It was a used item on Amazon UK, but it's already been bought by someone else. Thanks anyway, Israelis!

Jon, you know I'll always be happy to help you in situations like that. You can start checking amazon.de if you like, though I've also ordered stuff from amazon.co.uk and had it shipped to me here plenty of times.

Thanks, Fiona! Could you email me your shipping address so that I'll have it on hand if/when I need it?

Insent, Jon.

Got it. TA.

A friend has accepted a job as ship's doctor on a cruise line. They don't do electronic transfer, but send checks to ports of call. Does this sound legit? Also if it is, what is the best way to deposit them into a U.S. bank like Bank of America? Find a place to do a wire transfer in each port? Mail them?

I know nothing about this, but it sounds dodgy like a dodgy thing to me, in this day and age.

Yeah my thought too. The cruise line is legit, but they are contracting the position to a British company who actually pays him. Also, they have internet on board, but they restrict it strictly to professional use, no personal use allowed. They were emphatic that this is enforced, and that not even personal emails are allowed. I'm going to go with even more suspicious.

The bits that I've heard about cruise hiring has seemed dodgy to me. I know someone who was fired in the middle of a cruise, and left on St. Thomas, with just her last paycheck, no means of getting home. (At least it was a US island and she's a US citizen, so there weren't immigration issues in addition left-in-the-Caribbean issues.)

By coincidence, we've had dealings with ship's doctors on two of our three cruises. (Once, we both caught a respiratory bug went around the ship. The other time, Hubs had recurrence of old problem, irritating but not major.) Bills were charged to the room, so no checks changed hands.

So I assume the cruise line or the British company pays the doctor by paper check? Otherwise, I'm not sure how the issue would come up. At any rate, it seems questionable to me in this day and age -- electronic fund transfers would be so much easier.

What makes the practice even more questionable is that, because of work schedules, many crew members can't leave the ship when it's in port. A ship's doctor might be able to, depending on office hours. But a cabin steward or a waiter, much more difficult. (At least, that's how things are on the line we sail on -- but we sail on a line that has a reputation for good treatment of its crew, compared to other lines!)

As to the best way to deposit the checks, your friend should probably contact the bank the checks would be deposited into. A large bank probably has procedures for such things -- and may even have operations in some ports where your friend could deposit the check in person.