The Venting Thread

[Vkw10]

I just got a birthday card today.   My birthday was last Monday.   The postmark, from Mississippi, was 24 Nov.   I do not think this would be a result whereof Ben Franklin would have approved.

My mother used to say late postal deliveries were a hint to call the sender.

[ab_grp]

I just got a birthday card today.   My birthday was last Monday.   The postmark, from Mississippi, was 24 Nov.   I do not think this would be a result whereof Ben Franklin would have approved.

Sorry the card took so long to reach you, but a belated happy birthday to you, K16!

[mamselle]

I know the Postal Service has a bigger job this time of year than normal, but this started a while ago with our local delivery... mail that is several days to a week later than what is posted in the daily digest from Informed Delivery, when the mail is delivered, it can arrive anywhere from before 10 AM until after 8 PM, and leaving packages that don't fit in the mailbox in the recipient's driveway - not in any way, shape, or form acceptable. I've talked to my neighbors about it and we've all filled out the online forms, but have not received any response except the generic "thank you for your feedback" emails.

Between all the nonsense generated by the woodpecker-in-chief in fomenting USPS delivery sabotage, I figure we're lucky to be getting things within the usual week to ten days it takes for mail from one part of the town to reach the other part.

I think I've probably mentioned before that it's sent by train to a sorting facility in the middle of the state, then returned, sorted, to the town it was originally sent from. (Our delivery person told me this so I trust it's true.) We're now seeing things sent from several states away taking three weeks; I log in donations for the non-profit whose director I assist, and we've had one held up since late October that's still not here.

One came in yesterday that was sent on the 22nd of November...so, let's see, hmmm....16 days, with the holiday, that's not too bad.

M.   

[Cheerful]

We're now seeing things sent from several states away taking three weeks; I log in donations for the non-profit whose director I assist, and we've had one held up since late October that's still not here.

One came in yesterday that was sent on the 22nd of November...so, let's see, hmmm....16 days, with the holiday, that's not too bad.

M.

This makes me feel a little better because I have a special package pending, sent from someone a few states away.  Tracking appears stuck:  it's been listed as "in transit to a sorting facility" for almost a week now.  I'm feeling sad for the sender and for me.  Your post gives me hope that the package may arrive one day this year.  Thanks, mamselle.

Since I was very young, I've loved the USPS.  In recent years, it's been breaking my heart.

[EdnaMode]

I think I've probably mentioned before that it's sent by train to a sorting facility in the middle of the state, then returned, sorted, to the town it was originally sent from. (Our delivery person told me this so I trust it's true.) We're now seeing things sent from several states away taking three weeks; I log in donations for the non-profit whose director I assist, and we've had one held up since late October that's still not here.

Ours used to be sorted locally, but now it's sent to a larger city 100 or so miles away. I've watched stuff, via tracking, just sit in that other city for several days before either coming here or going on its merry way. That, all things considered, I can sort of understand, and maybe even the variation in pickup and delivery times on any given day, but leaving packages in driveways? Nope. Completely not acceptable, not only could they be stolen, the could be run over (I personally ran over one of my packages - thankfully it was squishy clothing and well packaged so no damage occurred) but now that it's snowy, to not have packages under cover could ruin them, but that's more a specific employee problem, than a systemic problem. Whoops, I'm getting annoyed again ;)

I've had family who worked for the Postal Service and was always a fan, would choose them over other methods of sending things, so I do hope they get this fixed soon and get back to better service for their customers.

[mamselle]

Maybe after Jan.20th.

M.

[AvidReader]

I ordered something online from Target early last week. It was $2 less than the amount needed for free shipping, so I added a small bag of cashews to save the $9 shipping charge. Target sent the two items separately (so I doubt the extra purchase really benefited them). The first, larger item, came by one of the big carriers (UPS?) and arrived Monday. The cashews are coming by USPS, who says they were delivered Monday (they were not). I don't think it is worth the hassle of calling, since I still paid less than shipping, but I was looking forward to my better-than-free snack. Sigh.

AR.

[clean]

I.  "My friend got an A, but I only got a B.  But I did all of these (non graded) things and she didnt! And I studied so much harder.  It is not fair that I only got a B".

Reply, "AS you have no grades that were As, what grade did you expect to earn?  I agree that it is unfair that some have better genes/gifts from nature/God that allow them to get better grades than those that must work harder"

II.  "I scored better on the tests than my friend, but I got an F and he got a D.  What did you do for him that you wont do for me?"

Reply, I can not discuss the grades of others, but you did not do ANY of the homework (worth 10% of your grade) and you did not do any of the work that would have earned bonus points. Perhaps your friend took advantage of the items you did not"


I. was resolved with a WebEx meeting going over every problem on the final.
II. might be resolved after no fewer than 6 emails reiterating that " I will not discuss your friend's grade with you. Ask your friend. I have done everything that I can do for you to help you overcome your poor choice NOT to do an entire semesters' assignment, but in the end, as your own calculations concur, your grade is still an F."

For II I even alerted the chair of the brewing storm. 

What do you want from me?  (A passing Grade). 
You missed 4 of 6 in person class meetings (and quizzes).  You missed 90% of the homework grade because you decided it was a poor use of your time.  You didnt take advantage of the bonus points.  You allowed your text subscription to end 2 weeks into the class. You didnt alert me of an issue, but NOW because your Friend did the work and earned the bonus points by doing more work, YOU 'deserve' a passing grade to because your exam grade was higher?  Pu-Leeze!!


But Merry Christmas to All! 

Im sure that others are also dealing with the last minute pleas.  Why, oh why do I hear more from lost students AFTER the grades are posted than in the total 15 weeks before? 


FINAL vent of the day:

Day 1:  "Examity reports a violation of the test protocols. Please explain the situation."..... crickets
Day 3:  (emails to university email and all gmail accounts listed by student).  "Please check your university email and reply to my inquiry".... Crickets
Day 6:  File Academic Misconduct report.  No reply
Day 8:  After email follow-up from Academic Misconduct folks, a reply! 

HAD the student just replied, no report would have been filed.  By ignoring the situation, the student now has a written reprimand recorded.  Should anyone else complete a report before student graduates, there is a much better likelihood that the student will take a semester hiatus
Why do students think that  ignoring the situation improve things? 

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

^

Wish I could tell you. If anyone figures it out, let us all know, please.

[RatGuy]

I came here to vent about mail deliveries as well. Mail was pretty consistent throughout 2020, but the last two weeks have been weird. I get that it's the holidays. And I know that I'm one of the very few people who get Netflix discs instead of stream. But what used to take two days now takes 10? And the Netflix distribution center is quite close! I've had a disc in the mailbox since tuesday -- little red flag is up and everything -- and no mail was picked up or delivered on Wed or Thurs.

Fedex and UPS have been mostly reliable. I kickstart a lot of board games, and the parcels are tracked accurately. But when those logistic services use USPS for final delivery, I really have to wait. At least one item was "transferred to the Post Office" on 12/1, and it's yet to be delivered.

[AmLitHist]

ALHS is waiting for eyeglasses from Zenni ordered on Black Friday. USPS Daily Digest has shown "Delivering Today" since Wednesday, and the mail just went--still no glasses.

I seem to be what the Old Folks in the family used to call "down in the back":  nonspecific general aches and discomfort, with the occasional twinge when I move wrong (and the "move wrong" seems to move from one position to another so it's always a surprise).  It's nothing major and not really worth a vent.  That would take too much energy, and I'm already exhausted, with many a paper to grade before I'm finally done next week.

[clean]

At least one item was "transferred to the Post Office" on 12/1, and it's yet to be delivered.

Yes, that sucks!! What is the point of paying for delivery To The Post Office!!!  Add 3 days minimum to the travel time!

[mamselle]

They're probably still re-assembling all the sorter machines that were removed and/or sabotaged over the summer to slow down delivery so the mail-in votes would skew in a certain direction...

(Truth.)

M.

[Cheerful]

This is posted in red on the USPS tracking page.

"ALERT: USPS IS EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED PACKAGE INCREASES AND LIMITED EMPLOYEE AVAILABILITY DUE TO THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19. WE APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE AND REMAIN COMMITTED TO DELIVERING THE HOLIDAYS TO YOU."

I am sure things are tough.  Wishing USPS employees good health.

The "Priority Mail" package I'm awaiting is on Day 9 of its journey.  It made it out of the sorting facility and has now departed the distribution center.

[Puget]

OMG, that was just the most stressful online exam experience--- in the middle of our exam today, all the students' exams suddenly timed out, with the LMS showing that they had been going for an hour when they had only been going for half an hour, and showing an end time half an hour in the future! I was supervising the team of TAs proctoring each section so was fielding a gazzilian frantic messages from them all at once. I scrambled to allow a second attempt building on the first -- same thing happened, requiring allowing a third attempt. Eventually we got through it but it was not a fun process.

I was simultaneously emailing with the tech team and they did find and fix the problem just at the end ("a system-wide time stamp error" was all they told me-- I'd really like to know more.) The TAs are great troopers though and we had lots of jokes about temporal anomaly fields and time travel going back and forth. I just sent a course announcement thanking them for their patience and letting them know the problem was system wide and not something we could anticipate or prevent ourselves, but I still expect some complaints, even though we made sure they ultimately got all the time that was due them.