Dear Bobbi,
 
Be my guest. I forgot to mention that every word of it is true. I
couldn't make up something like that. Nora's story is a good one, too!
 
I think my real reason for sharing it, though, is...as serious as we
sometimes feel about lost packages and hard feelings about trades gone
haywire, things could be much worse.
 
Have a excellent day!
 
Kim Hutsell
San Diego
 
Bobbi Cordy wrote:
>
> Kim - This is hysterical!   May I use it in our club's newsletter?
>
> "Kim C. Hutsell" wrote:
>
> > Tom,
> >
> > With all the various discussion about shells being lost in the mail, I
> > thought you might enjoy hearing about a related incident that happened a
> > few years back.
> >
> > In the summer of 1988, our son Jeremy went to Seattle for a visit. Of
> > course, while he was there he took every opportunity to go shell
> > collecting in Puget Sound and found some really spectacular specimens of
> > Nucella lamellosa and Ceratostoma foliatum. But...being a teenager...he
> > didn't want to spend his vacation time cleaning shells...just collecting
> > them. So, he called me and asked if he could send them home to San Diego
> > and asked if I would clean them for him. I was more than happy to do
> > that.  I told him to freeze the shells, then to wrap them up air tight,
> > use a big box with lots of packing and send them 'Next Day Air Mail'.
> > That way they would be just about thawed, but still fresh. I'd even pay
> > the postage for him.
> > Well...Jeremy followed my instructions exactly. The post office, however,
> > didn't honor the 'Next Day Air'. Five days later...I got a notice to pick
> > up the package. When I went to get it, they couldn't find the package.
> > Finally, they located the parcel where they'd put it out BEHIND the post
> > office and brought it out to the front counter, wheeling it along in a
> > cart at arm's length. The pungent odor of rotting shells immediately
> > filled the room.
> >         "What IS this?" the postal worker asked.
> >         Seeing the size of the package and thinking about the extra money
> > we'd paid for a service the post office failed to perform, I gave the
> > clerk my most horrified expression. "OH, MY GOD...MY DOG!"
> > My expression of horror was nothing compared to that of the one I got
> > from the clerk.
> >
> > I never actually told them what was in the package but, for some
> > reason...for a long time after that, they always called me immediately if
> > I recieved any mail bigger than a postcard.
> >
> > Kim Hutsell
> > San Diego
>
> --
> Jim and Bobbi Cordy
> of Merritt Island, Florida.
>
> Jim Specializes in Self-Collected
> Caribbean & Florida Shells
>
> Bobbi in Shell Creations