I live not quite two miles from the Post Office. It is about a half a mile from the Post Office to the Tax Commissioners office. I have a Toyata Corolla, which gets fairly good mileage. I generally take a two to three mile walk several times a week. I got my tax bill in the mail yesterday, and I have no stamps. (almost all of my billing/paying is done electronically, but the city wants to charge me five bucks to use their system to use my credit card to pay. (the cheap assed bastards))
I supposed that I might just drop the letter off at the PO, and do an extra mile walk today. The weather is nice. But then I got to thinking about it, and it seemed a bit silly to pay 41 cents to have my letter take an extra day, or even two to get to the commissioners office, a mere half mile from there. Thing is, the extra mile on top of the already longer four mile walk is . . . well not going to be as pleasant. Driving the whole route seems . . . wrong. Is the 41 cents worth the extra mile walk, or is the day or two delay worth just waiting, or should I wait until I have to drive in that general direction another time, and not spend the 41 cents?
As Kermit the frog pointed out: It’s not easy being green.
So you would have to make a five mile round trip walk?
I guess it depends if you feel you’re up to it. Otherwise, either drive directly to the tax office and pay in person, or pay 41 cents and let the post office deliver it.
On the other hand, think how proud of yourself and what you accomplished by walking 5 miles! (Can you ride a bike if you don’t want to walk?)
No. I fall down. It hurts. I’m too old to just get up again after a fall.
So, anyway, I came up with an alternative. I collected up all the chores I put off lately that required driving somewhere, and planned the shortest loop that included the City Hall. Ended up driving nearly 11 miles, but got five things done that needed doing. And stopped and had lunch, as well. Put off stopping at the library because traffic was inordinately stupid in the center of town, so I went around. I can walk there, Monday.
Just got back. Got new shoes, replacements for some plates, and such, paid the taxes, got the sticker for the car, and bought a wedding present for my niece, and some tee shirts.
Should have stopped at the Post Office, though. Just breezed by it, since I was stopping at the City Hall. Now next time I need a stamp, I will have the same dilemma.
You could always order the postage online. Mailman’s gotta come to your house anyway, right? Then when he brings you those stamps, you can mail the payment the next day.
Of course, you can use the bank’s electronic bill pay and pay the tax bill that way. That way, unfortunately, can lie madness (the county cashed our check one year, but applied the payment to never-never land, and it took about 20 phone calls and 3 months to get them to fix it).
