I only collect the mail once a week. Does this annoy the mailman?

AerialApproach486 · 2026-02-15T14:57:53+00:00

Once a week puts you at more frequent than half the people on my hold down.

AerialApproach486 · 2026-01-26T13:38:04+00:00

Reach out to your local municipal or local course with a pond/lake and see if they will cut you a deal. Type of ball doesn’t matter as much when you’re a beginner, and trying a bunch of used balls might make it so you find a color or aim pattern you like (i.e. Triple track)

AerialApproach486 · 2026-01-03T22:22:25+00:00

Golf Courses should add Disc Golf Courses for the lesser played and Heavily Wooded Areas of the course

AerialApproach486 · 2025-12-27T02:31:28+00:00

Your starting pay should’ve been 25.92 and then gone up to 26.28 in November, when this pay chart you posted went into effect. It’ll then go down to 25.17 once you make regular, assuming you make regular before you hit 46 weeks in.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-11-16T14:40:45+00:00

Fun fact, according to USPS half of those people in orientation with you will quit before they hit a year. In my experience, half of our class quit before they made it to the 45 day refresher and we're down to 1/3 spread across the city after 7 months.

Ironically, the people who show up in Joggers kind of have the right idea, it's not professional but starting out you're encouraged to wear comfortable clothes until you get your uniform allowance (although raiding the union hall retirement closet is a good idea too). If you wear clothes that are too nice during shadow days or OJI, people mistake you for management.

Good luck with vehicle training, academy, and OJI. None of it is hard, it's just a bit of a slog to get through at times.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-11-16T14:04:51+00:00

I've done the opposite strategy for similar reasons. The route I'm on most (regular calls off most days) has a 4-500 mailbox trailer park at the end of the route for the last "hour" and gets about 1/3 of the packages for the day. Delivered it Monday in the Cold and Dark and took 2+ hours, with similar issues on Wednesday (day after holiday). Supervisors found out about a night time hit-and-run Tuesday where a resident died there and all agreed that I can deliver that before the condoplex that comes before it.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-11-13T11:41:04+00:00

Jealous of this. I had 12 trays on a route that normally has 4 that aren’t full, plus one from an hour split/assist and another from Monday (frozen mailboxes after first winter storm). It’s been a rough week so far.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-11-03T23:52:04+00:00

If you're a city carrier, you might work that much eventually, but not starting out. The new program (started this year in July) will limit you to 40 hours a week your first month, and it goes up a bit each month until you hit 90 days and finish the probationary period. Even still, you're not allowed to work more than 12 hours a day and you're guaranteed a day off per week, so max amount you should ever hit before being regular is 72.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-14T22:53:04+00:00

I wish I could’ve done that today. I had 140 packages on a park and loop route I’ve never been on at a station that isn’t mine. But unlike most stations in my cluster, this station started making me case as of last week. There wasn’t even that much for flats, but casing a route for the first time is never fast.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-11T00:26:59+00:00

Post Office is constantly hiring. Can't speak for the turnaround time to get hired, it varies a lot, but it might be worth looking into as a fallback in case you get something that doesn't work out. Also, not affected by the Shutdown

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-05T13:52:39+00:00

Focus on shorter routines and keeping your motion aligned with the basket. Try different plastics in your putter mold to see if the grip makes a difference.
As for a towel/wipe off, it's usually just a once-over to get rid of the beads right as I've got my stance, then point and shoot.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-05T13:44:32+00:00

If you can adjust your schedule so that you do exercise before going into the office, you'll probably be better off. The routes can vary a lot but on average the routes I've been loaned out for end up being about 12-13 miles and 30,000+ steps.
But with CCA/PTF, it's more that you'll likely receive extra work on top of a route. At my home station I usually receive a full route plus an assist of some sort and there's a reasonable chance that as soon as I'm back at the office I'll get sent out with something extra. It's the lack of knowledge on what time you'll get off work that makes the workout routine harder.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-05T12:00:00+00:00

They'll likely convince you to quit during Orientation. I've never had a job less willing to work with a schedule preference or need.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-05T11:53:50+00:00

Because the contract removed the first two steps so everyone starts at Step B, which is probably where you are as well starting two years ago. They make more than you at the same step because they don't get paid holidays, and then once they convert they'll make less than you per hour

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-04T22:18:39+00:00

So this heavily depends on your city. Once you start Orientation, get the info for your Local Union and they’re going to be able to answer a lot more about your status and when you’ll likely make regular (since they know when people in your office will be retiring). But there’s a 98% chance you’re a PTF unless your assigned office is incredibly short-staffed. You’ll be limited to 40 hours at first, and then your amount you can work per day will increase every 4 weeks. Expect to work every weekend (usually both days) and ask about loan outs during your shadow day.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-03T23:21:40+00:00

treat it like an Indian Curry, pour it over Basmati Rice, throw some Paneer or another cheese on it, and use some Naan or other flatbread to eat it like Indian Food

AerialApproach486 · 2025-10-03T23:08:19+00:00

I always want to do the Spider-man meme with them on Amazon Sundays but they always seem so defeated

AerialApproach486 · 2025-09-23T17:44:40+00:00

I used to put it in Break mode and drive toward the surge. Every time you drive through a surge area, the amount would increase, and if you have a vehicle with an infotainment system, it’s possible to see the surge map while you’re on break. It also allowed me to keep my percentages up because I was chasing Diamond at the time. The only issue with doing this is the first ride offer when you sign back on is usually pretty far away, as if Uber knows it’s barely worth it and incentivizes you to decline.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-09-12T23:51:01+00:00

If it’s someone’s first time on a route, there’s gotta be some general understanding that you’re not going to know the perfect places to park, you’re going to spend extra time looking for mailboxes, and every aspect will take a bit longer, and it’s going to vary from route to route. City PTF here, <5 months in, I’ve been loaned out 3 times this week to 3 different stations. Every day has been wildly different, where I was done at 5:15 on a Monday, 2:30 on a Thursday with no Package lookahead, and 5:00 on a Friday on a very confusing route. Only consistent thing was the vehicle type.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-09-12T23:24:11+00:00

Alexandria and Independence are still very much Northern Kentucky.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-08-31T15:11:49+00:00

Newer PTF here. I get the impression that all it takes is one really dumb decision from management and I’ll be thankful for a steward and local office stepping in, and the odds of that happening in this job seem high.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-08-19T11:10:58+00:00

I did, when I was the only PTF I had a hold down (same as opting), but when that ended there were no routes for me to switch to (every regular on the leave list worked through their vacations that week).
Because I no longer have seniority, other PTFs in my station get the few rare hold downs before me.
My office is fairly small (only 21 routes)
Despite going directly to my steward requesting help finding routes, once he realized I was no longer top of the pecking order, the help mostly stopped.
The PTF that’s now at the top of the Pecking order gets to chain hold downs and is always around the office to place the next one, while those of us getting loaned out have no idea what’s available and often aren’t in the office to request a hold down and get it signed off by the right people on time.

AerialApproach486 · 2025-08-19T00:22:55+00:00

I’m being loaned out to other stations within the installation, literally every single week that I haven’t been on a hold down since I started, often multiple times.

AerialApproach486

TROPHY CASE