Postage rate increase; semi-random reminiscence

The price of US postage stamps is going up again (to 41 cents, effective May 14), and this time the USPS is adding in something new: the "Forever" Stamp. Apparently, this means that this one particular stamp will always be available and valid, so if you have some sitting around when the price goes up again, you won't have to go out and buy 2-cent stamps to mail things. Of course, the price of the Forever stamps will go up as the price of postage does, so to actually save money on this you'd have to buy as many of them as you can when they're first offered. It looks like the USPS is going to be imposing some limits on how many you can buy, so you'd have to go to some trouble to hoard them.

It does sound like a good idea, though. I usually buy my stamps either at the grocery store or at ATMs, so I'm not sure how easy it would be for me to get those stamps. And to be honest, I don't mail things that often. I pay all of my bills online, so the only things I actually mail are birthday cards and the occasional package. Hmmm... if I buy 100 of them, they may last me five years...

I remember first class stamps being 18 cents when I was a kid, though stamps were 8 cents when I was born. I think 1981 was about the time when I first started writing and mailing letters, because that was the year we moved to another town and I left friends and family behind. So it makes sense that was the first time I noticed how much postage was.

There's a great chart here that shows rates for first class postage since 1863. It's interesting to note that it cost 6 cents to mail a one ounce letter in 1863, and then the price dropped; I assume because transportation costs went down. It didn't get to 6 cents again until 1968! And of course, 6 cents in 1863 was worth a lot more than it was a hundred years later. It's also interesting that the price went from 6 cents in 1968 to 20 cents in 1981, which represents a huge increase of more than 300% in just 13 years. Of course, that was the decade of inflation in this country, so it makes sense.

Okay, I need to get back to work now. ;-)

Bird rescue!

This evening I opened my front door and there was a little bird lying on my front stoop. It was stunned, but alive. I didn't know what to do, but I decided to pick it up. There was a drool spot on the concrete where its little beak had been. It seemed nervous about being picked up, but it didn't flutter or try to get away, and it didn't seem to have any injuries. It didn't appear to be a juvenile -- though I don't know what kind of bird it was. (I know so little about wildlife.)

Edit: It was a cedar waxwing, I'm told.

I took it in the house long enough to gather up a box to put it in, and then took it out back before the cats could notice. I didn't hold it tight or anything; it just sat there in my hand and looked around the house. I made up a little box for it with paper towels to make it soft, and took the bird out back. When I tried to lower it to the box, it moved for the first time -- and wrapped its little feet tightly around one of my fingers, as if to say, "No!" I didn't know what to do, so I stood there on my back deck with this little wild bird in my hand for a good ten minutes.

( Pictures here )