Postcard #225: OR Virginity

Text:

Hey. I don't know about you but I would totally go see DB sing in Vegas if I could. The first time I was in an operating room was my 3rd semester of nursing school. I remember being led into the OR at this 12 OR community hospital. "Don't touch the blue." I remember the tech handed me her dance card for the first time in my life. She spun and tied herself up I took the card and put it directly into the trash hanging off the field. Contaminating her trash. A concept at the time that was so foreign to me... She had to rip her garbage off the field... I felt so fucking stupid. She laughed and was patient with me.  I then got to observe a case where a vascular surgeon debrided a foot abscess. After washing it out for a minute he placed the pulse lavage gun against the dorsal side of the patient's foot, lifted the foot and shot water through the patient's foot and hit me and a[nother] student with water through the plantar side of the foot. I guess since I found this funny instead of gross it was a good thing.

Sent to another friend and coworker.  I still remember that tech who handed me my first dance card and explained how someone can contaminate trash.  She was an LPN I remember.  B. Bland.  She eventually started working weekends.  I wonder if she is still there or if she finally retired.  I found her here.  She certainly taught me to be patient with first-timers in the Operating Room.  

Postcard #224: squirrel.

Text: 

I've probably written about this before... But I kind of hate squirrels... It's been replaced a bit by a hatred of moles. But...these rats with furry tails? Eh. Don't get me wrong I'm not swerving at them in my car but I'm not swerving too hard out of their way if they run in front of me. My grandfather used to feed them peanuts out of his hand. I just know how destructive they can be once they get in your house. My old house in NJ once got infected with them at a point in the house that would have required a cherry picker to get at them. BB guns are considered firearms in NJ. Airsoft guns are not. I researched the most powerful airsoft rifle and painful ammo that I could afford. I would sit in my living room, inebriated, shooting them when they poked their heads out of the ceiling drywall. I once littered my yard with pumpkins just to lure them. I was in a dark place. I realize that. None died but harm did reach them.

Sent to a friend and former coworker in Bend.  This is a true story.  The house no longer stands.  It is on the verge of being foreclosed upon.  Did the squirrels win?  I still have the rifle.  Occasionally I will see a squirrel in my backyard doing something it shouldn't sneaking into the chicken coop or eating flowers or veggies.  I think...Tom.  Go get your gun.  And part of me wants to run and go grab it.  But the effort it takes now...makes me feel old.  

Postcard #223: First Round

Text:

Everyone is supposed to be straight edge until they are 21. I seriously was... Maybe I did not do the dumb X's on my hands or listen to Minor Threat or the Gorilla Biscuits. (I'm kind of amazed that I remember those bands.) The first bottle of alcohol I bought was a bottle of Kahlua to make mudslides with my then-girlfriend (now wife) a few weeks after my 21st birthday. I had tasted alcohol but I was so afraid of not being in control of my own body or actions... It would give me panic attacks. So I never drank or took drugs. I know now that is a characteristic of OCD. But I've also learned that drinking fixes that. I don't drink as much as I used to.. fatherhood fixes that. Who the fuck has time for that? Get well man I'm glad you are doing better. Much love... And "thoughts and prayers"...

Sent to a friend and coworker who is out sick.  I think the last time I was absolutely obliterated was before I came out to Portland.  We were trying to reduce what we had in our liquor cabinet before we moved and I was attacking bottles nightly.  Sometimes draining the dregs of two bottles or more a night.  There is a video I filmed of my wife dragging me through our apartment by my feet while I laughed hilariously at my inability to function.  I want to say I am not proud of this but it is an event in my life and I am glad I did not require an alcohol detox on my trip out west.  

Postcard #218: Bad Kitty

Text:

I lived in Miami, Florida for what I would define as my "formative years." My parent's house had a screen porch. Cats and dogs would be able to access it through a special "doggy" door. Having a lot of animals and food outside have the added "bonus" of attracting other animals. Possums. Raccoons. And of course, other cats. There was this BIG orange cat who spent months terrorizing my cats. One night the cat had come onto the porch and cornered my cats and was simply beating the hell out of them. Biting. Scratching. The commotion was terrible. My father went outside with a broom and cornered this massive Orange cat. My young childhood memories remember my father with a Marlboro cigarette in his mouth chasing this cat and all the vet bills he caused to my other cats. He lined up a shot and swung the back end of the broomstick so hard that when it came in contact it snapped in half. He missed. He hit the screen, ripped it, and broke the broom on the ledge. The cat never returned.

Sent via postcrossing to LauBrice.  She wanted cats.  I hope this cat will suffice.  I get the feeling she might not like the story.  Oh well.  

Postcard #217: Dumb

Text: 

I had to run some errands with my daughter. Oregon has a mask mandate. As you pull further out from Portland proper… people get more… "red." Science becomes more of an opinion or a feeling. So it is amazing how quickly I get distracted when I see people maskless. They are looking for confrontation it seems. They make eye contact. They walk around with their chests out. My brain starts calculating how much of it is oppositional defiance disorder, antivax/provax, prayer warrior bullshit, libertarian/deep state/redstate, lumpenproletariat assery, or just general absent-mindedness.  I work in an operating room. I've worn masks all day every day for over a decade. So, while it's important to wear masks to reduce the spread of covid believe me when I say that part of me just doesn't wanna see anyone's dumb face with their dumb mouths and dumb teeth. I certainly don't want to engage in a debate with them to hear their dumb opinions.

Sent Via postcrossing to hooraybeltran.  I had to taper my desire to write a postcard about Star Trek Voyagers Robert Beltran...Commander Chakotay.  As though he gets that alot or something?  Somehow I doubt he gets asked if he is related to Robert Beltran.  He does have a good user name though.  

My wife said that when she is out with our daughter she has taught her to ask my wife loudly "Mommy, why does that person wear a mask?" or "Why does that person want to get sick mommy?" at anyone she walks by them.  What a perfectly passive-aggressive thing to wield in Portland.  I am going to have to try it.

The card itself is from the Portland Peculiarium.  I have spent waaaay too much money there.

Postcard #216: DUI

Text:

I've never driven drunk. I feel like I need to preface this card with this warning. But I have been in a car with people who probably should have been more sober when I was young and dumb. When I had an apartment in New Jersey I had an upstairs neighbor who definitely suffered from alcohol-induced dementia. One night while walking my dog he wandered around the property with me and offered me tips on how to drive drunk. First. Drive with your hands on the lower part of the wheel and push your elbows against your torso. This will reduce your chance of swaying or swerving.  Making a conscious effort will keep you awake. Which brought him to his next point. Keep your windows down…. take deep breaths. The cold air will keep you awake. If it's raining keep your window open some. So, if you do get pulled over the cop will not smell the alcohol in the car when you lower the window. -TM

Sent via postcrossing to Maltezer.  She wanted dog postcards.  Funny postcards.  I think I got this one at Wall Drug or maybe I got this in Bozeman MT when driving out west?  This is a true story.  He did volunteer all this information to me.  He offered a lot of reasoning and explanation for each point that seemed kinda grounded in measured, tested scientific methodology or maybe it was just secret drunk oral tradition. If only he taught me the secret handshake.  Or maybe that was just his tremors.  

Postcard #214: Go Fly a Kite

Text:

My family used to go down to Bill Bagg's State Park in Florida whenever we were going to go to the "beach".  Once we took a kite with us, and while flying it…its long red plastic tail fell off of it and fluttered away.  It flew over the sand dunes 40-50 feet off the ground. Carried by the warm ocean air it got caught in the boughs of some sand pine trees that stood far back from the shore. Every time we visited  Bill Bagg's park after that you could see the long twisty red plastic ribbon high up in the tree in stark contrast with the sparsely leafed tree. One time midweek on a school night my family drove out there with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. The mosquitoes were so bad you would breathe them in while running from the car to the shore.  We quickly learned you could not stay on the shore at all lest you be absolutely consumed by small flying bugs that may or may not carry malaria or some sort of viral encephalitis. Years later I returned to that beach after hurricane Andrew. The ribbon was gone along with nearly the entire tree line. Poof. -TM

Sent Via postcrossing to ned44440. She said used to be a mail carrier and she loves the ocean.  So i had two cards.  She reports having an intense fear of snakes.  Yeah.  It took a lot to not send a snake story or a snake card.  I think I have a card that has a recipe for fried rattlesnake.  It's like this weird innocuous sort of defiance disorder that sleeps just under the surface.  It's kinda like when someone says they do not want me to send them an AD card or a homemade card...[urge to send them an old MSN ad card intensifies].

Postcard #212: Brethren

Text: 

Hello fellow RN. Operating room RN here. As much as I would like to dive into a tirade about covid/vaccination/layoffs/redeployment etc etc….I do not know how welcome it would be. So, I discovered post crossing on the trip to Spain when I was meeting up  at meetups and couchsurfing.com meets... And somebody told me about it when They learned I was buying and sending "weird" postcards. I get a lot of cards at antique shops, estate sales, eBay  (buying "lots" +400 cards). I really only want odd/weird ones. Estate sales are pretty good. You mentioned you were from Pennsylvania. I hope you like the card. I have family out in Murrysville PA. I worked at a summer camp out in Fort Hill PA. Anyway. Stay safe. -TM

Sent via postcrossing to bjw1220. She is a nurse. I kept myself from gushing and I guess I kept my conversation more grounded...

Postcard #211: Expired

TEXT:

 You are not my first expired card. You are however the first person I've ever sent a second card to because I'm so tired of seeing expired at the bottom of my list. You wanted an airplane… I sent you a postcard of the Spruce goose. I don't have any other jet fighters… the spruce goose wasn't even a jet fighter. But I'm going to be honest I don't have a lot of the cards that you request.  So here's some grapes. I want to plant some grape vines along one of my fences on my property. I have 2 peach trees… but they are so infected with leaf curl fungus. I've lived at this house since 2018 and I've yet to get a peach from them here. NOT A SINGLE PEACH.  We had such a bad heat wave this summer it was the 1st time the tree actually had a covering of leaves on them.  I am used to skeletonized trees with a carpet of foul smelling waxy leaves at their bases.  The heat wave killed off my blackberries and grassberries too.  I did get a few pumpkins though. Anyway bye.

Sent via postcrossing to Lario. This is my second card. You can see the first card here. I tried emailing this person 2 or 3 times. NOTHING. So now I am burning another card and another stamp to resend a whole new card. 

So here we are.

Postcard #210: Mandate

Original Text:

Monday  April 29th 1974. 

Postmark: US postal service Florida 327 may 2nd 1974 p.m.

STAMP: blue 10 cents United States We Hold These Truths Jefferson stamp

Original Text: 

Hi (?)

On our way to Key West. Then we'll go to DD Thursday. Having a great time seeing many interesting sights.  Saw this tree.

Helen.

Text:

 October 1st is the 1st day of administrative leave for the unvaccinated staff at the hospital I work. It's unpaid. This is the 1st time I've ever witnessed a mass layoff. My feelings about it have changed numerous times in the past few months. I can distill them in a few different ways. I wish they would just get the vaccine. I am so tapped out of sympathy/empathy nowadays.  Yet I work with a lot of nurses. Last estimate there were about 12 staff members leaving.  If a few of them I'm close to… one of them I consider a very good friend.  Which then in turn makes me wonder… am I a good friend? I don't know anymore.

SENT Via Postcrossing to Flocke2010. Who wanted touristy cards. One weird touristy card...coming right up! So yeah. Nearly 800 people kindasortof lost their jobs this week at the hospital system that I work. I could fill a dozen postcards with different types of feelings that I have about this whole thing.

Postcard #209: Relics

Text: 

A very good friend of my wife and I's went through a pretty crummy divorce mid pandemic. I guess all divorces are pretty crummy regardless of how you slice it. But I remember were talking to my father about it. My parents divorced maybe 7 years ago. My father listened, offered advice. He eventually offered one lesson to me, in particular, he told me… don't get too close. He explained that when the dust settles from this divorce she is going to see you as a relic of her past. When she talks to you you will be a reminder of her past life. TWO parts.  You will remind her of the time she spent with her ex-husband and you will remind her of the time she spent moving on. I scoffed at my father. Surely my wife and I  forged a friendship that would survive this. She has a boyfriend now. We barely speak.  I'm not sure what embitters me more.

Sent via postcrossing to ou. She wanted celebrities and royalty. Bang. I have since spoken to my friend. But...what my father said still lingers. I still feel pretty bittered. Admitting I am a relic or admitting my father might have been right.  Strangers bearly read this blog. I think I am pretty safe from her or my father reading it.

Postcard #206: Boring

Sent via Postcrossing to culichi who had a pretty brilliant request.  She wanted only cards that I think are boring with the prompt asking me why I find it boring.  I should have written more.  I should have studied the card.  It looks kinda weird the more I look at it.  I focused on the church solely.  The parking lot it just a sea of grey.  What is up with that?  And a blue sky in Portland?  Come on.  What a fucking fabrication....all of it.  I should have sent her another boring pastoral church picture.  
 

Postcard #203: Come Visit!

 

Sent via Postcrossing to asspirantus.  Did not give me a whole lot of guidance on what he wanted.  People seem to love stickers...so I found some stickers while working at a vaccine clinic out here.  

Postcard #202: Morning in America

 

TEXT:

US-7284848

01/21/21 - Portland OR.  It's Fuckin raining.  44 F

Well after an armed insurrection attempt five dead people, a final tally of 400k covid deaths could we finally have a new president. Republicans want to find Unity...now. I am so god damned sick of being the ones who have to capitulate when outraged which is the problem nothing really outrages them. Nothing tangible. "Rights" "Religion." We have to always move on when something tragic happens. "What could have been done?" "This was a single, lone event." No. I am done. I want people held [accountable] for their actions. How we could not collectively called Q-Anon fucking assholes.  We could not collectively call white supremacists fucking dirtbag shitheads.  I want to ask how we got here...but we have always been here. -TM

Sent via Postcrossing to anicka22.  Probably one of my favorite profiles so far.  Completely blank.  The only way it could have been better would have been for them to have written one word in the profile so that it would appear that they did not simply overlook it.  I got this postcard in Spain.  I've had it for several years and from the looks of it someone else had it before me on display.  

I was obviously angry here.  I really suck at first draft postcarding.  I left out words.  I left out grammar and punctuation.  I was a lazy bastard for this card and it shows.  

Postcard #200: GME Thingamajig...

Jan 24, 2021

US-7292676

CUTTY SARK

Nobody ever asks for ad cards. Here is one of mine I am not sure how long I have had it.  It's copywritten 1999.   It's Sunday, I have to go to work tomorrow like most people. I kind of want to call in sick for stupid reasons...I invested money in GameStop over the past few weeks. It's rumored that it is going to be hit by a major short squeeze over the coming days/weeks. I am existing in a state of nil-loss right now. Like Schrödinger's cat. The money is sort of down now. I have not lost anything. I don't know if it will make money and with work...I will not be able to check my phone for updates. I will have to work in a state where I could have made money or lost much of it.  I don't think I wanted to make dumb levels of money.  I heard that investors were betting on the failure of GameStop and that feels like a shitty thing to do.  I heard of an opportunity to catch a bunch of wealthy people doing something dumb with a lot of money and I wanted to be apart of history.  Fucking money-making assholes making stupid levels of money....while I work taking care of people with covid?  Seriously.  WTF? Then trying to bankrupt a videogame store that I am fond of? - TM.

I should probably start by saying my first ever disclaimer:  I AM NOT SOMEONE YOU SHOULD TAKE INVESTMENT ADVICE FROM...I am an amateur investor and I mess around with some extra money I make with extra shifts.  I think the stock market is a big gamble and I am investing in companies I believe in...That being said...

Sent via postcrossing to alexaufdembetzenberg.  He wanted an AD card.  I don't much care for scots whisky.  I even stuck a little sticker on it too.  He wrote back...kinda weird reply:

Alexander wrote you a message:

“Cheers for your card. That GameStop thingmajig didn't end too well, did it? Best Wishes and Stay Healthy!”

Which just sort of feels like a weird reply.  Like...people playing long stocks on GME have already lost?  Maybe Alexander works in finance?  Maybe he is a short-seller? Maybe he hates GameStop?  I don't think the GameStop thingAmajig has ended yet.  Until they pry the stock out of my cold fucking dead diamond hands, right?  I like the stock.  I like the message it sends.  I like GameStop.  And I fucking hate corporate greed. 

His reply... It soooooort of reads like: gloating? But being married to someone for all intents and purposes is from Europe.  I know I am sometimes too sensitive to subtle things from non-americans.  Like getting a False-Positive uhh Negative?  I want to say something is getting lost in translation.  

Postcrossing says of the 111 cards I have received...19 of them are from Germans.  So if I have three piles of postcards that I can say are positive, neutral, or negative... I think am going to file this one under a negative experience. So of all my negative experiences, I have had through Postcrossing of which I count 3.  Two of them are German.  I just need a few more data points.  

I need to start filing my positive experiences.  Maybe that is what I am going to do from now.  I am going to start favoriting cards based on the experience I had in receiving or sending them not based on if I like the postcard image they sent.  It will make my wall a bit confusing.  Oh well.

Let me close by saying if you are reading this and do not want to get involved in the stock market or anything...go here...and become a proplayer.  Stick your finger in some hedge-funders eye.

Postcard #196: Words/Phrases/Idioms

Postcard Flavor Text

US-7244887

01/02/2021 Words/Phrases / idioms. -TM www.minormumbles.com

US-7244887

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Passenger Train on Tanglefoot Curve between Chama, New Mexico, and Antonito, Colorado.

It is hard for me you have an opinion of Hong Kong. I am pro-democracy, but my Country really should not be judging your country since we in the US are doing a pretty "BANG UP "job doing it right now- "Bang-Up"-normally means excellent but in this case, I am being, sarcastic in that we are doing a shitty job. (Bad job) Right now I am trying to teach my 3 yo. daughter the word "self-deprecating".  It is important to make jokes at your own expense. It's humbling and keeps you grounded. Before I start driving I will text my wife OMW. "On my way" in that I am heading home and it should take me about a half-hour." If it were "Raining Cats & dogs" that would mean it was raining a lot and very heavy.  I am a nurse in the operating room. Often times we get people with bad skin infections that we have to give "I and D's" to which means irrigate (washout) and debride (remove dead tissue). Look up the word Nec FAS.

Sent via Postcrossing to Harry2019.  He mentioned wanting postcards of transportation.  This is the Steam Locomotive 483 and it is currently at a museum and there is some grassroots operation to get it repaired.  I really wanted to get into the word "NEC FASC" (commonly pronounced "Neck Fash") is short for necrotizing fasciitis. He had a few requests.  Date.  Word or phrases in my language.  My opinion of Hong Kong.  Which I have never been asked before.  Tell me your feelings about where I live.  I am tempted to ask people in the states their opinion of Portland Oregon right now because I have a feeling it will be pretty disconnected from the real thing.  

Postcard #195: "Glasses"

 

ID: US-7218930

POST CARD

While I truly believe the year of 2020 has been filled with countless tragedies. Let us not forget the one final tragedy in that people will no longer be wearing the most ideal novelty "2020" New Years Eve celebratory glasses. Now even with the hope of mass vaccinations the best glasses, we can hope for are the glasses to 2026. Heck. Even the glasses for 2019 were better, Happy New Year! Stay Safe! Stay Healthy.

- T.M.

www.minormumbles.com

Sent via postcrossing to Restu_Amalia.  They had a few requests.  Movie posters for one.  But, again my entire collection is a mess right now.   As much of a mess as this card is...I really need to work on being able to first draft a postcard.  But I can not do that until I figure stuff out.  I need to clear my docket, organize, then generate codes again.  

Postcard #178: After Party

 

Text:

I was invited to a wedding in upstate NY by an ex-girlfriend... well a woman I went out with a few times... but nothing really ever happened. The wedding was far enough from my house I had to get a room. The wedding was nice enough. I remember her telling me it was very expensive. My date and I had a decent time... and I am pretty sure I was only invited to somehow be made jealous. But I did not care...the person I had taken as my date was infinitely more enjoyable than the bride ever was. The ceremony started late and the reception followed.  Suddenly it was 4 pm and everything was over... no after-parties... nothing. My date and I were stone sober, in a boring city. We went back to the hotel lied to them that we had an emergency we had to get back to and they refunded us half our room. We took that money and rented a room in Atlantic City...2-3 hours away. We sped there. My date looked Amazing. I looked pretty decent still too. We got drunk. Gambled all night, wandered around A.C. I had fun...more fun than I did at the wedding.  I don't think we ever went back.

Sent Via postcrossing to NikBab81.  

I freehanded this.  It's obvious.  Sorry Nikbab.  There are a few things I would have reworded or moved around.  Normally I write a draft.  But I was crunching 8 postcards this weekend. I am still sitting on one more. I hope I can get that one completed today.  I have the card picked out but I do not know what I am going to write.  Maybe I will tell him how I voted since the election is almost here.   I will freehand that...because...I need to get better at first drafting stuff.  I think I will go with that as a new tag.