Salt, sand great for roads but bad for cars
Wow! Our first decent snowfall in years. The state and city seem to have responded pretty well to mitigating the snow and ice conditions on our roads. One thing I learned from my winters in Maine is when the road crews start putting down brine, rock salt and sand, while they do a great job of providing traction and making the frozen precipitation go away, they are also extremely corrosive to the underside of cars. Up North, most drivers have undercoating applied to the undersides of their cars. Even then, corrosion and rust will eventually eat out the metal of car bodies, suspension and exhaust system unless precautions are taken, which entail running your car through a car wash as soon as the roads are clear, making sure the underside of the car is thoroughly pressure-washed. Particularly insidious are frozen sand/salt clumps adhering to your car’s underside.
DAVID PORTER, DORAVILLE
Request for postage increase is audacious
I am sick and tired of the beleaguered U.S. Post office consistently requesting a postage increase. Carrier service, as well as customer service in local post office branches, has reached an all-time low. Average home delivery (in the Brookhaven area) is around 8 p.m., and this is not due to heavy holiday mail but a normal everyday occurrence. Occasionally, on some days, mail is not delivered at all.
After the recent snowstorm, by mid-morning Saturday, streets were mostly clear and people were out and about at malls etc. No attempt was made at mail delivery that day. Why? If understaffing and holiday mail is causing postal backup (which I have been told), then why was Sunday not a mandatory make-up day? Post office branches are also understaffed, resulting in untimely waits with no sense of urgency from postal employees. A rate increase for what?
J.S. SCHIRMER, BROOKHAVEN
About the Author
