USPS Question (OT)

[coolshemp]

I recently mailed 2 packages...one to SGC with tracking, the other a CD I sold with no tracking. They put "internal" tracking on the CD package. When I typed in the tracking number and signed up for alerts sent to my email, I accidentally typed the number on the receipt from the internal number on my CD package, and not the SGC one. Now I am getting updates on the CD that I did not pay to track, but is being tracked anyways. So why am I paying extra money to track an item when really we dont need to?
Also, why does it take my SGC package from Massachusetts 5 days to get to New Jersey? Seems to me that the shortest distance would be a straight line, but they also go from the mailing center in my area (where it sits), to New Hampshire (where it sits), then to NJ (where it sits) until out for delivery.
Not to knock the P.O., as my mother worked there for 30 years, but, really?