danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

The Postmaster General reported today that the United States Post Office is losing money, and will continue to lose money unless changes are made to the agency’s postage rates and delivery schedules.  Apparently, the Post Office has experienced a steady drop in the quantity of mail.  I must say I find that hard to believe.  Yes, I understand that people no longer send letters, and that lots of people now pay bills online.  But people also order way more stuff online than ever before.  Between Amazon, eBay, Netflix, and countless other websites, millions of items once purchased in stores must now be sent through the mail.  The death of the brick-and-mortar record store, after all, must come with a corresponding increase in parcels being shipped.

I acknowledge that fuel costs have risen dramatically in the last decade, and that must cost the Post Office a fortune.  Plus, something nobody mentions is that the United States has millions more addresses than ever before.  Every new building built in America represents another stop on a carrier’s route.  And, the tendency of cities to expand in a sprawling fashion means that addresses are farther apart, and require more fuel than traditionally urban neighborhoods, where mailmen could deliver on foot.

The Post Office needs to get out of the business of everything that isn’t mail.  Stop selling random junk like holiday music CDs and mouse pads.  If they need to raise rates, raise rates on junk mail first.  I don’t want that stuff anyway.  And if first class rates go up, I understand.  Even if a stamp was fifty cents, it’d still be a bargain.  Think about it: you place an envelope in your mailbox, pull the flag up, and a person comes by six days a week, picks it up, and takes it anywhere in the country in a day or two.  I got a letter from someone in California on Monday.  They mailed it the previous Friday.  That’s incredibly fast for so little money.  Transportation time to and from the Netflix distribution center in Daytona is less than twenty-four hours.  DVDs that are picked up from my box at four o’clock in the afternoon arrive there by ten o’clock the following morning.

And the Post Office could do one more thing that would help me personally: stop taking passport applications at University Station.  There are only two clerks ever working there, and one of them is always doing someone’s passport, leaving one clerk available to help the dozens of people standing in the line that stretches out the door.

Filed under: Cost of Living, Current Events on March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »

Filed under: Cost of Living, Dana Heritage Project, Popular Music on January 17th, 2009 | Enter your password to view comments.

I have been a student for a long time (much too long, but that’s another story), and have attended three colleges.  So when I read an article like the one in today’s New York Times about post-secondary students paying more but getting less, I think, tell me something I don’t know.  The same can be said of nearly every aspect of life today.  Everything costs more, but we have less to show for it.  I don’t mind paying higher tuition, since I acknowledge that my course fees could not possible cover the cost of my professors’ salaries, maintenance of the buildings and grounds, electricity, and the free healthcare I receive as a student at the University of Florida.  But I am troubled at how cheap my school is becoming.  Teachers cannot make copies of their syllabi or assignments; class sizes in upper-division English literature courses regularly exceed 35 students; graduate students are teaching courses they are not qualified to teach; instructors are leaving and not being replaced.  It is a scandal.

Filed under: Cost of Living, School on January 15th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Some years back I wrote a letter to McDonald’s corporate office, applauding their Dollar Menu, and suggesting they might rename it to reflect its appeal during what then seemed like an “economic disaster”, but now seems quaint compared to what we’re experiencing today.  They returned my letter with a note explaining that it is their policy not to read or adopt unsolicited advice.  That gave me a chuckle.

As the price of everything has increased at a shocking rate since then, I have been amazed that McDonald’s has been able to maintain the Dollar Menu, and today they even have a Dollar Menu-based “value meal”, which includes a sandwich, french fries and a soda for less than $3.00.  I don’t know how they can afford to sell for that price, but I read this evening that it is working for them.  Profits are up.

This just goes to show that people will save money where they can, and it’s hard to pass up a $1.00 double cheeseburger.

Filed under: Cost of Living, Food on January 10th, 2009 | No Comments »

I recognize that 2008 was, for many, a bad year.  The worst economy in generations, rising unemployment, and record prices for almost everthing stemming from gasoline that topped $4.00 a gallon made life difficult for a lot of people.  In spite of all this, 2008 was good to me.  Some highlights:

• I began classes at the University of Florida.  This is remarkable, because had I waited any longer the window would have closed on me, probably forever.  The University announced this year that they were changing their admissions policy for transfer students.  Unlike other universities in Florida, UF doesn’t have to admit students with transfer degrees from community colleges.  They can pick and choose.  And when the average GPA for entering freshmen at UF is over 4.0, there is little incentive for them to take people like me.  I got in just under the wire.  School is challenging, but rewarding.  I feel very grateful to be where I am.
• This year I became active in a roller debry league.  I am not a skater, of course, but I spent a lot of time with the girls who are skaters, and contributed to the league in my own small way.
• I did lots of traveling in 2008.  In January I spent a weekend in Daytona Beach at the wedding of my closest friends; in June I spent almost a week in Chicago, which is surely one of the world’s great cities; in early August I spent several days in Hilton Head, South Carolina, which I didn’t care much for as a place, but can now say I’ve seen; went to Savannah twice; had a great weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which is a delightful little town; had an incredibly memorable week in Washington, DC, where I saw a million amazing things.
• I made lots of new friends, and reconnected with many old friends on Facebook.  I saw Burt twice.
• I got myself an amazing Fender Telecaster, which is ideal in nearly every way.
• I continued my incredible no-vomiting streak.
• I paid off all of my credit card debt.
• I watched lots of Olympics on TV.
• I became the last person I know to buy a laptop computer, and it’s changed my life.
• I discovered Samuel Johnson, which also changed my life.
• I had several photographs published in books, magazines, and even the website of the Wall Street Journal.
• I ate an astonishing amount of Hungry Howie’s pizza.
• I perfected the grilled cheese sandwich (the secret ingredient is salt).
• I read: Emma; Persuasion; Oroonoko; Wuthering Heights; Lady Audley’s Secret; Evelina; Robinson Crusoe; Roxana; Oliver Twist; The Monk; Clarissa; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and tons of poetry.
• I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert; they played “Jungleland”.

So long, 2008.  You were good to me.  As I do every year, I close with the Stephen Foster sentiment that has become my credo: Hard Times Come Again No More.

Filed under: Cost of Living, Dana Heritage Project, Food, Friends, General, Literature and Books, Photography, Popular Music, School, Sports, Technology, Television, Travel on January 1st, 2009 | 1 Comment »