Got a haircut this evening. Last one was 3 months ago. I thought it was only 2 months since my last haircut, but I checked the journal archives and the last one was on May 3rd. Went to Supercuts in Ramsey, as usual. I seem to get a different hairdresser every time, but the one I got this time was very fast and knew exactly what to do. (not that I asked for anything complicated)
I came across this Flickr photo on the Minneapolis bridge collapse by Dani Bora. Quite a horrific sight. Closer to home though, the Tappan Zee Bridge is in similar peril. It is past its planned 50-year life expectancy and it suffers from poor drainage, corrosion, loose/cracked concrete, and buckling steel beams. Holes in the deck are already a monthly occurrence. Any serious problems on that bridge effectively cuts off my area from Westchester and Southwest Connecticut because the detour is over 30 miles.
Wrote a quick-and-dirty Perl script today to parse my Postcrossing postcards sent/received pages and produce stats by country. So here are the tables:
Postcards Sent
| Rank | Country | Postcards | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finland | 46 | 36.51% |
| 2 | Netherlands | 13 | 10.32% |
| 3 | Germany | 12 | 9.52% |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 5 | 3.97% |
| 5 | New Zealand | 5 | 3.97% |
| 6 | Portugal | 5 | 3.97% |
| 7 | Belgium | 4 | 3.17% |
| 8 | Japan | 4 | 3.17% |
| 9 | France | 4 | 3.17% |
| 10 | Austria | 3 | 2.38% |
| 11 | Italy | 2 | 1.59% |
| 12 | Australia | 2 | 1.59% |
| 13 | Canada | 2 | 1.59% |
| 14 | Brazil | 2 | 1.59% |
| 15 | Estonia | 2 | 1.59% |
| 16 | Malaysia | 2 | 1.59% |
| 17 | Taiwan | 1 | 0.79% |
| 18 | Turkey | 1 | 0.79% |
| 19 | Switzerland | 1 | 0.79% |
| 20 | Norway | 1 | 0.79% |
| 21 | Thailand | 1 | 0.79% |
| 22 | Slovakia | 1 | 0.79% |
| 23 | Singapore | 1 | 0.79% |
| 24 | Poland | 1 | 0.79% |
| 25 | Slovenia | 1 | 0.79% |
| 26 | Ireland | 1 | 0.79% |
| 27 | Romania | 1 | 0.79% |
| 28 | Denmark | 1 | 0.79% |
| 29 | Spain | 1 | 0.79% |
| Total | 126 |
Postcards Received
| Rank | Country | Postcards | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finland | 38 | 31.93% |
| 2 | Germany | 13 | 10.92% |
| 3 | Netherlands | 9 | 7.56% |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 6 | 5.04% |
| 5 | Spain | 5 | 4.20% |
| 6 | China | 4 | 3.36% |
| 7 | Estonia | 4 | 3.36% |
| 8 | Australia | 3 | 2.52% |
| 9 | Philippines | 3 | 2.52% |
| 10 | Brazil | 3 | 2.52% |
| 11 | Japan | 3 | 2.52% |
| 12 | France | 3 | 2.52% |
| 13 | Russia | 3 | 2.52% |
| 14 | Portugal | 3 | 2.52% |
| 15 | Italy | 2 | 1.68% |
| 16 | Belgium | 2 | 1.68% |
| 17 | Norway | 2 | 1.68% |
| 18 | Singapore | 2 | 1.68% |
| 19 | Turkey | 1 | 0.84% |
| 20 | Iceland | 1 | 0.84% |
| 21 | Hungary | 1 | 0.84% |
| 22 | Switzerland | 1 | 0.84% |
| 23 | New Zealand | 1 | 0.84% |
| 24 | Canada | 1 | 0.84% |
| 25 | Luxembourg | 1 | 0.84% |
| 26 | United Arab Emirates | 1 | 0.84% |
| 27 | Belarus | 1 | 0.84% |
| 28 | Ireland | 1 | 0.84% |
| 29 | Austria | 1 | 0.84% |
| Total | 119 |
No surprise that Finland is #1 on both lists. It is the country with the most Postcrossing users.
Another number I can estimate from the postcard count is the cost of the hobby. Including postcards that have expired and postcards that are still traveling, I sent 96 cards before the postal rate hike and 39 cards after. Making an adjustment for cards mailed to Canada (lower postal rate), the total stamp cost is $106.69. Postcard prices vary, but I'll use the figure of 36 cents per postcard, which is what I pay at the Garden State Parkway rest area where I get most of my postcards. That brings the total up to $155.29 for 11 months of Postcrossing activity. (Getting postcards in return from all over the world... priceless! :) ) That's not so bad though. It's only my 3rd most costly hobby.
