@ahk: "Looking into the matter I posted about in another message, I thought I'd 
check to see who issued the directive and what the legal basis was. Huh. The 
number published in the Chicago telephone directory for Chicago District 
Manager/postmaster is now dead! Refers you to 800-no-info, where one reaches 
an obnoxious automated attendant and voice recognition system that will not 
allow a call to be transferred to a customer service representative until I 
had repeated "operator" six times. The representative then denied that there 
was a postmaster of Chicago or district office. I was stunned into silence. 
Click.
I then called the federal info number in my phone book, the General Services 
Administration program on government information. A recording said to look 
at its Web site. I did that. All it does is provide a link to the post 
office's Web site, which doesn't have postal service hq's telephone number 
on it anywhere it can be found easily.
Finally, someone answered, tried to give me the 800 no-info number. I 
repeated my requested. She looked some more and tried to give me an OIG 
phone number. I then asked to speak to a supervisor, who looked and found 
the number. I asked why the first clerk couldn't find the number. He said 
it's on a list that the clerk doesn't have access to. Why is that? Because 
the post office has its own call center. I pointed out that the post office 
call center isn't equipped to answer calls like mine. He then offered to 
look up the number for the Chicago postmster. After holding for a long time, 
I gave up.
Calling USPS hq (a person answered!) I asked for the number for general 
counsel in Chicago. Got that number. I then asked for the general number for 
the Chicago district. She couldn't give me that number. I asked why. She 
said they have to screen calls. I said I'd only call that number so I 
wouldn't have to call Washington to get a local number for a department in 
Chicago. She told me it was against policy to give it to me and that I hoped 
I appreciate it. I said I didn't appreciate fhenson@example.net.
General counsel in Chicago (they let me talk to a paralegal) said she'd try 
to track down the origin of the directive, but she didn't know the general 
number for Chicago district either. If she follows through, I'll have my 
answer. She claimed that general counsel in Chicago never deals with 
operations (no idea what they do).
I know things like this are fairly common, that some manager gets a bug up 
his ass about something and decides to write a manual, not bothering to 
check to see if he has authority in some provision in a manual. It's so cute 
making the unknown "lock box clerk" perform the dirty work."
    @bearclaw: "<quote>
Adam, ask your carrier for a number. Then, when they ask you where you 
got that number, YOU can act all mysterious about it ;-)"
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