Blog posts

—October—

Problems

USA suspended... Just about every country has a lower limit on the collection of customs tariffs and other taxes for postal packages. This is obviously reasonable, because the cost of processing tiny amounts makes it uneconomic. The US has traditionally had a high cutoff level by international standards, the so-called de minimis $800 figure. This made the US an easy market for us, because there are no customers facing unexpected charges. Anyway, this is not the place for politics, but to describe the behaviour of the current incumbent of the White House as "erratic" would surely be the most restrained statement of fact. In among the current chaos came a recent proclamation that this $800 allowance would end, "as of next Friday" (or similar). Unfortunately, in the real world for the US Postal Service to organise a change like this is likely to take months, at least. The real-world result is paralysis: the Post Office is now only accepting packages for the US up to $100 value, and declared as a person-to-person gift. So we have had to suspend all shipments to the US indefinitely.

And Canada... The other day, a new message from our Post Office: Canada is on strike. So no shipments to Canada either, at least for the time being.

Puzzlements

And on the positive side... This is an old puzzle I found (from more than twenty years ago). It has a cork finish, which is different, but tends to result in very subdued colours. Anyway, Mickey and Minnie embrace at the station; but where is the station? Well, the trains are very recognisable British Rail diesel units, with the double-arrow logo on the side. So a terminal station on a line not yet electrified – Paddington, perhaps? Certainly looks as though it might have been designed by Brunel...

But wait, what is this "L'edicola"?? An Italian newspaper stand? Hmm, and the destination board: today's quiz. Where are the destinations shown: Genova, Monaco, Roma, and Venezia?