international shipping options from the U.S.

Earlier this year, I sent a 1-lb package (small/medium-sized tube containing papers - mostly drawings) to Germany via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The postage cost $15.08 online for First-Class Package International Service (which was the cheapest option).

I left the package in one of the post office drop-off bins on a Sunday evening. (Using the drop-off bins is no longer allowed for international shipments, as their instructions now say that even when using a prepaid label, you must still hand the item off to an employee at the Post Office counter.)

It took 24 days from that Monday for the item to be delivered to its destination.

Based on the tracking information for that package, it left the local post office on Tuesday, and arrived in Miami FL 14 days later. It was a mystery why it took 2 weeks for the item to travel those 700 miles. I suspected the item might have been diverted to a secret homeland security inspection point, before being sent on to Miami. Maybe to make sure I wasn't sending secret espionage documents?

But if they were doing that, they might as well do the same for all regular letters leaving the country too, which I'm fairly sure they don't. Unless they have equipment to shine bright light through normal envelopes, and are able to scan the document contents that way without opening them. Hmmm. Seems far-fetched - it would require too much effort and expense to do that for all mail. They might do it for individuals deemed suspicious, though.

The item stayed in Miami 2 days; then it took 4 days to arrive in Germany, 2 days to get through German customs, and another day to be delivered.

.

Now, the box of toys and Christmas gifts that I sent last week to my cousins' kids in Germany weighed just under 4 lb. It cost $35.06 online via USPS. Again, that was the cheapest option - First-Class Package International Service. USPS Priority or Express mail costs more.

I dropped it off at the local post office on Friday. The person at the counter scanned the prepaid label and gave me a receipt.

As of today, the following Thursday, the online tracking info doesn't even show the package as having been accepted at the local post office yet! It only shows that I bought the prepaid label. Arghrr.

It seems one simply has to put up with this when using USPS. Doing an online search brings up a lot of complaints from other people who've had similar problems.

Maybe the processing of my package is being delayed due to priority being given to "Priority Mail" packages. That would make sense. It would have only cost $6 more for me to send mine via Priority Mail; I wonder why I didn't do that. Hindsight, hindsight. It may have not seemed worthwhile, considering that the Priority Mail delivery times aren't guaranteed either anyway.

Whenever I've checked how much it would cost to send international packages via alternate shipping options, the costs were much higher than USPS. Today I checked again.

For a 4-pound package to Germany, the cheapest rates are:

- via UPS:
$132 - for a 16x11x3 inch box (most likely not large enough)
$159 - for a 18x13x3 inch box (most likely not large enough)
$192 - for a 12x11x10 inch box like the one I actually used

- via FedEx:
$126 - for a ~18x12x3 inch box (most likely not large enough)
$161 - for a 12x11x10 inch box like the one I actually used

- via DHL Express:
$128 - for a 17.5x12.5x3 inch box (most likely not large enough)
$165 - for a 12x11x10 inch box like the one I actually used

So the alternatives still cost way more than USPS. To be fair though, they also offer quick delivery dates - Dec 23 for UPS, Dec 31 for Fed-Ex, and Dec 22 for DHL.

UPS normally guarantees their delivery dates, except for items shipped during the 2 weeks prior to xmas. I would guess that FedEx and DHL's policies are similar.

With USPS First Class service, there's no telling how long it will take.
The USPS Priority Mail expected delivery date is 6 to 10 business days "to many major markets", but even that isn't guaranteed.

When sending heavier packages, using flat rate boxes can be cost effective.
The UPS Worldwide Express 10kg box (for up to 18 pounds) is 17x13x11", and would cost $230.
The FedEx 10kb box (for up to 22 pounds) is ~16"x13"x10", and would cost $202.

But USPS is still cheaper. A 22 pound box via "Priority Mail Express International" would cost $104 online.

yoyo tech

After sending those yoyos to cousin-kiddos, I got my old butterfly yoyo out. The string isn't in good shape. It's probably 30 years old. At some point I cut it off and tied/knotted it back to the axle. This prevents it from sleeping and from being able to do tricks. I never learned how to do sleeping tricks with a yoyo to begin with, so I didn't know that the string was supposed to be loose on the axle until I read the packaging that came with the new yoyos for cousin-kiddos.

Now, after taking the old string off my old yoyo, I see that the axle is rusty too. So that would need to be replaced too.

Then I got to reading about yoyos, and learned that mine is a fixed-axle yoyo. More modern ones are made with ball bearings in the center, which allow them to sleep for longer periods than fixed-axle ones do.

Hunh. The ones I bought for cousin-kiddos are the ball-bearing kind, and I didn't even realize it.

.

And this is why, not only does it take me 2 hours to order a simple replacement yoyo string, but that in the end I decide not to even get it. I may as well get a new yoyo instead.

oil stains

Tip for cleaning oil stains in clothing.

Attach some safety pins to the fabric, about 2 inches to the left or right of the stain(s), or on both sides. That way you'll know which spot to scrub soap in, even after the fabric is wet and you can no longer see the stain due to the wetness.

water down the drain

(I'm on vacation now. That's why so many posts.)

My toilet normally has a pseudo dual-flush feature. If I want a short flush, I press and release the handle. If I want a long flush, I press and hold it for longer.

A week ago, for no reason that I can figure out, the toilet started always doing a very long flush - even longer than the normal long ones (what some people call a triple flush, as the water drains out of the bowl and fills up 3 times before stopping). But from reading about how toilets work, it seems to be working exactly as designed. The flapper in the tank goes up and stays up until the water level falls to the bottom of the tank. The only way to make it fall back down earlier is to push it down with a stick.

So why/how was it working differently before?

It is not an adjustable type flapper. Nor does it have a float. It's the kind with a rubber bulb on the bottom. When I installed the flapper 2 years ago (as well as when I installed the prior one 3 years before that*), I trimmed off all but ~2cm of the bulb, specifically so that it would close faster than the default.

*Yes, I keep notes. Those flapper replacements were done to fix leaks.

Now, to try to fix the problem, I put a zip tie around the overflow tube and positioned it to stick out to prevent the flapper from rising up all the way. (I got this idea from a webpage.) But in most positions, it had no effect. In one position, it made the short flush way too short. Yet even with the zip tie in that position, if I hold the handle down for more than a split second, it again does the triple flush. So that's no solution.

This thread indicates that some toilets need to use a flapper with a float to avoid the long flushes.

This page suggests adjusting the chain, though I'm not clear how that would help. My chain currently has hardly any slack, so adjusting it would require lengthening the chain.

In the end, I decided to trim the rubber part of the bulb even further, and that fixed the problem. Now it flushes about like it did originally.

This is a dual-flush converter kit that might be worth trying some day.

Some good related videos:

How to repair and buy the right flapper valve - I didn't know that rigid flappers only require a rubber ring to be replaced rather than the whole thing. If I had known that, I might have been able to keep the original flapper that this toilet had when I moved in.

The Flush Toilet - an army training film, apparently. It shows a cross-section of a toilet and explains how the water flows through it. (listen to the unique background music!)

The Toilet Part 1 - has some more cross-sectional views of toilets.