Right I am more of a Yule person but I actually really do like this stamp and the idea.

From the USPS

Do you plan to send holiday cards to friends and family around the world this year? There’s a stamp for that! In October 2013 we will introduce a first for USPS: an international rate holiday stamp that you can use to mail a 1-ounce First-Class Mail International® letter to any country in the world. You will also be able to use this stamp to mail a 2-ounce letter to Canada. This year, don’t just hang a wreath on your door; hang one on your holiday greetings, too!

I felt I should probably update everyone on what happened with the USPS the love is fading post. Well after some more phone calls getting the same information I had been given before and no call backs. The package finally turned up in Evansville took 6 hours to get across town to my local PO. Instead of letting them bring it to me the next day I went to pick up the package directly.

Thankfully it was not beat up or any of those types of things I had expected and so All is well that ends well I got the Kindle and its fine. No one knows why it took so long to get from Louisville to us but what can ya do? Even the postal worker who gave me the package was confused.

So I know I have been a bad blogger the last few months. I shall be making that better in the new year. I promise folks I do. It has not just been the lack of blogging that has escaped me. I missed the announcement that once again we will be having postal rate hikes. I understand that (like just about everything) the USPS is suffering. I love USPS I send a lot of mail after all and most of it gets to where it is going. However I have a problem with the rate hike and it is not the one you might think.

I have no real issue with the money side of it. The US is still one of (if not thee) cheapest places for letter mailing. Moreover can you really do anything so satisfying anywhere else in for less than a dollar? My problem is that I wish they would knock it off with the yearly hikes and just sit down and decide what amount is actually going to HELP the problems and then hike it to that. Would that really be so hard really?

My other beef is this, while I LOVE new stamp designs and I do trust me I do. I wish they would not release as many as they do. Of course keeping the rates a steady amount would help (international and postcard stamps). It can not be cheap to get the designs done, test them , put them into production ect. Oh well what can you do? I will still use the USPS and I will still encourage people to send mail.

So at the end of this little rant of a post. I shall post what the new hikes (and services) shall be.

Highlights of the new single-piece First-Class Mail pricing, effective Jan. 27, 2013 include:

• Letters (1oz.) — 1-cent increase to 46 cents
• Letters additional ounces — unchanged at 20 cents
• Letters to all international destinations (1oz.) — $1.10
• Postcards — 1-cent increase to 33 cents

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) will review the prices before they become effective Jan. 27, 2013. Today’s Shipping and Mailing price filings will be available on the PRC website at www.prc.gov and the new Mailing Service prices will also be available at http://pe.usps.com.

Shipping Services
Several new Shipping Services products will be available in January. Free tracking will be offered to all competitive packages, including retail Priority Mail and Parcel Post (recently renamed Standard Post).

Also new, customers shipping Critical Mail letters and flats will now have the option of receiving a signature upon delivery as part of the service offering.

A large variety of flat-rate boxes and envelopes for Express Mail and Priority Mail, including the padded and legal-sized flat rate envelopes will continue to be offered by the Postal Service.

New domestic retail pricing for Priority Mail Flat Rate products include:  (From the USPS site)

• Small box — $5.80
• Medium box — $12.35
• Large box — $16.85
• Large APO/FPO box — $14.85
• Regular envelope — $5.60
• Legal envelope — $5.75
• Padded envelope — $5.95