More adventures with USPS

I was actually quite pleased this morning when a Christmas present that I ordered early this week—shipped via USPS—arrived ahead of schedule. From San Jose, CA to my door here in Charlottesville, VA in just two days. Hooray for Priority Mail!

Of course, as we all know by now, USPS customers aren't always so lucky. And when I shared my excellent news with a very dear friend of mine, he was more than a bit nonplussed by my package's miraculous two-day cross-country journey. Because, you see, earlier this week he had sent a package from his home in Santa Monica, CA to nearby Brentwood—about 3 miles, door to door. And his package took... 3 days to arrive. Here are the grisly details:

Now, for those unfamiliar with California geography (like me, for example), you might not think much of the little stopover there in Richmond, CA. No big deal, just had to go to the local sort facility to be processed and then sent back out to Brentwood. Standard operating procedure, right? Wait, what in the what?

Holy crap... this thing went all the way to Oakland and back! That's 380 miles away! Put another way, that's the rough equivalent of sending something from Boston, MA to Cambridge, MA... BY WAY OF BALTIMORE!!! In what world does any of this make sense?

USPS, you continue to baffle me. But hey, thanks for the package. You guys are awesome, keep up the good work.