The most damaged postcard that I ever received! HOW TO avoid getting damaged postcards or maximum cards, with over-cancelling, scratches and missing chunks/corners?

I share here some useful info from the postcard exchange great website http://www.forum.postcrossing.com, where my username is dorinco.

That is also my username for the primary website http://www.postcrossing.com.
This website is good - it facilitates "blind" (you don't choose your partner) exchanges of postcards with addresses chosen at random by their computers.

But the forum http://www.forum.postcrossing.com is much better, in my opinion, because you can choose your exchange partners for postcards, stamps, maximum cards, and other items!

The messages below are about a Round Robin exchange of maximum cards - the thread path (sub-folders) is this:
Postcrossing Official Forum » General » Tags, Trades, Notebooks, Round Robins and Pen-Pals » Round Robins » NEW Maxicards/Maximum cards RR!! Group3 Need ONE for travelling!!New groups!!!(always OPEN)

dorinco [that's me, remember?] said:
"Thank you, gracefool, for the very cute MC from Gr.6!

Unfortunately, it is the most damaged postcard that I ever received! :flaming: [emoticon]

Australia Post/Adelaide put our MC face-down over a heavily-inked mailpiece, so ink migrated onto the face side of our kangaroo MC.
It also roller-stamped it across the address-side, although it says that it's PREPAID!

Then, between Australia Post and US Postal Service, a chunk was ripped of a corner!

See also some roll marks, near the left, at about 45 degrees angle.

Not your fault, but next time you either talk to your postal clerk, or you send it in a transparent bag to have the stamps on the postcard visible, or you just send it like a CIA agent - "undercover".

==========
gracefool replied:


"Dorinco - A self-made Wintery Lighthouse MC, I really love it thank you. Your cancellations are very nice.

Also, Dorin, I am so sorry about the condition the MaxiCard arrived to you in!! 
That is terrible!!! I have sent so so so many MCs and I have not had any report like this before. 
However I have received quite a few cards myself which have heavy cancellations on front and back (but not ripped), it is the risk we all take when putting mail through the postal system(s) I think. 
I have never sent in "transparent bag" before, can you explain this?"
==============
dorinco replied:

"Thank you, gracefool, I'm glad you like the unique/UNICATE/UNIKAT in the world MC that I created for you! :)

Transparent bag can be any transparent plastic bag that looks like a transparent envelope - you can cut and modify it to desired size.
After you get the needed postmarks on the due postage (that may or may not include the stamp for the MC), seal that bag with scotch tape.
Or you can use a re-sealable bag, like Ziploc - best option, since it allows postal postmarking in the arrival country, with re-insertion of your MC back in the bag to reach you.

This is a custom MC, that I made from a page from a book.
Why? Coz I like it! :)
To you (and any other viewer here) and my US Postal Service, it's just a postcard with a stamp.
It's not terribly thick, but it's thick enough to be accepted as a postcard by USPS.

Instead of mailing it as a naked postcard, subject to postal damage, I tested this: I inserted it in a transparent plastic bag/envelope and I put mailing address labels for sender and receiver (which is me in both cases) on the outside of the bag.
I could have postmarked it, but personalized stamps in USA don't necessarily require postmarking - their encrypted value (little B&W squares) is supposed to be voided by the scanner of the Post.

So I mailed it like this:

It arrived to me by mail, without any postmark and any damage.
The value of the stamp is presumably voided, as it should.

The point is that whenever you suspect that your MC sent as a naked postcard will get damaged or over-canceled, you can enclose it in a protective transparent bag, or a glassine envelope, etc.
You just tell your postal clerk that you have a "philatelic item, sent under protective cover/bag."
In USA, currently it's 98c to mail either a postcard or a First-Class (1 to 3.5oz) letter internationally, except Canada and Mexico.

The advantage of using a transparent bag instead of a normal opaque envelope is that:
you could use the maximaphily stamp as part of the postage, totaling from both sides,
IF that stamp is still valid for postage
and IF you get all the stamps postmarked with that date when you send it.

In your case, gracefool, I already had the MC stamp cancelled in December, so I had to put now 98c on the address side."

==========

Please visit http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/newhome/

Wordless is good, but if you simply look at the above images, you may miss some of the important aspects about them.

Some images are best left wordless, but some could use some meaningful words. :)

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Please visit and join ABC Wednesday meme!

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/

Today,  J is for JOEY = baby kangaroo.

Also:

"JUNK MAIL? No, protect your mail! Don't let the Automated Postal System or the postal associates ruin your mail!" :)

Who let the dogs out(back), Down Under? The Australian Dingo or Warrigal (Canis [lupus?] dingo) - maximum card/maxicard from Australia

"The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is an ancient, free roaming, primitive canine unique to the continent of Australia, specifically the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to their wild Asian Gray Wolf parent species, Canis lupus. Since that time, living largely apart from people and other dogs, together with the demands of Australian ecology, has caused them to develop features and instincts that distinguish them from all other canines".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo

Dingo pups in Berlin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dingowelpen_Berlin.JPG

BBC - Earth News - "Blue whale's gigantic mouthful measured". The largest animal in the world that has EVER lived: Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus). Maxicards from USA, Romania and Australia

Read this very interesting article from BBC, my most favorite NEWS site in the world:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9265000/9265623.stm

Now, from my most favorite website in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
"The Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales (called Mysticeti).^[3] At over 33 metres (108 ft) in length and 180 metric tons (200 short tons)^{[4] [MY NOTE: How about LONG tons? :) ]} or more in weight, it is the largest animal ever known to have existed.<sup>[5]"


The largest animal? Says who?
The fossil record, that's who! 
We never found direct evidence (or circumstantial) to believe otherwise.




DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME: going the distance with a gorilla
"</sup>There have been at least 11 documented cases of blue/fin [whale] hybrid adults in the wild. Arnason and Gullberg describe the genetic distance between a blue and a fin as about the same as that between a human and a gorilla.^[14] Researchers working off of Fiji believe they photographed a hybrid humpback/blue whale.^[15]"

 A 19 Foot Long Blue Whale Skull at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joey_williams_with_a_19_foot_long_blue_whale_skull.jpg

"A blue whale's tongue weighs around 2.7 metric tons (3.0 short tons)^[25] and, when fully expanded, its mouth is large enough to hold up to 90 metric tons (99 short tons) of food and water.^[7] 

The tongue is heavier than a whole average elephant.

When a pod of orcas manage to hunt a blue whale, the tongue is the first thing devoured by the Orca (Orcinus orca), misnomed as Killer Whale (it's just the largest of the dolphins species).

Despite the size of its mouth, the dimensions of its throat are such that a blue whale cannot swallow an object wider than a beach ball.^[26] 

Its heart weighs 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) and is the largest known in any animal.^[25]

 A blue whale's aorta is about 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in diameter.^[27]

During the first seven months of its life, a blue whale calf drinks approximately 400 litres (100 U.S. gallons) of milk every day. Blue whale calves gain weight quickly, as much as 90 kilograms (200 lb) every 24 hours. 

Even at birth, they weigh up to 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lb)—the same as a fully grown hippopotamus.^[3]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale}

http://delcampe.com/page/item/id,0037984740,language,E.html

What's wrong with this MC? The postcard is upside-down, based on how the mouth opens, the eye placement and the striations for expansions (see the stamp for reference). Whoever made this MC should have turned the postcard (correctly printed with the writing on the back).

==================

Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

It looks like a duck, but... Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) - official maximum card from Australia Post

Did you think that your domestic partner (or wild partner), spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend

http://www.zazzle.com/whatever_postage-172753759423326509?rf=238693463283865848

is the ONLY venomous mammal in the world?

You're wrong.

" It is one of the few venomous mammals; the male Platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans."

"The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. It is the sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of related species have been found in the fossil record."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus

=======================

Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

The Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), also known as the Spiny Anteater - official maxicard from Australia

Very interesting animal...

What do YOU know about it? :)

"The name Tachyglossus means "quick tongue", in reference to the speed with which the Echidna uses its tongue to catch ants and termites, and aculeatus means "spiny" or "equipped with spines".

[Strikethru typing, as element of comedic style...:) ]

So Tachyglossus is a genetic legacy. It comes from GENES, not GENE S - let's keep it simple...:)

"The Echidna's fur may be infested with what is said to be the world's largest flea, Bradiopsylla echidnae, which is about 4 mm (0.16 in) long."

Knob, knob, who's there?

"Like all monotremes, it has one orifice,^{[citation needed]} known as the cloaca, for the passage of faeces, urine and reproductive products.^[12] The male has internal testes, no external scrotum and a highly unusual penis with four knobs on the tip. The gestating female develops a pouch on its underside, where it raises its young."

" The Short-beaked Echidna has the largest prefrontal cortex relative to body size of any mammal, it shows rapid eye movement during sleep, and its brain has been shown to contain a claustrum similar to that of placental mammals, so linking this structure to their common ancestor".

I would love to find philatelic partners/friends (Papua-New Guinea? Australia? any other country?) who can trade with me maximum cards with the other 3 species of echidna, and maximum cards in general. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-beaked_Echidna

Not the true Devil [if there is a true one]: Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) - official maximum card from Australia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tasdevil_large.jpg

He's got the Devil in his eyes?...or maybe in his menacing screech/growl/yawn?

"The size of a small dog, but stocky and muscular, the Tasmanian devil is now the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world after the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is characterized by its black fur, pungent odour when stressed, extremely loud and disturbing screech, and ferocity when feeding. It is known to both hunt prey and scavenge carrion and although it is usually solitary, it sometimes eats with other devils."

You have no idea how many devils are out there, growling in the dark, in the dead of the night...:)

If you search the Internet for who has the strongest bite of any animal (not just mammals), you'll discard bogus answers like Pelosi, Lovelace, Tyson, etc., and you'll see that other contenders are the extinct marsupial lion, the great white shark and some crocodilian, either crocodile or alligator.

"Spotted Hyenas have a strong bite proportional to their size, but the view that they have the strongest bite is a myth; and a number of other animals (including the Tasmanian devil) are proportionately stronger"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyena

"An analysis of mammalian bite force relative to body size shows that the devil has the strongest bite of any living mammal, over 5,100 psi (35,000 kPa).^[9] The power of the jaws is in part due to its comparatively large head."

A devilish scheme?
" Devils are not monogamous, and females will mate with several males if not guarded after mating."
The Guardian takes it all, unless he loses control.


The race to get a secure, continuous grip for 100 days: 20-30 newborn devils compete for 4 nipples in the pouch.
" Gestation lasts 21 days, and devils give birth to 20-30 young,^[8] each weighing approximately 0.18–0.24 grams.^[12]When the young are born, competition is fierce as they move from the vagina to the pouch. Once inside the pouch, they each remain attached to a nipple for the next 100 days. The female Tasmanian Devil's pouch, like that of the wombat, opens to the rear, so it is physically difficult for the female to interact with young inside the pouch. Despite the large litter at birth, the female has only four nipples, so there are never more than four babies nursing in the pouch; and the older a female devil gets, the smaller her litters will become.^[8] On average, more females survive than males.^[11]"


Whether you are a pharaoh/"deity" or a devil, inbreeding is always risky.


"Recent research from the University of Sydney has shown that the infectious facial cancer [devil facial tumour disease (DFTD)] may be able to spread because of vanishingly low genetic diversity in devil immune genes (MHC class I and II) — raising questions about how well small, and potentially inbred, populations of animals are able to survive.^[26]"
"Two "insurance" populations of disease-free devils are being established at an urban facility in the Hobart suburb of Taroona and on Maria Island off the east coast of Tasmania. Captive breeding in mainland zoos is also a possibility".
^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmanian_devil}

Maximum card from Australia Post: Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus)

Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus).

Wait till you see the uncommon wombats.

The other two species are hairy-nosed. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wombat

There was a recent attack on a man, in Australia. Combat with Wombat.

:)

Cate Blanchett has gone postal...philatelic, too! Now she's unavailable [her maxicard, that is] from Australia Post

I am re-posting above images from saphilatelist at stampboards.com.

"This card is not a maximum card but a prepaid postcard. It differs from the maximum card as the 'stamps' are actually images printed as part of the card design. On the maximum cards the 'stamps' are real stamps affixed to the card and postmarked. "

"And here is the address side showing the postage prepaid imprint."

http://www.stamps.com.au/shop/stamps/2009-australian-legends/sku/1595671

I like all these 4 Australian-born(/raised?) actors, and I salute this initiative of Australia Post.
Another very innovative and open-minded post is Austria Post - I'll post soon about their stamp with meteorite particles incorporated, etc. :)

Cate Blanchett is very versatile - an actress with the proven capability of playing pretty much any type of roles. Plus atypical roles.
Also, I saw a glimpse of her deliciously sharp wit when she outwitted Jay Leno (anagram: JAY LENO = LEAN JOY) on his show.
Instead of telling Jay explicitly that he is "crazy" [she was joking in a light-hearted manner], she smiled and told him slowly, in an apparently innocent tone: "Jay, you could see somebody about this..." [for professional help].

Cate, I really appreciate you and your artistic work in movies, theater, etc.
But I guess that many bimbomaniac spectators don't fully notice and comprehend your unique magnitude of artistic personality.

Best wishes to you and yours! :)