Mailbox

I have the same mailbox I set up when I first moved here 33 years ago.  It had a thing on the top to put the street number in.  Sleek, cool...

Someone kept knocking the top off.  I would find it a few yards away and reinstall it.  Apparently, that really annoyed the vandal.  That person finally tossed it in the drainage easement once.  I found it there and reinstalled.

Finally, it was no longer "findable".  OK, I gave up.  I figured it was someone who would get older and lose interest.  After a few years, I made a fish shape to hold brass letters.  It remained.

But after enough years, the flag assembly began to stick.  I realized the mailperson couldn't lower it easily.  Well, I like my mailperson, so I went out to fix it.  I discovered it wasn't really a good design (it needed to be lifted slightly to lower it).

Nothing like a challenge...

I went at it with a screwdriver, pliers, and axle grease.  By the time I was done, it slid from up to down to up to down smooth as silk.

The next day, I stood by the mailbox as the mailperson came by.  I said "check out the flag".  She did and pronounced it "perfect".

So I also painted the flag a brighter red.  Might as well overdo it, LOL!