Triangulation Update

The missing mail fiasco is apparently over. A chance encounter either substitute mail carrier yesterday confirmed that she had brought up the issue with the regular mail carrier. The first piece of mail arrived today, a large envelope containing the Hawai’i tax forms that was ordered last week. Needless to say, the online inquiry to the postal service (USPS) was a “non-starter.”

The substitute mail carrier also provided a detailed explanation of the protocol used by mail carriers in order to determine whether mail is forwarded or returned to sender. Surprisingly, the routing decisions are not made at the mail distribution center.

A personal account was reluctantly established with the postal service. As it turns out, the account is actually invaluable. The Informed Delivery® option was quickly enabled. Any mail being delivered to the address of the account holder is photographed and the grayscale image is sent by e-mail as a notification on that day. So, the delivery of the tax forms in the mail was known ahead of time.

An account was also established with Hawai’i tax office. Since the requested tax forms were initially believed to have been returned, the contingency for e-filing the tax forms became a reality. However, with the paper forms in hand, the e-file option has been postponed until next year. Incidentally, the Hawai’i tax forms cannot simply be photocopied because they are designed for scanning.

There has always been a reluctance in establishing on-line accounts. Thus, only the basic types of accounts were established. Any useless accounts were quickly closed. As of now, that policy has changed. Every attempt will be made to move all activities on-line.

The personal e-mail address registered on most of the important on-line accounts has been changed back to the iCloud domain, even though the e-mail is forwarded to the secure Proton Mail account. The Proton Mail account will not be deprecated.

The reliance on the iPhone has increased exponentially, as sad as that may seem. The device now handles almost every important aspect of personal life. The “ecosystem” appears to be secure. So, the likelihood of replacing the standard pseudonym (used for AppleID) with real nomenclature is high. Even now, the only credit card in personal possession has been added to the Wallet “app.” All the other standing restrictions in the iPhone and associated “apps” still remain in effect.

On a side note, the repairs on the showers in the gym in town commenced on February 14th. The entire shower area has been gutted and the concrete floor was excavated at each drain outlet. The latest rumor is that the repairs have been expedited to realize completion within ten days.

Addendum: Dining at the Subway® in town has been significantly reduced as stated previously in Notes. The sandwiches appear to be getting smaller and smaller. The price of most of the sandwiches is now higher than a meal at Panda Express®. Personal patronage there is now just a token effort.

Miscellany: The official results are in … Hawai’i is ranked in sixth place amongst the most “vaccinated” states in empire. Over 81% of the population is fully “vaccinated” with the mRNA bioweapon.