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Post by Mia on Dec 19, 2016 21:17:29 GMT
Do you have address books, ones you write addresses in? Or, do you store addresses on the computer / cloud / contacts of an email program or phone? I'm writing in my new (well, when I say new, one I received for my birthday in 2013) address book as I ran out of space for one surname's initial.
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Post by radellaf on Dec 19, 2016 21:51:56 GMT
In recent times, it has been 3 different cloud based address lists.
First, I had a personal google spreadsheet for my FPN penpals. It was supposed to be detailed with in and out dates and notes about what each incoming and outgoing was about. I never filled in more than a few details.
Last year's InCoWriMo had a shared (editable) Google spreadsheet that I downloaded and formatted to my taste in mid February. Won't bother this year, but then, as I sent stuff I added ZIP+4 for the USA (really of no value unless you're mass-mailing, or the rest of the address gets smudged), and put UK addresses in simplified format. Apparently there's controversy about removing them, but officially, they are no longer needed or used for delivering mail. The six character post code, unlike even a ZIP+4, apparently often identifies the address right down to a particular house. My 27612 in the USA covers about 35,000 addresses.
Trying to simplify the format of some asian addresses that specify block and building was also interesting. I don't know why I did all that. Interested in address formats, I guess.
For 2015's InCo. I think the official website had essentially a forum post with people's addresses that I might have saved as a searchable PDF, and sent letters by (mostly) going from newest post to oldest. For 2016 I picked out a few people manually, then rolled a die to pick randomly from the rest.
For 5Q5L, I just last month compiled a (share-able, not editable, and only shared with 3 people on this board so far) google document with a table of participants for the past year or so. This was inspired by my actually sending a reply to the wrong person. Not that I'd mind them reading my answers to the other guy's questions, but still, a bit embarrassing. Keeping track of real names vs board usernames was too difficult, and made even worse by a few people used a different real name on their return address than they used on the board post. One even had a fake real name, and some had a different letter-closing name than what was on the envelope (I don't always keep envelopes, esp. after replying). Even worse for the few I had to PM for address, and to search old PM threads for the name-address association.
I have, once, in the 1980s, bought a little black book. I used it to keep track of dial-up BBS phone numbers, usernames, and passwords. This, before I had terminal software that could store a list of phone numbers, or for that matter, a modem that could dial by itself. I had to pick up a phone, dial, then hit a button or enter a command for the modem to pick up and connect. I know the 300baud was like that, dunno about the 1200. The 2400 Zoom AMX 2400, finally, could dial on its own. At 14,400, early 1990s, BBSes were on their way out, but I ran my own WWIV board until maybe 2002. By 1994-6 I was dialing into my university to use what could loosely be called an "internet" (but not web) connection.
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Post by Mia on Dec 19, 2016 23:58:40 GMT
I think it was Cardfile (?) I used in 1995/6.
Didn't like any of the newer ones, although I have used Postable. I prefer actual address books. The one I am now using is illustrated by Simon Drew.
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Post by Pukka-J on Dec 20, 2016 10:18:42 GMT
I have a very small blue address book. It suffices for now but there will come a time I'll have to replace it, since it isn't refillable. It is small enough to live in my bag and take along. You never know when you need that one particular address!
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eunice
Crayons
Posts: 47
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
Country I live in is: Wales
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Post by eunice on Dec 20, 2016 11:25:19 GMT
I use a Filofax. I have a personal sized one, with addresses, and I also keep a record of who I've written to and the letters I've received. It works pretty well. So long as I can resist getting gorgeous new Filofaxes!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2016 14:23:22 GMT
For 5Q5L [...] Keeping track of real names vs board usernames was too difficult, and made even worse by a few people used a different real name on their return address than they used on the board post. One even had a fake real name, and some had a different letter-closing name than what was on the envelope (I don't always keep envelopes, esp. after replying). Very interesting.
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Post by sgtstretch on Dec 20, 2016 14:37:38 GMT
I used a small disc-bound notebook, about the size of a field notes book, but used in landscape, that way I can reorganize or remove old addresses if I need to.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2016 16:40:56 GMT
Do you have address books, ones you write addresses in? Or, do you store addresses on the computer / cloud / contacts of an email program or phone? I store all of my addresses in a Micro$oft Word file, formatted for my adhesive label sheet. I stopped handwriting addresses on envelopes after seeing the effect of the combination of rain with a postie sans umbrella - that can make an address unreadable pretty quickly. The first page in the file is just blank labels with the addresses stored in the remaining pages. On opening the file, I search for the address wanted, copy it to the clipboard, go back to the front page and to the position of the first unused label on my sheet and paste the address there. I then just put the sheet in the printer and print the first page of the file. This allows me to print as many individual labels as I want.
I've done it this way for quite some time and it works fine for me.
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Post by DJW1066 on Dec 20, 2016 19:34:22 GMT
My pen pal addresses are in a dedicated A5 correspondence journal, along with various other related info. Its format has evolved over a couple of years; I now actually use it as intended and I'm very happy with it. But other addresses are in a ringed book that's lived in a kitchen drawer for years, or they're in my phone, or both.
To safeguard against water damage, I use waterproof ink in either a dip pen, or a cheapie pen that I'm not worried about clogging. But the legibility challenges of my addresses are due less to water damage, and due more to my penmanship. I fear the mailman hasn't the patience and fortitude to decipher my writing the way my long-suffering pen pals do, so I'm gradually becoming reconciled to the idea of computer-printed address labels (sigh).
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Post by distractedmom on Dec 20, 2016 21:43:23 GMT
I love the idea of an address book, but the idea of scratching out an address if someone moves makes me twitch. Maybe that doesn't happen often, but my family moved 16 times by the time I was 14, so it's an issue for me. Therefore I use an excel spreadsheet. I print it once a year when it's time to address Christmas cards. For the rest of the year, I just make notes on the printout of name and address changes. As for penpals, I haven't done anything yet. Hmmm. I do have an address book upstairs. Maybe I'll dedicate it to all of you!
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mskafka
Crayons
Posts: 40
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
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Post by mskafka on Dec 21, 2016 7:29:18 GMT
I've had an address book for years. It's full of addresses I don't need anymore (pen pals who stopped writing, pen pals I lost contact with, etc...), so it's a nice book of memories as well.
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mskafka
Crayons
Posts: 40
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
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Post by mskafka on Dec 21, 2016 7:32:29 GMT
I love the idea of an address book, but the idea of scratching out an address if someone moves makes me twitch. Maybe that doesn't happen often, but my family moved 16 times by the time I was 14, so it's an issue for me. Therefore I use an excel spreadsheet. I print it once a year when it's time to address Christmas cards. For the rest of the year, I just make notes on the printout of name and address changes. As for penpals, I haven't done anything yet. Hmmm. I do have an address book upstairs. Maybe I'll dedicate it to all of you! I understand you. I have a pen pal who has moved 6 times and all her addresses are scratched out!! Many of my friends bought a house in the past years, or moved to another city, so my address book doesn't look too "clean"
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mskafka
Crayons
Posts: 40
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
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Post by mskafka on Dec 21, 2016 7:33:47 GMT
Do you have address books, ones you write addresses in? Or, do you store addresses on the computer / cloud / contacts of an email program or phone? I'm writing in my new (well, when I say new, one I received for my birthday in 2013) address book as I ran out of space for one surname's initial. I love the picture!
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Post by Monkey on Dec 21, 2016 13:12:32 GMT
I love the idea of an address book, but the idea of scratching out an address if someone moves makes me twitch. My mom always kept her address book in pencil, so changes could be made easily if someone moved.
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Post by distractedmom on Dec 22, 2016 16:43:55 GMT
I love the idea of an address book, but the idea of scratching out an address if someone moves makes me twitch. My mom always kept her address book in pencil, so changes could be made easily if someone moved. That's what my mom does too. I just don't know about writing in pencil...
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