Our older son lives in Goteborg, Sweden. He gets the large 'if it fits it
ships' box, about 16inches square, and 6 inches deep, which costs $55 to mail
via USPS. Definitely not cheap. But it arrived within 2 weeks. I sent it
November 22, and it arrived 2 weeks later, no muss, no fuss. But packages I
have ordered from sellers in the US through Amazon have taken much longer than
usual to arrive. I believe it is the Christmas crush, because all of a sudden,
predicted arrival times seemed to get later and later. Last year I mailed the
Swede's package on December 10, and he only got it after Christmas. I think
the sheer number of packages at Christmas makes for more delays.
In the '70's, there was much less global mail. So much more difficult to
place foreign orders without internet. And the killing on planes, at least as
I remember it, was by people on the plane. Hence the heightened metal
detectors DH and I experienced in Britain and not in Netherlands, or the US on
the same trip in '74. Terrorism was much less sophisticated. And localized to
Britain most of the time, or the Basque area, or the poor Israelis of the
Olympics. Naughty IRA. I have no idea what steps were taken to protect
British mails, but I bet there were steps. Now, when a country is targeted, it
goes all out to protect its citizens. Can't really blame them. Terrorism and
the protections necessary are both much more sophisticated. And someone has to
pay. Sad but true. On the other hand, as mentioned, fewer people are now
dying. Always a good thing. But the thousands killed on 9/11 are stuck in the
US memory, with nasty consequences all over, including the
mail.
It was Franklin Roosevelt who said, "The only thing we have to fear is
fear itself." He said that in 1933, and was talking about the panic caused by
the Depression, and not about terrorism, or even the Nazis, who weren't really
a force at that time. Sadly, from all those successful raids, and the
discovered explosive materials in packages, it is clear that we have much more
to fear than fear itself out there. The attacks are real, and we all suffer in
one way or another. Delayed post and packages is the least of these. Let us all
do whatever we do in the way of prayer or similar, that peace on earth will
come. More time and energy for lacing is always a good thing.
Lyn from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, where we didn't get the big blizzard of
the east coast, and where it is a lovely sunny day, 41F 4.5C. I hope you are
all enjoying the holiday season.
-----Original Message-----
>From: lucie...@uottawa.ca
>Sent: Dec 29, 2010 1:46 PM
>To: Jean Nathan <j...@nathan54.freeserve.co.uk>
>Cc: Lace <lace@arachne.com>
>Subject: [lace] Re: Big postal delays
>
>Receiving mail from the USA has also become difficult and the extra
>security imposed on packages at the border has beome onerous and
>expensive. UPS charging $40 in brokerage fees and then the Canadian taxes
>and charges of an extra $20 on a purchase of $75 of bobbins, thread, and
>pins. And a wait of almost a month for delivery of a package that was
>comming from less than 300 miles away.
>
>I don't think I'll be ordering anything again from the US any time soon.
>And yes, I know that the postal service (USPS) is not UPS but the custom
>and brokerage fees when there is a terrorism scare are just as large.
>
>International post is no better: I had a $20 British purchase of a bobbin
>opened at the border (after a white powder scare in England) last year and
>the handling, custom and taxes came to over $40.
>
>In the quiet periods between scares, parcels clear Canadian customs
>without delay and with almost never any additional charges.
>
>I wish we could find some serenity. In the 1970's, the various European
>terrorists (German, Basques, Irish, others) caused much more death and
>destruction than today's terrorists and many more planes were blown up.
>Somehow, I don't remember people, and governments, being so fearful and
>frankly, paranoid.
>
>International police and security forces are doing a good job of detecting
>and defusing threat and / or re-establishing order. Notice the number of
>successful raids in Europe and North America. Who was it that said "All we
>have to fear is fear itself"? Was it not an American president?
>
>I wish we could find some serenity. That's what I'm aiming for in the New
>Year, that and a lot more lacemaking.
>
>Lucie DuFresne
>Ottawa Canada
>
>-
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