1111
Last night I got an email from John, who’s gone over to Boston, saying that he’d got his Harvard address. Like his previous one, containing his new phone number. I didn’t pay too much heed to either email because I couldn’t see myself trying to contact him other than on MSN and via e-mail.
When the second email came in, I did notice something cool. A zip code!
When you order things off sites in America, you enter your shipping address, and you select Ireland instead of the default America. Now, the clever sites know that here in Ireland we don’t do things like zip codes, and removes the field, but others aren’t. They think Ireland engages in these things, which we don’t.
And because of that, I usually have to counteract this sillyness by entering a code of 0000. To thwart me, some sites have been taught that 0000 isn’t a valid code, and don’t allow it, forcing me to use something like 1111:
If anyone (especially anyone in Arizona, where my package originated) asks, Limerick’s zip code is 11, right?
But, now, thanks to John’s email, I won’t have to invent anything ever again!
According to American tshirt websites, I’m Tommy Collison of Limerick,Massachusetts. 7502

“N/A” and “Unavailable” are also valid inputs.
Kevin
26 Aug 09 at 6:08 pm
Even UK companies can be a pain. Some insist on a town/city and then a county. I live in Glasgow. What should I put? Glasgowshire?
Finlay
26 Aug 09 at 6:20 pm
You langer—valid zip codes are 5 digits! The Haaaahvahd zip code is 02138. The 7502 there is the add-on bit that gives even more detail. Have a look at the Wikipedia article on zip codes; I found it really interesting.
John
27 Aug 09 at 2:01 pm
This looks promising http://www.irishpostcodes.ie/
FiscalStudent
27 Aug 09 at 5:30 pm
I’m finding comments 3 and 4 interesting. What kind of geek am I turning into?
Finlay
29 Aug 09 at 2:37 am