Kathryn della Porta

Beth Wilder wrote:We've been having these issues recently as well. A big part of our situation is that we have a new address created through rural addressing a few months ago, which only very recently showed up in USPS' system online such that other carriers can confirm it's real (they still insist it's "unverified" or some such, however).

Our mail box is maybe 2 miles from our house at the nearest such cluster, and USPS was quite clear that they would not allow us to install a locking mailbox. They did say, though, that we could put a large parcel delivery container there, with an open lock and a sign requesting that the carrier put larger parcels in there and close the lock when they finish. So we have a regular (very vintage, bullethole-riddled) regulation mailbox attached securely to the post in the usual way, and then we have an old 55-gallon steel barrel chained to the post, with a padlock and the address and instructions painted on the lid. We've observed tampering with this lock when it's open, which we assume is humans, so we keep a close eye on it as much as possible (a shameful waste of gas going back and forth, although I try to always combine it with things like trips to collect old yucca stalks for fencing or deadwood for our outdoor stove).

We've told UPS that they can also use this barrel rather than coming down all the rougher dirt roads to our front gate (where we put an old-school metal steamer trunk for parcels when we think one might be arriving, because they have braved the roads twice now). Messages (including maps and instructions) by phone and email to the local UPS headquarters an hour and a half way seemed like they would work, and they confirmed that although they could not use a USPS mailbox, their drivers could use such a barrel. But the first driver confirmed receiving the map without the directions/instructions and got lost out beyond our place and had to be led back to our gate (we spotted him from the roof as sunset was approaching), and then the second driver found our place only because I put a sign up with a red bandana attached to it like a flag, and he said he'd received neither map nor instructions and kept talking over my partner about how the virus is a hoax rather than answering questions or listening to anything.

We test FedEx today, as I placed a dry goods order with a company that looked like it would ship UPS or USPS that at the last minute switched to FedEx. We shall see if our buckwheat flour, etc. arrives or not! Do folks here have any experience with trying to communicate with local FedEx headquarters about special delivery instructions? I tried to "manage delivery" and add "delivery instructions" on the website, but they insisted I create an account like I have with UPS -- fine, no problem -- but then couldn't do it because they insist our address isn't "valid."

Compounding all this, here in the States, is the fact that our wonderful USPS is almost out of funds, and there may not be any help on the way; but I won't go into politics.

All of this certainly does become more of a problem when we're homebound due to high risk if infected. We've been able to get curbside pickup at a total of three places in the county, so for everything else, we're stuck trying to get deliveries. This means we've suddenly had to become much more self-sufficient than before, from foraging to gardening to really scrounging in the resource pile and letting nothing go to waste. But we do still sometimes need engine parts, salt, canning lids, buckwheat flour, etc. (Don't get me started on the ongoing experiment of collecting, threshing, winnowing, toasting, and grinding sotol (Dasylirion) seeds into flour. Let's just say nothing has been edible yet. Hopefully there'll be a good mesquite bean harvest this year!)

Hi Beth,

Regarding your interactions with UPS, here's what I would recommend to ensure they consistently deliver your packages to the barrel.  (I'm assuming you chose the barrel because you don't intend to order anything that won't fit inside it.)  I will note that there are some classes of packages that must be delivered directly to you, denoted as "signature required" that cannot be left in the barrel.

First, put your phone number on your packages in addition to your address, when the shipping information section of the billing process gives you enough space to include it.  This helps if the driver gets lost or if the driver can't find your address and takes the package back to the building.

Second, include delivery instructions on the package when the shipping information section of the billing process gives you enough space to include it.

Third, if possible, make sure your UPS contact is working at the building that sends out your packages.  That will shorten the communication chain and make it more likely your instructions are relayed to the driver, the driver's on-road supervisor, and the dispatcher.

Send your UPS contact the following message via email, edited to your style, with your information filled in:

Hello UPS [Name of local UPS building, if you know it],

Beth Wilder here.  I've been in contact with you several times regarding delivery instructions for my packages.  However, those instructions don't seem to have been communicated to the drivers who have delivered my most recent packages.  I have installed a large parcel delivery container next to my mailbox at my newly created rural address, [address of your mailbox].  I want my packages that can be delivered to this container to be delivered to this container, rather than sending your driver down all the rougher dirt roads to my front gate.  My last two packages were delivered to my front gate with considerably difficulty on the part of the drivers.  

An acquaintance of mine who is a dispatcher in suburban Michigan suggested that I request that you do the following to ensure that future deliveries are made to the parcel container:

1.)  Move the SNAP for my address to the physical location of my mailbox, located at [address, crossroads, and physical features that can be identified via satellite image that is 2-3 years old].

2.)  Add a CPaD message with both a note and an alert for my address that says "Del to [color] barrel" [message length limit 23 characters].

I also understand that there are some packages that require a signature that, as a result, you will not be able to release at the parcel container, per my instructions.  While I expect such packages to be few and far between, what would you recommend I do if I know that the package I am ordering cannot be driver released?  

[Closing and signature]


Hope this helps!

Rufus Laggren wrote:Will other services deliver to a PO box? It would seem to me that picking  packages up at the post office would be preferable to gambling. As long as the post office was w/in about 15 minutes.


Regards,
Rufus

Yes and no.  

P.O. Boxes are the exclusive domain of the USPS, so other carriers cannot deliver to them.  However, in some very remote, rural areas, other carriers, such as UPS and FedEx, do not offer last-mile delivery service and will transfer parcels to the USPS for last-mile delivery.  My understanding is that in these out-of-service regions the parcels must be addressed to a street address, not a P.O. Box, because the P.O. Box rule still applies.  (Edit: The P.O. box rule might only apply to certain regions.)  If the USPS does not deliver to that street address either, the packages from other carriers will be held with USPS packages for pickup, effectively acting as a P.O. box situation.  

UPS offers what are called Access Points, which work similarly to a P.O. box, where the packages are sent to a UPS store or to a local store and held for pickup.  I think FedEx does something similar with their FedEx Kinko's stores.  One word of caution: don't address your package to the access point unless you are 100% sure that the carrier will be affiliated with that access point.  FedEx Kinko's hold for customer pickup does not accept UPS packages, even if the customer has addressed the package to the access point for customer pickup, and your package may get returned to sender by mistake.  You can address your package directly to a UPS Access Point for pickup as well, but I'm not 100% sure of the correct format for entering such an address, so talk to your local UPS Store or Access Point before trying it!

Edit: My knowledge of UPS procedures comes from working for the company at a worksite in an extensively developed suburban area in the Midwest, so my knowledge of operations and procedures for rural areas is extremely limited.

Fabulous method, Andrew.  Thank you for sharing.

Tj Jefferson wrote:In my experience, they really are not very good after drying.

Thank you for the quick reply, Tj.

My stomach agrees with you. I think the rest of the dried mushrooms will be headed to the compost pile shortly.

Learn something new every day. In this case, go with my gut and don't try to cook and eat the thing that doesn't smell appetizing, or, in this case, the thing that smells distinctly unappetizing!

I grew wine caps last year for the first time, and ended up with more than I could eat fresh. Some I gave to friends and family, some I canned, and some I dried. Sometimes the wine caps spent a few days in the fridge between being picked and being processed. Could some of them have started to go bad before I dried them?

Now that I am using them, the dried wine caps have a strong, earthy odor that I find somewhat off-putting. I don't really know how to describe it. I let them air out for a day after being in a sealed container for the winter. Then, I soaked them in hot water, drained them, and cooked them in butter. They still had a bit of the off odor that turned my stomach, but they tasted okay. I didn't eat too many, and I'm composting the rest of the ones I prepared, because I really just can't eat them. I didn't have a problem with the mushrooms when they were fresh, and I haven't had a problem with the ones I canned.

Has anyone else run into this effect with dried wine caps? Or did I wait too long to get them into the dehydrator?

Dale Ziemianski wrote:My girl used a furnace filter that she found at the store that had been lightly damaged so she got a discount on it. Then she took it apart, saving the wire for armature for art projects, then cut up the furnace filter paper (lots are allergen blocking) and stuffed them into her cloth masks that her friend made that has pockets in them to insert the filters. You can get a LOT of filters from a furnace filter!

If you're going to use a furnace filter, look for one rated MERV-13. 3M makes them under the brand name Filtrete. That grade filters particles down to the 0.3 micron size. The one I picked up, Filtrete 1900, says on the package that it filters 86% of the 0.3 micron particles. An N95 mask filters 95% of the 0.3 micron particles.

My mask build is still in progress, but I will report back when I have a prototype done with many more details and links that I currently can't find on my phone but are or were in open tabs on my laptop.

In health and hope.

-K