What I Learned as a U.S. Postal Service Mail Carrier – CityLab

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What I Learned as a U.S. Postal Service Mail Carrier – CityLab

Like many who come to work for the Postal Service, I didn’t find my way into the USPS because I had burning desire to deliver mail; I just needed a job. A laid-off journalist, I’d spent six months striking out on landing a writing gig and grew tired of the soul-sucking grind that is job searching. An old college friend was working happily delivering mail, and making more than I ever did in newspapering: The benefits are good, you don’t take the job home with you, and there’s lots of overtime if you want it.

And the USPS is nearly always hiring, especially in metro areas in advance of the holiday shopping season. Colorado’s Front Range, which includes Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins, is currently short more than 500 positions. The hiring process is long—I applied in mid-February and didn’t start until May—and includes two exams, a personality assessment, and the 473 Postal Exam, which tests your ability to check addresses for errors, accurately fill out forms, and memorize and recall lists of street addresses. I had to also pass a drug test (that’s the biggest hurdle to hiring in weed-legal Colorado, the Fort Collins Postmaster told me) and an exhaustive background check. Then it was off to city carrier academy, where veteran carriers taught my fellow classmates and me the tricks of organizing and carrying mail and how to drive the postal vehicles. We each got a navy blue USPS hat and T-shirt and were sent to our respective post offices to begin our postal careers; I was now a USPS employee, working as a city carrier assistant.

Working for the Post Office seems like an interesting career, especially as one is in retirement. It might be a fun way to get out and learn more about your community.

Sunset Times for First Day of Summer

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If you are looking for the latest possible sunset on the first day of summer, you should head out to Porter or Lewiston, and enjoy the setting sun over Lake Erie, when the sun will be setting around 9 PM. In contrast in Albany, the sun sets around 8:36 PM on the first day of summer.

“Nothing but pure politics” – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

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Military vs windfarms: “Nothing but pure politics” – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Although Pentagon officials don’t see wind power as an obstacle to military readiness, in the past two years, a growing number of state lawmakers are citing national security to block wind farms. That’s what’s happening along the North Carolina coastline, which is home to Marine Corps and Naval aviation facilities as well as a burgeoning wind industry.

North Carolina’s state legislature is considering a bill to ban all wind farms within 100 miles of the coast from Virginia to Camp LeJeune. The bill’s sponsor, state senator Harry Brown (R), was also behind an 18-month moratorium on North Carolina wind farms that expired in December 2018. At a legislative hearing on the bill last month, some military experts said prohibition goes too far.

Kroger, nation’s largest grocery chain, eliminates plastic bags – CBS News

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Kroger, nation’s largest grocery chain, eliminates plastic bags – CBS News

Kroger, the nation's largest grocery chain, will phase out the use of plastic bags in its stores by 2025. The grocer orders about 6 billion bags each year.

Based in Cincinnati, Kroger operates 2,779 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, serving almost 9 million people daily through two dozen different grocery chains.

Kroger said Thursday that will start the project at its Seattle chain QFC, where it expects to be plastic-bag free by next year.

While I didn't think that much about plastic bags in the past, they are kind of a nuisance when you find them in the woods and flapping in the trees. It's certainly easy enough for them to blow away, and we really should be getting away from single-use plastics. Alas, I will probably have to start using my reusable bags -- and just dump my camp garbage in a bucket, and wash it out form time to time.

May 29, 2019 Morning

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Good morning! What day is it? The real question is whether or not Ford and GM would have a hump in their trucks should they merge. 🚚 There is pros and cons to the approaches of both companies. Next Wednesday is 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️. By then it’s Dairy and Pride month where we drink milk 🐮 and celebrate the Freemartins of the world. Cloudy and 52 degrees in Bethlehem, NY. ☁ There is a north breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 50 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 10 am.

Feeling quite a bit better this morning. 🏥 May all I did was just get stiff and sore over hiking this weekend. I don’t know. Or maybe it was a cold or something. But at any rate, I am not the least bit stiff or sore today. But the weather still sucks outside, just kind of gray and cloudy as so many days lately seem to be.

It looks like I left my lunch at home, but I have a can of soup at work 🍛I can heat up at lunch. Next week is dairy day at the Capitol so at least in a week I can have ice cream 🍦for lunch. Dairy day is not a holiday celebrated by the Freemartins of the world. But dairy products are the best, even if you aren’t fertile.

Today will have a chance of showers, mainly after 4pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 69 degrees at 5pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 15th. Maximum dew point of 55 at 2pm. North wind around 6 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 85 degrees. The record high of 93 was set in 1931.

I didn’t get a chance to pick up my dry cleaning 👔as I need to get money at the ATM 🏧. I don’t like having a lot of cash burning a hole in my pocket. I probably will just get my jacket tomorrow and take the express in. The old jacket I found in the closet is tired and old but I have a good one in the office. 🏢 I don’t have to look pretty on the bus.

I really should think about scheduling an oil change for Big Red. 🛢 I think I can do that online. I am thinking June 10th is the best option for me to do that with work. I am below 20% oil life left — I did my last oil change in September. Having the shop do it is much less of a hassle of me having to get the oil myself, then having to to take the used oil back — or in some cases burning it — which turned out to be pretty nasty smelling, even if that synthetic oil really flashes well on the fire up in the woods. 🔥 LOL.

The sun will set at 8:24 pm with dusk around 8:58 pm, which is 51 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 66 degrees. The dew point will be 57 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 26 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly before 10pm. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, cloudy 🌧, with a low of 54 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 6th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 7pm. South wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 60 degrees. The record low of 33 occurred back in 1967.

Now if we would finally have nice weather, and I had some more free-time, I would be able to go down to the park with a book after work. 📖 Friday evening, which actually might be nice, I am going to walk over to John Wolcott’s house, to help him with his history project, so I won’t be able to go to park then. This weekend I plan to stay in town, so maybe Saturday night I’ll go to the park — I’ll need to get some more books out of the library. Hoping to get the truck cleaned out, and the battery hooked up and charging via the panel.🔋 I probably will not use the alternator to provide camp power much anymore this summer, and should be good for multiple days camping even in the shade or cloudy weather without starting up the truck. Plus I have to deal with that hammock — if LL Bean doesn’t replace it, I might look at buying another one, as I sure like laying back when I’m in the woods at camp.

As previously noted, next Wednesday is 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ when the sun will be setting at 8:29 pm with dusk at 9:04 pm. On that day in 2018, we had partly sunny skies, but generally cool with rain showers in eening and temperatures between 64 and 48 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 75 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1925.

I am looking forward to my next trip, probably in two or three weeks, up to the Adirondacks. 🏕 Heck in four weekends, the Mine Kill Pool will re-open, and I could consider going out to Schoharie County, doing some hiking and fishing, then hop in the pool for a good swim, before spending at night up in Burnt Rossman. Looking forward to those times not that far away.🏊

I ended up rescheduling my dentist appointment for July 31st, as that’s the first day that would work for me with work.😺 June is a busy month. I guess that’s fine, but if I want to take a week off for vacation this summer, I’ll have to take off a week earlier then that later week I usually take. The days are longer earlier in July, and there is no reason I have to take it the last week off in July into August. I am thinking of taking off the week October 19 – 27th to go down to West Virigina, one week later then last as my parents are out of town the previous week, and usually the leaves have only started to turn down south at that point. This year, if I go to West Virigina, I probably won’t spend time on Blue Ridge Parkway but will instead check out of more WV.

Cheney Pond Outlet