Owen Wisconsin 54460, and the strife you've caused !! (Bangor: home, school)

[Homebrew]

I just spent 1/2 an hour registering for this forum, so I might as well tell you why - to the citizens of Owen WI, and especially the postal workers of Owen WI - I live in Owen, South Australia, which, by remarkable coincidence has the post-code (our equivalent of your zip-code) of 5460. This post-code obviously appears very similar to your zip-code (54460) to the code-reading machines used by US Mail - I've arrived at this conclusion because my cousin in Boston regularly sends me snail-mail letters which take maybe 3 months to arrive, instead of the 3 days his mail used to take to reach me from California. All these tardy letters reach me in really beaten-up envelopes with Owen WI 54460 postmarks on the back, which tells me they have done the rounds of Wisconsin a few times before they get to Owen SA.
I don't mind too much, because my cousin is usually telling me stuff I already heard from other members of our spread-out family, and it has the added advantage of making me feel at least a little part of Owen WI, where there is probably news I haven't heard !
Feel free to PM me and tell me a bit about yourselves - if you'll take the time to do so, I'll sure take the time to reply !

[natrlvr2]

Don't get me started on the postal service.gggrrr....I know they are over worked(at least in my area) but there have been SO many mistakes.Then they just keep upping the postage all the time,for worse service.If it's a machine making the mistake,they need to get rid of it.

[ravenstone]

That's wild! Does he put "Australia" on the envelope? And use an air-mail envelope w/red, white, & blue stripes on the border? The machines are supposed to spit out envelopes with illegible or incorrect addresses. A "ZIP" code with only 4 digits should be read as "incorrect" unless it was dropped in an out-of-country mailbox and routed properly at the Post Office.

If I worked at the Owen, WI, post office, I'd send you a copy of the local paper and a note to keep you up-to-date on the happenings around town. Of course I'd have to find a way to do this correctly, since it would be unethical to copy your address from your cousin's letters.

[Homebrew]

Hi, Ravenstone,

Yes, my cousin puts 'Australia' in the address, but he's usually sending Xmas greetings, so he doesn't use the flimsy little airmail envelopes.

I think your code readers might be using a bit of fuzzy logic, and guessing Bill's missed a digit rather than sticking to the rules and spitting out any non-conforming addresses - all our post offices would be knee-deep in rejected mail if there wasn't a bit of tolerance in code-reading.

DO you work for work for the PO in Owen - if so, I'd be happy to get some local news from Owen WI, and to reciprocate with some local stuff from Owen SA (not that too much can happen in our one-silo, one-bar town).

PM me for a postal address if you want to keep this going.

HB

[grayrider]

I just had to reply by saying your mail problem is a good reason to get rid of these overpaid postal workers here in the usa. The USPS is not all what they say they are and the only thing they care about is their next raise on the paycheck.

[Homebrew]

Thanks for the replies, but you're all missing the point I was trying to make.

I'm no great believer in co-incidence, but the possibility of two towns named Owen, half a world apart, having such similar post-codes (or zip-codes) is A-grade co-incidence.

The in-efficiency or otherwise of postal workers the world over is no surprise - must be the planets' most boring job.

[mducylowycz]

Just from my experience...The U.S. Postal Service has too much power! For crying out loud, they don't even us the regular judicial system. Meaning, the U.S. Postal Service has it's OWN courts. They basically can get away with anything. The only government authority over them ???CIA??? maybe ???FBI??? Don't argue with the people.

[bernitt]

While searching for information I saw your post. How interesting that your snail mail lands in the Owen WI post office although unfortunate for you that your news is delayed. I live in Owen. It is a typical small town in north central Wisconsin. The population is about 900. We do have some industry and small businesses and our own school. If you would like to receive more news about Owen, WI I would be happy to answer any questions you have.
Just goes to show this is a small world after all.

[Bangor63]

Originally Posted by bernitt

While searching for information I saw your post. How interesting that your snail mail lands in the Owen WI post office although unfortunate for you that your news is delayed. I live in Owen. It is a typical small town in north central Wisconsin. The population is about 900. We do have some industry and small businesses and our own school. If you would like to receive more news about Owen, WI I would be happy to answer any questions you have.
Just goes to show this is a small world after all.

How interesting, we will be moving to Wisconsin soon and while looking for sites related to Wisconsin I found this. My sister runs a school for kindergarten age children and one of their activities each year is to send something through the mail asking those who receive the item to add something to it and forward it on, eventually it returns to the children and they have a great time looking at the items and reading the stories, and especially looking at the different post marks. This isn't quite the same but I know she will want find this story very interesting, I did. Thanks for sharing.

[Homebrew]

Happy to share, Bangor63, good to see somebody getting something out of my little yarn.
Hey there, bernitt, good to hear from a citizen of Owen. I'm travelling interstate at the moment, and don't get a lot of computer time, but I'll respond properly when I get back home in a week or so. Keen to swap some news, our respective Owens are starting to sound a bit alike. I'll send you a pic of our silo, shall I ??