IRCs
Many of the QSL card requests from Europeans were accompanied by an IRC (International Reply Coupon). I had thus far been able to avoid taking such things to my local post office by simply recycling ones I had received into my own international QSL card requests. I'd receive one of these things, hold on to it until I made my next mailing, then stick whatever IRCs I had collected in with my outgoing cards.
The influx of IRCs from this weekend's exercise, however, was larger than could be comfortably managed by that strategy. So, today's trip to the Post Office included the task of converting these things into actual postage.
I guess the horror stories I'd heard from other hams had convinced me this was going to be a problem. Those stories usually included the ham handing a pile of IRCs to the person behind the counter after which the clerk would stare blankly. I just didn't want to go through all that, but at this point I didn't have any other good options.
To my surprise, Tina (the postal clerk) knew exactly what these things were and was happy to help me get these things converted. It took her a couple of minutes to figure out how to get the computer to recognize the IRCs (the computer system had changed, apparently, and the IRC stuff had been moved), but she was pleasant and cheerful throughout the process. In the end, I walked out with another mitt-full of stamps.
The value of an IRC is $1.85 right now, far exceeding the postage needed to send an envelope anywhere in the world (currently at 84 cents). I used to dread receiving these things, but at this point (now that I know Tina can help me!) I'm happy to see them. The extra value of these things can help offset the other postal costs I have.
I would like to state for the record my view of QSL card postage. I asked in the QSL information for the VP2M trip for either an SASE (US stations) or one $1 bill (non-US stations). Lots of folks sent me two or even three dollars in their request. I kept only $1 and returned the rest. For those poor guys that got the "not in log" note, I sent back all their postage money. Nobody should have to pay for a "not in log" note!
I had threatened to return things via the BURO if no money was enclosed by DX stations. Luckily, I've not had any of those yet. And, I made out an envelope and applied postage to those few requests that didn't arrive with an SASE. Shucks, I'm a soft touch. {grin} I just want everybody to get the card and be happy.
Finally, in with all these VP2M cards were a few requests for NE1RD, K1P, KP2/NE1RD, and NE1RD/1. I didn't want to open any envelopes until I had the Montserrat cards so these have been waiting for a long time. Sorry. I'll try to get to them this weekend.
The influx of IRCs from this weekend's exercise, however, was larger than could be comfortably managed by that strategy. So, today's trip to the Post Office included the task of converting these things into actual postage.
I guess the horror stories I'd heard from other hams had convinced me this was going to be a problem. Those stories usually included the ham handing a pile of IRCs to the person behind the counter after which the clerk would stare blankly. I just didn't want to go through all that, but at this point I didn't have any other good options.
To my surprise, Tina (the postal clerk) knew exactly what these things were and was happy to help me get these things converted. It took her a couple of minutes to figure out how to get the computer to recognize the IRCs (the computer system had changed, apparently, and the IRC stuff had been moved), but she was pleasant and cheerful throughout the process. In the end, I walked out with another mitt-full of stamps.
The value of an IRC is $1.85 right now, far exceeding the postage needed to send an envelope anywhere in the world (currently at 84 cents). I used to dread receiving these things, but at this point (now that I know Tina can help me!) I'm happy to see them. The extra value of these things can help offset the other postal costs I have.
I would like to state for the record my view of QSL card postage. I asked in the QSL information for the VP2M trip for either an SASE (US stations) or one $1 bill (non-US stations). Lots of folks sent me two or even three dollars in their request. I kept only $1 and returned the rest. For those poor guys that got the "not in log" note, I sent back all their postage money. Nobody should have to pay for a "not in log" note!
I had threatened to return things via the BURO if no money was enclosed by DX stations. Luckily, I've not had any of those yet. And, I made out an envelope and applied postage to those few requests that didn't arrive with an SASE. Shucks, I'm a soft touch. {grin} I just want everybody to get the card and be happy.
Finally, in with all these VP2M cards were a few requests for NE1RD, K1P, KP2/NE1RD, and NE1RD/1. I didn't want to open any envelopes until I had the Montserrat cards so these have been waiting for a long time. Sorry. I'll try to get to them this weekend.
posted by NE1RD's Blog at 10:41 PM
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