The joys of finding a post box...

[caspernz]

So I don't use snail mail regularly these days, I mean who does?

Had a bunch of forms that needed signing and returning by snail mail. No worries, just cruise past my local dairy on the way to work at stupid o'clock in the morning. Mmmm, no mailbox there any longer. It'd been a while since I mailed something, so left this task until after work. In broad daylight it should've been a little bit easier to find a mailbox huh? Always when you're looking for one...they all seem to be hiding. But yeah, I found one so mailed my goodies.

Got me thinking though, is there an easy way to find whether my little village actually still has a mailbox? What do you know, NZ Post have thought of this...

https://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/posts...filter=postbox

Now I'm not surprised the number of mailboxes has reduced, just didn't realise they're damn near extinct now

[oldrider]

So I don't use snail mail regularly these days, I mean who does?

Had a bunch of forms that needed signing and returning by snail mail. No worries, just cruise past my local dairy on the way to work at stupid o'clock in the morning. Mmmm, no mailbox there any longer. It'd been a while since I mailed something, so left this task until after work. In broad daylight it should've been a little bit easier to find a mailbox huh? Always when you're looking for one...they all seem to be hiding. But yeah, I found one so mailed my goodies.

Got me thinking though, is there an easy way to find whether my little village actually still has a mailbox? What do you know, NZ Post have thought of this...

https://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/posts...filter=postbox

Now I'm not surprised the number of mailboxes has reduced, just didn't realise they're damn near extinct now

There is the reason right there - "electronic mail" etc - the world is moving on but the remnants are not yet extinct - I.E. Snail mail still has a (diminishing) place.

[Gremlin]

Sign them digitally, email back. No printing, no signing required, and certainly no hunting for the elusive post box.

It's like places that want you to fill in a landline number... when they super insist, they get the mobile number again (or 123 4567)

[caspernz]

Sign them digitally, email back. No printing, no signing required, and certainly no hunting for the elusive post box.

It's like places that want you to fill in a landline number... when they super insist, they get the mobile number again (or 123 4567)

Yeah I get what you mean. Quite a few pages, they sent them via snail mail to me, so would have meant me having to scan them followed by emailing them. Figured it easier to sign and snail mail back. Would have been quick had my local mailbox been in its usual place

Mailboxes and landlines are on the same path I'd agree

[Grumph]

Shit it must be a hard life in Auckland....I walk across the road and say to the local postmistress "Ok to toss it in the bag?" and in it goes, no probs...
And that's in the rural back of beyond.
What does piss me off are the sellers on trademe who won't send to a PO Box. No couriers or street delivery here, residents have a box No.
Bastard sellers who can't be arsed going to a post shop, would sooner call a bloody courier. Their loss of a sale.

[GazzaH]

Taking an optimum route* starting from the nearest/most convenient Post Office to home**, how long does it take a KBer to touch***, say, 10**** postboxes*****?


* Optimal for said KBer, not neccecelery the shortest conceivable route as planned by some anal-retentive mathematician, mapper or app.

** So rural geezers like me get a ride into town first. Suck it up, townies, breathe my fumes.

*** Get within touching distance, at a full stop. With gloves on. Fingers outstretched if that helps. Either sitting astride the bike or on foot if needed. Not just observing or brushing lightly past the box at speed. No selfie sticks or selfies required.

**** An arbitrary minimum value chosen for no particular reason. If you want, make it 20 and divide by 2. Whatever.

***** Multiple boxes at or adjacent to one location (e.g. at, outside, or a hop, skip and jump away from the same Post Office) count just once. Delivery boxes, "drop off points" and PO boxes don't count at all. Boxes must be functional - alive, in regular use, not retired, dead or "resting after a long squawk".

[caspernz]

Shit it must be a hard life in Auckland....I walk across the road and say to the local postmistress "Ok to toss it in the bag?" and in it goes, no probs...
And that's in the rural back of beyond.
What does piss me off are the sellers on trademe who won't send to a PO Box. No couriers or street delivery here, residents have a box No.
Bastard sellers who can't be arsed going to a post shop, would sooner call a bloody courier. Their loss of a sale.

Yes well, I live in a part of Auckland that's classed as rural. General vicinity of Bombay, the irony being that I can see SH1 from my backyard, but most couriers don't direct deliver here as it's classed rural.

Our local dairy used to have a mailbox out front. Some things changed, and while we still have a mailbox in our one horse village, it's kinda hard to find it at 2 am when you don't know it's now at the local servo...

[HEsch]

Solve the problem, move to a more rural location, your postie will collect your mail from your letterbox! (ahem... on the very few days a week when they still deliver any sort of mail...)

[caspernz]

Solve the problem, move to a more rural location, your postie will collect your mail from your letterbox! (ahem... on the very few days a week when they still deliver any sort of mail...)

Haha, that's my retirement plan

[jasonu]

I put my outgoing mail in my letterbox, put up the little red flag and it magically disappears then reappears at its intended destination. Weird.....

[HenryDorsetCase]

I put my outgoing mail in my letterbox, put up the little red flag and it magically disappears then reappears at its intended destination. Weird.....

Its a STAR TREK replicator.

[Blackbird]

Yes well, I live in a part of Auckland that's classed as rural. General vicinity of Bombay, the irony being that I can see SH1 from my backyard, but most couriers don't direct deliver here as it's classed rural.

Our local dairy used to have a mailbox out front. Some things changed, and while we still have a mailbox in our one horse village, it's kinda hard to find it at 2 am when you don't know it's now at the local servo...

The 4 Square in the village is our local post shop and has a mailbox outside. Our delivery is classed as rural too and more often than not, the postal contractor actually brings mail to our house rather than sticking it in our mailbox down the drive. Wonderful what a couple of bottles of red at Christmas does .

The best setup is up the road in Colville. (see photo). The post shop is about 3 metres wide and 4 metres deep, including the office. They write on a blackboard outside when there's mail to pick up. The rural delivery postie also delivers any shopping from Coromandel that the locals up that way have ordered. They also have to have a current and encyclopaedic knowledge about about partner swapping etc up that way so the mail goes to the right place and doesn't get torn up by an enraged spouse (sounds of banjos in the background).

[Banditbandit]

I put my outgoing mail in my letterbox, put up the little red flag and it magically disappears then reappears at its intended destination. Weird.....

We have one like that too ...

[BMWST?]

i had to renew my passport.post it in get it back.So easy.Keep eyes peeled for a postbox on the drive to work.See one.Stop.Post.I think i will have my passport back within a week!

[MarkH]

More and more I've found that even official govt departments will say "we can post out the forms or you can download them here and once you have the forms sign them and post them back or you can scan or photo them and sent them back to this address"

I usually go the electronic way because it is done right there & then and I have a record of the mail being sent and can easily resend if there is a problem. I've used my smartphone to take photos of a signed document and then I sent an E-Mail with the photo as an attachment - accepted by a government department and by an insurance company, no problems.

Give it a few years and the postal delivery service will be on the verge of extinction! You will end up having to courier documents in the very rare cases that physical papers have to be sent to someone, those cases with end up being extremely rare. I struggle to think of any letters I have received in the mail in the last decade that couldn't have been handled digitally.