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Question: What are the Christmas mailing dates?
Answer: From Hawaii the suggested mailing dates are Dec. 7 for first-class and priority mail bound for most international destinations and overseas military addresses, Dec. 8 for American Samoa, Dec. 14 for Guam and Saipan, Dec. 16 for the mainland and Dec. 22 for mail within the state, said Duke Gonzales, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in Honolulu.
If you are willing to spend more on postage, you can opt for priority express mail and send your cards and packages by Dec. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 23 to those destinations, respectively.
The suggested mailing dates assume that cards, letters and packages are dropped off before the daily cutoff time for the post office you are using.
“Postal customers are asked to keep in mind that the above suggested mailing dates are not deadlines, implying that packages or letters will not arrive at their destinations if mailed after the listed dates,” Gonzales said. “In fact, if normal holiday conditions prevail, chances are good that letters and packages sent shortly after the suggested dates will still make it to their destinations before Christmas. Ultimately, uncontrollable factors such as mailing volumes and weather determine whether deliveries can be made early or on time.”
Q: I received this email and am wondering whether it’s legit. Can you help me with this?
A: The email, which you forwarded to Kokua Line, carries the subject line “Experiencing Survey Link Issue — The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission Needs Your Help.” It lists the sender as an employer of Opinion Dynamics.
The body of the mail greets you by name and says, “We are reaching out to you because we are aware that the survey link in our previous email is not working and we are working on fixing this issue now. This survey request is a real request and not spam. We appreciate your willingness to complete the survey and we will be in contact again soon with a working survey link. On behalf of Opinion Dynamics, we apologize for any inconvenience and want you to know that we value your opinions.” It is signed by an employee of the company.
Kokua Line checked with the PUC, which confirmed that the email is legitimate and not a scam attempt. Opinion Dynamics is a market-research company under contract with the PUC to conduct a survey about energy efficiency efforts by Hawaii Energy. Feel free to complete the survey when you receive the follow-up email.
Hawaii Energy is a conservation and efficiency program for Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii counties funded by ratepayers and administered by Leidos Engineering LLC, under contract with the PUC.
Q: With this wind the lights are flickering again. The power goes off momentarily but then usually comes back on, but then it happens again. I’ve learned to live with it, but my husband says we should report it. How?
A: Call Hawaiian Electric’s trouble line at 855-304-1212. You can also report the problem via the company’s outage map at hawaiianelectric.com/outagemap, where you can check to see whether other customers in your area also are reporting problems.
Auwe
Shame on the people who stole two animal shelters (heavy wooden crates and tarps) on Round Top on Nov. 22. We are absolutely heartbroken! For the last 10 years my friend trapped and neutered other people’s discarded cats, and re-released them on Round Top. She fed them every afternoon; expenses incurred came out of her own pocket! Whenever I could I would help out feeding. Rain and cold wind are here; the cats will now have to be fed in the open without protection. I hope that whoever committed this cruel act will never be without shelter and food. May there always be somebody who cares for you. — Linde Keil, Honolulu
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
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