When I moved to Taipei, the
USPS didn’t have a good solution to forward my mail, so I changed my address to
my Son’s house in West Allis. Actually I did that because I thought it would be
cool to have Stallis as an address. Actually that is not true. My Son then sent
the relevant mail to my Taipei home. There is almost no important mail sent to
me by USPS. For many years, I had all bills, bank and investment statements
sent via e-mail or I retrieve them on-line. When I returned to the U.S., I
set-up a post office box, because I didn’t want mail to sit in my home mailbox
for long periods while I was away at work, and I didn’t want my Son bothered
with my mail any longer. When I return home on weekends, I try to pick up my
mail during the only window of time my schedule coincides with the USPS hours
of convenience-before noon on Saturdays. It is not uncommon if I am traveling,
that several weeks go by without the opportunity to get my mail, which is
almost exclusively junk.
My Wife has also utilized our U.S. home address for her mail. She has lived in the U.S. several times and has bank and investment accounts, credit card bills and other mail that the USPS won’t forward to Taipei. When I changed my address to my Son’s house, I changed her address too. When I set-up the post office box, I couldn’t change her address, because the USPS requires that she be there in person to make that change. So my mail went to the p.o. box and her mail to my Son’s house.
When the election neared, both of us needed to vote by absentee ballot. I mailed the request form to the local town clerk via USPS asking she send both ballots to my p.o. box. I received my ballot at the p.o. box, but my Wife’s didn’t arrive. The clerk called and said she could not send them to a p.o. box and mailed them both to our physical address in the town. My ballot was clearly sent to the p.o. box, so I wasn’t following her logic. My Wife’s form was returned to the clerk because her mailing address had forwarding to West Allis. The clerk said the USPS was not allowed to forward ballots. I then changed my Wife’s address back to our home and had the clerk remail the ballot. Now my Wife’s mail goes to our home and my mail goes to the p.o. box.
The property tax bill is in my name and cannot have a p.o. box as an address. The automatic forwarding period has ended, so the tax bill will not be sent to either the home address or p.o. box. Fortunately I can get it on-line and don’t need the physical bill.
I arrived at the post office yesterday after missing several of my short little Saturday pick-up times, due to travel, and opened up my p.o. box. A note inside said I should pick-up my mail at the front window. When I presented the note to the post office clerk, she gave me a tub of unsolicited catalogs and junk mail. I knew there was nothing in the large pile of mail that I would leave with-all of it would be left in the recycling container at the post office. The clerk gave me the tub and said “you should think about getting a larger post office box”. I thought about why I needed the p.o. box, and why I need the USPS, and responded “no actually my life is too complex for the United State Post Office and a larger post office box won’t help”. She looked perplexed as I walked away with my tub of junk mail.
The USPS is important
because some governmental agencies require a mailing address. Otherwise, why do
I need one? When my post office box subscription expires in June, I may not
renew it and therefore have no mailing address; sort of go off the mailing grid
and be totally virtual. 12 years ago I eliminated my home phone land line, and
the reactions I received when people asked for my my home phone number and I
responded with none, was interesting. Yes, I am going to have no mailing
address in the near future.
My Wife has also utilized our U.S. home address for her mail. She has lived in the U.S. several times and has bank and investment accounts, credit card bills and other mail that the USPS won’t forward to Taipei. When I changed my address to my Son’s house, I changed her address too. When I set-up the post office box, I couldn’t change her address, because the USPS requires that she be there in person to make that change. So my mail went to the p.o. box and her mail to my Son’s house.
When the election neared, both of us needed to vote by absentee ballot. I mailed the request form to the local town clerk via USPS asking she send both ballots to my p.o. box. I received my ballot at the p.o. box, but my Wife’s didn’t arrive. The clerk called and said she could not send them to a p.o. box and mailed them both to our physical address in the town. My ballot was clearly sent to the p.o. box, so I wasn’t following her logic. My Wife’s form was returned to the clerk because her mailing address had forwarding to West Allis. The clerk said the USPS was not allowed to forward ballots. I then changed my Wife’s address back to our home and had the clerk remail the ballot. Now my Wife’s mail goes to our home and my mail goes to the p.o. box.
The property tax bill is in my name and cannot have a p.o. box as an address. The automatic forwarding period has ended, so the tax bill will not be sent to either the home address or p.o. box. Fortunately I can get it on-line and don’t need the physical bill.
I arrived at the post office yesterday after missing several of my short little Saturday pick-up times, due to travel, and opened up my p.o. box. A note inside said I should pick-up my mail at the front window. When I presented the note to the post office clerk, she gave me a tub of unsolicited catalogs and junk mail. I knew there was nothing in the large pile of mail that I would leave with-all of it would be left in the recycling container at the post office. The clerk gave me the tub and said “you should think about getting a larger post office box”. I thought about why I needed the p.o. box, and why I need the USPS, and responded “no actually my life is too complex for the United State Post Office and a larger post office box won’t help”. She looked perplexed as I walked away with my tub of junk mail.
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