Welcome to the month of March 2015!
We have the opportunity right now that you and I can do a little planning for the month.
Today if you will take a few minutes look to see if there are any birthdays this month for family and friends and mark it NOW on your calendar.
Go ahead and see if you already have a birthday card on hand or if you will need to make/get one and find the address for who you are mailing the card(s). If you need to pick up some cards now you are ahead of the game because at least you will now KNOW you need them!
This is my collection of stamps: For me it is really fun to have a bunch of stamps on hand to choose from to put onto your letter. I have a envelope that came from a stationary set (long ago used up!) and use it for storing my loose stamps.
Speaking of stamps – today I have signed up at stamps. com with the U.S. Postal Service. Do you already use it? Because I am someone who loves to visit in person at the Post Office I had not gotten around to trying this out yet. Given the tagline for this blog is “Balancing new technology communication with old-style corresponding” I have decided to try out stamps.com.
What to expect when you sign up: When I enrolled at stamps. com they were offering a 5 lb. Digital Scale for only shipping costs which I’ve done (or if you spent $50 there was free shipping). I already had a Royal ds5 digital scale back from when rates were 41 cents an ounce for first class mail but wanted to see what the whole stamps.com offering is about so opted to get their scale.
As far as giving them your credit card info – it displayed this text: “Exploring stamps.com Your credit card is required to set up your USPS postage account. Your credit card will not be charged unless you buy additional postage or Stamps.com products, or if you continue past the NO-RISK 4-week trial period. If you continue past the trial, Stamps.com service fees are only $15.99 per month, and you can cancel anytime. No long term contract is required.”
Software installation: I’ve installed their software. When I logged onto the 
Welcome screen it lets you know you can print postage right from your browser and it walks you through customizing it. It then installed the wizard and lets you select if you want to interface with your contacts (i.e. Outlook), and any word software package.
I am looking forward to receiving my welcome packet from stamps. com and will keep you posted. In the meantime, today, I will be going through my calendar and planning my cards (and letters) to send out this month and hope you will do the same – let’s make March a planned month!
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
