* Maybe rain or sleet or snow will not delay the mail but there are some other factors like lack of faith in the system.  I listened as the man ahead of me was getting forms for temporarily stopping the mail delivery and a change of address. “When you have them filled out”, suggested the postal clerk, “bring them back to the post office personally so they don’t get lost in the mail.”

* The government is really cracking down to get more revenue: yesterday I got a letter with postage due… from the IRS.

* While traveling in Maine, I stopped in a coastal village to mail a birthday card at the general store. According to the pickup schedule on the box outside the tiny post office, I had missed the daily mail truck by five minutes. I went inside to ask about it. “Don’t worry. The mail doesn’t go out until later this afternoon”, the postmistress said in a no-nonsense tone. “But the sign of the box said it was picked up at 8:30 this morning”, I said. “That’s when I pick up the mail from the box and bring it in here”, she explained.