Mailbox

I sent mail from Saint Augustine, FL, to Dallas, TX. It was sent from a residential mailbox with one 42 cent stamp on it. The envelope was sort of thick and taped shut. I don’t know if that will matter or not.
I sent it on Thursday, which was December 19th, 2008. How long should it take to get there? Today is already Tuesday, December 24th, 2008. I know that they don’t deliver mail on Christmas.

You say that it was "sort of thick" so it’s possible the envelope requires additional postage. If that is the case, the PO will attempt to collect the additional postage from the recipient. If they refuse to pay, the envelope will be returned to you. Due to heavy mail volume at this time of the year, if you mailed it last Thursday it is possible that it arrived today.

Did flags indicate mail was left for mailing or mail was delivered to box?

Yes and,Flag up indicate mail was left for mailing

I have been to Lowes and they have have ones that require no digging and others that are basically 4×4’s. Do they need to be set in concrete? I am concerned that the ones with no digging might not be stable.

Thanks for your help!!

This was on this old house and they said not to put it in concrete. They used rocks so the water would drain away. I would get the one that you put in the ground or the kids in the neighbor hood are going to take it down the street. LOL

I want to rent a mailbox. At first I looked into po boxes but you can only receive things sent through usps. Then I looked into the ups store but it cost way too much, being that you have to commit to 6 months. Are there any other companies that offer mailboxes, particularly Michigan?

The ones at the post office are subsidized by the government, that’s why they are relatively cheap.

There are lots of small places that have them. I used to have many years ago at a small independent shipping center. I’ve also seen them at notaries and auto tag places.

We live in a townhouse with a common set of mailboxes. The lock on our mailbox has been frozen since Monday when I discovered the whole thing was covered with snow. It’s been very cold here in Chicago, hasn’t been warmer than 15 degrees all week and the temps are below zero now. I tried de-icer to get it open but that’s not working. The keyhole will not budge. Any suggestions?

I like the key-n-lighter ideas suggested by others.
If that doesn’t work….
If you have an extension cord long enough to get to an outlet somewhere, try a hair dryer?

Well it has been delivered to my mailbox, i had it for 2 days now
i want to find the person that the check belongs to so he can personally come pickup the recovery check mail, since my mail box is right at the curbside of the street, i can’t trust neighbors or someone look and steal mail from my mailbox, and no i can’t put it back, because the red thingy majjiger fell off and im not at my house when the mail man drops off mail. and im new to the city im in, so no, i wont go to a post office because i dont drive and i dont know where is one, and no, i won’t buy a new mail box because I have no money. i will provide name of person if you can help me find their current address. state= texas

It’s not your responsibility to locate this person. The proper way to handle this situation is to place it back in your mailbox and write "not at this address" on the envelope. If somebody steals it out of your mailbox that is a federal crime. If you don’t have a flag or know where the post office is, how on earth do you mail anything? You might be able to find their address on whitepages.com. I had a refund check come to my house by accident, and I just handed it back to the mailman the next day with the "not at this address" message written on the envelope.
If this person is expecting this check all they have to do is call and as long as the other check hasn’t been cashed, they will be issued another one. The previous check will be cancelled and in about 30 days they will receive another one.

I want to buy some art pencils off this site. And when im writing my address and stuff there is this little box that’s checked and it say residential delivery?? Does it mean that the pencils will be delivered to my door or something? or put in the mailbox? Does anyone know what it means?
Thanks!

"A Residence" in lieu of a place of business. If it’s your home then check the box. If it’s your office address (and you don’t work at home) then don’t check it. And, the answer is the same if you’re ordering art pencils or an i-pod….or a sweatshirt, television, etc…

a broken mailbox that is causing scratches on their car. My mailbox is brand new and install by usps standards. I have no control of the person who owes the mailbox that is giving them trouble. I live in a rural area so my neighbors are not close and I have no idea who they are. I can see them stopping the mail of the person who has the broken mailbox, why are they stopping my mail.

I deliver to curbside boxes and have never had this problem. How close does the carrier come to the boxes that the car is being scratched?
You should be able to contact the local post office. Ask for the postmaster or delivery supervisor. They should be willing to help you out with the problem.

(some of the above answers contain misinformation)

My post, as well as my mailbox, are dying (post is splitting and mailbox is rusting to the point of falling apart). What’s the best way of installing a new post and making sure its stable? What do I need to know to install the mailbox? Any advice you could provide me would be greatly appreciated.

BEFORE you sink the post, check with your delivery person to see what the local requirements are for the setback from the street and the height of the box (usually dependant on the height of the window for delivery driver).

See instructions:

I teach prek and would like to get a set of mailboxes to put in my classroom for the kids to put there papers until the end of the day. As it is right now, they have to go into the hallway to put papers in their backpacks.

Some local newspapers still have the plastic tube type mailboxes. Some still have many of them in a store room somewhere, even though they don’t use them anymore. If that will work for you, you can try contacting some of these newspapers and see if they can / will help you out. You may be able to get them donated and the children can decorate them.

Another option is the hanging bins for papers you see in offices near fax machines.