Fort Worth).

Ol’ “greeny” boomeranged back the very next day (outstanding turnaround though).

Now chapped yet highly motivated and determined to beat the Post Office at their own rain-sleet-snow-ice-illiteracy game (did I mention the postage increase this week?), I googled the zip code on the envelope – it belonged to nearby Kerrville Texas (about 230 miles from my mailbox). I further googled the envelope’s street address in Kerrville Texas, and sure enough no such address exists there. Mr. Google did however suggest a street address match in Dallas and offered a different zip code.

Anticipating the Post Office would send the envelope back to me if mailed again regardless of the newly printed address (the now postmark blackened stamp was nearly obliterated from all the previous mailings…it  would probably come back to me a fourth time stamped “postage due”), I enveloped “greeny” in a larger envelope (the old box-in-a-box Christmas gag gift routine) with my personal note to “Nana and Papa”, wrote the goggled address on the new envelope, and dropped it back in the mail Friday morning with a fresh “Forever” stamp (forever coming back to me).

You know I’m thinking a simple phone call to “Nana and Papa” from the Mailer would have been much cheaper for the Post Office and less aggravation for me.

So I could be further annoyed in case the googled address is wrong, I put my return address on the envelope…the boomerang mail may yet fly again.

tm