# something else - different



## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

...just a display I built in 1976, the 200 anniversary of America's birth. Built for the post office. It is an LSM machine - letter sorting machine and the reason why letter penalties apply. At the end are pictures of actual LSM Operators. I was one for 12 years. I also built just the keyboards for newbies who needed them to practice on so they could pass the test to be an LSM Operator or they were let go if they failed. The keys actually worked as I had built in a spring release for each of the 20 keys for accurate finger depression. They were built in suit-case form for easy carting around. I never took pics of them, tho, sorry.
Forgot to mention...those are just dummys I made to represent the old and the new way of mail porcessing. Btw the girl dummy is wearing MY SUIT!


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## run4fittness (May 22, 2011)

Wow! really interesting, thanks for sharing!


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## nitcronut (Aug 9, 2011)

Thanks for sharing. At one time I had 6 family members working for the Post Office now we are down to one. Good stories to tell.


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## Grammax8 (Feb 9, 2012)

Wow...never know what is going to pop up here. Showed this to hubby and brought back memories. He was one of the original electrical engineers designing this machine back when. Thanks for showing and bringing back the memories.


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## RIO (Mar 4, 2011)

How neat!! My brother still works for the postal service in Northern Cali. (soon to retire). But I don't think I could ever do the sorting part of the job myself!!!

Thank you for sharing, what a very interesting thing to see, thanks for sharing such wonderful pictures and a part of "history"! 



Dusti said:


> ...just a display I built in 1976, the 200 anniversary of America's birth. Built for the post office. It is an LSM machine - letter sorting machine and the reason why letter penalties apply. At the end are pictures of actual LSM Operators. I was one for 12 years. I also built just the keyboards for newbies who needed them to practice on so they could pass the test to be an LSM Operator or they were let go if they failed. The keys actually worked as I had built in a spring release for each of the 20 keys for accurate finger depression. They were built in suit-case form for easy carting around. I never took pics of them, tho, sorry.
> Forgot to mention...those are just dummys I made to represent the old and the new way of mail porcessing. Btw the girl dummy is wearing MY SUIT!


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## NanBasKnit (Oct 4, 2013)

Wow...I wouldn't know how to begin building a machine like that. You certainly are very clever! Your pictures are really great, too! Thanks for sharing your work&#128522;


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## Janet Cooke (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks for sharing, we've come a long way, Baby!


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks everybody for replying and your appreciation. Yes, the era of the LSM is no more. When I retired there was still one LSM running. The others, 13 of them, had been removed to make way for the "readers" (new machines) that could read letter mail without any help from a human and send it on its way. Big changes!! I also was a flat sorter operator for a couple of years - sorting the larger pcs of mail like magazines and large envelopes, also keyed via a keyboard. Later I was a parcel sorter operator which of course also sorted parcels via a keyboard. I think they still use those last two mentioned, today. Not sure, been retired for 10 years now. Any postal workers out there? Do they?

My last job was as a NIXIE clerk which only main facilities have. I was one of two Nixie clerks in a facility of some 900 employees. Nixie clerks are like lawyers, we determine correct rules and regulations for every country on the planet! Great job, but I put in my papers after almost 35 years. Could NOT stand working with my partner Nixie clerk, the only way I would've stayed (and I wanted to) was if I was allowed to strangle him. But the PO frowned on violence on the work floor! That man was a miserable, miserable man to work with. 
Dusty


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## DollieD (Mar 7, 2011)

I am so impressed.
I worked with several people who ran LSM's.
It seemed like it wold bore me to tears!
I retired last Jan 2013.
Do you still work for them?
We outsource that job in Louisville, now.


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

I keep forgetting to mention. In one of the pictures that shows the actual operators, I put a red arrow pointing to the vacuum arm on the LSM. That arm sucks up one letter (must've been fun to devise that thing) at a time and drops it in front of the operator in a slot just about a foot down from eye level of the operator. If the letter is over sized the arm will spit it out. I just wanted you guys to see why letter mail penalties are imposed. 

just some more postal bits:
The letter, after it is dropped in the slot in front of the LSM operator, will sit still for ONE SECOND, giving the operator a half a second to read the address and another half a second to come up with the key code assigned to that state/city/street address which has to be pulled from memory items (some totally over 1500 items) she or he had to commit to memory so it can be keyed correctly. Like I mentioned before, that letter whether keyed or not will MOVE away on its own, regardless. If keyed correctly, it will go to the correct bin. If not...it goes to the "Zero" bin in front of the supervisor's desk. Put there so she or he can see all the mail that is being mishandled or simply not keyed. And they WILL KNOW who did it, too, as we are monitored. The zero bin is where ALL error mail went! Another operator 
will then empty out the zero bin and restack its mail back on the LSM to be keyed again. Supervisors don't like this when this happens because there is a mail count for every single piece of mail that goes thru the LSM. The mail count is recorded and shows up on the computer monitor sitting on her desk at the front of the machine. Supervisors are responsible for the LSM mail count - QUOTA! It is an expected amount in relation to the amount of time the LSM is running. They're neck is on the block if the machine doesn't meet its quota. When the machine jams, Sups start yelling.


Keying mail generally requires no more than 5 rapid key hits, some left hand, some right hand. The letters, a mere second later, whether keyed or not, it's all automatic, will shoot on thru the machine coming out in back it and sliding into one of a long line of some hundred cubicles which operators are continuously emptying out once they fill up. The mail is then placed in a tray on a skid. 

Some of those cubicles fill up like crazy! So you need to stay sharp otherwise the mail will back up and jam the machine causing it to shut down ALL 12 consoles leaving the operators just sitting there and looking pretty. Again, jammed machines tick off the supervisor. In the PO, it's all about time, speed and accuracy. Of course there were the pranksters who would purposefully cause the machines to jam to give us operators a break or simply because the supervisor was a known pain in the ass!


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## kittys punkin (Feb 15, 2012)

This brings back memories. I never worked on the LSM but I did work on the flat sorter, both the 100 and the newer 1000's. I retired under the early out in January 2013, but when I retired I worked on the LIPS,which is a bundle and package sorter. It used a keyboard to sort also. The last time I was in there they were still using it, that was only a couple of months ago. They was talk of trying to get rid of it and getting a SPIBS, which is the same machine only more updated. I can't say that I miss it much as things are really changing there and not for the good. I guess that is like any other workplace in this economy. Thanks for the pics.


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

DollieD said:


> I am so impressed.
> I worked with several people who ran LSM's.
> It seemed like it wold bore me to tears!
> I retired last Jan 2013.
> ...


No, hon, been retired for 10 years now. And boring??? You have NO IDEA HOW BORING IT WAS!!!! I had me some 30 seconds dreams a million times on that machine! The Sup woke me up a lot! But she knew how it was having to work the LSM midnights. She didn't get too annoyed with us for that. LOL! Funny thing is...while I nodded off, my hands were still keying! It was hard staying awake. I think I drank 3 pots of coffee a day back then and consistantly was eating any kind of chocolate bar to wake me up, which of course meant more coffee when the chocolate rush ran out.


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks kitty for bringing me up to speed on that. Wow! Still using the LSM! I haven't touched an LSM keyboard in 15 years but I bet I can still rip thru it. 

Once way back when on "Family Day" at the PO. My kids showed up. They were teens at that time. I showed the kids how an LSM worked. They were amazed at the speed of the key hits I made on the keyboard. Little did they know there was a lot more to keying mail than just hitting keys on a keyboard! 

Yes, today it's all gone. More machines than people. I remember seeing hundreds of postal workers working the "aisle" as we postal workers call it - the place where ALL letter mail was distributed by HAND. I loved the aisle, loved sorting letter mail by hand. I would sit there with my head set on and have at it. I was fast as hell too. I could work thru 3 trays of mail compared to another worker's ONE! I never understood why some workers would want to draw a paycheck and NOT do the work they signed on to do! 
Me? I'd grab 4 or 5 trays at a time because I was tired of getting up every 15 minutes to get another tray. I was kind've mouthy to the Supervisors back then, but they put up with me because I was a good worker. Today, you'd be lucky to see 12 people working in the aisle.


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## kittys punkin (Feb 15, 2012)

I am sorry if you misunderstood, they took the LSM out probably 20 years ago when they got the automation more updated. I started out on automation and worked that for 17 years then went to the LIPS and worked that for 8 years. We got shuffled around a lot having to fill in where needed. I have worked as dock expeditor, red room, express, pouch racks,flat sorter and manual cases. They put us anywhere but on our bid job. The last couple of years I very seldom got to do my bid job because they had noone to work some of the other jobs. At one time another person and I took turns answering the phone on the weekends so that we could avoid having a supervisor in there. But they knew that we did our jobs by the reports and they trusted us as we had a very small crew on the day shift. I think there were only about 10-12 people on days.I feel so bad for all those that are still there as they did not replace jobs to cover all the early outs who retired. Just push them to do more, even if it is not possible, they would just say do the best you can. Sure don't miss all the bull. Retirement is great!


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

I hear that Kitty, there was very little aisle mail anymore. Most of the time we milked what little we had to do and the supervisors expected that. We got replaced by machines!! They kept warning us about how the future looked grim for postal workers, but never said what they meant tho I suspected as much. There were many days when we were told we could leave early and go home... "6 and out" as they say. Work six straight hours, no lunch and get out of there. Of course you lost 2 hrs pay. I usually went for it because I'm a worker...standing around being bored drives me up a wall.

As you probably know there is a buiding (was when I left the service ten yrs ago) that has ONE WORKER. Guess he was a mechanic who pushes the button that starts the machinery and takes care of them when they go down. THAT is the way it will go! However, I am trying to figure out how they can eliminate the carriers??? I am sure they will get to that, too!
I did every job in the post office that there was. Was a carrier, hated that, was a window clerk, hated that too, worked in the Reg room, nice job that. Even was the general clerk for awhile but got out of that because I didn't like the new Tour Supt. who had me doing everything but his laundry. Took a supervisor's exam in four different services and aced them all, then when it came time for me to go before the board, I changed my mind and didn't go because I really didn't think I could handle a job that would involve my just standing around. I am a physical worker, not a thumb twiddler. Took the tests more as a lark, I think. 

I worked a ton of other jobs for the PO, but my fav was when I swindled my way into the art shop. I got the job after I did the display. This was pushed by the PM. He offered me a superior achievement award (had 4 of those already), but I didn't want the 500 dollars that went with and I told him that. I wanted the job in the art shop. BAM! Got it!!!


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## Damama (Oct 2, 2011)

How very clever! Great crafting


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## Kyba (Oct 12, 2011)

Wow. I bet ya'll can knit fast! You have to have quick hands and minds!


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## DollieD (Mar 7, 2011)

Speaking of co-workers?
I worked with the very BEST!
Really...but the stupidvisors...I totally could not handle!


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## grandmann (Feb 4, 2011)

It is so sad how these jobs disappear but on the other hand people can't work as fast as machines. We still need people to keep these machines running but only a fraction compare where it was.


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## Jeannne (Jan 25, 2013)

This is so interesting!
I remember my uncle, who worked for the post office in the 1940s, practicing sorting mail at home. He had a tabletop model of the cubicles labeled with destinations and a stack of small cards with addresses on them. He "sorted" the cards and timed himself for accuracy. It looked like a game, but I think that he was studying for a test that would mean a promotion or pay raise. No machines to do the work then!


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

Jeannne said:


> This is so interesting!
> I remember my uncle, who worked for the post office in the 1940s, practicing sorting mail at home. He had a tabletop model of the cubicles labeled with destinations and a stack of small cards with addresses on them. He "sorted" the cards and timed himself for accuracy. It looked like a game, but I think that he was studying for a test that would mean a promotion or pay raise. No machines to do the work then!


Jeannne.
What your uncle was doing was he was testing his memory items to see if he could recall them all when he took the test to put up whatever scheme that he has. A scheme is a list street names with associated route numbers. We as postal workers were required to put up a scheme which you could choose. When I say "put up" I mean PASS THE TEST for that scheme. The scheme may contain 3 or 400 memory items.

Let's say your Uncle has the EAST MEADOW scheme. He would have a bunch of blank business cards that has all the streets for that town written on one side of each of the business cards. On the other side would be written the ROUTE number for each street. For example:

14 Canterbury Rd goes to ... route 14

You would have to memorize that street address and what route it goes to! The route number designates the carrier. When you take the test you are given a bunch of test cards with all the street names on them but no route number. Then you will be asked to sort those cards to the proper route (cubicle). You will be allowed to miss 5 (if my memory serves me right) out of the lot they give you which I totally forget now how many cards they gave you.

I had to memorize some 5 or 6 schemes thru out my postal career. This amounted to over 2500 memory items I had committed to memory. You were generally given 3 months to put up your scheme. I once tried to put up the "city" scheme which was the LARGEST scheme on this planet to commit to memory. It is so large they give you 5 years to complete and it was divided up into 5 parts: city A, city B, City C, etc. I put up city A, but it almost drove me to drink to do it. It was HARD because even by it self one part was larger than the town schemes. So I switched over to Jamaica Queens and Flushing which was a breeze compared to City A.

The LSM too required you to know a scheme. Let me tell you, it was NOT easy to beome an LSM operator. That is why I built those keyboards so my co-workers could practice for the LSM test. The test is strict and hard and FAST paced. Learning that keyboard was no picnic. But I hung in there with it and finally passed the test to become an LSM operator. And btw I eventually became known as the "top Op" as they used to say. I was also sometimes called "the machine" because I zeroed across the board...meaning did not make errors as errors are recorded on the computer that the supervisor is constantly looking at. The LSM was a decent enough job back then...you mostly sat down all day instead of being sent here and there lugging heavy parcels and bending over sorting flats by hand. Flats refer to magazines and large envelopes.


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

Dollie,

Yes the supervisors made the job almost unbearable. They, in fact, are why postal workers went "postal." What royal pains in the neck they were. All they did was stand around looking pretty wearing grey suits with pink shirts and ties. I hated when they tried to tell me how to do my job. If my output was three times the output of any other worker - then you better leave me alone or I won't do squat. Not to mention (and I am sure you KNOW this) some of my supervisors had an IQ of a rock. They would assign me to all the dirty work because I gave them a lot of lip back then. I just couldn't stand having an idiot ordering me around. And so I became an LSM Op. 

At TAX TIME, there would be a whole team of workers sorting all that tax mail out. But one day before I became an LSM Op, they assigned me to the tax mail and put me there aloneAND they would not give me any helpers. But guess what? I got the job done!! After that, every year they would call on good old me to handle the tax mail by myself. I didn't mind...I loved working hard and fast...was brought up that way as I had been working since I was 8 years old (also doing face paced work) so it was nothing new to me. Couldn't go out to play like other kids but I didn't mind; you don't miss what you never had.


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## nitcronut (Aug 9, 2011)

Janet Cooke said:


> Thanks for sharing, we've come a long way, Baby!


Janet Cooke
I am terribly offended by your avetar. It is too small to read but I can only suspect what it suggests. The picture of one President who was assassinated and another a wanted poster of our current President. No matter how you feel about our President keep in mind he was elected by the majority of the voting people of this great country and if you don't have respect for him yourself at least have respect for the office he holds and our democratic process that put him there. You can get removal of any political figure by the voting process not by hinting of assassination.

This is a knitting and crocheting site and not a site for downgrading of our political process and your discontent for it.


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## mdok (Mar 20, 2013)

The Postal Training Center for the US is in Norman Oklahoma. Postal employees come from all over the country to learn how to operate the various Postal service machines. The Postal worker are here for scheduled learning times, there is housing and free time pursuits for the trainees to use while they are here.


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## mdok (Mar 20, 2013)

The Postal Training Center for the US is in Norman Oklahoma. Postal employees come from all over the country to learn how to operate the various Postal service machines. The Postal worker are here for scheduled learning times, there is housing and free time pursuits for the trainees to use while they are here.


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## mdok (Mar 20, 2013)

sorry for the double post.


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

mdok,

You can be trained on any machine in any city any state...depends on where you are hired. Local PO's generally send you to the main hub meaning a larger installation. I worked at 3 major installations in my PO career including the largest one in US in the city (Manhattan).

I did not like working in the local PO's - the smaller branches - and I did work in 3 of those, but they were too darn clickish for me; I just don't like ANY "fraction" that segregates itself from another including religion. So I mostly got into nothing but fights working in those and so I would transfer out, or did a bilateral swap, to a larger facility before I killed somebody. The larger facilities have their own fractions there too - there is just NO way to completely escape from that - but they were so large you didn't notice it. Anyway, I much, much preferred to read or do some artwork on my breaks which was hard to do in a small PO where the breakroom is small and people constantly engaging you in conversation. I am not an introvert, quite the opposite, but only on my terms as selfish as that sounds...it's just that I have too many things I need to accomplish in JUST this ONE lifetime and need to keep after them before my time runs out.


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## mdok (Mar 20, 2013)

I lust know that the Postal Training center was built here some time after we moved here. Was in temporary housing at a hotel when the company building t were housed here while they were building the center. This was in late 1980's. I have interacted briefly with people there for training, because there is also small bus that takes them shopping for necessities, or for other things they might need. Those people talked about being from many various places in the US. I have also personally known people who have come for their training, one friend was friends with the wife of a trainee. That man's wife and my friend got together here, to go to a quilt show. My comment about the training center was not meant to start controversity, it was just an aside about letter sorting equipment, because that was one area of training given at the facility.


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## mdok (Mar 20, 2013)

just not lust, proof read before hitting send


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## Dusti (Jan 23, 2012)

mdok,
No controversy, just explaining! My guess as to why there were so many people from other places is because when you apply for a job at the post office you are given 3 choices as to what city or post office you want to work at. These were generally posted in "the Chief" a newspaper that covered a lot of government jobs. I never gave THEM a choice, I just put down ONE pick and that was it as I did not want to work anywhere else. Back then, the early 70's, jobs were plentiful in the PO. Then too you are allowed to do a bi-lateral swap meaning swapping with someone else from another facility or city or state. I only did that. It was a local swap to another facility about 20 minutes closer to where I lived. 
Don't worry about typos, we all make 'em!!!


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