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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 Gary S on Mar 13, 2020 3:43:50 GMT
Thanks for all the well wishes but what I have is just irritating and not dangerous. Mild fever and a very slight sore throat but it just refuses to die. The only good thing about being sick for so long is that I can be pretty certain that it predates the coronavirus cases here in the state. By the way we just had our 3rd confirmed case and unlike the first two that were both in Tulsa this one was at Altus Air Force base hundreds of miles away. For some reason they aren't counting the two Utah Jazz players on lock down in Oklahoma City. Maybe they count against Utah's number of confirmed cases but they are here in Oklahoma and not Utah.
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Post by katiel on Mar 13, 2020 15:13:18 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?
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Post by PhotoJim on Mar 13, 2020 15:27:39 GMT
Don't forget that mail can get to where it's going via connections, just like humans do. There are, even in normal times, several situations where Country A sends mail to Country C via Country B.
It wouldn't surprise me, for example, if the USPS in the United States arranges for the UK's Royal Mail to forward mail to other European countries. And in the worst-case scenario, mail may simply go by surface, the way it did in the olden days. (Surface mail still exists for packages, so it would be trivial to send lettermail that way, too.)
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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 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 Gary S on Mar 13, 2020 19:58:09 GMT
Ha! The mail carrier probably saw me coughing soon after I mailed that piece of mail and "quarantined" all my outgoing mail for a few weeks. On a related note I finally received a lone letter yesterday. I haven't even been getting junk mail in the mail there's just a layer of dust in my mail box when I open the lid. The letter there scared me at fisrt but I finally raked it out with a stick
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Post by Mia on Mar 13, 2020 21:05:36 GMT
When that volcano erupted halting almost all air traffic. Post to the US from the UK went by sea and took less than a month.
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oregonclaire
Pencils
Posts: 96
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
Country I live in is: USA
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Post by oregonclaire on Mar 13, 2020 21:30:23 GMT
Welp, it's me and the 4 year olds at home, as school was cancelled for at least three weeks. Also, my husband will be working from home. Luckily, there is no shortage of bourbon.
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Post by Gary S on Mar 14, 2020 0:31:23 GMT
Welp, it's me and the 4 year olds at home, as school was cancelled for at least three weeks. Also, my husband will be working from home. Luckily, there is no shortage of bourbon.
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Post by Gary S on Mar 14, 2020 21:23:38 GMT
Okay, thought I'd share an update after being exposed to a fellow fresh off a trip to Spain 2 days ago. First, I have an upper respiratory infection. No Influenza A or B, no strep throat nor am I presenting any signs of coronavirus according to the trained medical staff that checked me over. Do not get worried about any of the signs they are bandying about on the news and the Internet. There are only 2 things that you should be concerned with which they kept asking me about again and again and again at the hospital. They are a high fever with associated chills and any breathing issues. Low grade fevers, dry coughs or sore throats are not even enough to get you tested for the coronavirus here in Oklahoma.
If you suspect you have been exposed self isolate for 7 days from the date of exposure not 2 weeks as they keep reporting. If you show no signs of a high fever, chills and/or breathing issues you are free to resume normal activities. If you do exhibit these symptoms call in to a medical facility and do not just show up at there as the staff will have to take special precautions like wearing hazmat suits and respirators while they isolate and treat you.
It appears there is a lot of disinformation being spread by the media that is generating more fear than is absolutely necessary among the masses. Maybe the hospital personnel were simply too blase about this current pandemic but everything they told me contradicted what I found on the Internet and have seen on news broadcasts recently.
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Post by Mia on Mar 16, 2020 1:52:56 GMT
Although I have been away, a letter from Italy postmarked 4th March 2020 arrived no later than 14th March 2020.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2020 13:32:52 GMT
Postie brought a signed-for parcel for Neil this morning and I asked him if postal deliveries were going to be affected. He said no, they're just not letting folks sign their electronic pads as they used to. My postie is really lovely and we had a chat for a few minutes (standing less than the required 3ft apart...what rebels we are ) and we both agreed there's no point in panicking and making ourselves ill with worry but just to take the necessary precautions as regards hygiene and avoiding crowded places whenever possible It was MANICALLY busy on Saturday (as in £780+ up on normal per three hour spells!) at McDonalds with so many people using the drive-through.....perhaps they thought eating in the car was less hazardous than being in a crowded restaurant
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Post by mailartist on Mar 16, 2020 14:00:03 GMT
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Post by Gary S on Mar 16, 2020 15:57:19 GMT
This luckily isn't who I was exposed to but shows that the stringent criteria for tests are letting active cases go undetected. We sit and watch the news for the first case in or near the Henryetta area as that will be the one that means I was actually exposed to someone with the actual virus. link
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