I was warned before I came that "mail" is complicated in Nome. I knew Nome was remote, but mail makes rural Nebraska look almost metropolitan. After getting here, I found out just how "remote", and how "complicated" it can be. I mailed packages on March 18. They were sent standard mail and were supposed to arrive on March 25th. Since I started work on March 24, I thought this would be perfect. On March 24, the traveller I was replacing, told me my packages would not be arriving. She said to expect them in a few more weeks. She was right. Even though I mailed all 5 packages on the same day, I have only received 2 so far(over a week late). The funny part, is that I had a niece mail a package to me since I have been here, and that one has already arrived, beating 3/5 of the packages I sent. When you hear about being in the "Bush" in Alaska, you are hearing about being way off the beaten trail.
Today I finally received the last 3 of the original 5 packages. Tomorrow would have been 2 weeks past the supposed arrival date. I am pretty sure everything was still there, but the boxes were toast. The scary thing is that USPS is preferrable to UPS.
They don't have counter hours on Saturday at the post office in Nome. Hard to believe Congress got involved when the post office was looking to end deliveries in the lower 48 a few months ago.
My father lives in Nome and although I like him being further away, I hate sending out packages to him around the holidays. We have to send out packages at least a month in a half before the needed delivery date because he never gets them on time. Around Christmas time I always start to send packages at the end of Oct just so they arrive before Christmas. I never really understood their mail and why it worked so slow.
ReplyDeleteKurt Bohling @ Philadelphia Mail Room