I forgot to mention - a few more "firsts" today. I actually used the "print mailing label" feature in eBay to print out postage for two packages through PayPal. Very cool. I was able to do this thanks to my new toy - a digital postage scale I bought off of someone else on eBay.

I have now ordered a pack of self-stick postage labels which are designed to work with the USPS and UPS mailing label protocols. From now on, trips to the post office may be just to drop off packages. And can't I just hand them to the mail person when s/he delivers our mail, actually?

On a sour note - when I couldn't initially figure out how to get a mailing label going through eBay for a person who mailed me a money order (if the auction is paid through PayPal it's easy), I tried to use the "Click 'n ship" or whatever the heck they call it at usps.com - YUCK! First, I didn't have the option of using Media Mail as I can the other way. Then the site burped and froze as I was trying to print my label - so, no label, but a $4.80 charge to my credit card nonetheless! I need to contact the USPS customer service and see if there's any way to get that reversed. I did finally manage to get the thing printed through eBay, so now I know how to do it. The usps.com site can kiss my behind!