OT entirely - canvas USPS bags for mailing books...

Ten years ago I moved to a little village near Cambridge, and one of
the things I paid to ship over from Alaska was my book collection.
Now, you can send printed matter in heavy canvas M-bags (media mail I
believe) and it is cheaper than usual surface mail. I did this, and I
have about 4 of these bags.
At the time, the post was delivered by a woman on a bicycle, and it
was all over the village that we had to take the car round to pick up
the bags because they wouldn't fit in the basket of her bicycle! The
bit the post office didn't understand was that the canvas bags are
actually property of the United States Postal Service, and as such,
should have been sent back to the US. No one wanted to discuss this,
and I got landed with the bags, presumably "for keeps".
Trouble is, I don't need 4 big, dirty, slightly rank canvas bags
with heavy metal clasps. They are not legally mine, and I don't want
to keep them, I don't want to throw them out or give them away....
what on earth do I do with them? I have asked my sister who works at
USPS in Alaska for advice, but she hasn't ever replied on the issue.
I now turn to you folks. What do I do with these? They're fairly
heavy, so shipping them to the US (somewhere) would be possible, but
can I get anyone to reimburse me for the cost? I just want to get rid
of them. They're sitting in the hallway and I don't have much room in
this flat as it is.......


-- Jo in Scotland

You could write to the postmaster that sent them in the first place,
tell him where the bags are and to please send someone to pick them up
before January 1, 2006, or they will be disposed of. Gets you off the
hook. If they want them back in the mail, tell them to send you the
proper amount of postage for those four bags and you'll be happy to send
them.

Johanna Gibson wrote:
Ten years ago I moved to a little village near Cambridge, and one of
the things I paid to ship over from Alaska was my book collection.
Now, you can send printed matter in heavy canvas M-bags (media mail I
believe) and it is cheaper than usual surface mail. I did this, and I
have about 4 of these bags.
At the time, the post was delivered by a woman on a bicycle, and it
was all over the village that we had to take the car round to pick up
the bags because they wouldn't fit in the basket of her bicycle! The
bit the post office didn't understand was that the canvas bags are
actually property of the United States Postal Service, and as such,
should have been sent back to the US. No one wanted to discuss this,
and I got landed with the bags, presumably "for keeps".
Trouble is, I don't need 4 big, dirty, slightly rank canvas bags
with heavy metal clasps. They are not legally mine, and I don't want
to keep them, I don't want to throw them out or give them away....
what on earth do I do with them? I have asked my sister who works at
USPS in Alaska for advice, but she hasn't ever replied on the issue.
I now turn to you folks. What do I do with these? They're fairly
heavy, so shipping them to the US (somewhere) would be possible, but
can I get anyone to reimburse me for the cost? I just want to get rid
of them. They're sitting in the hallway and I don't have much room in
this flat as it is.......


-- Jo in Scotland

Ask the American Embassy if they could kindly ship them back in the next
diplomatic 'bag'.
..
In message , Johanna Gibson
writes
Ten years ago I moved to a little village near Cambridge, and one of
the things I paid to ship over from Alaska was my book collection.
Now, you can send printed matter in heavy canvas M-bags (media mail I
believe) and it is cheaper than usual surface mail. I did this, and I
have about 4 of these bags.
At the time, the post was delivered by a woman on a bicycle, and it
was all over the village that we had to take the car round to pick up
the bags because they wouldn't fit in the basket of her bicycle! The
bit the post office didn't understand was that the canvas bags are
actually property of the United States Postal Service, and as such,
should have been sent back to the US. No one wanted to discuss this,
and I got landed with the bags, presumably "for keeps".
Trouble is, I don't need 4 big, dirty, slightly rank canvas bags
with heavy metal clasps. They are not legally mine, and I don't want
to keep them, I don't want to throw them out or give them away....
what on earth do I do with them? I have asked my sister who works at
USPS in Alaska for advice, but she hasn't ever replied on the issue.
I now turn to you folks. What do I do with these? They're fairly
heavy, so shipping them to the US (somewhere) would be possible, but
can I get anyone to reimburse me for the cost? I just want to get rid
of them. They're sitting in the hallway and I don't have much room in
this flat as it is.......


-- Jo in Scotland

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 14:51:56 -0400, Phyllis Nilsson
wrote:

You could write to the postmaster that sent them in the first place,
tell him where the bags are and to please send someone to pick them up
before January 1, 2006, or they will be disposed of. Gets you off the
hook. If they want them back in the mail, tell them to send you the
proper amount of postage for those four bags and you'll be happy to send
them.

Trouble is, I was living in Juneau. My sister lives and works in
Juneau. I sent most if not all of these bags from her post office...
..so I thought she would know what to do. I now get the feeling that
she does not know what the situation really is. But you're right -
maybe I should just send a general letter to that post office and see
what happens.


-- Jo in Scotland

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 21:13:43 +0100, Patti
wrote:

Ask the American Embassy if they could kindly ship them back in the next
diplomatic 'bag'.

Oh, I like this! I could write a letter asking exactly how to a)
vote in Alaska as an absentee voter and b) get these bags back to the
US. I'll bet they've never seen that combination before.


-- Jo in Scotland

"Johanna Gibson" wrote in message
...
Ten years ago I moved to a little village near Cambridge, and one of
the things I paid to ship over from Alaska was my book collection.
Now, you can send printed matter in heavy canvas M-bags (media mail I
believe) and it is cheaper than usual surface mail. I did this, and I
have about 4 of these bags.

In a job in a previous life, I had to do bulk mailings in those bags. God,
I hated them.

It is going to probably cost the government more to ship them home than it
would be to make them. I know you hate to do it, but I would just throw
them away if you don't have any use for them. Sometimes hunters or campers
like to store stuff in them.

The Embassy would be my choice if you simply HAVE to hand them over to
someone. They may use them to ship stuff back to the US.

Cindy

Jo,
Go to www.usps.com and contact them directly with a cut and paste of
what you just wrote us. They will search it out and give you instructions.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

I have shipped large orders of books from the U.S. and I believe they
are only for outgoing book shipments, therefore, no one expects to get
the bags back to the U.S. Just toss them or use them for something (I
have no idea of what!).
Gwen in S.E. PA

Toss them - donate them.

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"Johanna Gibson" wrote in message
...
Ten years ago I moved to a little village near Cambridge, and one of
the things I paid to ship over from Alaska was my book collection.
Now, you can send printed matter in heavy canvas M-bags (media mail I
believe) and it is cheaper than usual surface mail. I did this, and I
have about 4 of these bags.
At the time, the post was delivered by a woman on a bicycle, and it
was all over the village that we had to take the car round to pick up
the bags because they wouldn't fit in the basket of her bicycle! The
bit the post office didn't understand was that the canvas bags are
actually property of the United States Postal Service, and as such,
should have been sent back to the US. No one wanted to discuss this,
and I got landed with the bags, presumably "for keeps".
Trouble is, I don't need 4 big, dirty, slightly rank canvas bags
with heavy metal clasps. They are not legally mine, and I don't want
to keep them, I don't want to throw them out or give them away....
what on earth do I do with them? I have asked my sister who works at
USPS in Alaska for advice, but she hasn't ever replied on the issue.
I now turn to you folks. What do I do with these? They're fairly
heavy, so shipping them to the US (somewhere) would be possible, but
can I get anyone to reimburse me for the cost? I just want to get rid
of them. They're sitting in the hallway and I don't have much room in
this flat as it is.......


-- Jo in Scotland

My friend in Sheffield told me that they have certain days where they put
things out on the curb. It is understood that if you drive by and see
something you like you can haul the items away. If no takes it it is carted
off by the garbage man with the rest of the refuse.

--
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SNIGDIBBLY
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"teleflora" wrote in message
news:FRA2f.6790$eW1.218@okepread04...

"Johanna Gibson" wrote in message
...
Ten years ago I moved to a little village near Cambridge, and one of
the things I paid to ship over from Alaska was my book collection.
Now, you can send printed matter in heavy canvas M-bags (media mail I
believe) and it is cheaper than usual surface mail. I did this, and I
have about 4 of these bags.

In a job in a previous life, I had to do bulk mailings in those bags.
God, I hated them.

It is going to probably cost the government more to ship them home than it
would be to make them. I know you hate to do it, but I would just throw
them away if you don't have any use for them. Sometimes hunters or
campers like to store stuff in them.

The Embassy would be my choice if you simply HAVE to hand them over to
someone. They may use them to ship stuff back to the US.

Cindy