What’s it like to reboot stamp collecting after a three year break? One thing for sure is that there is lots of catching up to do. Thus I decided to title this entry of various observations as “reboot ramblings”. For starters I went to check what’s new in stamp catalogues. Michel’s are no longer 19 bulky volumes, but instead all of it has been split to 36 thinner volumes. And Scott has relaunced their digital catalogues with annual subscription fees. Both are essentially things I rejoice except the increased total cost of complete catalogue sets. I guess that this just highlights the age old c ..read more

If looking back at 2020, it is very hard to find words other than ‘bizarre’ to describe all that has happened.  COVID19, divorce, moving across the country, picking up a new job…. No surprise I did  not have much time for stamps nor blogging in 2020.  As always there’s the good, the bad, and the ugly – depending on how you look at it. And the launch of 2021… well, it starts with big bang as well. For starters, I’m on the move once again (so if you have got my “new address”, please bin it as it will become useless in few weeks).  About week before Christmas I got messag ..read more

Howdy all. I thought I’d do a quick end of summer summary on what’s happening with my life.  Needless to say it’s the past 18 months have been one heck of a “joyride”, but things are finally beginning to normalize.   But lots of changes in my life have happened and many are still happening; many of them things I considered unfathomable even six months back. For starters, as you are reading this, the divorce process is halfway through and all loose ends should be finalized before end of year.  Needless to say the breakdown of long marriage has been one hell of a rollercoaste ..read more

Here’s one of the tools I’ve used for few years:a 20x clip-on macro lens that fits pretty much any smartphone.  There are dozens of brands selling similar lenses from 10-40€ price range; mine’s pretty much in the middle price range.  Some stamp brands, such as Lighthouse/Leuchtturm got their own equivalents, but IMHO they seem lower grade and quality than those aimed for ‘general photographers’.  I thought I’d show some photographs of what is possible with stamps using a “cheap” macro lens, as well as talk some of the ups and downs compared to scanner vs. digital microscope vs ..read more

During my winter holidays I went to three day trip to Tampere, the “Manchester city of Finland”.   My main goal there was spending a day visiting Vapriikki Museum center.  There amongst other museums lies also the Finnish Postal Museum.  All in all I wasn’t expecting too much as I acknowledge the main goal of Postal Museum is not with stamps nor stamp collecting, but history of postal services.   So what’s my verdict?   If you want to spend a fun hour or two marveling the history of postal services, then this is best money can buy here in Finland.  ..read more

I’m sure most of us stamp collectors know a lot about stamps. But I have a gut feeling that very few of us know very little if nothing about cognitive biases. Before my ongoing crash course with human psychology, I had no clue what the term meant in practice, even though as hindsight I can say it has influenced and shaped my life, stamps included to very large extend. In nutshell cognitive biases are mental shortcuts (aka. heuristics) that our brains use to handle vast amounts of data around us as quickly as possible. It sounds like a perfect match for every worldwide stamp collector. Let me g ..read more

Life can be a bit of mysterious creature, and never did I imagine taking a one year break from stamps and blogging. But so did happen. As I’ve been rebuilding myself, reconnecting with myself, I’ve realized I’ve been given quite a unique change to re-approach pretty much everything in my life. All in all I’m still very much in middle of lengthy process (aka life), so I really don’t know what the final outcome of all this will be some day. But I do know stamps, collecting and writing about all of it will remain part of my of future regardless of events. Possibly the hardest part of return is fi ..read more

Howdy all. I thought I’d do a quick end of summer summary on what’s happening with my life.  Needless to say it’s the past 18 months have been one heck of a “joyride”, but things are finally beginning to normalize.   But lots of changes in my life have happened and many are still happening; many of them things I considered unfathomable even six months back. For starters, as you are reading this, the divorce process is halfway through and all loose ends should be finalized before end of year.  Needless to say the breakdown of long marriage has been one hell of a rollercoaste ..read more

Here’s one of the tools I’ve used for few years:a 20x clip-on macro lens that fits pretty much any smartphone.  There are dozens of brands selling similar lenses from 10-40€ price range; mine’s pretty much in the middle price range.  Some stamp brands, such as Lighthouse/Leuchtturm got their own equivalents, but IMHO they seem lower grade and quality than those aimed for ‘general photographers’.  I thought I’d show some photographs of what is possible with stamps using a “cheap” macro lens, as well as talk some of the ups and downs compared to scanner vs. digital microscope vs. traditional mag ..read more

During my winter holidays I went to three day trip to Tampere, the “Manchester city of Finland”.   My main goal there was spending a day visiting Vapriikki Museum center.  There amongst other museums lies also the Finnish Postal Museum.  All in all I wasn’t expecting too much as I acknowledge the main goal of Postal Museum is not with stamps nor stamp collecting, but history of postal services.   So what’s my verdict?   If you want to spend a fun hour or two marveling the history of postal services, then this is best money can buy here in Finland.   The admittance fee is not too costly, and it ..read more