Okay, first the important stuff: Harry Potter. Jasmin, I agree that JKR has been dropping hints, but I think it is more about his fallibility than anything more nefarious. Has everyone looked at mugglenet? There was an interview with JKR right after #6 was published that was very enlightening. I think Dumbledore is as we saw him--good, human, and imperfect. Snape, he is trouble. Oh, and I think Malfoy is going to do tshuva in the end.
That out of the way...
Has anyone been to the post office since the rate increase? Okay, has anyone tried to mail anything internationally since the rate increase? If you have not and plan to do so soon, you may be in for the same nasty surprise I got yesterday. International rates have more than doubled, and so far as I can tell, surface shipping for most things has been abolished. I used to make good use of those little Global Priority mailers, that were $5 for a little one and $9 for a big one. I had bought and packed a big one to send to my knitting buddy in Sydney, and discovered that those little mailers are now $13 and $21!!! And if you have something big and heavy to send, there is no longer any option of sending it by slow boat to save money. A couple of months ago, said knitting buddy was in at the beginning of job-search season, which is always one of your more stressful life experiences. So I put together a Lovely Box, and sent it by ship for--well, I don't remember how much it was, but considering how much it weighed and how far it was going, it wasn't bad. Now there's no way to send a box that size for less than sixty dollars. Yikes! I am going to have to insist that anyone who plans on requiring a care package in future relocate to the lower 48. Thank you for your cooperation.
Time to clean up the kitchen. Shabbos was good, we had guests, they'd already eaten too much at kiddush and the kids had stashed candy in the stroller, so we are leftover city around here. Anyone up for some cold chatzilim, chicken and cholent? Stop on by.
2 comments:
Just want to attest to the fact that the box is indeed lovely!
I have noticed that various yarn places that I stalk (for information only, of course) have stopped offering international shipping--at least until they can figure out whether there is a cheaper way.
I don't understand the no-slow-boat option, though.
I didn't know about the international rate changes. Oh my goodness! One of my aunts recently moved and we wanted to send her a present. I was puzzled when my mom said it would cost at least $40 to send it, but now I realize she must be up on the new rates. I assumed the international rates would have had the same slight increase the domestic ones got, but phooey. That means email for most of my friends abroad, instead of cards and letters. The packages will be tougher to work around, though...
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