Got this very cool "Mail Bomb" from deo-pa (Dennis) after I discovered he was a philatelist during an online exchange we had awhile back about a knife. Although I am not a stamp collector myself, in the course of our conversation I happened to mention a particular Hawaii-themed postage stamp that I had purchased a few sheets of about 20 years ago to use for personal correspondence (I know, I know...it's practically unfathomable in this digital age that there are still a few of us old-school types who actually use snail mail to send greeting cards & hand-written letters to friends & family instead of email or text messages

). After using up my supply of that particular stamp, I returned to the PO to purchase more; however, much to my dismay, I was informed that the stamp I sought had been discontinued

. I was bummed because I had intended to keep one as a memento.
Well, it turns out Dennis actually had that very stamp in his collection but, as you can see, he did not merely send just the stamp, he sent me a highly collectible First Day Cover in a clear plastic protective sleeve to boot

. Wow, I am floored...what a fantastic surprise and gift.
My wife is afraid that Dennis may have acted recklessly and activated a latent philatelic gene in my DNA...and, as usual, she's probably right
All I can say is "MAHALO" Dennis (and also, you'd better watch your back because if my newly awakened philatelic tendency goes the same way as my knife collecting, mark my words & make no mistake: my wife WILL hunt you down!

)
