Nora, I share your mailman frustration. The post office has screwed up delivery of a Christmas present and everyone is confused. It was one of those horrible deals where UPS takes the package to the local post office and they deliver it. ISTG, I would pay extra for UPS to BRING IT TO ME.

It was supposed to be delivered today, and mail already came, so I checked the tracking...which said a delivery attempt was made YESTERDAY and they left a note and I need to put the note on my mailbox.

One problem: NO NOTE.

So I called the local post office location, and they looked to see if the package was in the back, and it's not. The nice woman said the carrier probably has it for delivery, and I said the mail already came. There was silence for a moment, and then she said, "...oh. Well, call here in the morning and we'll see if we can find it."

YOU LOST MY PACKAGE YOU LYING LIARS.

I know lots of people hate UPS delivery, but I have never had a problem with them. The post office, OTOH, is from hell. Every lost/super late/damaged package problem I've ever had has been through the post office.

I don't understand online vendors who let you pick UPS, but then it isn't actually UPS all the way. What is the fucking point?

This thing better not be lost, or I will kill someone.

Over the years, I've had some pretty terrible post office experiences as well. Crazy frustrating and weary making.

Fortunately for the last 4 years or so, my mailman Kenneth has been an absolute dream. And I don't make life easy for him.

Since my landlord replaced my security door with one that does not have a mail slot, I am forever forgetting and locking it. K can't deliver if he can't get the mail in somewhere.

The other night, I was way at the end of the block, walking Cagney, when I noticed K pulling up to my house. It must have been 9pm. He was trying to redeliver the mail made undeliverable by my habit.

He told me there is a huge bit of paper work every time he has to return mail to the depot.

The guilt pang I felt then will hopefully spur me to remember not to make his life harder!

I think I need to make he and his wife some cookies this holiday season.

bonny, can you buy a mailbox and set it somewhere where he can put the mail in it if the door is locked? He can always deliver to a USPS-approved mailbox, right?

I know lots of people hate UPS delivery, but I have never had a problem with them. The post office, OTOH, is from hell.

I love UPS and hate dealing with our USPS, for much the same reason. I know the USPS is operating on a shoestring at this point, but for the love of all that's holy, DON'T LIE ABOUT TRYING TO DELIVER. My UPS driver, however, is the bomb.

I am not making this up:

Five minutes ago, I heard a vehicle engine idling outside, followed by footsteps on the porch, the screen door opening, and the sound of a box landing on the door sill. I have my package.

I don't know what magic I possess that I made that happen, but if anyone needs me to work my juju, I'll give it a shot.

I am very, very glad to live in an apartment building with people who can sign for packages, hold them in the office until I get home, and then hand them over. People in my area are constantly complaining that UPS will leave packages which are then stolen; they've even seen people following the UPS truck down the street, using a cart, to collect any packages they can snag.

So ... what do people think of Amazon's idea of using drones to deliver packages?

When I work from home, I've seen the postman deliver all the letters and magazines and then make a second round to deliver larger packages. It could be that's what yours did, Steph.

Or it could be that he'd neglected to drop it off, they called him and - oops! - he decided to hand it over.

So ... what do people think of Amazon's idea of using drones to deliver packages?

I have to echo what (I think) Zenkitty said on FB: rednecks will delight in shooting them down for sport.

Oh, I hate that UPS/Fedex to USPS thing like burning. Because the us postal system does not deliver to my house. But Fedex does, so I check to see how the parcel (remember when we called it parcel post?) will be delivered and then I give them either my street address or my post office box. Whereupon they typically tell me they cannot deliver to my post office box. So I give them my street address, which now includes my actual town name, which is not the town of zip code, and a remonstrance (NO USPS!) Which should do the trick. But it never does. So it gets shipped to the town in the zip code. Which is not my town. And furthermore, it's not the town where my P.O. box is, which is a third, further, town. So then it sits there, with them getting increasingly angry at me until I get increasingly fed up with my parcel never appearing and finally run around to the three post offices to find it.

In fact, Newegg just lost a Cyber Monday sale from me because of this rigamarole. They don't ship to P.O. Boxes, but they use the USPS system to verify their addresses. Which mine fails. Because USPS.

I mean, I kinda like being off the grid, but since both the census and the Jehovah's witnesses have now found me, I feel I should be able to convince a vendor to ship me a package that will actually get to me.