"Um... problem: our mailbox just fell off..."

The title of this post is a text message I received on Friday while I was at work. "Um... problem: our mailbox just fell off..." was all it said. Of course, my response was "Wait, what?" I mean, how often do you get a text message saying your mailbox fell off? The remainder of the text conversation went something like this:

Mr. H: "Mailbox fell OFF the post."
Me: "Snap. Um. How do we fix that? Homeowner's association?"
Mr. H. "Idk. It was like welded on. Three steps for fixing it: 1) Pray that God would fix it. 2) Call HOA. 3) Pray that God would fix it!"

Then I received this picture:

Apparently Mr. H went to get the mail and found our mailbox laying on the ground. You see, we live in a neighborhood that has a homeowner's association. You pay your fee every year, and they use the money to fix up the front entryway and whatnot... I suppose. They also require you to keep a certain look about your house. If you decide to do anything that would alter the curb appeal, you must submit in writing what you plan to do and then the HOA approves or rejects it. Crazy, I know. Why would someone want to pay to be told what you can and can't do? On the other hand, it also holds everyone in the neighborhood accountable so you don't end up with a junkyard next to you. Well, per the HOA, we're required to have the SAME mailbox and post as everyone else -- which just happens to be an expensive die cast aluminum mailbox post. As you can see from the picture above, we couldn't remedy the broken mailbox by just screwing it on. The whole decorative horizontal piece that the mailbox sits on broke off due to being weakened by rust. So, we called the mailbox people that the HOA told us to contact. We left a message. They never called back. So -- I checked out their website which says their mailboxes are designed to be "rust free" and should "last a lifetime." Welp, this one didn't.

Out of hopes of them returning our calls and saying they'd fix it at no charge to us since they're supposed to "last a lifetime," I didn't want to mess up the aluminum by screwing holes into it or anything. Also -- I needed a quick fix so we could get the mailbox up to receive mail (Mr. Mailman won't leave mail if there's no mailbox -- understandably so...). So, Mr. H and I hurried off to Home Depot to find a remedy. This is what we came up with:

Yes, those are hose clamps holding our mailbox onto the post. Might I add that it is very sturdy -- perhaps even more sturdy than before it broke off. Hose clamps are simple to work. They come in different sizes and have a screw on them. The more you tighten up the screw, the more the clamp tightens up. It worked for us. Oh, and the clamps were around a dollar a piece, so that makes this quick fix a mere $3 project. The plan is to spray paint them a rust-resistant black. Then, I don't think anyone would even be able to notice. It might not work forever, but it works for now!

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