Rookie Mistake

So getting back into the rhythm of resupplies is a thing!

There are a lot of things that need to be done to put together a box:  shopping, organizing, assembling, packaging, and shipping. The first resupplies I had to send were a 2-day resupply to Silver City, NM and a 7-day resupply to Mimbres, NM. When we were laying out a plan for it before Jamie left, I did kind of push back on the 2-day resupply. Talk about having the luxury of someone getting you your stuff. 2 days!!

Me: It's only 2 days! Can't you just carry it with your other stuff?

Jamie: It's 2 days! It's too much weight. I rather not if I don't have to.

Me: ...

Anyway, I can accept that Jamie's concerns are of a magnitude somewhat greater than my being inconvenienced by an extra box and standing in line at the post office. One lesson we'd learned during his AT hike was that more remote communities may have hours that are shorter than we're used to around here. Given that, and the fact that they're all closed on Sundays, it requires a little planning to be sure that the box you're shipping will get there when your hiker needs it. Also, if your hiker is getting there after the post office closes, and hopes to leave early the next day, you are going to have an issue.

I was also a little concerned that these shipments may have needed to be sent via Priority Express rather than standard Priority Mail given the timing, weekends, etc.

So I packed these shipments up in one of the MANY, MANY Amazon boxes I have strewn about the house and headed to the post office.

Normally, I would use one of the USPS "If-it-fits-it-ships" flat-rate Priority Mail boxes. But I didn't since I was planning for flexibility in case I needed to go with Express.

Ultimately, I didn't need to worry about that since both would arrive in time using regular Priority Mail, but there I was without the flat-rate boxes. Honestly, I didn't even think about

repacking everything, mostly because it didn't even occur to me! I was just relieved that everything would get there on time.

Five minutes and $76.95 later, I'm complaining about the cost to the girls when Madeleine asks why I didn't use the flat-rate box. Well, that was a good question! Ummm, because I spaced out.

The boxes I used were basically the exact size of the large flat-rate Priority Mail boxes, which ship for $24.75. Now, I could have fit the 2-day resupply into an $18.40 medium flat-rate box, so I would have done that had I been thinking. But as it happened, I spent $33.80 more than I needed to.

Lesson learned - or relearned, as the case may be.