h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've chucked the idea and am going to go for the darned "forever" stamps. So very tired of the minute increases!

You all took some lovely pictures of Kew. Hypatia, is it just me, or do we need to get folks over to this side of the pond and take them to the St. Louis Arboreatum?!

I am going to be studying at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford but doing my placements around Cambridge as I will be living there.

A lucky escape, LMN.

I harcly ever use the library for anything but the computers these days.

i can get all my text books and journals electronicaly.
I miss that old book smell though!

It's hard work working out postage here. There's first class, first class large, second class, parcel post, special delivery (before 9am or before noon), recorded delivery. Then you could always use courier services instead of the royal mail.

Yes but what is first class envelopes that get delivered on a silver tray while second end up in a mailmans sack

I don't think it's that tough. The majority of stuff we send still counts as a letter, if it's too big or too heavy for that you probably need a large letter stamp. Anything that won't fit that you'd probably have had to take into the post office to be weighed under the old system. Given that letters can be 100g and large letters 750g, this entails fewer visits to the post office, seeing as how you used to have to take in anything over 60g (unless of course you had a price chart and a selection of different stamps).

MR mentioned "forever stamps". Is that stamps that you can still use after the price goes up? And do they cost more? Our stamps do that as standard (let you still use them, that is, not cost more; although if you're only paying 41c, then I guess ours do cost more).

sits drinking coffee

First class is supposed to arrive next day, second class is supposed to take a few days, although sometimes they all arrive the next day anyway. First class is a little more expensive, or second class is cheaper, depending on how you look at it.

I gave up trying to work out how much stamps cost a long time ago. My last memory was of the 7p second class and 9p first class stamps - mind you, that was when 2p and 10p got you a decent phone call ... I buy the 'books' of self-stick forever stamps - no stamp licking in this household

*offers Lady C a tinfoil hat* Be safe, won't you?

W

Mmm... 41c is a darn sight less than we pay in the UK. Ours is 34p for most mail items, and that's about 67c at the most recent exchange rates.

I guess the question is: what's the speed of delivery?

In the UK most first class mail posted at most locations in the country will get to its destination the next day. Obviously there are size constraints here what with the US being a tad bigger than the UK. Though I would have thought that using a large populous state in the US - California, Florida, Illinois perhaps - would give a reasonable comparison to the UK situation. So what's the delivery times like for mail posted within large states?

Last night I made a discovery in the somewhat complicated instruction book of my new camera.
.
When someone is taking photos of a moving object with a fairly long lens it requires a fairly fast shutter speed of say 250/second and an apature of say F2.8 just for the sake of arguement. When the the subject is moving across a background of varying brightnes the photo can be wrong as light level is changing. In these situations a minimum shutter speed is need to avoid camera shake, blur, etc or photo is ruined.
Now of course you can set a high ISO number to start with which will cure the problem but may produce what was called grain in film camera days, I think they call it noise with digital, so a low ISO is better, but changing ISO by hand while trying to take a fast moving photo is really difficult and impossible with a motor drive. But the significant discovery I made is there is a setting on my camera that will give a high ISO ratting for individual photos if not enough light and leave original ISO setting in place for photos that are OK with a lower ISO, which is fantastic if using the motor drive for fast moving shots of birds moving across backgrounds that change in brightness a lot.
....clearly this is most useful where you must have a shutter speed of a minimum speed, clearly there will be more "graineyness" if it sets a faster higher ISO but it means you do at least get a correctly exposed photo, I hope I have explained that clearly as quite complicated!

[WA]

Thanks for the hat, Wilma. It must have done the trick--at least for us. Folks to the west of us did not fare as well, however. A town of about 1500 was hit about 9:45 pm CDT last night and at least 60% of it was destroyed. So far there has only been one fatality reported--which is unusual for a tornado of that size. They had a 15 minute warning, which probably allowed people to take shelter.

MR, your suggestion about Shaw Gardens in St. Louis is a good one. We could take them to the Budweiser Brewery and show them the Clydesdales while they are here. I the Clydesdales.

Hi folks. The salon librarians will be glad to hear that spud knows how to behave in a library - we went for a walk to the one in my village. Spud wailed the whole way there and the whole way back but was silent while we were inside. Nobody even had to give him the Loók.

I'm mystified about the new post rules - can you get different types of first class stamp now?

k and

*lacing up her post office boots for the morning stint*
There's all manner of options under the US postal system. There's first class letters, the cost of which goes up in 1-ounce increments. If you want delivery confirmation, certified, and/or a return receipt, those all add dollars to the total.

Over 16 ounces, you no longer work in terms of first class. Now you have the options of (in ascending order of expense) media mail, parcel post, priority mail, express or registered delivery. Express is supposed to be overnight, but that can't happen from Lincoln, because our mail is trucked to Las Cruces for sorting before it enters the roulette wheel. Registered is only supposed to be for valuables. The USPS actually loses money on registered mail.

And of course you can pop delivery confirmation or certified labels on priority parcels, for extra cost. No point in putting them on express or registered stuff.

I reckon that when first class goes to 41 cents, all the other rates and services will go up as well.

Ah well if it fits in the post office slot here its 45c and everything else is pay by weight in the metro area next day same state up to three days and eastern states up to five.... unless of course its your tax return then that takes 8 weeks

[GDZ]

Hypatia is wending her way back across the Atlantic as we speak. We tried very hard not to 'nearly kill' her, like we did last time - but she was looking a tad weary, thanks to too much to see, too many people to meet and too short a time to do it all.
I'm trying to persuade her to come for a year next time