Friday, October 13, 2017

Long overdue update coming soon

It's been more than a hot second since my last post and I do apologize for that. A combination of factors unfortunately have made my ability to update rather limited -

 1) my workload as manager of one of the largest supermarket seafood departments in Columbus means long hours and often overtime.

2) My health. I have liver disease that will likely require a liver transplant in the next few months.  While my condition is stable, I am on the transplant candidate list. One major side affect that has been a problem for me is fatigue which, combined with my heavy work schedule, leaves me with no real energy to do much after work.  The good news is that I still can work and the doctors expect me to make a full recovery once I do have the surgery.

3) The next nation I am posting is Benin. Now the process I have been using is first create a database in my copy of stamp mates for the complete country with catalog numbers by Scott, michel and the coorrsponding "national" specialized catalog - in the case of independent Francophone Africa this is Yvert. If you have ever looked at independent Benin in a catalog you know that there are hundreds of provisional overprints and surcharges on older stamps. Collating the listings in Scott to the equivalent Minkus and Yvert numbers...if they exist...was a major challenge that took me a good 2 weeks to finish.

But that work is now done and I am now laying out the vario pages. If all goes as planned I will have a new post for Benin-Dahomey this weekend.

6 comments:

  1. Gene,

    Sorry to hear about the health issues - a liver transplant is major - but glad there is a solution.

    Looking forward to your always interesting analysis of the intersection of stamps and history.

    All the best to you!

    Jim

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    1. Thanks Jim. It is major but thankfully the issues have been caught while I am still young and fairly healthy so the prognosis is very good. Liver transplants these days have a 97% success rate.

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  2. Gene,
    I second Jim's comments and wish you all the best with the surgery/transplant.

    Chris

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  3. Gene,

    I too am sorry to hear about your health issues and wish you all the best.

    I look forward to reading your political and philatelic overview of Benin whenever you manage to find the time in your busy schedule.

    Take care,

    Frank

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