Before shelter in place and school from home because of COVID, I would write a postcard each morning while my daughter got ready for school. We would mail it on the way. Now, though, I do them in batches of five or ten, a couple times a month.
I also usually draw a new address immediately. I have a limit of 6 at the moment and all of my postcards are travelling far (other continents) so they are taking forever! A slot became available last week but I was under quarantine for covid so Iāll wait until one of the travelling cards expires (day 57 so far) to draw 2 addresses and send the postcards together.
I write my cards on weekends so Iād draw a few addresses on Friday and on Friday night I picked all the cards for me to write and send.
Usually when I register a card, but sometimes I like to wait for two. It just depends on my day.
I am new to Postcrossing and hope I am not disappointing people. I am a bit slow. I like to draw a new address after I finish my postcard, sometimes even before I mail it if I know that I will be going to the mailbox that day.
Then I like to read your profiles and think about them a bit, or even just think about your names and your cities. I like to think about what your lives might be like and what you might find interesting about me or my home. I might remember something I saw at a store or online that I think you would like. It might take me awhile to get it for you.
I might change my mind, think what I was going to say is dumb, and need to wait until a quiet morning when the news isnāt making me angry.
I might need more practice before I get it right, but I do enjoy writing to you and I hope you will forgive me for being so slow.
I draw an address every three days, and have done so since the beginning more than 10 years ago. The original reason was that I was trying not to get addicted and spend too much time and money at the time.
This way I have enough time to think about which card to pick for that particular postcrosser, and thoroughly compose my message. It sometimes takes 1-2 days before I mail it.
I donāt do batches, because I wouldnāt like to get several recipients mixed up. I like to give my full attention to one postcrosser at a time. (Sometimes I think I do get up with others that are in the same batch frome a sender who draws many addresses at the time. Would love to hear if you have ever mixed up your recipients?)
I see my statistics curve almost like a work of āslow art.ā Once I had to take a break of 8 months for work, so my curve dropped to 0. Now, I decided to take a similar brake in regular intervals, in order to continue my work of art.
Technically, I draw addresses in batches, but after requesting all those addresses, I only open up one profile at time. I leave that profile open on my electronic device (whether itās my laptop, iPad, or phone) the entire time that Iām choosing the postcard, decorating it, and writing the message. Itās only when Iāve completed that postcard that I move on to the next profile. That way, thereās very little chance Iāll mix up any postcards.
That sounds like a lot of love youāre putting into each card!
What do you mean to keep the statistics clean?
Because Iām just starting Iām eager to send one after another.
Iām assuming that @Albion means that the ācleanā statistics they have will purely reflect travel time. As opposed to drawing an address, waiting 5 days, then mailing itābecause then the actual travel time would be 5 days less than whatās reflected on the site. The site records the travel starting as the point that you pull the addresses.
I do this same thing (batches one address at once) and I wish we could select when we actually mailed it.
I agree that could make things easier on participants who love statistics, but I also think that would make things more complicated. How would you mark a postcard as āexpiredā? Would the administrators have to keep track of both datesāwhen the address was pulled and when it was sent? Would the Postcrossing stats be messed up if you donāt enter the date? How would you enforce entering that date, even if that was possible? I can also envision a lot of people forgetting to go back to enter the exact date that they sent their postcards or not even bothering to because itās one step too many. There are people who already think uploading pictures of postcards is just too much work.
So far I am just quite new to Postcrossing, and because of the pandemic I didnāt go out frequently to buy or find postcards and thus didnāt hold many cards. Postcards are not so popular in the area I live and I need to go to fairs, larger bookstores (but the cards there are expensive) or even the university to search for cards. I also didnāt have a credit card, which means online shopping is not so feasible. After I had sent out about 20 cards, I didnāt have any spared ones that I stopped drawing addresses.
I will almost always have the cards before drawing an address, and I will only write cards if I am not too busy.