Richard Lillis

Blogger now has an iOS app!

2011-09-09T15:28:00.001-07:00

Here's my first meaningless post from the new iOS Blogger app. :-)

Get it in the app store.

Test complete!

This is what $91 gets you on FTD.com

2011-02-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

My wife called me today to thank me for the flowers I sent her for Valentine's Day; I asked her how the flowers looked and she says "It's the thought that counts", OUCH! She sent me this photo of the arrangement and it looks very sad and is poorly arranged. I expected a lot more from FTD; my mom owned a flowershop for many years; we would have never sent out an arrangement looking like this; it barely resembles what I selected.

There was a great deal on Groupon to get a $40 credit at FTD for $20 which sounded like a good deal. I did not want components of an arrangement shipped in a box to my wife so I went to the FTD site to see what was available and they had the option to order florist delivered arrangements and I found one that I liked. I decided to go for it and made my first Groupon purchase.

Back to the FTD site and viewing the arrangement I liked FTD Sweethearts Bouquet (this link is to a FTD affiliated site because FTD has removed the arrangement from their site but this is the exact same arrangement) I decide to upgrade and go bigger by selecting the premium version which in the text description on FTD.com said has 13 roses and looked a lot fuller.

The FTD tally:
Sweethearts Bqt $64.99
11V2

Shipping/Service Fees: $18.99
Tax: $7.34
---------------- ---------
Subtotal $91.32

Groupon Gift Certificate:($40.00)
Total Charge: $51.32

My out of pocket total was $71 because of the $20 Groupon savings.

Never again will I order flowers though the FTD site. I am going back to ordering from a local florist.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #66

2009-12-31T16:07:00.000-08:00

Postcrossing Postcard #66 is from Brazil and is a photo of Farol da Barra(Portuguese) a historic lighthouse in Salvador. This card traveled 9,836 Kms (6,112 Miles) and took 13 days to reach me.

An excellent mix of stamps from Brazil, a Trompete(Trumpet), Sapateiro(Shoe Maker), and a depiction of João Guimarães Rosa a Brazilian novelist, considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian novelists born in the 20th century

Hoover Dam at night

2009-08-14T00:34:00.001-07:00

Hoover Dam at night
Originally uploaded by targeteer2k.

Last week we were driving to Las Vegas on the 93 and got to drive over the Hoover Dam. Since it was late at night there was plenty of space to stop and take a few photos of the Dam and the new bypass bridge in the background. Turned out better than I had expected.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #65

2009-07-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Postcrossing Postcard #65 is from the Czech Republic and is a city view card of Vyškov. This card traveled 9,789 Kms (6,083 Miles) and took 10 days to get to me.

Stamps from Czech Republic; a drawing of a Cyclamen and Hockey players. I even got a whale sticker. :)

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #64

2009-05-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

Postcrossing postcard #64 is from Finland and is a photo of a summer cottage in Finland situated on a small island with trees. Looks like a nice place to vacation at. This card traveled 8,988 Kms (5,585 Miles) and took 12 days to get to me.

This Finnish stamp is a photo of a butterfly called The Purple Emperor (Apatura iris).

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #63

2009-04-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

Postcrossing postcard #63 is a view card from The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. The building in the photo is of the administration building at the university. This card traveled 10,613 Kms (6,595 Miles) and took 76 days to get to me!

The postage for this postcard was metered so there is no stamp.

I started posting stories on Whrrl

2009-04-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

I recently downloaded the Whrrl iPhone App and have posted a few stories. I created a couple stories while on a walk around the streets near my office just for the fun of it and to test the app. My most recent story from this past Saturday is from my morning at World Tai Chi and Qigong Day at UCI; this story was featured on the main Whrrl page!

I plan to continue posting stories as I find it to be a great way to share some experiences with my friends and strangers (new friends?). I think I'll create a story next time I send out new Postcrossing cards or play an Akoha mission; hopefully get more people interested in these 2 fun activities.

There is a widget to place my stories on this blog but it's to large to put in the side margins so I am going to just place it here in this post for now and when they come out with new widget that is narrower I'll add it to the blog.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #62

2009-04-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

Postcrossing Postcard #62 is from Finland as is a drawing of a bear and moose hugging. :) This card traveled 9,052 Kms (5,625 Miles) and took 9 days to get to me.

A beautiful butterfly stamp from Finland. The Chequered Blue Butterfly (Scolitantides orion)

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #61

2009-03-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Postcrossing postcard #61 is from Finland and is a photo of a sunset on a lake. This card traveled 8,964 Kms (5,570 Miles) and took 9 days to get to me.

A stamp from Finland.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #60

2009-03-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

Postcrossing postcard #60 is from Brazil and is a photo of Basilica Do Senhor Bom Jesus De Matozinhos. This card traveled 10,068 Kms (6,256 Miles) and took 8 days to get to me.

More stamps from Brazil depicting different trades: Costureira, Barbeiro and Sapateiro.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #59

2009-03-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Postcard #59 is from Croatia; it's not the standard rectangle! Love getting cards like this and it's a great collection of photos depicting the mediterranean. This card traveled 10,023 Kms (6,228 Miles) and took 19 days to get to me.

Stamp from Croatia.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #58

2009-03-20T00:19:00.000-07:00

"Hiep Hiep Hoera!" Postcard #58 is from the Netherlands and when I pulled it out of the mailbox I thought I was getting a really early birthday card. :) The sender wrote "At least this card made it all the way to you" so it must be a celebration of a postcard completing its journey. This card traveled 8,946 Kms (5,559 Miles) and took 35 days to get to me.

"Think Green, Do Green" A stamp from the Netherlands.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #57

2009-03-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Postcard #57 is a city view card of Melbourne, Australia. This card traveled 12,783 Kms (7,943 Miles) ans took 5 days to get to me.

A great stamp from Australia with a photo of a Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #56

2009-03-06T22:43:00.000-08:00

Postcard #56 is from Finland and is a painting of a clipper ship named "Herzogin Cecilie" by Håkan Sjöström. This card traveled 9,002 Kms (5,594 Miles) and took 6 days to get to me.

I love getting stamps that are a little different and this stamp from Finland is awesome. I like the rounded shape; it looks like a bottle of love floating in the water. The perfect postcard stamp. :)

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #55

2009-01-28T20:22:00.000-08:00

Postcard #55 is card depicting the four seasons in Finland. This card traveled 9,002 Kms (5,594 Miles) and took 8 days to get to me.

A stamp from Finland commemorating 50 years (1955-2005). Polioinvalidit; not sure what this word means, it did not translate but searches mentioned polio.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #54

2009-01-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

Postcard #54 is a city view card from Tampere Tammerfors, Finland. This card traveled 8,899 Kms (5,530 Miles) and took 9 days to get to me.

A stamp from Finland depicting the sweet pea flower (Lathyrus odoratus)

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #53

2009-01-26T05:54:00.000-08:00

Postcard #53 is a view card from Germany depicting the many sites of Hagen. This card traveled 9,177 Kms (5,702 Miles) and took only 6 days to get to me.

I've gotten many stamps from Germany and they have mostly been different which is great; here are two more stamps that I have not gotten before. 125 Jahre Drachenfelsbahn, commemorating 125 years of Drachenfelsbahn Germany’s oldest rack railway. Papst Benedikt XVL (Pope Benedict XVI); the Pope is on a stamp!

Postcrossing Postcard #52

2009-01-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

Postcard #52 is a photo of The Gates of Dawn in Lithuania. This card traveled 9,596 Kms (5,963 Miles) and took 19 days to get to me. Postage was metered so there is no stamp.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #51

2009-01-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

Postcard #51 is a city view card from Espoo, Finland. This card traveled 9,049 Kms (5,623 Miles) and took 12 days to get to me.

A stamp from Finland depicting Kansalliskirjasto, Finlands National Library.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamps #50

2009-01-22T21:23:00.000-08:00

Postcard #50 is from Brazil and is a photo of a P-47 Thunderbolt airplane at the Museu Asas De Um Sonho (Wings of a Dream Museum).

These stamps from Brazil depict 2 professions: Barbeiro (Barber) and Sapateiro (Shoemaker).

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #49

2009-01-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

Postcard #49 is from Norway and is a cheery card with daisies, bees, a mouse giving a flower and a teddy bear holding a flower. The printed text in Norwegian says "Ha en fin dag" which in English says "Have a nice day".

A Makrell (Mackerel) stamp!

My Postcrossing Activity for 2008

2009-01-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

I started Postcrossing in February of 2008 and have already sent and received just over 100 postcards. A new stats feature was recently added to the postcrossing site and it gives some interesting data about our postcrossings. I have sent 104 postcards to 31 different countries with Japan (7), Germany (13) and Finland (23) being my top three destinations. I have received 101 postcards from 29 different countries with Netherlands (9), Germany (15) and Finland (25) being my top senders.

Here is a nifty graph from my stat page showing the number of cards received and sent each month.

My current postcrossing numbers are:
» Sent: 104 postcards
» Received: 101 postcards
» Traveling: 0 postcards out of 10
» Sent distance: 979,779 Kms (608,806 miles)
» Received distance: 973,188 Kms (604,711 miles)

I've got 10 cards to send out and will write them this weekend. I'm looking forward to another wonderful year of postcards in 2009.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #48

2009-01-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

Postcard #48 is a view card from Namsos, Norway.

Two stamps with a horn and crown and a very nice skiing stamp from Norway.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #47

2008-12-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

Postcard #47 is a photo of Obidos Castle in Portugal. This card traveled 9,112 Kms (5,662 Miles) and took 8 days to get to me.

Beijing 2008 Olympics stamp from Portugal. Looks like track and field.