Well, I'm scared now and I'm not scared of anything.

The better half tosses me a letter, jokes about anthrax.  It has no return address. Oh, and look, it is postmarked Patterson, N.J.  Well, what the hell, open carefully and take a peek and it is nothing familiar.  So I take it out to the barn, open carefully and it is a chain letter.  No powder or anything.  Have lived at current address 8 years and never gotten a chain letter, or ever that I can remember.

I'm not a huge believer in coincidence, so I call 911, they advise if no powder, just throw it away.  Call to county Sheriff's office gets same advice.

I cleaned the counter where I opened it with bleach, and my hands also....

Would you have called authorities ??  

The better half should be more careful about the mail.  If postmen are dying, that is cause for concern.

No, I would have thrown it away!!!!

Can you say paranoid[peep]???

That was pretty mean on hubby's part. I won't even let my wife touch the mail these days.

... raise the temperature of the suspicious envelop to 170F for five minutes.

... use an iron and a cheap thermistor/thermocouple.

... just don't be afraid, and I too think the little lady was a bit cavalier and you a bit alarmist about the deal.

[IMG]http://www.conhugeco.org/junk/horse.gif[/IMG]

I would NEVER EVER forward a chain letter!  

Unless, of course, it said that bad luck would befall me if I didn't!

[:P]

DaMan

Alarmist, paranoid, yep, I prefer to call it careful !!  Just my rational side having it out with my imagination...

Still, did it have to come from New Jersey ??

You did the right thing.  Next time how about gloves and some sort of mask?  Irons don't work and as the news said, you may accidentally steam a letter open trying to kill the resillient spore.  Afterwards washing up with bleach is the right thing to do.  The spores are killed by UV light (Sunlight) not heat.

Edited to add: Throwing away a REAL anthraX letter may hinder the investigation process.

Are you important enough that someone really thinks you need to die?  So far, all the targets have been high profile, with the mail carriers and sorters being collateral damage.  This is why I'm not afraid of Antrhax.  I'm nobody and I don't handle anyone elses mail.

God Bless Texas

Actually, I would not be surprised to see the terrorist(s) change tactics at this point.  They've gotten our opinion leaders exposed, and managed to stir up some panic in the process.  If they're going to freak the populace, the timing is about right. . . .

Personally, I would SAVE the envelope and letter in a sealed plastic bag (zip-loc or equivalent).  If news hits that random people are getting weird letters, yours would be available for testing.  Maybe it'd have a useful clue.

If nothing happens, throw it away in a couple of months.  You're out one or two zip-loc bags, big deal.

I'm in the Army National Guard, only thing that could make me more of a target than anyone else.  The National Guard has gotten a lot of press here in Michigan, especially due to the fact we are guarding the facility that makes the anthrax vaccine.  (Not my unit.)  Was originally scheduled to have the anthrax vaccination series last Spring, but production problems stopped that.  (I was planning on avoiding the vaccine at the time, now....)

The terrorists could change tactics, but I have been telling people that if they had the capability to get thousands they would have led with that.

Lesson is, I guess, everyone should be more aware, but not to the point of panic....

I live in this shithole NJ......

Lotta browns got beat down in the streets there when they all started parading after the attack.

In Brooklyn, 30mins away from me....they paraded there too..they knew this was coming, yet did nothing.

In My neighborhood....Theres not a tear in anyones eye.....just us (My family) and the other white and black family 3 and 4 townhomes down.

My whole county is filled with these browns.....its a scary thing.

In trenton...also close..they send the anthrax from...

We need to clean all of these people out! Now !

I live in the epicenter of all of this..some of you may flame me for this...but trust me, live here, and you will soon hate them.

They cant drive....they stink...they go to my gym and stink there too.

Theyre shady....all of them opportunists..here for nothing but our schools and money..

they dont deserve to be here !

Sorry guys, havin a rough day...

E