HOLIDAY CARD IDEA. Want your holiday greeting cards to be extra special? USPS can add a seasonal postmark that will really add a festive touch. An annual favorite is the North Pole Christmas postmark offered from Fairbanks, AK. Just address, seal and place postage stamps on your holiday cards as you normally would, then mail them enclosed in a larger envelope to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999. After the letters are postmarked, they will placed into the mailstream from Alaska and delivered.

Customers are reminded it's always wise to mail early. To ensure delivery in time for Christmas, items should be received in Alaska by Dec. 15. Letters will be postmarked through Dec. 24.

There are other interesting and festive postmarks available nationwide: Christmas, MI 49862; Snowflake, AZ 85937; Bethlehem, PA 18016; and many more. Follow the same steps offered above for the North Pole postmark, and simply address the packet containing the cards to: Holiday Greeting Card Re-Mailing, Postmaster, City, State ZIP-9998.

BACK IN BUSINESS. Quick thinking by a postmaster and local postal employees allowed a fire-damaged office in Richmond, VA, to reopen while the other businesses in the 18-story building had to wait three weeks or more to move back in, after electricity was restored. An electrical fire Oct. 28 shut down the 700 Building in Richmond, leaving the building without electricity while it was rewired. Richmond Postmaster Jacob Cheeks and his staff worked with city officials and the fire department to resume operations almost immediately at Richmond's Capitol Station on the building's first floor.

They brought in generators for power, portable bathroom facilities and a mobile unit for customer retail services, and kept the mail moving. Electricity was restored Nov. 18, when other businesses began moving back into the building.