ZIP Plus Four

Fun fact: ZIP plus four is supposed to specify a specific street and a specific side of that street. ZIP plus six gives the specific street address but that is rarely used. Honestly should be unnecessary as ZIP plus four and just a teeny bit of reading, like the address, should get the mail to the right box. Right?

Not so fast. The envelope below should have been delivered to an address on a street just off Peeler a mile or so east of the intersection with Chamblee Dunwoody. 

Didn't See That Coming

Now where do you suppose gloomy day USPS dropped this off? All the way across town. A stones throw away from Fulton County and Big Sis Sandy. Seriously. It landed about 2.3 miles away from the ZIP plus four designation. 

Now, this looked legit and pretty important, so the unintended recipient drove it over to the proper address and dropped it off in the mailbox. And if you've signed up for "Informed Delivery" you probably already know that where your mail ends up is pretty random. How many times have you gotten the email with a picture of mail, perhaps very important mail, that never shows up? Don't you wish someone would drop by with it?

Did You Ever REALLY Believe?

Did you believe all the hype around the referendum? Really? Well, do you remember that one huge bone of contention was the county allowing the direct conversion of commercial properties to apartments? Remember when Dunwoody was actually proud of being suburban, before suburban became a bad word? When the fight was to prevent transients in apartments in deference to owned homes, townhomes and condos. 

Well, now we have a city founded largely on control over zoning and limiting transients in rental housing. Guess what? Folks down at city hall, elected and those just bought and paid for, have decided Dunwoody needs 300 more apartments because, well, a developer tells them that. Since when did city hall become beholding to developers instead of the residents, the voters? Well, that would be about 15 years ago. Seems like this was a take-over plan from day one.

So. Did you ever really believe what you were told leading up to the referendum? Or, did you know, at least down deep, that you were being lied to? Maybe you were repeating the lies. Either way, are you actually happy with how this has turned out? Really?

You Can't Fix Stupid.

You can try to hide it. You can cover it up. You just cannot fix stupid. 

But Did Stupid Leave?

But it doesn't really go away, it just lies in wait, growing stronger, looking for any opportunity to re-appear. To get rid of stupid, you must cut it out and throw it away, something this city is incapable of.

Mis&Dis Information. It''s Not Just For The Internet

A recent OpEd piece penned by Rodney Bryant came with the big, bold headline that included "we must restrict automatic weapons." To be fair to Mr. Bryant, he probably did not have any say about the headline and likely this is the AJC in full propaganda form since Bryant's piece is all about banning SEMI-automatic weapons. Of course that is pretty mainstream leftist fare trodding their well  worn path to a permission society, where they are the only ones entitled to grant permission. Nothing new to see here.

But early on Bryant goes full left wingnut advocating a total end to our form of democracy:

"It's important to recognize that the Constitution is a living document that must be interpreted in the light of changing societal circumstances."

He is saying nothing short of "your vote, or the votes of those you elect to represent you are worthless." In effect, he is calling for an expiration date on your vote, a date of the elitists choosing to be determined by them in their own good time. Ratify the ERA? Well, we'll stick with that for a while, but, ya know, society is just soooo circumstantial, so in a couple of decades we'll let black robes wash away your wishes. And why does he, and others on the left, take this approach? Because the legal, the constitutional approach requires that broad swaths of society adopt their world view, and few have. Following the constitutional process to an amendment is, by their estimation, likely to fail so they will impose their minority will on the majority by other means. The constitutionality of those means is of no concern because in their world they have already erased that document from history and for all time. They only thing that matters is what they think.

Starting Off On The Wrong Foot

Some folks start off on the wrong foot, and then just want to keep running with it. This specifically relates to HB1105 which states that if you are driving without a license, which is against the law, and as a lawbreaker the authorities are going to check your background and respond accordingly.

What is giving palpitations to some in the bleating heart community is that this will explicitly mean that if you've entered the country illegally, and you're breaking the law by driving without a license, then you'll be turned over to ICE. It is as if these visitors think that because their first act in this country, setting foot in it illegally, is breaking the law, then they should be able to disregard any laws they deem unworthy of their attention. Furthermore, when caught in violation of these laws, they should just be set free to re-offend. After all, there was no consequence for that original lawlessness so why should there ever be any consequences? 

You have to wonder if these folks think this excuses Ibarra.

GDOT Bad. PATH Good.

A recent AJC op-ed, a lament at the loss of yards and the trees on them, strikes a chord. Now this is in the faux city of Milton rather than the faux city of Dunwoody, but the similarity is the loss of property and tree cover due to outsiders. In Milton's case this is GDOT. Bad. Very Bad. Folks in Milton are protesting. Loudly. Hopefully to good effect.

In our case it is the Shining PATH Foundation. Somehow this is construed as good, without any explanation as to how Shining PATH has infiltrated and taken control of our government, previously touted as "local." There are some protests here as well, but these are summarily dismissed by city hall. Another striking similarity is the loss of property to wider beside-the-road impervious concrete, deemed "sidewalks" by GDOT, and "paths" by those shining us on. Milton wins because GDOT is only dictating 8 foot widths of concrete while our dictators demand 12. 

Maybe we can get some professional protesters to occupy city hall until "our voices are heard."

Never Send Certified Mail

Why you ask? Well, there is the distinct, non-zero probability it will never get there. Who knows why? Not the USPS. The other, perhaps more important reason is the cost. Certified mail with return receipt for a 9x12 envelope with three pages will cost almost $15. UPS ground is a little over $12.50 for the same envelope with over 30 pages. With both you will get a tracking number, and while you will not get a return receipt with UPS, you are far less likely to need it, and with USPS return receipt you have to have faith they can actually deliver. That is far from certain. There is also the issue of time. USPS delivery of regular mail between Decatur and Dunwoody can take two weeks. UPS gets it there in two days. 

So, if you think you need certified mail, reconsider. Stick with the pros. 

Sign Of Stupidity

There has been ongoing debate about putting some serious money into signs to let folks know they are in Dunwoody. Pretty much a waste of money, but city hall has gone all vain, or maybe they're just jealous that nearby faux-cities waste their money on signage. As it turns out we already have signs that clearly state "you are in Dunwoody." 

Only In Dunwoody

This sign faces west-bound traffic on Mount Vernon just before the intersection with Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. Is your favorite route to I-285 heading north on Chamblee-Dunwoody? It is if you're in this city. 

How do we know? Because this sign was recently run over, knocked down, and whoever put it back in its place failed to notice the stupidity of it all. Actually it is worse than that. Notice the "rain stains" on these signs indicating a change was recently made. 

See The Shiny Bolts?

Does this sign really serve any [legitimate] purpose? Wouldn't things be better without it? Is it the city's way of ensuring that trucks trying to avoid no truck zones are sent directly into them as they try to get to I-285? Does anyone in this city have any sense at all? Certainly not a sense of direction.

Just remember, if you see a sign this stupid, then you're in Dunwoody.

Guest Post: Postal...Going...Going...Gone

This is a tale of woe regarding the United States Postal Service, but not what you might expect. This is not about the new Palmetto facility that our grandstanding senators have been bleating about. This is far worse.

So look, I've been trying to close out an estate and as you may know, or soon will, filing a Final Report is a must-do. Cannot file the petition for Done&Dusted until the probate court gets that report. And likes it. Here's where it gets interesting. You can file lots of things online like death certificates, petitions and some forms. But they got no category for these reports, so whatcha gonna do, right? Now you could hand deliver but since the pandemic the probate court really likes keeping the public at bay so you need an appointment which is about two weeks out. And yes, I did call to see if they had a drop box, left a message and never got a call back. So then I decided to mail it. Good ole USPS. 

Now I didn't go to the post office 'cuz that is a special circle of hell. I went to one of those Mailboxes-R-Us, had them notarize the Report, print the mailing label for Certified Mail and paid for Return Receipt. This happened on April 2. Since I tracked it on Informed Delivery I'll show you what happened next.

It took three days, three whole days, for 30338 to scan it in. Keep in mind that April 2 was a Tuesday so they didn't scan it until Friday. What's up with that? Do they just let mail stack up and have a processing party on Fridays? But then, overnight, it makes a boomerang tour of North Georgia, going down to Palmetto and then back up to Decatur where it disappears. Ain't looking like Palmetto is the problem so maybe someone should share a clue with some clueless senators. And why were they whining about thirty something percent on-time delivery? Hell, what about the mail that ain't getting delivered at all. Like MINE.

So I wait a couple of days to see if it ever gets delivered and I check on the bank account to see if the enclosed check gets cashed and if so is it the proper amount. That's right, you gotta pay the probate court to do their job. It's kinda like cable TV, you know how you pay a monthly fee and then still have to watch commercials only here we pay taxes and then have to pay for ever little form we file. The very day after I put this in the mail, Carl the know-it-all tells me I should never send certified mail, especially to the court 'cuz everyone knows there is a check in there, and it will get stolen, and the check washed and cashed. So I'm waiting and watching until I figure it's time to chase this down. Then I call the Decatur post office and actually talk to a real person who says she'll look around for it and call me back. She does. She says it's not there and that someone from the courthouse comes and picks up their mail. Questions leap to mind. I asked if this means their mail doesn't get scanned as delivered? Says it should have been. Then I point out this is Certified Return Receipt and does this mean the person who picked it up didn't sign and post the receipt? Silence. Then she says she will look for it again and call me back. She doesn't. 

'Bout now I'm getting pissed. The angry kind. The wine kind comes later. I'm too old to run for the Senate and too young for the White House, but I gotta do something. After a few more days of watching, I put a payment hold on the check, for which my bank charges $23, just to make sure a lost check doesn't turn up putting money in someone else's account. But I still check in with Informed Delivery just in case the probate court finally gets the mail and gets a bum check. That is until the package disappears from Informed Delivery. So I go to USPS tracking, enter the number and click on "add to informed delivery" figuring somehow Informed Delivery had sudden amnesia. Nope. Got this:

That's right. I cannot use Informed Delivery to track a package that they have not even delivered yet. The last reported status was "Awaiting Delivery" and they have the nerve to say it's now expired and they ain't gonna say anything more about that package. It went postal and now it's just gone.