Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with packages

Please make me a better letter writer!

SkylitDrawl — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:02:04 -0800

My partner and I have broken up because of a move but have decided to correspond with one another through handwritten letters. Please help me be a better letter writer! For the first time in my life, I am sending handwritten letters through the mail. My partner is graduating from the school we attend together and is moving across the state from me for work. Neither of us really dig the idea of committed long distance relationships, so we have decided to break up. In a year, I may move to join him in the city he will be working in, but I don't really know for sure. I feel like a year is a really long time, and I know that a lot could change in that time. However, in the year between now and then, we intend to correspond with each other via handwritten letters. Neither of us are fans of the phone, IMing seems very ordinary and like what simple friends would do. We both love to receive mail but never get letters and it seems like a very romantic idea, so we've gone for it wholeheartedly.

Despite the break up and the move, I still really care very deeply for this man. I think he cares similarly for me. These letters are the main way that I communicate with him now, so making sure they are of high quality is important to me. I tend to send him a letter per week and letter writing has been very fun for me so far. However, I can't help but think that I could make these letters and packages a little... better? More interesting? His letters come with fantastic doodles in the margins. I can't draw anything beyond stick figures, so similar doodling is out. What sort of fun items can I include in my letters and packages that would make them feel more heartfelt or interesting? What I'm thinking of is along the lines of suggestions of fun, simple items that I could find in the course of my weekly life, or really cheap things that I could buy over the Internet (little things off etsy could work here - vintage postcards, maybe?) that I could include in my letters to make him smile and perhaps keep me in his memory throughout the day. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, I have heard that it is possible to create a wax seal out of crayons. I have lots of old crayons in almost every color imaginable and I know he would get a real kick out of a handmade crayon wax seal. Does anyone know how to do this? Help would be much appreciated.

Information on Shipping Large Items & the Best Rates

Audio Lover — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:22:17 -0800

I have a few large items that i would like to sell on eBay however the shipping charges are way to high, this is not due to weight but due to dimensional size. ie. 30" x 30" x 26" high or another item is a pair of speakers which are approx 50 lbs each and 20" x 24" x 34". The cost of shipping these items makes it impossible to sell them on eBay and get what they are worth. I hope some of you savvy sellers and shippers can help me out with this problem, i have many vintage items that are large and too expensive to ship via UPS, FedEx or Dhl. Thanks

Is Skype a viable landline alternative for us?

Happy Dave — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:55:56 -0800

What's the best Skype package for managing contact with our international friends and family group? I've been examining options for keeping in touch with the families and friends of both my wife and myself. We moved into our place a year ago and never got around to getting a landline, because we both have mobiles with good packages, and our internet is provided through building-wide, minimal cost wifi.

However, it's kind of tough to keep on top of costs of calls with our mobiles, and we've been consistently going over international call allowances and getting smacked with bills £30 - £50 over our call limits. Ideally, I want to remove all the various bolt ons, international allowances and so on we have on our mobile contracts and just pay for calls, texts and data.

So, I've been looking at Skype as a possibility. I have family and friends in Scotland, some who can use Skype, some on landlines. My wife has family and friends across the US, again some using landlines, some able to use Skype.

From my research, it looks like the Unlimited World subscription would give us all the benefits of having a landline on top of the obvious benefits of Skype-to-Skype video calling, which we have already. Has anyone used this package from the UK? Can you call landlines in the UK with it? Is it a good landline alternative? I'm thinking it'd be cheaper than pretty much any landline deal (about £6 a month, which I can pay through Paypal).

Any experiences or perspectives?

the Dr Frankenstein of collaborative software

brandnew — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:18:17 -0800

Easiest, most effective way to stand up a collaborative portal? I'm interested in standing up a collaborative portal for a new digital community. I want to take advantage of new advances in web software over the last 3-4 years.

I want to include as many of the following "features" as possible (in order of preference): membership profiles, social relationships, social bookmarking, search, content management, file storage and sharing, wiki, messaging, discussion boards, ratings & rankings, chat, sub-group creation, whiteboards, project management, time management, web-casts, surveys, polls, blogging, collaborative filtering, and Q&A.

Sure, I can implement these features from the bottom up myself - it would take awhile and be quite expensive. However, I really don't want to re-invent the wheel. I know most, if not all, of these features already exist in some form or another, either as either hosted services or separate web products.

So, a few questions:

1. First, is it even possible to mash up all of these various hosted services into something that looks like one cohesive site?

2. If yes to 1, are there patterns, best practices, examples, or support groups to help execute such a thing?

3. Otherwise, if I host it myself (to protect sensitive data), would it be easier to build it from scratch (assuming I'm an expert developer)? Or hack together a bunch of separate products?

package ideas for a European

Mael Oui — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:55:54 -0800

Help me think of interesting American things to send to my European friend! A close friend who is English/Finnish and I have been sending small packages to each other for a few years. She has sent me phenomenal packages filled with British comedy dvds (I don't have the technology to reciprocate.. and she's not too interested in American entertainment) and various European sweets, and I've felt that the packages I've sent to her have been far less exciting. Though she's pretty well-traveled, she has never been to America and has seemed interested in sampling quintessential American foods (namely, the sorts of things that can be mailed internationally). I've mostly sent US candies, snacks, and other sorts of sweet stuff (cookies, etc), but I'm running out of ideas (and my non-edible ideas have been even more pathetic!). I feel like I've sent her 'junkier' foods than she has sent me, as well. Also, I've never been totally clear on which American foods are widely available in Europe.

I'm wondering if there are any expats (or people who have traveled a lot) who would be able to suggest foods (or other items that might be considered interesting that would also do well in the post) that are fairly unique to the US. Is there anything you love/miss that could be easily mailed that you can't seem to find in Europe? Also, if you were putting together a similar package (US to UK), what would you be sure to include in it (both edible and non-edible items)? I'm in the Philadelphia area, if that makes any difference.

What is the cheapest and safest way to send a package to Malaysia with the assurance that it will get to the intended recipient?

Jujee — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:10:08 -0800

My sister wants to send a package to someone in Malaysia -specifically in Selangor - however, it seems packages don't always make it to the recipient for whatever reason. She is sending photographs and wants to be sure it gets to the recipient - any tips out there? What is the safest and least expensive way to send it (more photographs)? TIA

gifts for post-gastric bypass?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:23:34 -0800

Any specific suggestions for care package ingredients for a friend who has just had gastric bypass surgery? I want to give her a few small things that might give her a lift (and don't want her to know specifically that it is me asking, hence the anon). I was thinking, for a young hip chick with a great sense of humor - maybe a small itunes gift card, some comic anthologies, a fun tote bag, sugar free candy? This isn't going to be a massive box or anything, I just want to make her smile during her recovery.

Communities similar to Marvelous Mail

ThirstyEar2 — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:58:54 -0800

Are there any online communities similar to Marvelous Mail? I was looking at LiveJournal and noticed the community Marvelous Mail was in the Spotlight. However, they are putting a cap on the number of members due to the sheer number of requests. I did some Googling and couldn't find anything similar outside of LiveJournal. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Mailing a cake -- please advise

Margalo Epps — Wed, 16 May 2007 12:19:29 -0800

What's the best cake to mail? What's the best way to mail a cake? When should I send it to arrive in time? I'd like to get some cake to my sister for her birthday, a state away. I read mailing and got some good ideas for how to package it, but does any of these cakes seem like they would mail better than others? I can make upside cake, chocolate cake with fudge frosting or regular frosting, petit fours, or well, anything else I can find a recipe for. Any idea which would survive best?

And I'd like it to arrive on her birthday, though I could send it early if need be -- when should I send it to arrive on a Monday?

I need more mail in my life.

divabat — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:07:29 -0800

How can I, a college student, get more mail? I love receiving mail. Letters, packages, even brochures. It's such a thrill to open my mailbox in college and see letters for me.

No one I know writes letters by hand, though. I send postcards through PostCrossing occasionally, and do swaps once in a while. I used to order college/university brochures just so I'd get mail. And there's only such much I can buy on eBay (it's fun though!).

I'm in Australia. How else can I get mail? Are there any other websites that do mail projects, or send out mail? I'm fine with sending mail out too. Junk mail is iffy but I don't think I'd mind much (catalogues are fun!).

Does the headline have any purpose?

Thrillhouse — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 04:20:02 -0800

The USPS charges for shipments based on package size and weight and in the case of media mail- the contents. Once your package clears the counter, is it safe to say it won't be checked for compliance of these things beyond that point? Okay, I do a lot of shipping via USPS and I pre-pay all the time meaning I go online and enter the details myself and then print out a label.
I thought about this last night when I was packaging up some vinyl records to go out via media mail. When I bring my packages to the post office, they typically just take them and put them in the back when I tell them they're already paid for. They don't weight it or in the case of media mail check the contents. If I was going to pay for it at the counter they'd have weighed it and measured it there and then.

I'm wondering what the risk is for this package coming back to me after I've dropped it off if my measurements or weights are off. Do they bother to check a package once its in the big pile?

Two cameras I didn't order. Don't know who sent them. Now what?

printdevil — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:47:16 -0800

I just got two digital cameras at my door. I didn't order them. I don't think I know who did. What next? more inside I came home and found two packages from buy.com on my doorstep. I opened them, and found they had digital cameras in them. I did the obvious thing, and checked my credit cards -- hadn't been bought off them. I got a hold of buy.com, and they were able to tell me the name of the person who bought them, and where that person lived.

These had no signature needed, and were left by my apartment door. The front door of my building is not locked, and these were in an unsecured area.

I don't think I know this person. However, a google search came up with a phone number for someone with the same name, in the right city. Should I call this person? The police? (For what it's worth, I am in the same city as the person who ostensibly sent the package.)

Deaths as a result of opening plastic packages.

Sonic_Molson — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 18:08:47 -0800

Help me win a bet against my girlfriend. Relates to deaths while opening those pesky plastic packages. I'm looking for examples of people who died while opening plastic packages.

Yeah, I know it sounds a little crazy. Today I was opening some bike lights that were in a hard plastic package, I was actually frustrated to be seeing the instructions on the back on how to install the batteries and wondering "Well where is the instructions to open the package?!" I ended up using a knife and nearly cutting myself (as usual). With 6.5 billion people on the planet I'm sure that at least one has accidently stabbed themselves to death while tearing these packages open.

The types of packages I am thinking of are the type that mp3 players often come in, or other small but valuable items (ram, tools)

The best sample picture I could find of one is here, not even one of the really tough plastic packages that I experienced today; http://www.ocmodshop.com/zalman7000acu/ZALMAN_BOX_BACK.jpg

I got $5 on this :-) I'll split the profit.

How does opting-out of cable channels work? Specifically in Northern CA.

luriete — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 16:52:47 -0800

So I have read that new federal laws allow you to "opt-out" of channels you don't want that may be part of a cable television package. How does this work? Could I opt-out of all those annoying digital music channels, shopping channels, the news & foreign language & religious & sports channels I don't watch, etc? How much might they prorate my service if I were to do that? I'm thinking about signing up with Comcast in Northern CA for both internet & cable TV. I love my satellite, but my reception is suffering since the trees started getting bigger and bigger (not on my property and the city won't trim them and they are IMMENSE). And Surewest won't give us fiber optic until 2006.