I'm a small online retailer. Here's how I'm adapting my business to accommodate US Postage slowdowns.

I am a small online retailer. I depend on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ship my orders. I sell handmade salves, handmade by me. I make lip balms, skin repair, and sore muscle salves at a tiny Etsy shop online.

I've had my shop for over 7 years now. My little online business has grown slowly over that time.

I sell self-care products geared towards people who do intense CrossFit workouts. My most frequent customers are the people who love these crazy exercise folks, buying gifts for crossfitters all across the country.

Other customers buy my products because they need them. They have sore muscles or torn hands, and no time to wait for mail delays either.

I was receive several wholesale orders per month from both domestic and foreign buyers.  But for one exception (where I ship my product on my buyer's UPS account), my sole shipper for the entire time I've been in business has been the USPS.

I've checked around. The USPS has the best prices out there, by a lot. There's no way I could be even close to competitive if I had to pay UPS or Fedex rates on a regular basis.

Maybe if you're a big company that's shipping on a really large scale, you can negotiate for better shipping rates from these large private companies. This savings opportunity is just not available for a little fish like me.

Last week, a lady placed an order at my online shop. She immediately messaged me, asking if there is a chance she can get the order before August 22nd. She had placed her order on the 13th.

Normally I would have said, "Of course, your order will be there on time with First Class Mail. Don't worry about it."

 In past times, I would have had absolutely zero doubt.

Up to this point, (*knocks wood*) all of my packages have been arriving and my customers have been happily leaving Five Star reviews at my shop, many commenting on how impressively quickly they received their item.

But lately, I've been hearing about mail delivery delays.

I'm reading about sorting machines being removed from facilities. Recently, under the leadership of (ups stockholder * Link) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the USPS has sustained a massive layoff of longtime postal service executives, and some mailboxes being removed from the streets of US cities.

Until August 14, just a few days ago as I write this, nationwide efforts to sabotage the timely delivery of the mail were being enacted at every level.

This time instead of assuring my customer not to worry, I told her I would put her order into the mail right away, and that there should be plenty of time. In the end, she upgraded her shipping from First Class to Priority, just so she could have more peace of mind.

This interaction caused me to change my shop's shipping policy. Up to this point, my Etsy shop has said that orders would be sent in 1-3 business days. 

Today I switched it to say, "Ships in 1-2 business days."

In truth, I'm sending my orders out as soon as they come in. I feel I have no choice.

It's not much, but shipping my orders out as fast as I receive them seems like the least I can do to make sure that my customers get their gifts, and self-care treats, in a timely fashion.

I depend on the USPS. My customers depend on the USPS. The Post Office is in the Constitution. It's been a reliable way to send and receive letters in this country since the late 1700s. Our forefathers, and foremothers, relied on the USPS for nearly all of their long-distance communications, for centuries.

Nowadays, even though we have all this other fantastic technology that allows us to talk, send messages, and even speak to people through our computer screens, Jetson's style, we still need to be able to send physical items to people across distances.

We live in a physical world, inside our physical bodies. Especially now, in the midst of a pandemic, our dependency on the USPS for letter mail and package delivery has become even more apparent.

Let's face it, until our consciousnesses are loaded into a big computer mainframe, our need for physical papers, objects, items, and goods is not going to end.

The structure of the USPS connects everyone within the US, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and several other faraway places I probably forgot. Another great thing about the USPS is that you don't need to be rich to use it. Everyone, no matter where they are, can send and receive mail for the same price.

Instead of decrying the USPS for being a 'failing business,' we should be heralding it as being a minor miracle of human organizational, logistical, and infrastructure triumph!

We have a right to a functioning postal service. The need for this common good is so apparent right now, at the height of a pandemic. It boggles my mind that something so absolutely essential to all of us has been put in such jeopardy.

Congress has started to act. After leaving last week on a one month planned recess, Representatives are back in Washington DC this week and have scheduled USPS oversight hearings for Friday. Postmaster General DeJoy, is scheduled to testify in person on Friday morning, August 21.

Congress should reverse the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA),which forced the prepayment of 75 years of postal worker pensions, and take whatever other steps possible to expand the role of the postal service so that this critical nationwide institution will be preserved for all future generations.

If you rely on the USPS, like I do, here are some things you can do to help support and advocate for the USPS. The public outcry so far has helped! 

On Aug 19 DeJoy released a statement saying he would halt changes in mail operations until after the November election in order to avoid the perception that he was trying to sabotage the election. 

It would be better if his new plans had been scrapped altogether, instead again we're given a couple more months of reprieve, while our precious national postal service remains in jeopardy. That's just not good enough. We need to protect the USPS, it's services, and cost-efficiency now, and into the future.

Be nice to your mail carrier when you see them. Buy an extra book of stamps this week, write someone a letter, or a Thank You card. Here's an idea: Write your senators and congressperson and tell them that you want them to do something to help save the US Postal Service.

While CrossFit former-CEO Greg Glassman’s recent comments are worthy of condemnation, they shouldn’t forever tarnish a worldwide fitness community and a sport that has changed so many lives.
The Founding Fathers had some issues. CrossFit founder Greg Glassman has got some issues, too.
Many of us were taught to revere the Founding Fathers in school. Turns out they were actually quite monstrous people in many ways. In most ways, they were also able to operate throughout their lives largely, if not entirely, unchecked.
I think it’s fortunate that, unlike the US Founding Fathers, Glassman, and the CrossFit organization he founded, is around today to learn their lesson, and help the rest of us to learn in the process.
In recent weeks, following insensitive comments by CrossFit founder and former-CEO, Greg Glassman about George Floyd, the Black man murdered on camera by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, many CrossFit gym owners have started taking steps to de-affiliate their gyms from the CrossFit brand.
Greg Glassman exhibited callousness and insensitivity in his remarks about Floyd, specifically on Twitter, and in a private Zoom call with some CrossFit staff and affiliate owners in attendance.
Glassman’s comments sound more like the rantings of a racist Thanksgiving uncle than the leader of a successful international fitness company. The dismissive comments showed that, at the time, Glassman was not taking the police murder of a Black man in any way seriously, an event that was shaking the nation and sparking protests worldwide.
Gyms that have been CrossFit gyms for years are now dropping the word “CrossFit” from their names. On a single day in June, over 15 CrossFit gyms I follow on Facebook all changed their page names.
No doubt Glassman was surprised, as was the rest of the staff at CrossFit Headquarters, at the suddenness of the social media outcry against him and the rapid decision of many CrossFit gyms to de-affiliate, change their names and otherwise sever their long-held ties with the company.
Social media has many downsides. One good thing about the Power of the Ratio, in my opinion, is the way that average, regular people can get rich, powerful, and otherwise untouchable, people to self-assess.
I personally have no issue with individual box owners making their own business decisions. I just don’t personally want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

    1.    CrossFit Exercise Programs Change Lives
CrossFit as a sport and fitness program has helped so many people and changed so many lives, my own included. I hate the idea of something that has been so personally meaningful to me could suddenly be turned into a bad word or become shun-worthy.
I used to be a person with a very bad opinion of my body. I used to run for hours and hours a day to quiet the critical voice in my mind. I counted calories. I didn’t eat enough, and then I’d eat too much all at once, and start berating myself again. I’m not exaggerating when I say that when I discovered CrossFit, the workouts changed my life.
Crossfit workouts changed my body composition, got me upper body strength I’d only dreamed of, and got me so far out of my head I stopped berating my body altogether.
CrossFit helped me free my mind from the prison of constant self-criticism. It was such an intensely freeing experience, I wanted to share it with everyone. It’s something I’m going to be grateful for forever.
2. CrossFit Boxes (Gyms = Boxes) are largely very welcoming communities with membership that are largely unafraid of hard work and who welcome personal growth.
I was the co-owner of a CrossFit gym for over 10 years. Over those years, I worked to create a community that is supportive, nurturing, and fun. My business partner and I fostered a non-competitive environment that welcomes people of all ages, races, genders, orientations, and religions. Athletes at Wildcat CrossFit are there for each other, supporting each other, and working to tackle tough workouts together as a community.
I encourage self-reflection in every level of the organization and I hope that CrossFit leadership, as well as individual box owners, will take the opportunity to learn the important lessons these times present us with.
I’m disappointed with Greg Glassman for what he said. I’m glad he apologized for it, and I’m glad that he stepped down from his role at the helm of the organization. At the end of June, Glassman took the step of putting CrossFit, up for sale.
I look forward to seeing what they do next at CrossFit HQ under incoming-CEO Eric Roza to address the important issues of systemic racial insensitivity and lack of diversity within the US CrossFit community.
3. An Excellent Opportunity for Learning and Growth
It’s a shame that Glassman interjected statements this unhelpful into the national discourse, but perhaps another way to look at it is that a very necessary lesson has started to be learned. Like CrossFit Certification Courses, education is expensive.
I welcome accountability from Glassman and CrossFit HQ Staff. I encourage the public to give the CrossFit organization time to show us that it can improve. Improvement takes time, as anyone who’s ever labored to get Pull-ups can tell you.
Here is one suggestion to increase representation and increase sensitivity. Historically, when soldiers and first responders are killed in the line of duty, CrossFit has come up with a ‘Hero Workout’ or ‘Hero WOD,’ a special workout dedicated to the person who has died. One famous Hero WOD is “Murph.”
One way that CrossFit, as a worldwide business, could make amends for Glassman’s comments would be to release a new set of Hero workouts that tell the stories of Black activists, Historical Heroes, and Black people unjustly killed by police. Initiatives to make CrossFit certification courses less expensive and more available to individuals from disadvantaged communities would also be a welcome step to take. I also implore the incoming CEO and the rest of HQ Staff to listen to community members better, and more.
Increased diversity, representation, communication, and outreach can only make the CrossFit community stronger.

Note: This post was originally published in Medium on Friday, 7/10/20. Here is a link to that article.

Welcome to my initial blog post on the Hardcore Herbalist Blog. This week I published a new video on YouTube. Episode 9: Pick and Shovel Workout Fun. It's my best performing video (on the first day) so far...24 views as I am writing this. It's not a lot, but it's a start. I'm still searching for that particular audience that will get what I'm trying to do here. I want to inspire women to try new things, to really inhabit their bodies, to feel their strength and their power. No, I actually haven't seen Wonder Woman yet...but I'm sure there are parallels. I have no doubt.
Here's an example of me stretching my boundaries in the very recent past: About 3 months ago I started a YouTube channel. In the process of learning about filming, editing, I have also been learning all kinds of fun stuff about yours truly. For one thing, I don't like to edit raw footage...Hopefully that one will change.
For another thing, I'm learning that I have something unique to say and I am learning to have confidence in myself that there are people out there who actually want to hear what I have to say.
In these early stages of my channel...the ego blows and all the hours of work for just a few views and a handful of awesome subscribers... Thanks to CrossFit, I know that all I need to do is keep working every day. Keep moving forward doggedly. Keep focusing on what I'm doing right now.
Thanks for taking the time to check out my new video. Here's the link:
https://youtu.be/-U6VSXa1gnI

Has life ever thrown you a curve ball?
You know, an event (or an injury) that interrupted your workout routine and kept you from making it into the gym for an extended period of time? We all have. In fact, recently, it happened to me...
On the beautiful Saturday morning of March 19, as I was making myself some coffee and getting ready to head into the gym for CrossFit Open Workout 17.4, my tea kettle slipped out of my hand and scalding water splashed onto my belly. Not only wouldn't I be completing the CrossFit Open, I wasn't going to be able to workout at all for nearly two months.
And just like that, I was knocked out of the running for the CrossFit Games. Haha. Jk. Lol. Actually I was never in danger of making it to Regionals, much less the Games, and I'm lucky that my injury didn't knock me out of the game entirely. Over the first few days after my injury it became clear that my burn was pretty much entirely second degree...the area was swelling up and multiple blisters began to form. What followed was a two month odyssey of self-administered nursing interventions and a significant amount of pain. And no working out. Like Zero.
Here are some pictures of my tummy at the beginning and end of the healing process. Note: if you are a squeamish person: scroll through quickly.

Initially my body was just all tensed up from the pain, I remember feeling like my I was clenching my abs 24/7, for the first week or so. I honestly didn't even miss working out much at all for the first several weeks. I was just doing my best trying to keep myself and my animals alive, keeping my wound clean, taking care of the barest necessities and that was it.
The wound was large and the healing was slow, and then it started to itch. And then it started to peel. And then one day it *Finally* started to feel better. The next day was my first workout back.
Here are some of the ways that my body changed during my 7 weeks of convalescence: I lost weight. My muscles shrank, the skin on my legs wrinkles over the space left by my shrunken muscles. I feel like I'm uncomfortably out of breath during the WODs...and, Man have I lost strength!
My Body: Not as strong as I remember ...
I lost strength in my shoulders and legs. My Deadlifts (x3) have also gotten lighter. I did 205 for 3yesterday. I remember being able to pull at least 275 or more off the floor for three less than a year ago.
During the workout for 17.3, I did quite a few 65# Squat Snatches with no problem...and yet on my 3rd workout back, which contained some snatches, I tried one rep at 65# and knew I wasn't going to be able to keep going with good form, as a matter of fact that first rep was pretty ugly. A voice in my head said: “Hey, Chill out. You don't have to get all your strength back today! You lost it over time...you get it back over time.”
It's Alright to Scale: Both the Weights and the Movements
(aka: It's ok to not RX every WOD)
That was when I asked Laurie for a sub. I needed something easier than a 65# Snatch so I could keep going, safely. Laurie suggested one-arm dumbbell snatches...which, at 20#, was a great option for my shoulders.
Before my injury, I could easily press out 35# Kettle bells overhead...now I'm back down to 20# and I'm working my way back up. “Good Job, Shoulders!”
It's a good lesson to me to ease back into working out and accepting the capabilities of my body as it is right now. I've done the Heavy Duty workout for the past three Saturdays...and I haven't been able to Rx one of those workouts yet.
One heck of a Silver Lining...
Rather than focusing on what I lost during my workout hiatus, I like to focus on the stuff that is starting to resolve as my life slowly starts to get back to normal. I'm sleeping better and more soundly, I'm eating better quality foods because that is what my body craves when it is getting exercise.
I'm still not in the habit of working out regularly, yet. For example, last week I worked out 3 days in a row...and then took four days off. That's not what I call regular exercise. I remember telling myself: “I'm going to take one rest day and then get right back into it.” Then that second day rolled around and I didn't have a plan for when I was going to workout..and then the day just kind of got away from me.
And then the same thing happened the next day and the next day.
For someone who works at a gym, I sometimes wonder why I find it so hard to squeeze in that hour of exercise in to my busy life.
Getting back in the habit. Again.
This is why I'm so grateful to have a place like Wildcat to come to. Sometimes I feel like I'm bringing my A game to my workout, sometimes I feel like I'm just trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Working out with other people is such a valuable experience. I always work harder when other people are working hard around me. And no matter what shape I'm in, the Wildcat community is here to support me in my fitness journey and, in this case, in my journey back to fitness from injury.
Lesson Learned
I haven't always Really appreciated my body.
This experience taught me how important it is to have continuous skin across my whole belly. And how precious it is to have experienced so much of my life not in constant chronic pain and discomfort. I am grateful for my immune system and my body's proven healing ability. I used to “not like” my belly...my legs, my butt. It took me a long time to learn to love and appreciate my body for what it can do, rather than attacking it for being too flabby, which is a topic for another blog post.
Let's just say that this ordeal was another great reminder for me to not take my precious body for granted.
Sometimes Life throws you a curveball...or several. Your job is to survive those, and when you've recovered as much as you need to on your own, getting back to the gym and building your body back up...and get ready for the next curve ball.
It can suck to be in that “two steps forward, one step back” state of fitness...when you're like “Gains? What are those?”
Sometimes in life you just have to start all over again. It's what happens. Your job is to stay cool, and build it back up.
What injury or illness have you recovered from that has caused you to have that rough re-entry to the gym experience?