On July 1st, National US Postage Stamp Day recognizes the ease and simplicity with which we can send and receive mail. The United States issued its first postage stamp on July 1, 1847. At that time, stamps were not required. A letter could be mailed without a stamp and delivery paid for by the recipient. In 1855, the postage stamp became mandatory. 

This morning was a strange morning. Everything was going great until the power went out in Cedar Bluff. I thought it would come back on in just a few minutes, but no. I check with my neighbor and her power is out too. This is a problem because it is supposed to be in the 90s today with a heat index of 100. I told her I was going to work where it is cool and she said can you get your garage door open by yourself. I could not, so she came over and helped me lift it up. I pulled my car out of the garage and went back in the house and low and behold the power was back on. What does this have to do with my Grand Puppy? Well, I was not sure that the power would not go back off again so Lincoln came to work with me today. He is enjoying all the attention and pets from everyone.

I haven’t posted for some time now. Things have been strange over the last couple of years and I think most people would agree with that. In the spring of 2020, I went to Mexico with my family. We arrived in Isa de Mujeres on Saturday and it was beautiful. The COVID pandemic was just being talked about and as the news got worse, we decided to fly back to the states on Tuesday. As we were in the taxi, the taxi driver told us that the Mexican government was shutting down the country on Friday. Whew! that was close. After we got back, with no vaccine available, I talked to my employees and ask them if they thought I should come back to work. They all thought I should work from home because of my age and the possibility of catch COVID.. So that is what I did for a year. It was very strange not getting out of the house. When I did go to the grocery store, I would wipe the groceries with sanitizing wipes before I brought them into the house. After I had received two vaccines, I went back to work in April of 2021. It was good to be out of the house but we all wore mask in the office and were very careful around each other. I am happy to be back at work with no mask required.

My daughter has been studying Spanish for several years and her dream had been to live in Spain for several months. So at Christmas of 2021, we all went to Madrid Spain. It was a great time to celebrate in Madrid, we went to Christmas Fairs and had Churros with hot chocolate to dip them in. After about 10 days I flew back into Nashville and picked up my daughter’s dog.. In February, I went back to Spain to stay with my Granddaughter, who is going to school there. I stayed 3 weeks in Spain and it was wonderful. I don’t speak Spanish but I had a translate app on my phone and I had to use it a couple of times. The Spanish people are friendly, helpful and a lot of them speak English.

Keeping the dog has been an experience. Within the first 10 days that he was with me, he got sprayed by a skunk. That is an experience I will not forget. It took multiple baths and time for it to go away. He is a sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. His breed of dog is so loving and calm.

Things are going well at Burns Mailing & Printing, and I have to thank my wonderful employees, who kept things going. I am looking forward to a great summer and spending time with family. God has blessed me in many ways and I am grateful for my family, friends and my work family.

We just received news this week about the new feature for Informed Delivery. If you are familiar with Informed Delivery, you know that the USPS scans each piece of mail and send you an email with what is coming in your mailbox. With the new feature, we can set up for our customers a link that when their mail piece is scanned it give the option to click on a link and it takes the viewer to a site of the mailer’s choice. For instance, if I mailed a post card and created a link when the person receiving my post card can click on that link and it would take them to my website http://www.burnsmp.com. The recipient must be signed up for Informed Delivery. This could be a GAME CHANGER for political candidates, restaurants, non-profit organizations and anyone wanting have an additional marketing tool for their organization. The ultimate tool for combining direct mail and digital marketing.

If you want to know more about the Informed Delivery tool, email me at phyllis@burnsmp.com or call 865 584-2265

Happy 4th of July. Burns Mailing & Printing will be closed Monday July 5th so that our employees can celebrate with their families. Be safe and enjoy time with your family.

This weekend my daughter Joy Burns Day was visiting and she wanted to drive around Karns, her old stomping grounds, to see what was happening. She took these two pictures on our drive. If you live in Karns or went to school there you know that painting the underpass is a rite of passage for Karns High School students. Joy did a little painting on the underpass in her day. Some say that the underpass is only being held up by the layers upon layers on paint that the high school students have painted over many years. I know they were painting the underpass when I was at Karns High School and this October I will be attending my 60th class reunion. In fact, I may use these pictures for the cover of our class directory.

Here are the proposed rate increases from the USPS;

The proposed Mailing Services price changes include:

Product	Current Prices	Planned Prices
Letters (1 oz.)	55 cents	58 cents
Letters additional ounce(s)	20 cents	20 cents (unchanged)
Letters (metered 1 oz.)	51 cents	53 cents
Domestic Postcards	36 cents	40 cents
Flats (1 oz.) Outbound International Letters  (1 oz.)	$1.00 $1.20	$1.16 $1.30

Kate, my youngest grandchild just graduated from middle school. I know everybody says this, but she has grown up so fast. It is hard to believe that she will be a freshman in high school this fall. After graduation, we had lunch and then two of her friends joined her and we all went to the lake. Three 13 year olds was quite a blast.