DeePee (RE: U.S. mail to slow down even more): Ah, “Hatred!” as Mickey Rourke cheered to those dogs in “Barfly.” (or as the Davies boys sang to each other on that great late Kinks album). What a thread you’ve got going here. Here’s the thing. The Post Office was Ben Franklin’s idea of the Internet way back then. And should the power go out we’ll need it as much as the folks in the 18th Century did. What’s killing the Post Office, excuse me, Postal Service, is the perpetual lie of the price of a stamp. Let it rise with the price of everything else. Let us keep the great service we have — in the past two weeks I have gotten letters sent from Wallace on a Friday and received in Connecticut and New York on Monday — but charge fair value for it. I think a buck or even $2 is fair, to get a letter picked up from my house and delivered to somebody’s front porch on the other side of a continent is a very fair value. Eggs aren’t 25 cents a dozen anymore, and a gallon of milk ain’t a dollar anymore either.

Question: What do you think of DeePee's idea of mail users paying fair, higher value for letters?

The post office will get an extra 2-cents worth when you mail a letter starting in May. The U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that the price of a first-class stamp will rise to 44 cents on May 11. That gives plenty of time to stock up on Forever Stamps, which will continue to sell at the current 42-cent rate until the increase occurs. They will remain valid in the future regardless of rate hikes/AP, SR. More here.

Question: How high will stamp prices have to go before you begin seeking alternatives to first-class mail (if you haven’t already)?