CaptiveofIowa

As a fair warning I am very reserved so trying to pull stuff out of me is a challenge, but have patience, it will come, and it will be full of depth and richness.

For the past six months or so I have been actively writing letters to my friends to help break their lives of mundanes. Since I have written so much my post office now knows my letters by sight. It kinda helps that my mail pieces usually look like cornucopias of stamps.

Anywho, as I write more and more I see that I need to go beyond my circle of friends to really enjoy life and letter writing. Finding Swap-Bot has enabled me to not only go beyond my friends but allows me to become more creative in what I send out.

Location and work wise I currently hail from the US state of Iowa, and work as a truck driver on a 420mile / 675km run down to Kansas City daily.

Of my two greatest interests are taking the highways less traveled and seeing places/things that other people miss or don't care about, and keeping alive the skills which people had before the digital age.

Of course more is to follow here, just wanted to get the basics out of the way.

Music wise I bounce around between classical, 1920's big band dance music, early country, and general music from the 50s and 60s.

While I don't have a favorite book, the tome I am currently reading is "You Can't Go Home Again" by Thomas Wolfe.

Postcard Themes Anything you find interesting in your life 2. Historical Small Town Attractions 3. Historical Road Views 4. Alternative forms of Transportation 5. Vivid Color pallets

US Places 1. Iowa 2. Oklahoma 3. Western Texas 4. Memphis, Tennessee 5. Kansas City, MO

International Places 1. Vancouver, Canada 2. Georgetown, Guyana 3. Glasgow, Scotland 4. Athens, Greece 5. Eastern Europe

Colors 1. Fire Truck Red 2. UPS Brown 3. Colbalt Blue 4. Lime Green 5. Bright Yellow

Trade Items 1. Stamps 2. Blank Postcards 3. Fancy Stationary

.

As much as I hate to be a buzz kill, to maintain fairness to all, and to support a common mission of social connections by mail swaps, I will engage in the rating system employed here.

5 + Heart - Item received swiftly with noticeable thought put into the item

5 - Item received or postmarked within a reasonable time frame from the cutoff date (Credence given to senders location and postal work days), or partner has communicated before cutoff concerning late swap, and plans to follow through. Item follows the theme and instruction of the swap guidelines.

3 - Item not received in an acceptable time frame (taking senders location and postal work days into account) without prior communications, and/or item fails to follow guidelines. Will re-rate to a 5 if proof of mailing before cutoff can be produced.

1 - Item not received, will re-rate to a 3 following item being received or proof of item being sent. Going beyond swap guidelines will not induce an extra boost to a 5.