This is the thread where I say things and maybe other people say things too

[Crazed_Insanity]

What is Khan trying to do? Get the moth out of his ear?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Important find in Puyallup, WA today! I discovered a food truck place called Out and About burger joint that makes hamburger tastes pretty much exactly like In & Out burger!!! So if I ever want an In&Out burger, I could get one! However, a cheese burger combo meal that would've cost me about $8 is $10 here in WA. They also charged me extra $.35 for using a creditcard.

I guess this explains the long lines at In&Out? They have fresh ingredients, taste pretty good and cheap.

I also found that they have Habit Burgers in WA, not near my house but my future office location has one. I've already eaten there once... somehow doesn't taste as good as the ones in CA. Plus their online system sucks. Texting me that the food is ready, but actually not.

Anyway, I have discovered that in general, WA food is more expensive and lower quality compared to LA. We were really spoiled back in LA. The Chinese food in our neighborhood all taste like Panda Express and more expensive!

[mk]

Baldwin accident a sabotage and SNL revenge?
(just connecting the dots)

Shit anyway.

[dodint]

He will absolutely position himself as the victim here.

[George]

It's time for another episode of First-World Problems.

Today's episode is "The Case Of The Chatty Carrier."

We get our mail from a common mailbox along with a lot of other people who live on our street. It's not like having a mailbox at the end of one's driveway that the homeowner owns and is responsible for. Instead, it's a big wall of boxes next to the sidewalk and each one has a sequential number (unrelated to our house numbers) and a lock that is opened with a key.

Lately our key has been sticking in the lock due to the key and/or the innards of the lock being bent, I suspect. It is quite difficult to open and close. So, we've been picking up our mail about once a week instead of every day. Recently, my wife was at the mailbox unloading a mountain of stuff when our letter carrier arrived with that day's stack of mostly junk mail but a few bills and other necessary evils.

They got to talking and the letter carrier told my wife something like, "you have to go to the post office to request a new lock and key, but don't you let them make you pay forty dollars! We own this mailbox and you should not have to pay for us to fix our mailbox."

Of course that's a second-hand quote, but my wife said the letter carrier was very insistent that "they" were going to try to tack on a forty-dollar fee where nothing should be charged.

I went to the post office a couple days later and was amazed there was hardly anyone there. Usually there's a ridiculously long line. I walked right up to a man behind the counter and explained the situation. He said it would cost forty dollars. So, I leaned in and quietly explained what the letter carrier told my wife. The guy went to the back and came back with a faded printout of an email that looked like it had been on a bulletin board for years.

"See here? It costs forty dollars."

He left it in front of me longer than he should have. It wasn't an official USPS announcement to the public. It was a printout of an email from the post office manager to the employees who work there reminding them to charge forty dollars to replace locks "to increase revenue at this station." I read those exact words before he took the paper back.

Again, trying the friendly, conspiratorial approach, I said something like, "Okay, I see you have an email about this, but why then would our letter carrier be so insistent that we shouldn't have to pay? And she brought it up - we weren't asking how to get something for nothing. She just started telling my wife not to pay and made it sound as if this forty dollars is some kind of scam."

He seemed friendly enough and didn't seem offended by my questions, but said his manager would never go for it. He suggested I try going online and fill out a service request at their website. Well, I went there but all I could find was instructions to contact our local post office with questions or problems with mailboxes. Then I called the USPS and sat on hold for about thirty minutes listening to a mind-numbing recitation of all the buttons I could press to talk to people about a wide variety of subjects but nothing about broken mailbox locks.

As usual when calling large organizations, the person finally I reached could offer no help other than the phone number to the local post office. Round and round in circles we go, but it was still better than calling most big companies.

And, to be fair, it's impossible to get anyone such as plumbers, electricians, and I would assume locksmiths, to make a house call to fix something for as little as forty dollars these days. The amount isn't unreasonable to pay.

But, why did the Chatty Carrier tell my wife not to pay? That's the strange part, and now instead of just paying the money and getting on with our lives, I'm spending time on hold to reach people who can't tell me anything other than what's on the website I'm already looking at and trying to figure out how to beat the station manager out of a pair of Jacksons.

[speedpimp]

I have the same mail box setup where I live. The one time I had an issue with the key sticking I sprayed the lock with WD-40 and it worked like a charm.

[George]

Thanks speedy. Hadn't thought of that. I assumed it was a worn key and/or lock. It hasn't been changed since at least 2005.

I'll try that when I get home tonight.

[George]

It worked! The lock feels like a new one now and the key slides in and out easily.

Thank you, Rich.

I guess I may never know why our letter carrier is so vehemently opposed to our paying for a new lock.

My guess is that she doesn’t like her boss.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I heard that you’re not supposed to WD40 a lock because it may attract dirt, but I’ve ignored such advise and made my padlock feel like new again as well… I suppose if it feels sticky again, just spray again!

Anyway, why don’t you ask that mail carrier to hook you guys up with a new free lock? She does speak the truth, why should we pay to repair something that’s not really our property?

Better yet, tell the post office you fixed the lock and bill them $40!

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, WD40 isn't an ideal fix for lock mechanisms but it does work okay - It really helps that you can just blast the hell out of it and clear away a lot of the dust and metal particles.
My personal recommendation: Liquid or aerosol graphite. They can both be a little messy to apply, but having used them (mainly the liquid) to repair/refurbish all of the 100-year-old mortise locks in my house over the past few years - nothing beats it when you can actually disassemble and clean everything before application. The aerosol is good for non-take-apartable stuff like your mailbox or car doors.