I've ordered quite a few small consumer items from china recently ... direct ship though .. no problems .. once an item was overdue .. refund came the next day. However I was asking here because of the commercial side .. I've looked at woods, concrete products AAC, electrical cabling (the 1/2" cable needed from the power company to the house 1/5 the price), stonework, plumbing, fixtures, etc etc etc .. even the total fee of about $5 door to door here in PHX still makes it cheaper to buy there .. and at worst the 3% tarrifs ... still my order would have to be 100% crap (on about 15 containers worth) and that's not likely .. Anyway ...

Mare, these photos and all that I've posted over the years, were taken with an Olympus Camedia C-740 Ultra Zoom that I bought in 2003. It's a great camera but it started acting up while on the Panama Canal cruise so I finally, reluctantly, had to buy another camera. I got the Panasonic Lumix FZ100. There's a much larger learning curve on the Lumix and I crave my old Olympus. But, with the amount of photos I take, I really need more versatility and mega pixels. For anyone who wants great photos at a really good price and doesn't mind carrying something around that is a bit larger than your typical point and shoot, I highly recommend picking up a used Olympus C-740 on Amazon or eBay. You can get one for about $30! My husband just bought one on eBay for $25 because he misses mine. Jodi- Here is a link that might be useful: Olympus Camedia C-740 10x Ultra Zoom

Thanks Cory, I'll be posting photos of the cove later this week. I've been home from my cruise since April but I took so many photos that I didn't have enough room to process them all on my computer. I bought a new computer and am in the process of moving everything over to that. One port at a time. I think I took 1,000 pictures of the Panama Canal alone. I just posted pics of Hualtulco's Copalito Eco-Archeology site today and tomorrow will be the Copalito museum. Jodi-

You think that's bad Kathi and HoustonMom, my sister just asked on Facebook what she should call her new kitty and I suggested Nacho. LOL Jasdip, the next vacation (rather, adventure), looks like it might be in Papua New Guinea or down the Orinoco River in Venezuela. Still in the planning stages. That poor camera is 8 years old and getting very tired so I bought a new camera when I got back from vacation. I'm considering buying another Olympus camera I saw today on eBay's Deal of the Day for $109 and free shipping. It has essentially the same specs as my old camera minus the viewfinder but the shutter lag (how quickly it can focus and shoot) is *much* faster than my old one which was so slow that I missed an opportunity to get a photo of a sloth while on a rain forest hike in Panama. I kid you not! LOL BTW, the nachos and guacamole was delicious! Jodi-