#Rural Services

[calciumyum]

Blindsided fan comic

Read Blindsided on AO3 NOW!!! AU written by @driflew and @cherrifire :]

[sopranoentravesti]

Gonna make a controversial statement—people on this webbed site had more compassion for the poor white rural Trump supporters than they do for Jews

[queerdiazs]

something like magic | 2.5k, teen

“Tonight was good,” Tommy says, bringing Buck out of his thoughts. The orange sunset turns his brown hair into molten, lava-like gold. “I had a great time with you, Evan.”  Buck looks over at him—up at him, just a little bit, which sends a thrill straight to his gut. He’s not used to being smaller than his date. “Yeah?” He laughs, nervous. “I’m surprised.”  “Why?”  Buck opens his mouth to answer and then closes it right after because he needs a moment to gather his words. The night went wonderful, better than he expected only because he doesn’t have the greatest history of first dates in general, but Eddie’s appearance sent him off his rocker. He’s not ashamedof dating a man because there’s nothing to be ashamed of, but he would’ve liked to figure a few more things out before he let the world know.  And Eddie? God, he’s—he’s something. Buck hasn’t quite figured out what yet.  “Well—I mean—I’m not the best at dates and Eddie just—” “Hey, you don’t have to explain anything to me,” Tommy interrupts, not unkind, and leads him through the crosswalk. “Whatever you and Eddie have going on is none of my business.”  Buck feels his face turn red with heat. “We don’t—there’s not—” He stops and shakes his head because he hasn’t began to pick through the prickly, syrupy emotions he’s feeling for Eddie right now. “You’re making me blush.”  Tommy laughs, deep and rich. It sends a shiver up and down Buck’s spine, the kind that makes him happy he’s wearing a light jacket so nobody can see the goosebumps on his skin. He hasn’t been this besotted with somebody since he can remember; he’s enjoying it entirely too much and hopes it stays like this forever.  “You’re doing that all by yourself.” Tommy bumps into his shoulder playfully. “You’re good at dates, Evan. I don’t have anything to complain about.”  Buck ducks his head, somewhat bashful, and grins. “Good enough you’ll want to do it again?” he proposes. “Tuesday evening, maybe?” 

read the rest on ao3

[gwydionmisha]

Postal Service considers rural mail slowdown after election

Trump appointee, Louis DeJoy, needs to go. Tell your Congress Critters!

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice. Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/ To get your Critters' numbers to call direct: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

[cloudy-crossing]

my first few days on springwick ✨

[atlantic-riona]

hate that when it comes to technology, people are always moving towards the fastest, newest thing, even if it's less reliable and not applicable for anyone who lives outside of a major urban area

[caimitos]

saw a post about projecting your ethnicity onto a character and started missing vespa ilkay. so so bad

[itstimeforstarwars]

Honestly gunshots and fireworks don't even bother me when they wake me up at 2am anymore. I wake up and hear some shit going off and I roll over with a "thank fuck the property values aren't going up this month"

[antiterf]

Happy first day of pride!

I'm going to another town that's in the middle of corn fields to fuck and cuddle.

[bitfruity]

i was at a con all weekend and then slept all day yesterday and oh boy did i miss A LOT👁️👄👁️

[quaranmine]

Question about the phone-in to Fw!Scar's lookout, could it only make domestic calls or does it have the ability to make international calls too? (Not like he needs to call someone in England for no particular reason at all-) or is it only connected to the Headquarters? (Because if it could make domestic calls, imagine how many times he tried to place a pizza delivery order to his lookou-)

That's a great question that probably gets deeper into the intricacies of landline phones in the late 80s/early 90s than I know how to answer. I am assuming that there probably is a way to block the phones from having the ability to make international calls, since you can also do that these days as well. But would they have that turned on? Perhaps they wouldn't. Lots of restrictions govt employees have only came after someone pushed the limit on the rules xD This also seems like something that would likely be decided per-unit in the Forest Service, so I can see some National Forests having different rules on this than others, based on if international calls have been an issue before. So maybe Shoshone National Forest doesn't have any restrictions. For the purposes of the story I think it's more interesting if he DID have the ability to make international calls ;)

I just think that he's going to get an angry report from his supervisor about the phone bill.....that'll go straight to the government since it's their equipment and they will NOT be paying for that lmao

I think it is reasonable that the phone is not just connected to the Forest office. I think that could actually be an issue for emergencies or inter-agency cooperation if the lookout inside the tower was only able to contact the office. Like, in early telecommunications that's probably all they had since they were stringing remote lines together, but for more modern communications I can see it probably being good if you could also dial 911 lol. Also, federal employees generally have some (very) limited personal use of government equipment, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was able to use the phone for (reasonable) domestic calls in his off hours. If he doesn't push it too much by trying to order pizza LOL

I, uh, have no research to back this answer up with. I am just talking based on what sounds reasonable to me

[midnight-love-song]

*helicopter going over*

Me: helicopter!!! *runs out my house and down the street in pyjamas to see it*

Another islander: “hello love, I was just coming to see what’s happening! Is it the air ambulance?”

Me, out of breath: “I dunno I’m just here cos I really like helicopters.”

[roguekhajiit]

Something that I simultaneously love and hate the most about being a rural mail carrier is that you're always alone.

This morning, I received a call from a customer who said he never received a package I had delivered yesterday. I checked the shelves, looked up his tracking number, and saw that the package was scanned at the time I was at his stop. I then told him I would look for his package today.

Now, 90% of my route is comprised of CBU (cluster box unit) banks. Was it possible I accidentally misread the address on his package for a similar one in a dyslexic moment? Yes. I never rule out that possibility. But I know I have dyslexia. It's something I've dealt with since I was a grade schooler, and it's why I carefully read each address.

Maybe a minute after I arrive at his stop, and halfway through the CBUs, a large black pickup truck pulls up directly behind my vehicle. Being a rural mail carrier, I rarely, if ever, see my customers face to face. But my instincts tell me that this is the guy I spoke with on the phone early this morning.

Something to note here:

As a contracted rural mail carrier, I drive my own personal vehicle and don't wear a uniform. There is no way to tell from a distance that I'm a mail carrier, and there are no markings identifying my car as a mail vehicle. I look just like any of the other hundreds of cars on the highway.

This guy lives a mile and a half down the road from where his box is located. There is no other way to get to his house, no alternate routes out from his road. Yet, he pulled up right behind my vehicle from the highway. Almost as if he was driving around looking for me.

Having spent 7 years working retail, I immediately go into customer service mode and ask, "Hi, how may I help you?"

He stands a foot away from me and says, "I'm here to see about my package." Nothing wrong with that sentence itself, but there was just something sinister in his tone, and the way he held himself immediately made my skin crawl and put my nerves on edge.

I told him I wasn't done yet, and I hadn't gotten to his CBU yet. But he continues to stand there, unmoving, staring at me. He doesn't go back to his truck until a kind old lady pulls up in her little car. But he still refuses to get back in his truck. Instead, he pretends to be busy with something on his phone all while still watching my every move.

As I was working, I was checking every box and paying attention to those who lived on his street or had similar house numbers as his. None of them had checked their mail since before yesterday, and none of them had received any parcels.

After I finished with his CBU, I had to tell him. "Your package isn't here." But I get the feeling he already knew that. It was in the way he had spoken to me when he first got there.

"Well, what are you going to do about it then," he asks me, his arms crossed and staring down at my five foot, nothing AFAB self.

"Nothing at the moment," I tell him. "We can wait and see if one of your neighbors mistakenly received it and turns it in, or you can report it as missing." Now, I'm neuro-divergent, and my tone during this entire interaction has been flat, neutral, and matter-of-fact. It's my default tone when speaking.

But he starts getting agitated, "So, you're not gonna admit that you lost it?!"

No? Why would I? We don't know that it's lost, his neighbors haven't checked their mail, and at this point, I'm 75% sure he's lying so he can get a refund on whatever he purchased. The other 25% is he either lost it or another member of his household checked the mail before he did and just didn't tell him. But I don't speak those thoughts out loud.

He kept pressing for me to admit that I was the one who lost his package. He's following me as I walk around my vehicle and refusing to leave. All the while, the kind old lady is still in her car watching and listening to this all play out.

His behavior has long since crossed the line into harassment and I tell him this. "I have not!" He says, "I've been standing over here minding my own business. I just want to know what you plan to do about my package!"

So I tell him, "Nothing. You can call the postmaster. Now, go about your day."

He then calls me a fucking bitch, hops in his truck and slams the door, speeding off.

If it wasn't for the fact that that lady was there for all of it, I'm certain he would have tried to escalate things further.

[darkwood-sleddog]

Okay the “fun” of a power outage has lost its luster..

[catgirltoes]

The commodification of "reading" as an identity (rather than just a fun activity you can do) is insane. I was on a booktube video (first mistake) and read the comments (second mistake) and there are people who apparently have anxiety that they are not a "reader" because they don't have the money to buy seven billion books and are forced to use the library instead? And there are other people who need to be reassured that it's okay to use the library and it isn't taking resources away from poor people? One of us is living in a bubble, because I have literally never felt such a thing in my life.