USPS vs. UPS and the White Elephant Legend

It's that time again. If you haven't been buying all year in preparation, you have only 17 days until Christmas. You may have already learned that you should ship things early if you want them to arrive by Christmas. I have always had three weeks prior as a rule of thumb, but I'm sure there are variations on that. Fortunately, I have done all my shipping. Since I don't have many relatives nearby, and some have died, I have my brother and his family in another state and my brother-in-law in another state. I shipped books for my brother and his wife. They arrived promptly, even a couple of days before they had estimated. The other box is still in transit, expected delivery was last Wednesday but now is expected to arrive tomorrow. I remember in 2020, I think it was, I had a heck of a time with USPS so I started using UPS exclusively but I have gone back to using USPS. There is quite a bit of information online about which is preferable. In general, they say for smaller packages (under three pounds) it should be cheaper to use USPS but UPS is more reliable. That is what I am discovering about my little package. I read that what they used to call book rate, but now called media mail, is the last line of service, so it might take longer. In my case, the reverse was true. I have so far never had problems shipping UPS, never had anything arriving late, so, I guess you just have to do what you think is best at the time. I will probably always use book rate (media mail) for books and for packages under three pounds, although I might rethink it later, based on my experience this time. I am not sure why they have to send things to Kansas City, Mo. before anything mailed from Topeka can go anywhere. Even if you live in Topeka and mail to a Topeka address, the USPS sends it to Kansas City, Mo. first. This has always seemed impractical to me, but what do I know, right? These mysterious systems have their reasons. Have you been to any "White Elephant" parties lately? I have one tonight and I bought the gift yesterday at Dollar General. I always thought "White Elephant" parties were where you gave gifts that had been things you owned but have never used or weren't going to use, in other words, not buying something. So today I looked it up online and learned about the origin of "White Elephant" parties. The story, which I cannot verify its veracity, is that the king of Siam, when, I don't know, gave white elephants to people he didn't like. The reason was because the white elephants could not be worked or sold but were incredibly expensive to keep, so giving one away was actually ruinous to the recipient. I always had envisioned a ceramic white elephant sculpture or something similar. Anyway, you would basically scrounge around for something in your closet, basement or attic to give, because part of that game was the option of stealing somebody else’s gift or keeping the one you had opened. I am sure people will still steal the gifts, so you mustn't care too much what happens to it. I like the gift I bought, but I don't need it and don't have room for it, so there you go I guess it all boils down to our changing perception of the importance of material things. In recent years I have been more interested in getting rid of things rather than obtaining them. On the other hand, gifts of cookies or candy make great gifts because they don't hang around your place that long usually. My friend who always buys me Danish butter cookies asked me what I wanted from her for Christmas. She bought me those cookies two years in a row. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I answered her question. I'll have to think about it and get back to her. I'm sure Danish butter cookies would be great, and I forgot to ask her what she wanted to get from me. I need to get back to writing Christmas cards and/or possibly take a little nap before getting ready to go to the Christmas party. So, I am signing off. Goodnight.