I stopped into the Silverthorne Post Office this morning to discover that the lock on my post office box, along with 273 others, had been changed. According to the front desk, when I filled out my post office box application 31 years ago, there was a sentence in the application that said I was responsible for remembering the renewal date on my box. That said, for 30 years, the post office had slipped a renewal slip into my box to remind me. Except not this year. All my fault. But for only $35, I could get my “free” box back.

Silverthorne Post Office is not a real post office. It is a substation of the Dillon Post Office. The Dillon box holders whose boxes expired reportedly all received their renewal notices, but not Silverthorne. Not enough help. However, they did have enough help to assign an employee to apparently change the locks on 274 boxes and then deal with the aftermath of all those people scrambling to renew their boxes at the same time. That apparently was easier than slipping a renewal notice in the boxes?

Not sure what the answer is, but the Silverthorne Post Office is a disaster. Like many in Summit County, we have no option for street delivery. We have to use a post office box. Most residents in the U.S. get delivery to their residence. At the Silverthorne Post Office, we can go days with no mail, then get a bundle overnight. Mostly real estate ads, but some important stuff too.

I struggle to remember all my internet passwords, and that’s not going to change. But I’m pretty sure I will now remember that my box expires on Feb. 28.