3 ms·

"Helium balloon. The balloon was attached to a weight. The address was written on the balloon with magic marker; no postage was affixed. Our operative argued st

"Helium balloon. The balloon was attached to a weight. The address was written on the balloon with magic marker; no postage was affixed. Our operative argued strongly that he should be charged a negative postage and refunded the postal fees, because the transport airplane would actually be lighter as a result of our postal item. This line of reasoning merely received a laugh from the clerk. The balloon was refused; reasons given: transportation of helium, not wrapped."

matt1 17y ago
I burst out laughing when I read that in the article. This is good too: "Never-opened small bottle of spring water. We observed the street corner box surreptitiously the following day upon mail collection. After puzzling briefly over this item, the postal carrier removed the mailing label and drank the contents of the bottle over the course of a few blocks as he worked his route. "
- diN0bot 17y ago
  interesting: "Wrapped brick. Wrapped in brown paper; posted in street corner box with same amount of postage as was strapped to unwrapped brick. Extreme weight for size made package seem suspicious. Notice of attempted delivery received, 16 days. Upon pickup at station, our mailing specialist received a plastic bag containing broken and pulverized remnants of brick. Inside was a small piece of paper with a number code on it. Our research indicates that this was some type of US Drug Enforcement Agency release slip. The clerk made our mailing specialist sign a form for receipt. "
  - billswift 17y ago
    The obvious moral is that if you're going to send anything heavy through the mail, send it in a larger than necessary box. Machine tool parts and so forth of steel are actually significantly denser than bricks.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
      It may have something to do with where the mailpiece originated. I get machine tools through the mail without any problem -- just got a 25lb vise two weeks ago, but it was sent from a clearly commercial address with the words "machine shop" in the title.
- wglb 17y ago
  No chocolate for him.

matt1 17y ago

I burst out laughing when I read that in the article. This is good too: "Never-opened small bottle of spring water. We observed the street corner box surreptitiously the following day upon mail collection. After puzzling briefly over this item, the postal carrier removed the mailing label and drank the contents of the bottle over the course of a few blocks as he worked his route. "

diN0bot 17y ago
interesting: "Wrapped brick. Wrapped in brown paper; posted in street corner box with same amount of postage as was strapped to unwrapped brick. Extreme weight for size made package seem suspicious. Notice of attempted delivery received, 16 days. Upon pickup at station, our mailing specialist received a plastic bag containing broken and pulverized remnants of brick. Inside was a small piece of paper with a number code on it. Our research indicates that this was some type of US Drug Enforcement Agency release slip. The clerk made our mailing specialist sign a form for receipt. "
- billswift 17y ago
  The obvious moral is that if you're going to send anything heavy through the mail, send it in a larger than necessary box. Machine tool parts and so forth of steel are actually significantly denser than bricks.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
    It may have something to do with where the mailpiece originated. I get machine tools through the mail without any problem -- just got a 25lb vise two weeks ago, but it was sent from a clearly commercial address with the words "machine shop" in the title.
wglb 17y ago
No chocolate for him.