All G*d's chillun got shoes

I admit I have had a morbid fascination with the fate of the Iraqi journalist/shoe thrower. I lurk on the BBC readers to get the latest info (US news seems to have dropped the story entirely).

I also spend way too much time thinking about the US Postal Service. I am a big, big fan of mail that arrives by human being, at my door (well the end of my driveway, anyhow). One of the perks, & there are MANY, of living on a rural route is that our mail-people know us. That's right, we have different carriers, different days & they have learned the routines of our home (it is OKay if you pull into the front yard & turn around, the doorbell does not work, the dog wearing the t-shirt that says "AMY" was actually named Amy so if you looked at her & say "Why is that dog wearing a shirt that says Amy?" she would think you are calling her & try to get into your vehicle). These are the kinds of things only locals can know. & people who read this blog.

& I know that the Post Office needs help. Mail-to-the-door has gone out of fashion & it is not coming back. Even when we need something tangible, overnight delivery has spoiled us all. But still, for less than $.50 you can send an envelope anywhere in the US (continental or otherwise). I remember once my brother mailed me a piece of pizza & it got delivered. Let me be clear, he did not put it in a box, he did not put it in an envelope, he wrote my address on the bottom crust & dropped it in the mail. & I got it, petrified pepperoni & all.

They will not do this anymore. I am not criticizing; I am not sure they ever should have. What they do do though is employ lots & lots of people in every community around this country. The Post Office has not outsourced. They provide pretty good health coverage & if the work is boring as hell, well have you ever tried useless ranching? For 50+ days I have been watching an emu not move. I was excited when he blinked & I don't get paid at all. My health coverage is pretty good, though, but I digress.

Thirdly (there is a point, I swear) I have a lot of shoes that do not fit anymore. Actually, I have a lot of left shoes that do not fit anymore. They all got stretched out from that brace I had to wear winter '07 thru spring '08 & now the right shoes fit, but the left ones keep flopping off. Unless I wear an extra pair of socks on my left foot. Which looks very very odd. Especially with shorts.

So, I am thinking of mailing my shoes to Crawford, Texas. Or maybe the Bush Legacy Project, if only I could find an address (OKay I admit I did not look too hard). I would pay $9 for a t-shirt that said I wish I could throw my shoes at GWBush, so why not pay the postage & help the post office? Also, what else can I do with those shoes? Except I cannot find a mailing address for the western white house either, only Crawford, Texas.