Baikal Update:
I talked to Mrs Levin at Baikal Canada ... she said she was not set up to do credit card payments on the phone; that I must do paypal or send a cashier's check.
The letter went out in late April with a cashier's check in it ... imagine my surprise/consternation when, ten days later the letter reappeared on my doorstep telling me that it was sent with insufficient in funds, and that I needed to add $1.00 more to the postage ... it had been gone over a week and never left Sacramento!
So I took all the information down to the USPS who told me that it should go priority mail ($11.00 charges), and that if I wanted to send it insured, it would only be $44.00 (Remember, this is for a $35.00 money order).
The priority mail was send on April 30th ... yesterday, I sent an email to Baikal Canada asking if they had recieved the check; they sent an email back that as of 12 April, they had not recieved the check.
I called USPS who told me that on international mailings there is no way to track a priority envelope ... that I should have insured it (remember the $44..00 insurance charge on a .35.00 check?) ... not only that, but I was informed that it takes 10 to 15
BUSINESS DAYS to send an international letter (I could have personally delivered it on a Greyhound in less time) ...
And we have not even discussed the return shipping ....
I am so frustrated I could chew nails ... I am guessing the real answer to all this is to just hang that Baikal above the fireplace and get a Stoeger Uplander ... sigh