We're moving...

...within Sweden!

To Stockholm, specifically, the beautiful capital of Sweden where Russell will begin a new position (with the same company he's working for now) in March.

We won't move until late May, though, as it would be difficult while finishing the second semester in my master's program. Thankfully, Russ will only have to go to Stockholm a few times a week before we move. But, the 2-hour train ride isn't so bad, especially when there's electric outlets and Internet connection.

For my school this fall, I'll have to come to the university a couple times each week as we'll have more individual rather than in-class work. Next spring, we'll dedicate the entire semester to writing our thesis, so that's even less time I'll need to be at the university. However, for all of the wonderful friends we've made in Sweden so far, we will certainly want to keep in touch and visit as much as we can.

This move is beneficial for both of us, as Russ will work at the headquarters for a division of his company, which means working close to important people, and I'll have a better chance of getting a job post-grad school in this major city.

And of course, there are several other benefits, such as living close to the international airports, and also all the many wonderful things to do, eat, explore, and so on.

The contract is for three years, so I'll hopefully have at least two years to work internationally, and then from there, as a (yikes) recent 30-year-old, we'll decide what we want to do next.

U.S. Postal Service's Swedish shipment snafu

When sending something via the USPS, I normally have confidence that the item will go to the correct place, unless there's a wrong address or insufficient postage.

Even less likely is the possibility of damage to the letter or package, as I've only seen this happen once in my lifetime -- that is, until now.

The scrap of what once was an envelope with a card was sent in the USPS envelope it sits on in this photo:

Followed by the bolded "WE CARE" is an apology message from the USPS Plant Manager, with statements such as, "We are aware how important your mail is to you. With that in mind, we are forwarding [this useless piece of envelope remains] to you in an expeditious fashion."

Before this arrived, my mom called and said the rest of the letter, including the ripped card, was returned to her. Why, after sending my mom the actual card back, did the Plant Manager think it was necessary to send me this scrap internationally, I have no idea, especially when the USPS is in such financial trouble. I may have pinpointed one of the problems.

My mom predicts that someone (a postal worker, a greedy passerby, who knows) ripped open the card, thinking there was a gift card inside (there wasn't), but this mystery has yet (and probably never will be) solved.

I'm not completely blasting USPS, as 99.9 percent of my mail has arrived properly, and I understand, as the above envelope says, the "202 billion pieces of mail" sent each year by them may cause an "occasional mishap." OK, this is a little more than a mishap, but we'll let the company PR language slide this time.

Unless I'm added to the USPS black list, I look forward to receiving fully intact mail in the future.