My not so good Lake George experience with the Post Office

It’s a beautiful Saturday here in Lake George and Angelo and I are enjoying this view of the lake from the hill in lounging chairs in the shade. A lovely way to cap what has been a nice vacation in Lake George.

I’m also cooling my heels after a not-so-good experience at the local post office this morning. Although I refuse to let that ruin the experience, I feel very strongly about it because the postcard diary I was putting together for this trip was a special one, given the deliberate effort to gather the postcards and the special stamps I was using for this set. I had gathered some of my special stamps purchased from eBay and had carefully wet them and affixed them on the postcards. I thought it would be nice to have them hand-cancelled at the post office, and just get the postcards back instead of letting them get beat up in transit.

Besides, the post office was very “inviting” as we saw the sign below the couple of times we had walked past it while going around town the last couple of days.

I gathered my 13 postcards along with a few others I had hoped to mail, all duly stamped. It was a slow morning and I walked up to the window requesting for hand cancelling on the 13 as I explained I collected them. The lady on duty at the solitary window became obviously miffed when I made the request to hand-cancel, more so when she found out I had 13. She proceeded to hand-cancel the postcards but complained they normally don’t hand cancel as these are done by the machines, and I didn’t even get the chance to explain about the special stamps I had used. She gathered the postcards and some other mail I said didn’t need cancelling and she proceeded to dump them in the bin behind her. So there went the idea to get the postcards back.

I held it in and didn’t say a word, but I was upset at her attitude for several reasons.

1). I don’t think I asked for anything unusual in requesting that the postcards be hand-cancelled. This was part of a regular post office function. I had 13 postcards and not a hundred and thirteen.

2). There was no line and it was not a busy morning. 13 postcards meant 13 motions with her dater/canceller which required nominal effort.

3). I am a taxpayer who went into a government-service institution requesting for service expected of that office.

4). As a postal employee, I thought that she would understand the relevance of the local postmark to a collector. I guess not.

5). I thought that for a town with less than their usual volume of tourists at this time of the year, the town and its vendors –the post office included — would be more appreciative of the business — more so for a “store” that has that sign emblazoned on its door.

I guess not.

It’s such a disappointment considering people are beginning to find it more and more difficult to keep the postal service relevant. There are talks of canceling Saturday delivery altogether in the midst of post office closings. And if we go to the nitty gritty of customer service, this is a sore point for a tourist-oriented town.

No wonder my previous postcards were postmarked “Albany” — they were not postmarked by the local post office.

Maybe she was having a bad day — but for someone working in a service-related job, even that is not an excuse, more so when you have this sign. Take it off the door, I say, if you can’t deliver.

Saturday Update: Trying to ignore my body

I already had an inkling I was coming down with something last night when I lay down to sleep. My throat felt funny.  So I put one of my tubao handkerchiefs around my neck and crossed my fingers.  All the handkerchiefs I use are tubaos which my sister, Ofie, had given to me years ago upon my request.  They are very colorful handwoven local fabric from the far south of the Philippines.  Around 2 trips home ago a friend had gifted me with two scarves of the same material which I wear in the spring and fall seasons.  I just needed something to keep my neck warm even as I slept.  True enough, I awoke with my throat hurting.  I’ve managed to control it thanks to throat spray, but I’m feeling weak and still not sure I’ve managed to conquer what seems to be an allergy or infection.  It hasn’t quite progressed from bad to worse, so I’m optimistic Monday will see me feeling a whole lot better.

I tried to ignore my body’s plea for rest, but I ended up taking some short naps.  I had to take care of lunch but hardly ate any.  I didn’t get to do anything much beyond organizing my papers.  Not good considering I haven’t quite finished my DECORATE A JOURNAL swap, but I’m practically there. 

I had planned to do a photo tutorial on using distress stains and inks, but by the time I had enough energy to do anything creative, it was already dark.  Here are the tags I had produced last week for sending to a swap partner for the Quote Prompt Mini-Journal #3 swap over at Swap-bot. 

 While the more colorful side was distress stained manila folder, I used one side of a fancy decorated paper napkin for the back to make the three tags cohesive as a set.  I know you can’t see from the pictures that the back was made from paper nakpins, and it’s because of the “wrinkling” effect of having used mod podge to glue it onto the backside of the tag, along with an additional layer of gold acrylic paint, sealed with a final layer of lustre or glossy mod podge.  As always, I painted the sides on both the back and the front with a gold border.

 I’ve fallen greatly behind on my card making but have ramped things up tonight by creating some interesting stenciled backgrounds.  (Finally experimented with some stencils bought over the last couple of weeks.)  Here’s an interesting take on using paper scraps to create a basket-weave effect.  This was my first attempt at this idea and I simply tucked a heart paper clip on the lower right hand side for accent.  What do you think? 

I attached the basket-weave paper piece onto an existing card and sent it on it’s way to P.  (Which, I hope, has made it to the other side of the world.)

The speed of the postal service sometimes catches me totally off guard which is a pleasant surprise.  It used to be that I automatically presumed it would take two to three weeks to get to Manila, but these days, I get an acknowledgment after 7 days.  At a time when people think the post office is slowly rendering itself obsolete, it is heartening to see that it has tried to keep up with the demands of the times in competition with technology.

I have so much of these paper scraps that I can make a whole book out of them if I wanted to.  I hate throwing away paper.  (Which, to the chagrin of my housemates, means piles and piles of them.  I am trying to organize..!)  I intend to use more of them in my future projects just to make sure that they are put to good use. 

I am also all excited about my new “toy”, a birthday gift of sorts to myself.  I got this Spellbinders Grand Calibur Die Cutting Machine which I found to be cheapest at Amazon.  I have used it only a bit since I got it but the possibilities are endless.  I’m almost tempted to take it out of the box again tonight (and it’s almost 1am) and try my hand at creating a few flowers.  (My dies are basically of flowers at this point.. that will change in time.)  I am already excitedly planning my niece, Andreanna Lux’s invitation for her first birthday, and that’s not until September!  Ha!

This just as I’m reaching a swap burnout point which I”m trying to avoid.  I think I’ll go back to creating for myself and creating for the store again, hopefully.

With Cousin M’s wedding just two weeks away, Angelo and I are excited.  (He’s flying using his Dad’s 50,000 miles which is a real treat.  He was so excited to attend his first “wedding” ever.  I can’t wait.)  I really have to create the necklace I had meant to wear with the dress I have yet to get.  I zeroed in on this simple yet very elegant three-fourth sleeve lace dress but no one seems to have it in the color/size I wanted… sigh…still searching.  I’m just excited to be with family.  I am more excited about being escorted by my littled guy in his dapper suit.  What I am really looking forward to is dancing with him as he is my favorite slow dance partner. 

In a few weeks, my little guy is turning a year older.. and another very special guy to me who prefers to be referred to as my special gay — Nikky — is turning another year older.  28.. 28 years ago a family friend knocked on our door and handed him to me.  And we were bound for life.

Birthdays and weddings.. I love them for the pillars they provide to our existence as human beings.  They help us measure time in a more personal way beyond calendars and dates.  Those dates take on a different meaning when attached to something or someone who means something to us. 

Time for me to head on to bed.  I hope my throat doesn’t torture me tomorrow when I wake up.

PS. Almost forgot that I got a most pleasant surprise from Cousin M.  A belated birthday gift which would have been timely had not my own schedule at work prevented me from meeting up with her sooner — some chocolate cheesecake which were totally to-die-for!

 

 
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