So it's my baby brother's birthday, and I'm off to the post office,as usual, to mail his birthday present. I bought him a couple of polo shirts, a vase, and a cool, wood-carved bread bowl. Packaged all up, it had some weight to it, but nothing out of this world. The post office says it will be $26 and some change! I was like, OMG, I can't believe it...had something to do with the size of the box I used. It was smaller than a copy paper box, not that big! I told her I'm going to try UPS, which has a drop-off site about five minutes away. Same box, same delivery schedule, $13 and some change...HALF PRICE! UPS just earned my business. No wonder USPS is having so much trouble! Get real, USPS!

On a slightly off topic issue:

I'm the "baby brother" of my entire family...I HATE the term "baby brother," especially @ the age of 46.

My sisters know it too! So they stopped introducing me as their "baby brother."

I guess I really don't even need to use that term, since he is my only sibling, let alone my only brother. Just remember, SCT, the baby is always the most special! We older siblings remember you very well, from the very beginning! I almost feel as if I was his third parent, as he is six years younger than me. He will always be my baby, even though he is now in his late 30's, and probably makes ten times more money than me!

Yeah, I've heard the stories how my sisters & brothers would fight over who's turn was it to carry Ray? Who was gonna feed Ray? Who was gonna change Ray's clothes for a special occasion? Etc. I have to admit that it's cute. But @ the same time it can be/was suffocating! Can we say "over protection." I think that's why now as an adult I REALLY LOVE my space from my family. & they know it too! Perhaps a better term is that I really love my boundaries.

& becuz I have 6 sisters (& 2 brothers) I always tell people that I grew up w/ "7 moms."

I shipped a printer to someone a while back, and when I did my research online I found the prices charged by UPS and USPS were very close (only a dollar or two apart at most). I don't know why you had such a disparity, mb.

The funny thing was, Joe, the clerk at the UPS site printed out a ticket that said I saved $7 using UPS over USPS. I didn't argue, since the amount was actually $13. I was genuinely surprised to see such a difference in price. Maybe the UPS clerk liked me better than the USPS clerk!

I find that any time I have used UPS they are pretty good about things. Like if the parcel size is marginally over a certain limit, they ignore it. Another good experience was how west Jet let me fly standby for no extra money when I showed up hungover as hell and too late for my flight.

And then there is my personal favorite, Pizza Bob's. We don't go to Pizza Bobs for his Pizza, nor the company, nor the talented clientele that frequent his Karaoke night. We go to Pizza Bobs for his unwillingness or inability to do basic math. 5 jugs of beer, two pies $30? Even with the 50 percent tip he's probably still losing money on us.

Maybe he thinks you're cute, Dan, and is plying you with cheap pizza and beer....works for me!