The 1998 romantic comedy entitled "You've Got Mail", staring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan was an enjoyable movie. It is about a couple that met online, and unbeknown to either is the reality that they are business rivals. One is attempting to put the other out of business. You may remember the movie. It was an enjoyable film.
Yesterday afternoon, for the second consecutive time in three days, I walked into the Dripping Springs Post Office and heard: "You've got mail." Trust me, this was not a comedy. It was more like an unending nightmare.
The term head-banger came to mind. I've never been a fan of heavy metal music, and to refer to the genre as music seems like an unjust application of the term.
The head-banging story originated in 1968 when Led Zeppelin was playing a set at the Boston Tea Party on their first US Tour. The front rows of the audience were banging their heads on the stage in time to the music and the term "head-banger" was born.
Reportedly head-banger is a synonym for: "A person, typically male, who is insane or mentally disturbed – madman – nutcase - lunatic." Presto! - That is the description of me and I credit the phenomena to the United States Post Office.
Before moving to Blanco, I went into the Post Office to inquire about making arrangements for mail service. I was provided an application and told I would need to come back with the completed application and documentation of proof that I resided at the location where I wanted mail be delivered. I would either need to come at the beginning of the workday or at the end when the postmaster was in the post office.
Wanting to play by the rules, I expedited a change of address on my Texas Driver's License and took that along with a copy of an electric bill associated to the property to the post office. It was all the proof that I needed.
I completed a change of address form and was told it would be entered into the system and that I would not need to complete a change of address form in Dripping Springs. I was instructed to use my street address to receive mail and that it would be delivered to the neighborhood post office boxes on site.
True enough, we received a couple of pieces of mail forwarded from Dripping Springs. That was followed by several weeks of nothing forwarded from Dripping Springs.
The General assured me that all of the monthly catalogs she previously received were not first-class mail and would not be forwarded. I'd call that a silver lining for sure.
As one week turned into the next for about six weeks, we received nothing forwarded from Dripping Springs. Something was wrong! I went to the post office in Dripping Springs last Friday and heard: "You've got mail."
From what the folks at the Post Office in Dripping Springs could ascertain, Blanco was returning the mail forwarded to them. They suggested I complete a new change of address form at Dripping Springs. I did that last Friday. In addition, they had to take a picture if my driver's license to go along with the signed change of address form.
Indeed, I did have mail - six weeks of it. One of the letters was a life insurance invoice that is payable annually and was due on August 1, 2023. The General suggested I send the payment overnight on Monday morning so it could arrive in Virginia on time the following day. Would you believe it cost $28.00 to send the payment overnight? The mail clerk in Blanco told me it would take two days for the envelope containing the payment to get to Virginia. They would not guarantee next-day delivery. I mailed the payment and paid the $28.
Out of curiosity, I asked the mail clerk in Blanco to check on my change of address request completed six weeks earlier. The only change of address request he could locate was a confirmation of the form I signed at the post office in Dripping Springs on Friday. They had no record that a change of address form had ever been completed in Blanco. He said, You would need to allow us to take a picture of your driver's license to do that. I assured him that was a requirement to facilitate a mailing address in Blanco.
I settled for the "I don't know what to tell you" explanation. I asked if I would need to do anything else to facilitate the change of address from Dripping Springs. He said "No".
I walked into the Post Office in Dripping Springs yesterday afternoon to mail a large envelope. When I paid to mail the envelope, I was asked to wait. They said: "You've got mail."
Reportedly, the new policy implemented by the U.S. Post Office is to mail me something at the new mailing address. I would need to bring the received mail back to them to confirm that I really wanted my mail forwarded. Reportedly, they will hold my mail in the Dripping Springs Post Office until I bring back to them whatever they send me at the new address. Are you kidding me?
I now understand how a person could become a head-banger. Thanks to the Post Office I am a male, who is insane or mentally disturbed – madman – nutcase -lunatic. By the way, this is 100% factual. I'm not creative enough to make this up.
All My Best!
Don
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