The Elongated Collector? and ZZZ Coins?

 I won a bunch of elongated pennies from eBay. I think it is really neat. I have gotten them from elongated penny presses where I found them but now one can get them from eBay.  

the elongates pennies that I won on eBay.

The item came with a link to ZZZCoins. 

Their address is; 

P. O. Box 102

St. Clair Shores MI 48080

Along with the elongated pennies that I won, I got a paper indicating there is a collecting club for these elongated pennies. I am checking it out. I am going to post links and photos of this group here. 

Here is one side of the paper.

Here is the other side of the paper. 

Here is the The Elongated Collectors site. They have a variety of membership options. It seems one gets 4 issues plus each issue's coin. I think that is neat. Their prices seem really reasonable. I believe the forms are at their site. 

Their address;

Terri Ventresca, TEC Secretary

P. O. Box 275

Skippack PA 19474-0275

terri at tecnews . org

Writing Desks At The Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth NH

 I do not know if writing is a 'nerdy' thing or not but I am a nerd and I like to write letters and the things that one would associate with writing; like pens, paper, stationary, envelopes, and writing desks (among other things). This is just my excuse for putting this in the 'Big Nerdy Guy' blog. 

When I was touring the Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth NH, there were a few writing desks that I thought was really nice. I took photos of them and have posted them below. I don't know much about them other than they are nice. 

I like this portable one. I have a similar one but mine is newer and not as fancy.

I like the elegance of this writing desk. The table part folds up and conceals what is in it. It gives extra room when needed. It has a lot of storage space for writing needs; envelopes, paper, stamps, etc.

This was is simpler but just as nice. I didn't see it open but I can tell it is a writing desk from the shape and parts (two beams on side that slide out to support the writing platform). 

I like this portable one. It seems it is not just a writing desk but also where one can keep records. It seems fancier than the previous portable one. It was used in a little shop that sells things and it was used for record keeping. 

Since some of the houses had these writing desks, perhaps it was more common back then to write than it is today? I think writing has become a lost art. I think we should get back to writing again. I don't know if this is considered a lost art or a nerdy thing (or both) but it is a shame few seem to do it anymore. 

I like to write letters (letters, notes, postcards) even if no one writes back. I am hoping to keep the art of writing alive in my own little way. I guess that would make me nerdy in some way? I don't mind. I wear the title of 'nerd' with pride. 

USS Salem and Submarine at Quincy MA?

 While I am not sure this would fit into the category of being 'nerdy', I still think it is cool and wanted to put something in my Big Nerdy Guy blog; hence, I am posting it here.

My brother, Don and I went to see the USS Salem in Quincy MA. Unfortunately it is only open on the weekends - Saturday and Sunday. We were there on a week day. 

We had some trouble finding it. We took a few wrong turns but we got there. I took some photos of the place. We found that there was a tiny sub on the outside entrance of the place. I am posting those photos here. 

Here is the submarine at the entrance of the battleship

area. It is really old and is detreating. 

Here is the front view of the battleship. 

Here is a side view of the battleship.

I didn't take a photo of the bow of the ship which had the name but I did take some. When we get to go back when it is open, I will definitely take more photos of the place with more information on it.