Mailing packages???

[mlktwins]

How are ya'll mailing packages these day?  I don't mail a lot of packages but, when I do, I'm old school and go to the post office -- LOL.  I am not planning to do that now.  So...what is the best way to get a package shipped?  Through USPS Click N Ship?  I can use my kitchen scale to determine weight?

My sister works at a hospital in another state with direct patient contact.  I am making her masks per her request.  I will need to get them to her somehow!

[Sneezyone]

At our post office there is no effort to sanitize between patrons. I went twice to mail things to my SIL in NYC and my Dad in CA before buying a scale and re-upping my Stamps.com subscription. Now, I can print from home and leave packages in my mailbox for pickup. I also sent masks to a friend in HI this way. They are using them for food pantry workers making home deliveries.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Sneezyone

[mlktwins]

13 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

I went to the post office, they were wiping things down regularly and had tape to keep people apart in line.  I stood back, paid by card, and touched as little as possible.  When I got to the car I sanitized my hands, purse bottom, and keys that my hands had touched.

It was fine.

You can certainly print priority shipping at home and schedule a pickup too, though.

Yep, not leaving my house unless absolutely necessary :-).  Been home since the 15th and hope to keep it this way as much as possible.  DH is home too.

After what I've seen in my neighborhood and in the news, I don't trust anyone to be careful -- LOL.  

[Kassia]

Our post office feels pretty safe.  We print out the label at home and they have a drop box in the lobby.  Doors are push open so I just push open the door with my shoe so I don't touch anything.

 

 

[mlktwins]

1 minute ago, Kassia said:

Our post office feels pretty safe.  We print out the label at home and they have a drop box in the lobby.  Doors are push open so I just push open the door with my shoe so I don't touch anything.

 

 

That I would do.  Where/how are you printing a label?

[Kassia]

9 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

That I would do.  Where/how are you printing a label?

 

DH said he uses a link through paypal.  I've actually never done it - he always does it.

 

 

[alisoncooks]

1 hour ago, Arctic Mama said:

I went to the post office, they were wiping things down regularly and had tape to keep people apart in line.  I stood back, paid by card, and touched as little as possible.  When I got to the car I sanitized my hands, purse bottom, and keys that my hands had touched.

It was fine.

I've done the same, several times in the last two weeks. I feel comfortable doing so, for my location (# of known cases) and my family's health situation. 

[carriede]

I've been using USPS Click n Ship for a long time now. Yes, I use my kitchen scale to measure. I've never had anything sent back.

You do the shipping label first, then request pick up as a separate "transaction". You can tell the postal worker if the box is in the mail box or front porch (or other place). They just pick it up! Saves me a lot of time.

[Shoeless]

I've been having the post office pick up my packages. 

[Lanny]

DD bought a Down Coat from L.L. Bean that was defective. She is in her dorm at Carolina. Thursday, she received something via UPS and when she went to pick it up in the Mail Room, she took the carton with the Down Coat to be returned to L.L. Bean and left it in the Mail Room, for UPS to pick up. She had printed out the return label  to L.L. Bean and the Mail Room staff helped her put that onto the carton and sealed the carton and when UPS was there that night, they picked up the carton. UPS Tracking shows it is in Freeport ME this morning...   🙂

Now, to get onto the topic, until this morning, I have always been the person who takes out the trash and garbage and then checks for correspondence in the mailbox. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Until my DW told me, last night, not to do that this morning. Apparently there was a Decree and those of us who are over 70, if we go into the street, are subject to a Fine of approximately USD $200. I don't have a calculator here, but it's between 200 and 250. I appreciate that the Colombian government is trying to protect those of us who are elderly and has us under "house arrest" until the end of May 2020.  Shelter-In-Place. Protect the elderly.

And there IS the other issue people up thread have touched on or expanded on. There IS a possibility of receiving a carton that is contaminated. Worse yet, is the possibility of catching something when receiving a package. I was usually the person to do that, but thanks to the Colombian government, I am now aware of how very vulnerable those over age 70 are. So, in the future, I won't be the one to receive packages when the trucks come to our house to deliver    something.

And, I will try to remember, if I sign something, to use my own ballpoint pen and not someone elses.

 

 

 

[J-rap]

I've had to go to our post office twice to mail important packages.  Our post office is just a block away, and I can walk there and walk inside and stand in line without touching anything.  It's a a big inner-city post office, and actually doesn't feel very clean.  The one postal worker left working there now doesn't seem to take any precautions himself, and doesn't seem concerned.   But, he's strict about everyone standing 6 feet apart in line, and everyone does.   When I'm at the counter, I only get as close as I need to.  

I do make sure to wash up really well when I get home!

[KatieJ]

Use click n ship and your home scale. Have them pick up at your house. Works great. PayPal can be cheaper, but it’s a little harder to navigate their website as it is set up for buying and selling transactions. Doable, just a little more complicated to find what you need. 

 

i read yesterday our normally quite happy post office employees were asking people if that  letter  important enough to risk  their life for.

 

[mlktwins]

3 hours ago, KatieinMich said:

Use click n ship and your home scale. Have them pick up at your house. Works great. PayPal can be cheaper, but it’s a little harder to navigate their website as it is set up for buying and selling transactions. Doable, just a little more complicated to find what you need. 

 

i read yesterday our normally quite happy post office employees were asking people if that  letter  important enough to risk  their life for.

 

Yes, we aren’t mailing much.  Want to get my sister the masks I’m making - she works at a hospital - and a thermometer to my dad because he can’t find his.  He doesn’t need it now, but just in case.

[Lanny]

22 hours ago, HeighHo said:

Lanny, the elderly and the vulnerable have shelter in place here too.  

Matilda's Law

Governor Cuomo announced "Matilda’s Law" – a guideline – to protect New Yorkers age 70+ and those with compromised immune systems.

Under the law, vulnerable New Yorkers are advised to: 

• Remain indoors
• Go outside for solitary exercise
• Pre-screen all visitors by taking their temperature
• Wear a mask in the company of others
• Stay at least 6 feet from others
• Do not take public transportation unless urgent and absolutely necessary

 

Hello HeighHo:   "Advised to" is better than nothing.  At the official exchange rate (which I suspect someone might get if they had a million dollars to exchange for Colombian Pesos) the Fine for me opening the gate to the street to take out the Trash and Garbage, is approximately $246 USD.  That is more than enough for me to have relinquished that job to my DW or to my Stepson. Yesterday, my DW did it.

And, of course, paying a $246 fine is better than going to the "carcel" (jail or prison). Our jails and prisons are very overcrowded and that wouldn't be a good place to be, for anyone of any age. Less with COVID-19.

My Stepson is the designated person to do things like going to the supermarket now. I am not sure how long he had to wait yesterday, to get into the supermarket of his choice. Apparently, when 10 customers left, they allowed the next 10 customers, whose "Cedula" (national identity card) ended in the correct number for that time and day, to enter the store and begin shopping.