I went out for a few items yesterday

And shook my head at whet it cost me.  Things are getting expensive. I may have to start shooting squirrels again.

This is an amazing age we live in.

Generally when I make an overseas radio contact I want proof of the process is that I stuff an  envelope with my QSL card, a Self addressed envelope and money for return postage. Generally $1-3 depending. I have a chart and look it up.

Then I put an overseas stamp on it and send it on its way.

Well over 90% of the time the card arrives inside a month or so later. That is, of course, unless the mailman in some far flung backwash in the middle of Outer Slobovia is issued a goat to make his rounds on and is paid with what he can steal.

Anyway, I made a contact I want confirmed because it now means I have every country in South America under my belt.

I looked him up and saw on his page that mail theft was common in his neck of the woods and that the best thing to do is to send him a couple of bucks via PayPal. 

It makes sense, really. He most likely doesn't need another QSL card from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He probably has 20 of them.

What he does need is a couple bucks for postage which also, like food, not cheap anymore. The old days of the three-cent post card are long over with. At $1.20 a pop, overseas stamps add up fast.

Anyway, enter technology. I simply went to PayPal, entered 2 USD clicked 'send' and off my money went straight to South America.

Instead of waiting a month I suppose my QSL card will arrive in a week or 10 days.

It is an amazing age we live in and while technology gets griped about a lot, it does make life a lot easier.

I guess it's kind of like a digital camera. 

Instead of taking a roll of film down to the corner Rexall and waiting a week, you have the pictures right then and there. You can pick and choose which ones you want to save instead of having them all processed and you can print them up right at home if you want.

I guess I'm not one to take things for granted. Every now and then I stop and look at how things have changed. 

Some of it is for the better, some isn't.





To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY