We interrupt the blog for some current news

 I hardly ever bump a pre-scheduled post, but I have 3 things to report - 

A few exchangers sent an envelope to me in March, even though I was not on the list. I'll be posting the others in May. This one from Mary is on the top of the stack - and it's mostly stickers. She drew the shelves with the address. The way she worked the tiger stamp in is clever. I appreciate getting bonus mail and apologize that I probably won't get around to responding - even though that would be a priority if I did not have *real life* and meals and laundry to contend with.

Next - one of our exchangers who had been enjoying the monthly gnomes in 2023 from Chuck emailed me wondering why I had not posted anything in 2024 from Chuck....so, I mentioned that to Chuck and he suggested I post an update in case others have wondered what Chuck's theme for 2024 is. So far - it's IVs and scans and hospitals....which is not what he would have chosen.

I won't go into details - but it all started in late November with a double by-pass - then he was home - then there were complications - and he was back in the hospital - and then more complications - and he was finally home - earlier in March - but - he's back in the hospital - and he's got about 30 doctors in Iowa City working on him ---- 

I told Chuck that way back in November he should have taken one of those old fashioned autograph books with him to the hospital and gotten autographs of all the people who have been caring for him. At least he's maintained his good spirits - hopefully he's on the mend and will be back to his envelopes soon.

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And -- I am happy to report that PBS is running a *true story* film about a BRITISH post office scandal that I have already seen and while it is not your typical blockbuster - it's really well done. I'll repost the PBS blurb - because I could never come up with such compelling commentary. 

“This is a staunch David and Goliath homage to quiet fortitude triumphing over corporate chicanery, and well worth anyone’s time.”
– The Observer

“All credit to the writer Gwyneth Hughes for the efficiency of her script, which conveyed a mind-boggling scandal clearly and crisply.”
– The Times

[January 29, 2024] Following one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history, Mr Bates vs The Post Office was created with direct input from the innocent – and indomitable – people caught up in it. Following the UK broadcast on ITV, the series has set off a firestorm of public interest and, within eight days of premiering, the Prime Minister announced a new law to pardon the victims who had been wrongly convicted. The stellar ensemble cast is led by BAFTA award-winning Toby Jones (Empire of Light, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Sherlock) as Alan Bates and will premiere on Sunday, April 7, 2024 on MASTERPIECE on PBS.

When money started to seemingly disappear from its local branches, the government-owned Post Office wrongly blamed their own managers for its apparent loss. For more than a decade, hundreds were accused of theft and fraud, and many were even sent to prison – leaving lives, marriages, and reputations in ruins. But the issue was actually caused by errors in the Post Office’s own computer system – something it denied for years. Revealing a shocking David vs. Goliath fight for justice, this is the story of the decent ordinary people who were relentlessly pursued, coerced and controlled by a powerful corporation, and their ongoing battle, against seemingly insurmountable odds, to right so many horrific wrongs.

Mr Bates vs The Post Office is the UK’s most-watched drama of 2024 so far and ITV’s biggest new drama launch in over a decade averaging 13.1 million viewers, with hundreds of thousands still catching up on ITVX every day, beating the launch of Downton Abbey in 2010.

Patrick Spence, Executive Producer,  said  “Our ambition in telling this story was simply that the Subpostmasters felt heard. We were so angry on their behalf, we wanted others to feel it too. And they did: the whole country is angry now! They rose up to stand beside the Subpostmasters with such determination and such rage that the Prime Minister had no choice but to act within days. They certainly feel heard now.’

Natasha Bondy, Executive Producer, Little Gem added “It was impossible not to empathise with the Subpostmasters at the heart of this scandal. People who’d been forced to question their own sanity and the behaviour of loved ones and employees, at the hands of a trusted institution. Getting their stories to a wider public so that everyone could understand what they’ve been through, was our biggest hope.”