Mine arrived today. I have only had a chance to skim it, but did take time to read Taylor Johnson's article. Nice job Taylor, well done and well written. I concur on every point that you make.

Thanks Ralph ,I am glad that you likes it .. Taylor Johnson

Nice job again on the RH. Always interesting reading.

Didn't get mine yet, didn't make any difference that I walked to the mail box several times this afternoon. Can't wait! But hold on, patience is a virtue!

The issue was mailed Monday. I am very pleased so many people have already received theirs. I was at the Waverly Sale all week and several people told me their copies had already arrived. I think mine was in my mailbox Monday.

We are now putting them in plastic bags for mailing and that may help with the speed of delivery. It will certainly help with preventing damage and some delays/thefts in the mail. Two downsides are that it costs a little more and now the mailing label that includes subscription expiration details will not be on the cover.

Hopefully yours will be in your mailbox Monday, Klaus. I appreciate your cheerful impatience.

Joe

Just sitting down with my copy, right next to the woodstove. Watching the snow coming down, still!

" ..snow coming down, still" Is that why you announced in another post that you'll be moving to another farm, Mark?

I bet Mark says, "yes", Klaus, but not because of the snow itself. :-). It may have more to do with melted snow that hangs around forever. We contend with that a lot up here in the Lake Ontario plains. Farms with some drainage are at a premium. I told him I have a hill here he could pitch a camp on, but I think he said he didn't want to move this far south. ;-)

Joe,
Can you explain what you meant with the comment that the plastic will help with delays/theft in the mail.

Somewhere between the time that the magazines are labeled and inserted into the mail stream and when they are in the hands of the subscriber, some copies are read and then re-inserted into the mail stream (delays) or stolen outright (theft).

The plastic bag will hopefully help protect them from being misappropriated.

Joe

How many issues go missing each mailing? What percentage is this of the total number of issues mailed?

I work part time for the Postal Service. I can understand how they may get damaged but to think that they are being delayed or stolen by postal service workers is flabbergasting.

The number of lost copies varies from issue to issue, of course. I suppose the average is about a dozen or so that we hear about. Of course, some folks don't report a lost copy. Regardless, the percentage is less than one percent. We replace every lost copy.

We have had a couple cases where we needed to come up with alternate mailing addresses (a business instead of a home, for example) because of repeated missing deliveries.

The USPS employs almost half a million people full-time. Of course, not all are mail handlers. It also has part time employees, such as yourself, and uses some private contractors. https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/employees-since-1926.pdf

I recall at least two instances in the past 20 or so years that I have been mailing large quantities of magazines, books, calendars and other products where non-USPS employees have been caught stealing mail we sent.

The vast majority of postal employees responsibly perform their work efficiently and I am among those who applaud their efforts. They deliver a huge amount of letters, packages and other mail, and regularly provide services above and beyond their regular duties such as checking on elderly or infirm, alerting authorities to suspicious or dangerous situations, etc.

That said, no firm is immune to employee theft. In 2013, the USPS Inspector General conducted 1,514 internal mail theft investigations, resulting in 339 arrests and 854 administrative actions.

"The overwhelming majority of U.S. Postal Service employees work conscientiously to move the nation’s mail to its proper destination. Unfortunately, a small number of employees abuse the public’s trust. It is the job of U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) special agents to identify dishonest employees and take proper investigative steps to have them prosecuted and removed from the Postal Service. We investigate postal employees who delay, desert, or steal mail from the mailstream." https://www.uspsoig.gov/investigations/internal-mail-theft

Wow....Just wow.

Most of the employes are honest YES they are. Have had letters that took 14 days to go 7 miles, don't know why.