Nothing important but it seems to me that my on-line orders are being delivered late. According to tracking a spindle of blank Blu-ray disks was supposed to be delivered today yet the order isn't even in my state yet.

My previous order, a USB3 cable, was delivered literally a week late according to tracking.

In both cases the carrier was USPS, not UPS or FedEx.

The delay is not a big deal, just wondering if anyone else is seeing the same. The lower cost of buying on-line is worth the wait. For instance the current Blu-ray blank order. The only place local I could get them is Walmart but the Walmart price is half again what I'm paying through New Egg. Local is competitive for single layer, 25 GB, blanks but not close for dual layer, 50 GB, blanks. Then add the fact that I want a printable top surface... Not pertinent to this post but here is why I insist on printable. Just looks SO much better than writing with a Sharpie.

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I obviously can't speak for the US, but where i live in the UK delivery times are seriously delayed when items are delivered by our national carrier, Royal Mail.

I know this because i've been getting regular sick notes (every couple of weeks or so since August) from my GP which due to Covid restrictions are posted to me, they are date stamped at the first sorting office Royal Mail gets them so i can see when Royal Mail first recieved them.
I've seen it take them over 10 days to get what would normally be an overnight delivery (for a 1st class letter) to get to me... 12 days is the worst i've experienced, the norm is closer to 7 days and next day deliveries have not happened ever since August.

I don't blame Royal Mail, they must be under tremendous pressure when you consider the prevalance of this pandemic, all it would take for my items to be frozen in time could be an outbreak in a hub or sorting office where most if not all the workforce is forced to isolate, the knock on effect of that alone is sure to effect other sorting offices along the route.

That said, i've ordered items from Amazon, most notably in the run up to christmas and they nearly always arrived the next day... why Amazon have been different i can't say for sure but i guess it might be because Amazon have licence to use third part or self employed couriers that the likes of Royal Mail and USPS don't...can USPS use thrid party delivery drivers? I know Royal Mail can't.

Fwiw, my employer initially was a bit abrupt that i wasn't copying my sick notes to them in a timely manner but after i explained there was nothing i could do about that, the fact i had an assurance from my medical practice that it'd been posted and i was waiting on the postal service to deliver it... they got off my back and to date assume that that when i say another sick note has been issued it will come.

p.s. Good luck on Sunday.... Go Dawgs, you've waited long enough

Win or lose it has been a good season. Shoot, three years ago they didn't win a single game and they went 11-5 in the regular season this year and destroyed the Steelers in the first playoff round with several starters missing. The Browns appear totally healthy for the Chiefs game and the Browns run game is possibly the strongest in the league.

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I remember your experience of three years ago very well... i felt your pain!

I can't claim to really know anything about American Football outside of the basics but i did choose a team to support in the late 80's based on a work placed frenzy for the sport here in the UK... sadly i chose the Jets.... more fool me!

Hey, if nothing else, you have to admit that my disk label looks pretty good. Except for the "2020" and "Not bad at all!!!" it is actually a picture of an area rug.

Browns and Jets have a little history. They played the first Monday Night game which the Browns won. The league wanted the Cowboys but Landry, the Cowboys coach, refused saying that football was for Sunday and games on Monday would never work. The Browns and Jets also played a playoff game that was the longest in history of the NFL with the browns winning in double overtime when down by 10 points with a bit over 4 minutes left in regulation.

Anyway, doing the odd thing here and going back on topic, I wonder if anyone else has seen delivery delays... Not like we ever go off topic around here.

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Yup.

Oops, that's me in trouble again

Why you in trouble although I take it as a joke? After all I'm the one that went off topic in the first post... See my previous post again as I added.

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Yes, the USPS continues to be overwhelmed. Pretty much everything coming via USPS is slowed -- sometimes by quite a bit.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

I sort of don't understand that. Sure, during the last election they were overwhelmed with mail-in ballots but I would think they would be caught back up.

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I didn't see the addition but it probably makes no difference because you took in the spirit it was intended... as hinted in other threads i have a history of being taken out of context that puts me off posting anything online (hard to believe given how much i've posted here in the last 6 months)... the main reason i like to post here is because when my posts here have been taken out of context (or over-stepped a mark) i've always been given the opportunity to explain, either publicly or privately.

Typed medium can be difficult to decypher at times and on this occasion i suspect we were talking the same language even though we didn't know it... if that makes sense?

Anyways, no harm intended, back onto the topic.

I'm sort of at a loss to understand why, in the middle of a pandemic, you can't understand how staff shortages won't impact on any postal service?

My bad! I didn't consider the impact of COVID in this.

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Covid-19 has no limits and is affecting every one of us in ways that we are only just beginning to realise, trust me that when i say that i know more about this disease than i ever wanted to know... it's consumed my life for the past six months.

Jay, since I live in the boonies, I do a lot of online purchasing, from dog food to 60" Vizio TVs. For the past couple of months I have experienced delays from USPS, UPS and FedEx. Even a couple of delays when they say it's on the truck for delivery that day.

My biggest delays have been with USPS, coming and going. I received Christmas cards as late as last week, even though they were mailed in mid-December. But between the pandemic and the mail-in ballots, I think the postal service is just now beginning to catch up (according to my mail carrier).

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

Had something delivered from Solvenia to New York in a matter of a couple of days through DHL. On the other hand had another thing sitting at USPS down the road for 10 days. MOst things coming UPS or Fed Ex have been right on time.

I've noticed a delay, but as others have said I put it down to the pandemic so it's really out of our hands as no-one knows just when someone is going to be sick, these are very trying times for us all.

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Joan Archer
http://crossstitcher.webs.com

My experience with UPS and FedEx has been that they have been managing okay with the volume and I've not had any delays with them. You may recall that I'm retired from UPS and I'm still in touch with co-workers. Typically the UPS "peak" season is from early November through Christmas. This past year the package volume was at "peak" levels pretty much throughout the year once COVID hit in March.
For the USPS, they have also been overwhelmed with package volume, but their big problem is the changes made in the name of efficiency late last summer as well as staffing issues due to COVID. I presume that they will eventually manage to adjust, but it is taking them a while.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"