Friday, July 31, 2026
Off the Clock
He did a career 180 but never got off his deck
This pro skateboarder-turned-letter carrier now finds spots along his route for ‘sick tricks’
My name is Joey Brezinski, and I am a letter carrier in El Segundo, CA. I joined USPS in 2024 after a career as a professional skateboarder.
I picked up my first skateboard when I was 7 years old and never put it down.
Skateboarding gave me purpose, and I trained to build a professional career. I competed in X Games and Red Bull Manny Mania in the technical skating event, which I won seven times.
Aside from the wins, I am proud of being a mentor. One of my skating proteges, who started skating with me when he was a kid, has qualified for the next U.S. Olympic team.
As some of my endorsement contracts were coming to an end, I decided to pursue a career change. I lived close to a Post Office in the Westchester neighborhood in Los Angeles where I drove by a “We’re hiring” sign.
I visited the USPS careers page and went through the process.
These days I no longer compete but skate for fun on my days off. My skateboarding background helps me walk my 18-mile route, which on some days adds up to 40,000 steps.
Delivering mail is very similar to skateboarding. When I skate, I load up the car with boards and camera gear to film tricks while hitting different street spots. At the Post Office, instead of skateboards, I load mail and parcels. I get to walk around neighborhoods and I’m outside all day. It’s great exercise, which is getting me more excited to skate again.
When I’m on my route, I make a note of spots that would be sick for a skate trick to suggest to my friends.
My skating fans are interested in my latest professional chapter. I have received at least 100 messages asking me how to apply to the Postal Service. I know other skaters who are trying to figure out what they are doing in their life, and they are interested in being carriers, too. I’m trying to recruit athletes like me to join USPS.
“Off the Clock,” a column on Postal Service employees and their after-hours pursuits, appears regularly in Link.
People
Taking a package down the road gets customer down the aisle
An employee earns thanks from a bride-to-be and a postal inspector makes his Netflix debut
A customer’s wedding bells almost turned into wedding blues until Luwanda Owens stepped in recently to save the big day.
The Bedford, IL, complaints and inquiry clerk received an email asking for help finding a missing package containing a wedding dress.
With the help of Customer Relations Specialist Catherine Bozeman, it didn’t take Owens long to find the package. She reviewed the parcel’s scanning history and learned it was still at the Bedford Park sorting center.
To prevent further delays, Owens drove the package 14 miles to the delivering Post Office to make sure the customer received her dress in a timely manner.
“The Post Office saved my wedding,” the customer said.
“I’m just happy [the customer received] her wedding dress in time for her wedding day. That’s what makes my role as a complaints and inquiry clerk both exciting and fulfilling — being able to satisfy the customers,” Owens said.
Postal inspector proves camera-ready
Postal Inspector Lyndon Versoza’s involvement in a years-old missing person case has made him something of a recent celebrity.
Versoza was featured in the Season 1 finale of “Worst Neighbor Ever,” a Netflix true crime docuseries that aired this month.
The inspector explained how the case, which was initially being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, eventually revealed a macabre financial crime the Inspection Service helped crack.
Financial crime is a specialty of the Inspection Service, he told the Washington, DC, affiliate of Fox.
“Most of our financial documents still get mailed to us, so in this case we saw how the money came in, how the documents were forged, and how they were shipped to different people to help facilitate the conspiracy. … We just followed the money,” he said.
Versoza was also interviewed about the case in a February episode of the “Mailin’ It!” podcast.
“People” appears regularly in Link. Got news to share? Email us.
News Quiz
A man of unquestioned integrity
How much do you know about former PMG Nathan Kelsey Hall?
“News Quiz” is a weekly feature that lets you test your knowledge of recent Link stories. The correct answers appear at the end.
1. How did future Postmaster General Nathan Kelsey Hall first meet future President Millard Fillmore?
a) Hall managed the landscaping at Fillmore’s two residences.
b) Hall worked as a clerk for Fillmore in a Buffalo, NY, law firm.
c) Fillmore coached Hall’s high school baseball team.
d) Fillmore’s son and Hall were classmates at Syracuse University.
2. What is a proper way to handle an empty fire extinguisher?
a) Exchange it
b) Recycle it
c) Refill it
d) All of the above
3. True or false: Federal ethics laws allow USPS employees to reference their position on social media posts when conducting personal fundraising.
a) True
b) False
4. USPS employees can order semipostal T-shirts from Tee Luv by using which of the following passwords?
a) GoodCotton
b) PostalSmile
c) T-Love
d) USPS2026
5. Who helped special agents with the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General arrest a retail clerk in Puerto Rico for stealing packages of cocaine and selling them?
a) Federal Bureau of Investigation
b) Policía de Puerto Rico
c) Policia Municipal De Coamo
d) U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Answers: 1) b. 2) d. 3) b. 4) d. 5) a.
These USPS tracking labels are being phased out
The Postal Service is discontinuing four tracking labels because they are no longer compatible with updated processing equipment:
• Label 888, USPS Tracking (50-label pad and 2,000-label roll);
• Label 889, USPS Signature Confirmation;
• Label 891, Insurance $500 and Under; and
• Label 892, Insurance Over $500.
The change takes effect Oct. 31.
Information on postage and tracking options for both metered and commercial customers can be found on usps.com.