Postcard #139: "Get a load of this guy..."

Sent to REDACTED via postcrossing.  So.  This gentleman from Germany wanted a postcard of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  I suppose it is an interest that is close to him because he apparently lives in close proximity to one.  I went through some of the world heritage sites on the website and I learned that Chaco Canyon was listed.  I have had this postcard for 12 years.  This is one of MY postcards, from one of MY adventures.  I went on a cross country road trip with my father and my sister.   I got the card at the gift shop at Chaco Canyon and I got it stamped at the National Park Passport station while I was there.  This postcard represented the history of my trip and a memento of the trip.  I wrote about the trip there.  I wrote about how the Chaco Canyon location was falling apart.  I figured when I sent it..."Daaaaamn Tom.  You really knocked that one out of the park." I honestly thought he would make it one of his favorites or something.  That card has to be rare!  It was such a pain in the ass to get to...it is one of the least visited national parks for a reason.  This cat also wanted to know my favorite book...which I was happy to tell him.  

So he got the card...and replied back with this...

I was floored.  I read his short note (several times) and the first thing I thought was "Get a load of this guy..."  I REALLY want to think something was lost in translation.  Perhaps he did not mean for it to sound as rude as he did.  But then again, if he liked the card enough he could have just asked me for my name.  I think normally I would have eaten crow.  I would have apologized for somehow slighting or being unfriendly to this stranger.  Instead I replied:

Postcard #138: "Terminology"

Sent via postcrossing to sanoji.  Among many of the subjects she was looking for traditional dress and style.  I figured this would work.  If any one reading knows the answer to the topic I am all ears.

Postcard #137: "Cold #8"

Sent via postcrossing to twindaddy.  He is someone who shares my first name, lives in the states, and doesn't care what sort of postcard he gets.   I had high hopes that I would get the rest of the story on a final card. Maybe it will be finished by Cold #9?

Cold Series:
Part 1
Part 2

Part 3

Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Postcard #136: "Talent Scout"

Original Card:
Stamp: "John Adams" Red United States Postage Stamp 2¢

Original Postmark: Burlington, VT. Aug 1 1952 PM
Addressed to: Miss Elizabeth Leeds of Elhurst, NJ
Message:
Faith had a baby girl after a hard time it was borne(sic) Thursday morning at eight oclock(sic) and we were all glad[.] Mother Kemyon is very sick, had two heart attacks and they don't know if she will pull out of it or not. Will write later Love Alice.

Sent via postcrossing to Pei_Hsin.  Who wanted "greetings from..." cards.  I realized I have been sending a lot of these cards out incorrectly.  "Greetings from..."were listed in a lot of peoples profiles but it wasn't until now that I realized that they are not asking for these they are asking for this kind.  Which I kinda feel are just dumb.

Postcard #135: "Paint"

Sent via postcrossing to Reby who wanted pictures of dogs.  But particular types of dogs so I did not want to "waste" one of my odd dog photos if she would not have liked it.  She did mention wanting images of movie stars.  Even mentioned James Dean by name.  I happened to have an oversized James Dean postcard so...boom.  The story is an excerpt of an excerpt.  I have all these pieces of stories everywhere.  Parts of nanowrimo stories I have long forgotten.  Is nanowrimo still a thing? I have less than a month to figure that out.  If I fit 250 words on a postcard...I would only have to write about 6-7 a day throughout the month of November in order to complete the 50,000 word requirement.

Postcard #134: "Belarus Fact"

Sent via Postcrossing to cosmogyral who wanted something hipster.  Whatever that means.  But she wanted to know something that I know about Belarus.  I mentioned a paper I did in Nursing school.  That even though Chernobyl was not in Belarus...it received some of the worst long term damage from the fallout of the nuclear disaster.  I actually got this card at the actual EBR site...I hope she appreciates this card as much as I appreciated the actual site.  

Text: 
For a nursing class on world health, I wrote a paper on the immediate and long term effects of Chernobyl's meltdown on Belarus.  
One fact I learned was that you could spend the day wandering around much of the site of Chernobyl and Pripyat and still be exposed to LESS radiation than you would be exposed to if you were performing one endovascular thoracic case using fluoroscopy.  

DAY < Case (1)

Postcard #133: "HRC"

Sent via postcrossing to aleksiite.  She mentioned wanting black and white.  Let's see if this fulfills her wishes. I have been sitting on this postcard for awhile I've wanted to send it. But I really have not found an audience.  Now that Trump is really going viral with his latest fuckup in which he says that as a "Star" he can grab a woman in her "pussy"...I figured I should finish up my political postcard series for now.

Postcard # 132: "Marguerite"

Sent via postcrossing to MargaritaAlekseevna who wanted a kids card, animals, or a kids hero card.  I can't think of anything more kid like than these precious moments cards.  I have a whole book I snagged at a garage sale.  I sent this story to a mother who was collecting stories about her daughters name "Marguerite" I really did not know what to write.  Well.  Let me rephrase I knew something I could share.   I lamented about writing it for a few days honestly until I threw this story on the card. Finally.  After writing it...I felt badly.  Until my wife said, at 5 years old a child will not have the same existential crisis about death that you are having right now.  So I sent a story about my grandmother's funeral to this little girl.

Postcard #131: "MTG"

Sent via postcrossing to powertree. Who lastly mentioned that she would like scenic photos.  I found this one at a recent estate sale.  I sent her a card I used that night I played at the tournament which seemed most appropriate.  I deserved the cold...that's what I get for shaking peoples hands after playing.  I should have elbow bumped them...or brought handsanitizer.  

Postcard #130: "Pokemon Go"

Sent via postcrossing to ReaderChris who wanted a postcard of a Jackalope from a state other than AZ or CO.  Boom.  I can totally do that. ReaderChris also has a postcarding blog too.

Text:
I had to uninstall PokemonGo on my phone.  I was convinced I would kill myself or someone...with my car.  I noticed I was playing at red lights...then playing in stalled traffic.  But it wasn't until I asked myself while driving across a bridge..."I wonder if there are any water pokemon here?" I did not check. Because I imagined myself driving off the bridge.  Of course, I would not die...but I would have to explain how it happened.  I deleted the game when I got home.  -TM

Postcard #129: "TMBNE"

Sent via postcrossing to DorisRen.  She had an interesting request that she get a train ticket and a movie ticket from my country.  So, that pretty much guided the whole exchange.  I found an old ticket from each and created a pocket on the card.  International postage stamps are pretty much all the same...postcard or letter.  God bless america.  I original wrote two stories.  But the first one was really sexual and I did not glean anything from her profile to make me thing she would be amused by getting a raunchy story from me.  So the story goes in the notebook for later use.
I sort of wish I sent her a different movie ticket.  I have a bunch of them packed away somewhere but this was the only one I could find.  I have movie tickets going all the way back to high school.  Which sort of blows my mind just typing that.