Worldwide mail

 I have picked up my pace a bit this month regarding Postcrossing postcards.  I've sent 90 cards in May while receiving 94.  It's been a rewarding month, with cards coming in from all corners of the globe.  With another USPS rate hike for stamps coming soon, I will continue to send out cards ahead of the price increase.  And each day as I check my mailbox, I never fail to be amazed at the satisfaction I have, seeing a simple square of paper on which some stranger has written a short message, which has then physically travelled many thousands of miles to reach me.  I've been at this hobby for well over a decade now, and I still find it as interesting as the day I began.  Write on.

Dark and stormy night

 An early morning thunderstorm has left much of central Alabama without power. But a gas stove and a moka pot (and a hand cranked coffee grinder) means life can go on. Here’s to Alabama Power crews as they work on a Memorial Day holiday to set things right. 

The postman always sniffs twice

 Just ahead of this summer's Olympic Games in Paris, the French postal system, La Poste, has released a novelty- scratch and sniff stamps.  With Gallic whimsey, the fragrant stamps will give the scent of freshly baked baguettes, the species of bread so important to French culture.  This is not, however, the first time such a stamp has been issued.  Back in 2018, the US Postal System issued scratch and sniff stamps with the smell of fruity ice cream treats.  I used these stamps for a while when they were current and found it to be a pleasant effect.  It was an amusing novelty at the time, and showed a measure of fun and innovation not seen recently in the USPS.  So while I wait for the USPS to regain its efficiency and creativity, I will hopefully look forward to a Postcrossing postcard from France with a bread scented stamp.

Outgoing

 It’s been a busy weekend for Postcrossing. Over 30 postcards for the USPS this afternoon, destined for recipients around the world. And in more than 10 years of Postcrossing, a novelty for me- I’ll be sending a card to a Postcrosser who is also a US diplomat in Brazil. As such, I’m told I can save on the international postage rate of $1.55 per card, and instead I can send the card to a US address for 53 cents. From there, the card goes into a diplomatic pouch, and the State Department will transport it to the consulate in São Paulo. Cheaper, and faster, I’m told. This a first for me, so I’m interested to see how it works. 

Writer's brain

 In this digital age, the art and skill of handwriting has quickly faded.  In many schools, students are no longer taught how to write in cursive.  And despite a more recent backlash to the anti-cursive trend, handwriting in any form is becoming a lost art.  This, despite the growing evidence that handwriting is useful, and important in brain development.  It seems that typing words on a keyboard doesn't promote the kind of memory and linguistic skills that forming letters by hand with pen and paper does.  The evidence seems clear- to really learn something, write it down by hand.  Your brain will thank you.  Maybe even in cursive.

Lend a can

 Every second Saturday of May, the US Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers cooperate to support the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, the largest food drive in the nation.  All postal customers can participate by leaving a few non-perishable food items out at their mailbox for their regular postal carrier to collect.  The day of the drive this year will be tomorrow - Saturday, May 11, 2024.  So make an effort to help the 1 in 10 Americans who struggle with hunger.  It's simple to leave a can of food, a box of pasta, or a package of crackers or cookies out for your postal carrier, who will collect it.  The gathered food is then sorted and distributed by local food banks, so you will be helping your neighbors in need.  I will be leaving a bag of food out at the mailbox tomorrow for Shannon, our hard-working carrier.  I hope you'll join me!

End of the road

 I read this morning that Chevrolet will soon cease production of its last gasoline powered sedan, the Malibu.  As a Malibu owner myself, I am saddened, though not surprised.  Such an end for the venerable nameplate has been discussed for years, and recently, trim levels and options of Malibus that were being built have been reduced.  It seems that market forces- SUVs are more fashionable these days, and automakers continue their move towards electric vehicles - have finally forced the decision.  But it's been a good run of about 60 years.  Malibu began as a trim level of the Chevy Chevelle in 1964, and soon began a model name in itself.  Since then, the vehicle has gone through nine major design generations, with the current design being released in 2016, with a minor 2019 design refresh.

I bought my Malibu in 2020, in the midst of Covid lockdown, which presented a few logistical challenges.  My 2020 Premier came with all options, a 2.0L turbo 4 cylinder engine that provides plenty of power and decent fuel economy.  And the infotainment center has been a pleasure.  When it works.  It's fairly complex and has given occasional computer-glitch headaches.  But on the whole, I have enjoyed the comfort and performance of the car which has become my daily driver after replacing my 2012 Nissan 370Z midlife-crisis-mobile.  (Which I still drive on the weekends.)  

My wife and I have a private code, or verbal shorthand for this situation:  mint Vienetta.  This refers to a favorite dessert of my father-in-law's, which was suddenly discontinued.  And so, in ending production of a favored product, Chevy has produced another mint Vienetta.

Spam, spam, spam, egg and spam

 It is an annoying part of modern life to have to deal with digital fraud.  Via email, web pages, and texts, fraudulent messages are a ubiquitous part of daily routine.  My workplace, a major university, has a longstanding program to inform and test employees on their fraud awareness.  We must take a training course to recognize internet phishing, smishing, and other types of evil.  And the standard web mail client has a built-in button to report suspicious messages to the university IT Department.  On most occasions that I use it, it quickly turns out to be a fake, test message from the IT department itself.  Just to keep us on our toes.  But last week when I reported an obviously fake message, the IT guys soon reported back that it was legitimate fraud, and so I may have prevented a cyber attack on the university's network.  Or at least saved myself some hassle by avoiding a computer virus.  Then just this morning, I received a poorly written and suspicious text message to my phone which was supposedly from the USPS.  Similar messages are common enough to have their own Snopes page.  But I easily recognized the deception, reported it the US Postal System Inspection Service, and deleted it off my phone without replying or clicking any links it contained.  Try again, internet crook scumbags!

Where's George?

 Such is the randomness of life, that I recently returned to a pastime I had enjoyed many years ago.  More than a decade ago, probably.  That is the practice of maintaining an account on Where's George, a currency tracking web site.  The idea was to gain amusement by entering the serial number of bills of paper currency as they pass through your hands.  Then, if other web site members also log them in when they obtain them, the site would report that event to you, with info on the bill's location, time of travel, etc.  I participated in this for a few months many years ago, but never had a bill registered after I did.  It seemed like an interesting effort, but participation in it is apparently low.  Nonetheless, this morning I entered the numbers from some bills in my pocket.  Once I spend them, I will hope that they pass into the hands of another Where's George member, and I'll be notified of it.  We'll see.  Stay Tuned.

Speaking of anachronistic futility, National Letter Writing Month concluded yesterday.  After sending a daily letter throughout the month to family and friends, I received precisely two in reply.  So the age of written correspondence is clearly waning.  But in an odd way, I derive some encouragement from this sad ratio.  Being able to compose and send a written letter makes me exceedingly rare, and perhaps even special.  That's what I'm going with, anyway.  So too, this Where's George project.  It can be no surprise that most people won't take time out of their day to type in a serial number from a dollar bill to see where it might have come from.  But compounding that problem is the fact that fewer and fewer people even carry or use cash in their daily lives.  Less than 14% of people report using cash for most of their purchases these days.  And while a majority of Americans say they carry cash on a daily basis, this is closely linked to the person's age and younger Americans are much less likely to carry cash at all.  So I won't get my hopes up about scoring a hit on Where's George.  But I'll let you know if I do.