Good Points made in your post. I won an auction on eBay that ended in late August or early September. I sent a Money Order to the seller and the chip($10 Tyson Holyfield II) was mailed on September 10. With the entire aviation system shut down for almost a week the chip sat in LA(?)for several days and ended up going by slow truck. Needless to say, it took about 2 more weeks until I actually saw the chip. Likewise, I am sure that every time there is an anthrax scare or a mail bomb scare certain Post Offices may slow down as mail is searched and equipment cleaned and inspected. Watching FOXNEWS right now, there has been a News Alert about a suspicious package in a mail drop box with pro Al Quada and pro Palestine messages on it. Turned out to be sneakers(?) but was similar to a bomb that was found yesterday and detonated when the mail carrier thought it was suspicious. I would imagine that anyone in or around Philadelphia that is sending mail today, for example, that will mingle with Philadelphia in a regional sorting facility, may find their mail slowed down as postal inspectors more closely scruitenize the mail going through those facilities. I don't know how much effect the Illinois, Iowa, Colorado... situation had since it wasn't mail bombs but pipe bombs in mailboxes. However the general point is good to keep in mind.