Yeah I'd love to tell you all my problem, but you're not from New York City you're from Rotherham
Today's edition is brought to you from the hidden Yorkshire gem, Thurnscoe, near Rotherham. It is, without doubt or exaggeration, a dump
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I fold it in half, so the front is closed, and the back page is visible (top on one side, bottom on t'other). Then I put a small piece of sellotape in the middle at the bottom to secure it, and another small piece on either side so it stays shut.
Then I treat the side that was the bottom half of the back page as if it was the front of an envelope. So I write my friend's full address in the middle of the space on what was the bottom half, between 'The wing of friendship' and 'Printed by....'
Then I weigh it, and go on the Royal Mail site to find out the cost to send it airmail to USA at printed paper rates. Their website is currently b0rked, perhaps due to the shares going on sale today? but I think the link you want is http://www.royalmail.com/price-finder/printed-papers
Once I know the cost, I write at the top in the middle in big letters
AIRMAIL
PRINTED PAPERS
and then I add the appropriate stamps to the top right.
Then I post!
Does that make sense?
Also, when sending letters, always put your full details in the top left of the front of the envelope (the Wing has it preprinted as 'published by...' - I mean on your own letters) - I put
Sender: F Bristow
1 My Street
London
ME1 1XX
UK
otherwise the mail room can reject it. Similarly if you dont put his address exactly right: there was once an issue as I wrote my H as a backwards N (sort of) and they pretended they didnt understand what Id written for his cell number, which has an H in it, even tho I also gave his full name, prisoner number, and the address also had a capital H in it they could have used for comparison. You will find the mail rooms can be petty and their rules change often. Ive had letters rejected because I printed off a page of my own website to share glasto photos, as my friend loves to hear about fests, and it has been refused for 'too many pages printed from the internet' or 'too many photos'. If the mail room rejects your letter they will tell your friend, he can then pay the several dollars to have it sent back to you, but of course they will save their money, so he might never know it was your letter he rejected and you might not know he didnt get it (mine guessed as I was the only person writing from the UK at the time and they told him the country so he knew the costs to send it back). So, abide by all their pathetic petty rules, and check with your friend before sending anything other than text (typed or written) because they may limit printouts, photos etc to as few as 1 or 2, although I can send him several stamps in one go (I write his name and number all over the back to discourage stealing in the mail room, and write in large font on my letters that I enclose X many stamps - so far so good with that).
Happy to answer any more queries tho I dont check LJ notifications very often so email might be better.
Good luck with your new friendship!
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