October 10: Mail's Here!

For months now, I've been stressing over our mailbox post out front. It's wood. It's old. And, it's in bad shape. Primarily, just the arm on it, as the post itself is still pretty solid. Still, I knew we had to replace it before Winter hits or else risk that it would just fall over in the snow one day and we would be battling the elements in an effort to put up a new one. So, we stopped by Home Depot today following the kids' swim class to purchase a new mailbox/post. Now, I've never bought a mailbox or post before and I had no idea what to look for in a new combination. So, I did what most normal guys would NOT do, I asked one of the Home Depot associates for help. And, in doing so, I learned a few things about mailboxes and their posts. First, I learned the store actually sells a wood mailbox post in the Lumber Dept.; I had no idea. Second, I learned that the aluminum or plastic combos you can buy, actually slide over the wooden post buried in the ground; again, I had no idea. I was thinking I had to dig up the old post, bury and cement a new post, then go from there. I also learned that there are far more mailbox choices than there really should be. I mean, how many do we need to choose from. In the end, but against my wife's preference, we went with the Rubbermaid Gentry series (in Mocha), which is a molded plastic mailbox/post all-in-one combination. And to think, buying it was the easy part...tomorrow, I have to put the darn thing up.