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BlkWhiteFilmPix
May 29th, 2020, 01:49 PM
Article in Commentary magazine: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/andy-smarick/letters-in-the-time-of-covid/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=SocialSnap

topcat666
May 29th, 2020, 01:55 PM
A thoughtful article.
Thank you for sharing.

Chrissy
May 29th, 2020, 02:18 PM
Thank you for sharing this with us. :)

VertOlive
May 29th, 2020, 03:01 PM
Yep, nice to hear others are discovering the pleasures of correspondence.

FredRydr
July 29th, 2020, 04:16 PM
To my pen pals and pen friends: The domestic and international postal systems continue to be in disarray, and there is little correlation between posting dates and arrival dates. Yesterday and today, I received a couple dozen letters and postcards postmarked as far back as early May, so I have three months of correspondence to catch up on. :p Do postal sorting machines suffer mail constipation until they disgorge their burdens all at once? (Sorry about the image.)

Empty_of_Clouds
July 29th, 2020, 04:24 PM
Just received a letter from a penpal in Philly. Dated about a month ago, so about twice as long as usual from post to delivery. Also, in the interim, they never recevied my letter going the other way. All a bit random.

guyy
July 30th, 2020, 08:28 AM
I received a New Year greeting from a friend in Rome this month. Six months!

FredRydr
July 30th, 2020, 09:07 AM
I received a New Year greeting from a friend in Rome this month. Six months!
That's the worst! Three month deliveries no longer surprise me coming from Russia, Belarus and China, but six months from Italy before Covid19?

Ole Juul
July 30th, 2020, 09:10 AM
The Russian postal system was storing all outgoing international mail for over three months! They just started dealing with it recently. That's the worst situation I've heard. On this continent there seems to be delays, but from what people are saying in this thread, some individual places must also be storing instead of moving.

I've had great service here in BC all along, And anything that makes it into the Canadian system that is going here is not appreciatively delayed. However, I just sent a package to Toronto, and it got to the post office there in a few days as usual, but then the postie didn't deliver it for a week! My guess is that delays in North America are not about lack of transport or sorting capacity, but probably lack of personnel at postal stations.

FredRydr
July 30th, 2020, 09:15 AM
Watch for coffee cup rings on late postcards. Those were delayed in the postoffice's break room.

BlkWhiteFilmPix
July 30th, 2020, 11:32 AM
The new Postmaster General has made several changes, including cutting overtime, and no longer allowing carriers to go back to the postal stations to pick up Priority Mail and other mail that had not been sorted before the carriers left in the morning to make their deliveries.

Delivery estimates for Priority Mail that I've posted in the last couple of weeks are a day or so longer than they were before.

A letter air mailed from Surrey in the UK on July 1 arrived in my mailbox in Ohio seven days later.

oldstoat
July 30th, 2020, 11:57 AM
Interesting to see different patterns. Hong Kong is no longer accepting mail from the US and UK but letters to and from New Jersey and Oregon from the UK seem unimpeded. Letters to Germany and Sweden likewise.

tscweaves
July 31st, 2020, 08:11 AM
I am in the USA and I have a penpal in Canada, and it has been taking about 14 days for a letter to travel between the two destinations. Actually having this penpal is what got me interested in fountain pens, it is so much nicer to write a letter with a fountain pen.

So it begs the question of how I now have 10 fountain pens, 4 steel pen holders, a dozen steel pens, and a glass dip pen😄

sgtstretch
July 31st, 2020, 08:18 AM
Interesting to see different patterns. Hong Kong is no longer accepting mail from the US and UK but letters to and from New Jersey and Oregon from the UK seem unimpeded. Letters to Germany and Sweden likewise.

I have a friend in HK that confirmed they received a letter (yesterday/today) from me that I sent out on June 24th.

Morgaine
July 31st, 2020, 08:41 AM
This is useful to check. https://www.postcrossing.com/postal-monitor

I noticed HK to UK / US is mostly surface mail only, but there are normal airmail services to Switzerland (and some other countries)...

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5317

RobJohnson
July 31st, 2020, 09:13 AM
Interesting to see different patterns. Hong Kong is no longer accepting mail from the US and UK but letters to and from New Jersey and Oregon from the UK seem unimpeded. Letters to Germany and Sweden likewise.

I have a friend in HK that confirmed they received a letter (yesterday/today) from me that I sent out on June 24th.

I worry about Hong Kong, the people have achieved so much in the last 50 years, they do not deserve to live in fear.

ThriveToScribe
August 1st, 2020, 02:28 AM
France is not doing well with their international mail especially to the US. They’re always on strike for some reason but fortunately, my husband can call his dear “Maman” twice a week and she enjoys that. She’s 95 and has been through a lot in her lifetime but she remains cheerful and courageous. I try to send her postcards often but I mail them in sealed envelopes. It’s worth it for some privacy and the postage is the same.

Chrissy
August 6th, 2020, 02:48 AM
I believe that letters/Large Letters between the US and the UK are showing some signs of improvement now. When junglejim sent out the mystery ink samples for MI# 28 and 29 I think they all arrived within a week, and on checking dates of personal incoming letters those are also taking about a week too. That's almost back to normal. :)

BlkWhiteFilmPix
August 18th, 2020, 02:52 PM
The postmaster general issued a statement today asserting that overtime be approved, etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/08/18/us/dnc-convention-election/the-postmaster-general-suspends-widely-criticized-cost-cutting-measures

Chrissy
August 18th, 2020, 11:59 PM
The postmaster general issued a statement today asserting that overtime be approved, etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/08/18/us/dnc-convention-election/the-postmaster-general-suspends-widely-criticized-cost-cutting-measures
It's good to know that, during these difficult times, he's taken some action to ensure the upcoming elections won't be imperiled due to the introduction of cost-cutting initiatives. :)

BlkWhiteFilmPix
August 22nd, 2020, 10:13 AM
A letter mailed on August 10, 2020 from a post office in the Cleveland Ohio area to Paris, France arrived on August 20 or 21.

Chrissy
August 22nd, 2020, 10:22 AM
I received two letters from PA this week. One was sent on 15th August and the other was sent on 17th August.
They both arrived with me in the UK on 20th and 21st August respectively. :)

That's very impressive. :thumb: In fact they both took less time to travel 3,500 miles than a small book I ordered from ebay that took 8 days to arrive from 25 miles away in the same County as the one I live in. :facepalm:

Ole Juul
August 22nd, 2020, 10:27 AM
Pen mailed from Belgium on August 4 arrived here in Coalmont, BC, on August 20. That seems pretty functional.

FredRydr
August 22nd, 2020, 12:49 PM
Mail posted from Pennsylvania and arrived the last couple of days: England was 4 days and 5 days. Germany was 5 days. Minnesota to Pennsylvania was 18 days. Ontario seems to be a black hole for mail.