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Post by mailartist on Mar 23, 2020 16:28:08 GMT
When writing to someone who has cancer (for example), it might be smart to not write about the illness (you don't want your letter to add to their worry, but instead be an uplifting break, etc). But how does that work now, when everyone has an elephant in the room, and there's not much "routine life" to write about?
Upcoming vacations are question marks. Spring softball and pottery class are cancelled. Job stability, isn't. Even writing about the weather fails to do it, if, on the third day of spring, there's an inch of snow outside, and not a tulip in sight.
Are we better off these days just sending "Thinking of you" postcards, and being done with it?
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Post by mailartist on Mar 18, 2020 19:07:50 GMT
Oh my gosh. I'm going to faint. I can't believe I found some people who care as much as I do about . . . stamps. I mean, I know there are serious collectors, but just regular folk who pour over the USPS magazine and order pretty stamps! I do not know, or have ever known anyone, or known of any friend who knew another person who cared about which stamp they used. I'm pretty happy right now just to read this thread. Why, why, why is there only ONE choice for US domestic postcard stamps! It kills me to have to use those freakin' cartoon fish. Have I missed something? I send postcards weekly to my Mom at her retirement community even though I see her every week and talk to her every day. I just want her to get some mail. I could string together fruit, but that takes up too much room on a post card. Try looking online for "vintage" postage stamps (mint, not hinged). There are usually folks selling lots of unused yet plebeian stamps (some are even the old lick-and-stick variety!), but you're looking for those that sell for less than the "printed" price on the stamps. (So, not the folks who want to sell 10 three-cent stamps for $20.) I know that some members of the forum do this quite a bit.
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Post by mailartist on Mar 16, 2020 14:00:03 GMT
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Post by mailartist on Mar 13, 2020 19:52:35 GMT
Incoming postcard-a-letter from OK, dated 2-25. Ordinarily, this should have taken 2 or 3 days max to arrive. Looks like it took 16. Feels like "slow down" to me . . .
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Post by mailartist on Mar 13, 2020 16:16:17 GMT
Schools here (Michigan) are now officially closed until after April 5th to try to slow the spread of the virus. 3 weeks of no school for the kiddos. I wonder if this will give me less or more time to write...? If the mail delivery is slow too, on top of that, I feel sorry for all my penpals that will have to wait ages to get their letters. But I guess happy mail is happy mail, no matter when it arrives, right? An online news article I read interviewed a Univ of MN college student (who, at the time of the article, was away from campus on spring break) about the coronavirus. The student said he was somewhat blasé about it, until "celebrities" started becoming ill, and sports events were cancelled. Of course, at the time he was interviewed, he was schlepping around Spain (SPAIN!!!!) on spring break. Oh, great. Go wander around "virus epicenter," then come back to Minnesota, and (no doubt) spread it. Doy! Not like this is an extended public school spring break in normal times, where families could take a long vacation, or cruise, or go somewhere exotic. But I suppose there will always be some who will, complex-icating matters for everyone else down the road!
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Post by mailartist on Mar 13, 2020 2:36:48 GMT
Working hard to get those few "airmail" 5Qs off the top of the stack, to get them off US soil before mail grinds to a halt . . .
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Post by mailartist on Mar 11, 2020 23:02:22 GMT
Perhaps it would be a good idea (at least with letters to folks on the board here) to PM the recipient when a letter goes out, especially with international mailings, where the reduction in passenger flights can't help but cause delivery delays.
I know there's some charm in getting a surprise letter, but on the other hand, it might be nice to know that there really are some things in the pipeline, even if the pipeline becomes quite constricted, especially as countries are dealing with more critical issues. Getting 5Qs into post boxes might be the least of their worries.
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Post by mailartist on Mar 11, 2020 20:07:20 GMT
Anyone seeing mail delays on account of COVID-19?
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Post by mailartist on Feb 17, 2020 2:32:35 GMT
Of course, mail from anywhere else takes a while to get to Australia. From the US here (and I live in a major city), it can take up to three weeks for a letter of mine to land "down under." So mail might be coming, but just working its way through the system. I'm hoping that's the case. The best InCo's I've done are where address boards are up early in January. That way, I can write the international letters in advance, so they have some chance of arriving in February, when people are still jazzed and interested. I've tried this "international first" approach in other years, where boards weren't refreshed until February 1, and got nothing back in reply. One year, I started the first week of February by sending six letters off to Australia (wanting to get those out first, since they had the farthest to travel). I didn't hear back from a single recipient, but I assume that by the time the mail arrived, it was March, and folks were "letter tired." Hi That is very true. We find that with our existing pen friends and those that we have written to previously that the mail to and from the UK can be less than a week and Germany is 2 weeks. Everywhere else can be a little longer. Sigh. I struggle a little with people not acknowledging mail so I am sorry to hear that you met with such rudeness - 6 letters and not a single response. That is not good, regardless of the timing. Hopefully, you get a better response rate this year! Cheers D
We can soon give the "little longer" a try. I just finished a rather rambley response to your Feb 5Qs (you and your wife were on my February letter list). I still need to "envelope it up," but it should depart here on Tuesday (Monday is a US postal holiday, so no mail tomorrow). We have an international airport in town, so planes leaving all the time, but it'll be interesting to see if it gets there by March. I even looked you up on the map, to see where this is going (we didn't spend much time in third grade learning Australian geography, I'm afraid.)
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Post by mailartist on Feb 16, 2020 23:27:57 GMT
I think it depends on what your purposes are. If you're looking for regular correspondents, then I second Gary's advice that this forum is a good place to be. At least, folks here have a year-round interest in snail mail, and there's always something going on on the boards.
If you're just looking for addresses to send something to, then probably any other site would work. A lot of people have a nostalgic interest in snail mail, but not necessarily an ongoing commitment. Then again, beginners have to start somewhere, and I hope that some of those "maybe I'm interested in this, maybe not" folks might jump in later on.
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Post by mailartist on Feb 16, 2020 23:22:18 GMT
We tried putting our name in the FPN (fountain pen network) forum but over a month later we haven't heard from anyone there. Of course, mail from anywhere else takes a while to get to Australia. From the US here (and I live in a major city), it can take up to three weeks for a letter of mine to land "down under." So mail might be coming, but just working its way through the system. I'm hoping that's the case. The best InCo's I've done are where address boards are up early in January. That way, I can write the international letters in advance, so they have some chance of arriving in February, when people are still jazzed and interested. I've tried this "international first" approach in other years, where boards weren't refreshed until February 1, and got nothing back in reply. One year, I started the first week of February by sending six letters off to Australia (wanting to get those out first, since they had the farthest to travel). I didn't hear back from a single recipient, but I assume that by the time the mail arrived, it was March, and folks were "letter tired."
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Post by mailartist on Feb 16, 2020 23:13:44 GMT
One thing I'm not sure about is folks withholding addresses, but instead saying something like "send me an email, and then we'll correspond." That only works if the email gets through, or gets noticed. Unless the individual thinks to check the spam folder, one's email request is likely to never be seen. I prefer to pick an address, and get the letter written and out. Having to wait, who knows how long, for an address to maybe show up seems anticlimactic.
I understand why folks might want to do it this way, and I'm not criticizing the method. It just not the ideal way, in my mind, to send a surprise letter.
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Post by mailartist on Feb 16, 2020 23:08:26 GMT
If you want just regular pen pals that don't need to be from some exotic locale I don't know, but what you've said about Porum, it seems pretty exotic to me . . .
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Post by mailartist on Feb 10, 2020 1:06:38 GMT
Jamberry, apparently it did happen. See the link about this, above. At least the company that sent these made an extra-large contribution to the USPS!
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Post by mailartist on Feb 7, 2020 0:41:53 GMT
Maybe that's why alcyone isn't getting any mail. Too big a backlog in Ohio!
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