Difference Between Blue & Red

There is a huge difference between a Blue Bus Card and a Red one here in JKL.

The blue card allows anyone to use it for 10 trips or 40 trips.  You can re-load it at a designated area - like SOKOS lotto booth/bus pass booth or on the bus if necessary.

The red card is good for 30 days from the moment you first use it.  So it's not a February 1st-February 28th kind of monthly pass.  Which is super convenient because you are able to purchase these any time of the year.
Just so you know - they request your birthday so they can put it on the card's memory and they also list your gender.  So if your card goes missing - you're able to call the local JKL bus service and they can cancel the card to ensure nobody uses it.
OR if someone else uses your bus card that is clearly not you  - they will confiscate it.

How do I know this?  EXPERIENCE.

My husband had been borrowing my bus card whenever he had to do a quick dash to the university - about twice a week maximum.
Then one day I get an email advising me that my bus card had been confiscated, "Sorry honey."
I asked what happened and he said the bus driver was a young fellow (probably some new guy trying to reach his quotas...) and said it wasn't my husband's bus pass and that the true owner had to pick it up at their office.
Fine.

The following day I called their office and hoped that the person on the other end spoke English.  YES - she did!
She asked me if I knew the code of my bus card so she could cancel it - nope sorry.
Then she looked me up by my birth day and I guess nobody else is missing a card with the same date because she immediately got into defensive mode and advised me that:

• It is a personal use only bus pass.
• Nobody else should use it but me.
• I have to go to their office to pick it up and I can take bus 12 from downtown to pick it up.
• It is a personal use only bus pass (x3).
• I have to get there by 4pm because then they close and they are not open on the weekends.

I apologized, thanked her for her information and time and hung up.

(Yes it should probably be common sense - however nobody said anything when I bought the card to begin with.  SO BE WARNED.)

So I scrape up the change I had lying about and managed to get on the bus to downtown, wait a bit for the 12 and told the driver I had to go to the head office to get my bus pass.  He kindly told me that he was going for lunch after the route so he'll drop me off at the office right after if I had time to wait.  Sure thing!  What a great guy.

He even took me to the person who holds the bus passes and thankfully he did not need to lecture me about what I did was wrong (lady above honestly made it out like I robbed a bank for my third time...FYI I have never robbed a bank before - nor plan on it!) - I was told there was no problem and to go on my way.

"There's no buses going right now - but if you just walk back - you get back onto the main road and catch the bus there."

"Thanks!" and I was off with a look of fear on my face (of course when I turned away from the helpful gentlemen).

I could get lost with a map, a compass and a fancy GPS in my possession.

Guess what happened?

YEP.  I got lost...and not only is it an area I have never, ever been to before, there weren't always sidewalks because it was a very industrialized area...AND it was also one of the coldest days of the season!  -29*C...I was dressed fairly warm enough but that still did not help my situation!
My phone was dying due to the cold and I was heading towards the middle of nowhere.

I eventually made my way back to the bus station and went on the opposite road (40 minutes later!) and found the proper street I was supposed to be on in the first place and while I'm shivering and waiting for the bus with other cold-looking people I had a thought.

What are the chances the driver who is picking us up, is the same one who dropped me off?

I blew it off as a huge "NAAAAAH" when I saw the driver pulling up...the sun was clearly in his face and his sun visor was in the way because as soon as I boarded - I looked at him to say "Hei & kiitos" and realized that - yep it is possible.

Thankfully I was several shades of dark red from the cold so perhaps he didn't notice or recognize who I was as I pressed my bus pass on the electronic pad and shuffled my way to the only available seat - near the front beside him.

Anyways, lesson learned.

Post-Crossing Meet-Up - Jyv�skyl�n Style!

Remember I wrote about Postcrossing recently?
Well, I dug around in their Forum and found out there are such things as PC Meet-Ups in various countries all over the world!
Well, I was worried that there wasn't one in Jyv�skyl� - despite having a pretty awesome shop that sells great post cards and other stationary items (Harjun Paperi) near the downtown/University area.
I was wrong.

I discovered they actually host their meetings at Harjun Paperi and was giddy with excitement!!  Since my weaving course has ended back in November, it would be nice to have some sort of regular meeting again!  And with my newest hobby of post cards - to know that I'm not alone in Jyv�skyl�...well, I just HAD to go!
Unfortunately - hubby was in Istanbul during their December meeting...BUT!  There was one being held yesterday - on January 2nd.
So I emailed the person who wrote about it in the Forum and found out the details like what time and where...then I emailed her again...asking a simple yet stupid-sounding-to-me question:

"What do you DO at a Postcrossing meeting??"

Her answer was simple.  We meet each other, show each other post cards we have received or are sending and sometimes we have snacks if people wish to bring some.
Ohh okay!  I advised her I would be there and was looking forward to meeting her.

I was expecting about 5 other people - I really had no idea how many to expect!  It just so happened to be one of the biggest gatherings that night (totally by chance!) and there were a total of 15 people (approximately)!!

WOW!

Immediately everyone was whipping out notebooks and passing them to everyone and I was in the cross fire of books being handed to me from both directions...I had no idea what to do.
The lady beside me explained that everyone has note books so we can write them a note, leave our Postcrossing User name or address in them...and if we like - we can exchange post cards with that person.
Ooooh I get it.  So here I am scribbling away and hoping my ink dries fast enough that my wrist won't smudge the previous line (I'm right-handed - I know lefties have it harder!)...and suddenly there are post cards being passed around.

"What do I do now?!" was my immediate thought and quickly my neighbour advised me that some people send group post cards to their random Postcrosser.  So I looked at one I was signing and yes indeed, the message was in English wishing that person a Happy New Year and that this was being signed by the JKL Meet-up!
Cool.  We also had snacks and did a round of introductions too.

I ended up buying a beautiful notebook and joining in on the fun and got most of their addresses and PC user names so I can send them a card of thanks soon.  
I even found out that some people sent cards on behalf of stuffed animals!
Well, I decided to make an account for my dogs...and I even stamp the back of the card with a dog-stamp.
I know - super geek - but I cannot help it!

This group of people were fantastic, so welcoming and friendly and I no longer felt like a "weirdo" for drooling over post cards and stamps...or for taking photos of things when travelling (i.e. I have to take photos of: mailboxes, food, all 3 emergency type of vehicles and Stop signs or similar signs)...
So thank you very much ladies (and 1 gentleman) for welcoming me to your group with open arms!!

I've been tweaking my profile here and there whenever I get an idea (usually off of someone else's profile) like what kinds of post cards I would like to receive (really not picky honestly) but then some of the ladies were showing off the stamps on their post cards...and what happened?
I had a flash back to the 90's.

I remember being a child (7-10-ish) and getting mail - REAL mail and looking at the stamps on the envelopes (most were the Canadian flag and 40-45 cents each back then or of HRH Queen Elizabeth II) and if there was one that was NOT Canadian - I got excited.
My Mom showed me how to soak the bits of envelope in water and once the glue dissolved and the stamps were dry - then I could save them.  I had tonnes of them from relatives who received mail from Asia and other countries...sadly, they're in storage (I think).

So I decided to start a new collection!!
I think this weekend will be spent cleaning, hanging out with a friend and digging for stamps on envelopes!  I don't want to ruin a post card and I would like to be able to connect the post card with the stamp it came with - so I won't remove them from post cards.  It was a hard decision but I'm sure I'll come across many stamps from all over the world via envelopes. :)

So, what do YOU do in a Postcrossing meeting??