# She Sells Sea Shells by the Seashore



## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

OK, gang, here's a weird one. At the request of SWMBO I am asking this question:

She has, over the last 40 years, collected sea shells and archeological pottery shards, and even rocks etc from our travels as mementos. They reside in big glass bowls as decorations, not in nice neat little academic drawers and such. She is wondering if she can bring her sea shells with us when we move down. No, not as hand or checked baggage, but as part of the stuff we are having moved. 

 Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?


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## Guest (Jul 1, 2012)

FHBOY said:


> OK, gang, here's a weird one. At the request of SWMBO I am asking this question:
> 
> She has, over the last 40 years, collected sea shells and archeological pottery shards, and even rocks etc from our travels as mementos. They reside in big glass bowls as decorations, not in nice neat little academic drawers and such. She is wondering if she can bring her sea shells with us when we move down. No, not as hand or checked baggage, but as part of the stuff we are having moved.
> 
> Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?


The question isn't "what are we going to do," the question is "what aren't we going to do?" 
---------------------------------

Unless she has some weird shells that are banned by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) that she picked up or bought in a clandestine marketplace while on vacation and slipped back into the US in her purse, chances are they are fine to ship in. Your shipping agent can confirm on this.

Harmonized Tariff Code # 0508.00.00 - CORAL AND SIMILAR MATERIALS, UNWORKED OR SIMPLY PREPARED BUT NOT OTHERWISE WORKED; SHELLS OF MOLLUSCS, CRUSTACEANS OR ECHINODERMS AND CUTTLE-BONE, UNWORKED OR SIMPLY PREPARED BUT NOT CUT TO SHAPE, POWDER AND WASTE THEREOF


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

GringoCArlos said:


> The question isn't "what are we going to do," the question is "what aren't we going to do?"
> ---------------------------------
> 
> Unless she has some weird shells that are banned by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) that she picked up or bought in a clandestine marketplace while on vacation and slipped back into the US in her purse, chances are they are fine to ship in. Your shipping agent can confirm on this.
> ...


Thank you - that is the answer.


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## Sunchamama (Jul 1, 2012)

Only possible concern is taking them back to the USA one day! You may run into the friendly not sooooo many friendly lovely freaking BP. They are by far not my favorite people in all the world.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

Sunchamama said:


> Only possible concern is taking them back to the USA one day! You may run into the friendly not sooooo many friendly lovely freaking BP. They are by far not my favorite people in all the world.


I will tolerate SWMBO moving them to Mexico, like we've moved all over the USA. I think I'll attempt to draw the line at maybe bringing them back. 
 Yeah...like that'll ever happen.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

You are giving me pause, FHB.

I not only have shells, but rocks, from the shore of every sea/ocean beach/large lake I've ever walked upon. My rule is that I can't look for them, they have to find me.

It means fewer, but better. Although I realize that "better" is in the eye of the beholder.

Now. What do I do with all these lovely memories?


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## eagles100 (Jun 28, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> Now. What do I do with all these lovely memories?


I'd say bring them with you and make beautiful wall and/or coffee table displays of them.


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## sunnyvmx (Mar 14, 2010)

I say keep the memories, dump the shells and rocks and start making new memories and new collections in your new life in Mexico. Out with the old and in with the new. Leave a lot of your baggage behind or you may find your new life doesn't feel so new.


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## edgeee (Jun 21, 2012)

*fuzzy wuzzy was a bear...*

when i said i wanted to bring my books, many said they were too heavy, and i don't think they meant the topics.
i thought they had rocks in their heads, given how important my books are to me.
(many of them can not be replaced.)

i have empathy for both of you. when i had fish tanks, they included some very important rocks and shells in them. i used a conch shell to breed convicts.
(fish, not narcos.)

i had to shed the fish hobby, and the rocks went too, but i'm keeping my books.
i'd rather have books than furniture, if it ever came to that.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

edgeee said:


> when i said i wanted to bring my books, many said they were too heavy, and i don't think they meant the topics.
> i thought they had rocks in their heads, given how important my books are to me.
> (many of them can not be replaced.)
> 
> ...


I used to feel that way about books. I kept every book I ever read or never read. I still had had my cub scout manuals from when I was 8 years old (about 59 years ago). I moved them and built book shelves for them every time I moved. The bookshelves were 21 feet long floor to ceiling. When I came to Mexico, I packed them all into boxes and stored them in the basement of a house in the US. They filled 42 boxes. This was after I had donated 15 boxes of the more valuable ones to a college library a few years before. After I realized I was going to stay in Mexico, I decided it was time to get rid of them. A used book store went through all 42 boxes and picked out the ones they thought they could sell. The other 40 odd cartons went to the local library for their annual fund raising book sale.

Now I don't keep books. Physical books I buy and pass on. Many of the books I read are electronic. I haven't completely succeeded in not collecting books. I still have a stack of 25 or so waiting to be recycled, but none stay around for very long anymore. 

I don't miss them a bit.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

I'm getting there with my books, too, Will.

When I purged my office a few months ago, the rule with books was that if I hadn't read it, or I wasn't CERTAIN that I'd read it again, out it went. That accounted for a box so large and so full, Husband had to carry it downstairs for me.

I got firstborn Son to do the same, when he and his wife were here in May (they arrived in China, yesterday!). From several boxes and a large population on bookshelves, we're down to a couple of smallish boxes. 

Now Mom (me) and Daughter have to do the same on the downstairs bookshelves. I'm thinking that it would make a pleasant few hours of chatting and reminiscing at Xmas.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

*Books & LPs*

Yes,


TundraGreen said:


> I used to feel that way about books...I don't miss them a bit.


As we begin the process, now, of packing up - we still have six months, but... I find that the books we've accumulated are also going away. Yes there are some that I re-read when I'm bored I keep, but I am amazed by all the books that have gone. Yes, I love my library, I, too, had miles of shelves, but in the end, I read those I wanted to, and never opened them again, so it was time for them to go. I just couldn't throw them out, we needed to find homes for them: local synagogues got a lot of the Judaic books, the local library got some for their resale sale, some when to a shelter...I just couldn't kick them to the curb and would have have to see them go into a garbage truck...they were old friends.

Now...what about 3-4 cartons of old LP vinyl? Like to sell them, but the cat(s) used the spines as scratching posts so the jackets are less than perfect. What do you do with these "old friends"? Yeah, I know, toss 'em.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Just a heads up: there is an organization called Better World Books. They're useful for those scattered around the globe who want to hold a book written in English in their hands: they deliver all over the world. We used them for firstborn Son and his wife when they were in Korea.

But they also have a used book program that gives books to people all over the world, as well. You can let them know what books you'd like to donate, and they'll send you a shipping label to print out, so the cost of getting the books to them is free.

Son and wife did a combination of Better World donation, donation to women's prisons (they will only take paperbacks), selling some to a used bookseller, and asking us to put some in any garage sale we might have.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

mickisue1 said:


> Just a heads up: there is an organization called Better World Books. They're useful for those scattered around the globe who want to hold a book written in English in their hands: they deliver all over the world. We used them for firstborn Son and his wife when they were in Korea.
> 
> But they also have a used book program that gives books to people all over the world, as well. You can let them know what books you'd like to donate, and they'll send you a shipping label to print out, so the cost of getting the books to them is free.
> 
> Son and wife did a combination of Better World donation, donation to women's prisons (they will only take paperbacks), selling some to a used bookseller, and asking us to put some in any garage sale we might have.


:clap2: WOW! Great idea! I'll explore. Thanks.


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## edgeee (Jun 21, 2012)

i'm weird in many ways.
one of my personal peculiarities is that i'm addicted to knowledge.
i will keep my printed words close to my heart as long as it beats.
and when it's time to give them up, i will donate them to some organization devoted to bringing people together.
not much, but it's all i can do.

knowledge is the universal communication.


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## Sisalena (May 3, 2009)

I have always been an avid reader, and when we moved to Yucatan six years ago, we only brought what would fit in our 7x12 foot cargo trailer. I managed to bring about 5 boxes of books. The rest I donated to Goodwill. I also had a collection of 5 plastic bins of LP's that I tried to sell via yard sales, but whatever didn't sell, also went to Goodwill. As an avowed "pack rat", getting rid of all my "stuff" was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but now that it's a done deal, I find that I really DON'T miss any of that "stuff"! Since I discovered free Kindle books (for PC, I don't have a "reader"), I haven't read a "real" book. My Kindle library is now over 900 books just waiting on the Amazon server for me to read at my leisure! And I haven't spent one thin peso! My advice (for what it's worth) -- just let 'em go!


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## La Osita (Oct 31, 2010)

When I left the USA, I had a HUGE multi-day yard sale. And, thirty plus years of collected rocks, shells, sharks teeth, ancient bones, etc. went into the pockets or bags of little children who came to the yard sale with their parents. (You should have seen the looks on the Dads' faces when their kids got the treasure and they didn't). It was pretty funny. And, yes, at some point I cried. Some times I really miss wandering around my yard looking at all my treasures, but I think Sunny VMX has a point... it's never really ours anyway. I kept the memories and let go of the stuff!


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Ed, I understand that love of learning, as do most people, really.

But keeping books that have been read, and probably won't be read again, by ME is, I'm learning, selfish at its core. They may represent a period of my life, or a flash of insight. Who am I to keep the opportunity for that flash from someone else, by holding on to that book?

Every physical thing that we own ties us down, in a sense. In some ways, that's good, because we need ties to who we are and who we were. But too many things tie us too tightly, and when those things represent knowledge, or flights of fancy, we are better off sharing them with those who may not have been able to otherwise attain that learning or the flying.


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## eagles100 (Jun 28, 2011)

FHBOY, for your wife's shells and rocks, if she decides not to take them, may I suggest making nice displays of them and taking very good digital pictures. The pictures would be weight-free memories of her treasures.

She could later have some enlarged and displayed in your new digs in Mexico.


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## stilltraveling (May 7, 2012)

FHBOY said:


> She has, over the last 40 years, collected sea shells and archeological pottery shards,


That last part is going to be a problem. Removal of archaeological artifacts from their site of origin is a crime in most places. Transporting them across international boundaries without the requisite paperwork is a serious crime in a lot of places, including Mexico. The laws are not only country specific, but also included in many international conventions. I knew a guy in Central America that ended up in prison for trying to take some of the pottery shards that are littered all over the region with him. You might want to check with a professional on this one before you end up in serious hot water.


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

Sisalena said:


> I have always been an avid reader, and when we moved to Yucatan six years ago, we only brought what would fit in our 7x12 foot cargo trailer. I managed to bring about 5 boxes of books. The rest I donated to Goodwill. I also had a collection of 5 plastic bins of LP's that I tried to sell via yard sales, but whatever didn't sell, also went to Goodwill. As an avowed "pack rat", getting rid of all my "stuff" was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but now that it's a done deal, I find that I really DON'T miss any of that "stuff"! Since I discovered free Kindle books (for PC, I don't have a "reader"), I haven't read a "real" book. My Kindle library is now over 900 books just waiting on the Amazon server for me to read at my leisure! And I haven't spent one thin peso! My advice (for what it's worth) -- just let 'em go!


There's free Kindle books? I got a Kindle for Christmas from my kids and haven't touched it yet since I have alot of paperbacks to go...


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## stilltraveling (May 7, 2012)

terrybahena said:


> There's free Kindle books? I got a Kindle for Christmas from my kids and haven't touched it yet since I have alot of paperbacks to go...


Kindle saved my life. I've been an avid reader since I was a child, but carrying around over a ton of books (actually, a little over two metric tons according to my last moving company) from place to place isn't compatible with my occupation. I really like reading on paper, but a Kindle is the next best thing. 

I got a Kindle last year for x-mas and I have it with me at all times. Not only are the free books great (and all of the classics are out there for free), but I can also purchase the new releases for less than their print cost. 

We live in interesting times. :clap2:


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

terrybahena said:


> There's free Kindle books? I got a Kindle for Christmas from my kids and haven't touched it yet since I have alot of paperbacks to go...


Terry: Gutenberg.org

It's the Gutenberg Project, which allows for download of thousands of non-copyrighted books.

I have the entire works of Jane Austen, ready for re-reading when I have the time to do so!


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## Sisalena (May 3, 2009)

terrybahena said:


> There's free Kindle books? I got a Kindle for Christmas from my kids and haven't touched it yet since I have alot of paperbacks to go...


Yes, Terry, so far I've got almost 1000 books in my Kindle library, and still haven't spent one peso! Go to ereaderiq.com and have a look-see! You'll love it! I love mystery/thrillers and have read some great books so far. Now, mind you, these aren't the "best selling" authors like James Patterson, or Michael Connelly, or Lee Child, but they're pretty darn good! I always sort them by # of reviews, and pick the ones with the most and best reviews. Happy reading!


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> Terry: Gutenberg.org
> 
> It's the Gutenberg Project, which allows for download of thousands of non-copyrighted books.
> 
> I have the entire works of Jane Austen, ready for re-reading when I have the time to do so!


oooh thank you so much!


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