No need to apologise Steve - it's a good read and a reminder of the time when there was more trust in place.

It reminds me of the time I bought a rug from a carpet dealer in Iran. He couldn't take a card payment, so suggested I leave my home address with him, take the rug and pay him by bank transfer when I returned to the UK. This I did, but it did mean lugging around the rug in a carpet bag which was a bit of an inconvenience as I was touring around Iran at the time. My friend could not believe the trust the seller had placed in me to pay up, but as I said I had left my address and I'm sure if I hadn't paid, he had friends in the UK who would pay me a 'visit'.