Venetian Tower at Christmas Time

I sent this card to Czech on December 26, 2014 as a replacement of US-2566010 that was posted on December 26, 2013. The original copy was the same as US-2518598, showing the tower at The Venetian Las Vegas with a round shaped USPS Evergreen Wreath Global Forever Stamp issued on October 24, 2013. It was apparently lost in the mail and had expired since. When the Postcard ID was dropped from the PostCrossing system after one year, it has formally entered my postcard graveyard. The replacement card has a new USPS Silver Bells Wreath Global Forever stamp that was issued on October 23, 2014 along with the Winter Fun stamps.

The Venetian Tower with Christmas Tree as seen on December 27, 2014.

All In or Nothing

Expired postcard US-2293198 to Ukraine, sent on June 28, 2013, was about to enter the postcard graveyard after 365 days. It features a fantastic sunset view of the famous music water fountain at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, with a column of gaming-chip styled tokens to spell out "Las Vegas."

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup yesterday, USA lost to Germany 0:1. However, helped by the result of the match between Portugal and Ghana, Team USA still advanced to the next round. It sounds like a typical Las Vegas story: you try hard, but may still lose; yet with a little luck, you may still come out ahead.

So, give your best shot, and leave the rest. #allinornothing

Florida Perfume Water with Cabbage Roses

Expired Postcard US-2190474 to Croatia was sent on April 20, 2013 and reached its 365-day graveyard mark without being registered. The postcard shows a vintage Florida perfume label c1900. It features colorful pink and yellow roses with a pretty bottle at the bottom of label. A replacement card was sent but it appeared lost as well.

BeaverTail PricklyPear

Postcard US-2070982 was sent to the Netherlands on February 2, 2013 and had since expired. It is about to fall off the PostCrossing Universe as it is approaching its life span of 365-day travel time. The postcards shows the Beavertail PricklyPear (opuntia basilaris), a cactus species mostly found in the Mojave Desert, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Colorado Deserts and Colorado Plateau, and northwest Mexico. A single plant can grow up to 60 cm tall and may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads that are measured up to 14 cm long, 10 cm wide 1.5 cm thick. Their flowers are mostly pink to rose in color, but also rarely white or even yellow,  blooming from spring to early summer.

The postcard was purchased at the gift shop of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, which again offers free admission to the Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit/credit card holders through the Museums on US program on February 1 and February 2, 2014.

Vanished Sculptures Outside the Monte Carlo

Expired Postcard US-1945392 to Belarus has reached its 365-day mark and is heading to the postcard graveyard. The postcard shows a sculpture outside the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino with a photo taken on October 12, 2012.

Those frolicking sculptures at the north Monte Carlo entrance were dismantled along with the European facade and famed fountain in June 2013 to make way for a large open-air plaza between the Monte Carlo and New York New York. It is part of the current trend that opens up casinos and converts external facades into profit-making entertainment venues with live entertainment, restaurants and retail stores, similar to what are happening in the MGM Grand and the Treasure Island,

Forum Shops at Caesars

Postcard US-1940143 to Taiwan has expired for 365 days and is about to fall off the face of the PostCrossing Universe. The recipient sent five postcards and failed to register any. So there are at least four other cards got lost alongside of mine.

The postcard shows the Forum Shops at Caesars, a 636,000-square-foot or 59,100 square-meter luxury mall in Las Vegas, Nevada. Connected to Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino and built as an extension wing of the hotel, the mall now fronts on The Las Vegas Strip as shown on the postcard. The mall has more than 160 stores that line up simulated ancient Roman streets dotted with replicas of the Trevi and Triton fountains, statues and facades. It is also noted for its majestic spiral escalators by the massive reflecting pool at its entrance.

The photo on the card was taken on September 30, 2012.

Sirens of TI will Go Silent for a While

Postcard US-2230025, sent to Taiwan on May 16, 2013, has since expired. It shows an aerial view of the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino (top left); its "TI" sign at the entrance (bottom left); and the Sirens' ship "the Song" in the nightly "the Sirens of TI" show.

In the show, a group of sensual and tempting Sirens battles with a band of renegade pirates.The Sirens first captures an overboard pirate, Eros, and lures his captain and crew into Sirens' Cove. However, the Sirens quickly find themselves under cannon fires from the pirate's ship "the Bull". Not for long, the Sirens overpower the pirates and sink "the Bull" to the bottom of the ocean. Nonetheless, as the pirates climb aboard "the Song" and a second battle ensues. In the end, the pirates realize that they are no match for the Sirens and decide to surrender. Then as the fireworks shoot from the hotel roof, it turns into a big party.

The show will be temporarily closed from October 21, 2013 to December 25, 2013 as a three-story shopping mall is added to the resort site to host a CVS pharmacy, stores, restaurants, and an automobile showroom. The resort’s lagoon area will be reduced in size; and the pirate ship "the Bull", while not going away, will run on the shortened track.

Supermoon

Full Moon at Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas

The expired postcard US-1895485 was sent to Netherlands on October 2, 2012. It shows a full moon over the Flamingo Hotel on September 30, 2012.

On Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 4:32 am PDT (11:32 UTC / 7:32 am EDT), the moon was at its perigee point, the point in the moon orbit that is closest to the center of the earth. Whenever that happens as the moon also enters its fullest phase, it creates a coincidence called "supermoon". At its fullest and closest, the moon appears about 12% larger in the sky.

In the middle of the picture shows the supermoon in the evening of June 22, 2013 while on the right shows a full moon on September 30, 2012. The difference between the two is shown on the left.

The previous two supermoons happened on March 19, 2011 and on May 6, 2012. The next superMoon will be on August 10, 2014. 

I wish I were in Alaska so that I could see the supermoon in the midnight sun. You can see photos of the supermoon at Huffington Post, Baltimore Sun, EarthSky.ORG and Space.COM.

Postcard Graveyard

Temple at the Golden Summit, Mount Emei, Sichuan, China

Expired postcards are just the costs to "do business" in PostCrossing. Postcards can get lost in the mail, be forgotten by inactive users, or be held hostage by some recipients who dislike the type, content of cards or are offended by how their address are written.

Senders can minimize the chances of postcards losing in the mail by getting familiar with the guidelines from their postal services. A Customer's Guide for Mailing is a good resources for the people in the US.

For recipients, we understand there are other priorities in real-life. However, please change your status to inactive if you are unable to register received cards for a period of time.

Registering a received card is your obligation when you sign up PostCrossing, therefore, it is not optional. When someone intentionally delay or refuse to register a card, she or he breaks the rule. You can and should  let your displeasure so the sender knows when you register the card. Unfortunately, we did see occasionally some users mentioning on social media that they pretended not having received the cards for various reasons.

After one year from the date that the address is requested, the Postcrossing system deletes the postcard entry from the system. Therefore, the sent postcard will fall off the face of the Planet Postcrossing as it will not show up on the sender's sent list nor it can no longer be registered by the recipient.

The postcard US-1687553, sent to Mexico on May 17, 2012, is my 2nd card about to be sucked into  black hole. It features a temple at the Golden Summit on Mount Emei, Sichuang, China. Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha, is an official UNESCO site. The postcard was a blank bonus card sent to me along with the postcard CN-597954 by mickyjan.

However, postcards do arrive after 46 years, 49 years, 60 years, 64 years, or even 100 years. So, may my expired postcards be resurrected some day? I hope.