After 2 weeks of dealing with the Post Office, I 
must now face the fact that one of my most 
expensive cel purchases ever (and the most 
valuable by far) is now officially lost.

This is not a rant directed at anyone (expect 
perhaps EMS carriers).  So I won't be specific 
(although most cel collectors could read between 
the lines if they're really that curious to know 
about the details).

But let me be perfectly clear here and up front:  
I am not protesting against anyone in this post 
(especially not the dealer, who has always been 
understanding and helpful).  I do not want anyone 
who repies to this message to make any unjust 
acccusations.  This post is designed only to vent 
my grief and not directed towards anyone else.

WHAT WAS LOST?

This was a $500 purchase from one of those now 
infamous 50%-off sales last December.  So yes, 
the actual value of what I lost is really closer 
to $1000.  A total of 14 cels (9 cels with full 
backgrounds) are now lost.

At the time I made this purchase, I have been 
unemployed for several months and have pretty 
much kept my cel buying at an all-time low.  
However, after learning about this 50%-off sale, 
I saved up all I could and also dug into my 
savings expressly for this particular purchase.

Even then I could ill-afford to spend this much 
money (since I needed to buy holiday gifts and I 
just loaned $2500 to bail out a relative who got 
arrested due to a gambling debt).  But I decided 
to go forward with this cel purchase, because I 
have been severely depressed about the personal 
problems in my life for the past few months and I 
needed something to cheer me up.

SO WHAT HAPPENED (OR DID NOT HAPPEN)?

The package arrived in the United States in Japan 
near mid-December.  It arrived at the central 
mail processing center in my city on December 
24.  Since it was an EMS package, it was supposed 
to be delivered by December 26.

A couple of weeks went by (I decided to wait in 
case there was unusual holiday mail traffic) but 
it never arrived.  I finally went straight to the 
Post Office main branch and inquire about the 
package.  After spending 2 hours at that branch, 
2-3 hours at a mail annex across the city (even 
speaking directly with the actual mail carrier 
for my specific address), and finally 2-3 hours 
at the claims office, I was sent home while the 
Post Office tried to track down the missing 
package.

Four days have gone by and today I finally 
received the phone call today telling me that 
there is absolutely no trace of the package.  The 
claims office will be sending me a mail theft 
report form for me to fill out and send to the 
postal inspectors.

WHAT NEXT?

I already contact the dealer over the weekend, 
and he started filing for EMS insurance 
yesterday.  Although I don't expect to get my 
money back for quite some time.  Even then, 
there's no way those cels could be replaced and 
everyone knows the value of what was lost is 
actually twice for what I paid for them.

Until I find some full-time work again, I don't 
expect to do much cel-buying (except for my 
friend, whom I help out with cel purchases) from 
now on.  Or I must wait until I receive the 
insurance money.  Also I never expect to see the 
$2500 I loaned to my relative (who is in worse 
shape than ever) ever again.

Well, there's my sad story.  Happy New Year to me.