Just a quick note on "delayed" shipments!  I once sent a Air Mail parcel to
Spain [now remember I live in Florida, so the most direct route would be over
the Atlantic]....after about a month, I received a letter stating the shells
had not arrived in Spain...being that this was a relatively new trading
contact, I was a bit suspicious but  gave the individual at the other end the
benefit of the doubt...but unfortunately, I couldn't replace the shells, so
the trade was terminated.   Almost 8 months later, I get a rather large
envelope from my Spanish friend...inside was the wrapper from the parcel
showing me all the postmarks stamped on it...it went via the Pacific, Japan,
Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Israel, Italy are the postmarks I remember, but I
believe there were two additional ones as well...but the system worked and the
shells arrived intact!   There was no explaination as to why it went to all
these other countries.  My best postal system story!
         Ed Schelling
          Worldwide Specimen Shells
           Shalimar, FL