Up & Away Without a Hitch

Surprisingly enough-  When we left early Wednesday morning, the American Airlines agent at O'Hare checked us in easily & didn't charge us for the few pounds extra that some of our ten (YES, count them- 10) boxes full of all our worldly possessions weighed.  Then later that day at the Beef Island Airport, we prepared ourselves for the worst (i.e., having to open every box & pay a duty.)  At first, the lady customs agent looked at our stack of boxes and told Dan that she was going to have to charge us something. She requested our inventory and Dan politely handed it over.  The agent scanned Dan's chicken scratched notes and started checking things off.  Then she the blankly looked at the pile of  boxes and finally said with a slow shake of her head, "Oh, go ahead."  We didn't stop to ask any questions. In our experience, the best way to deal with Customs Officials is to treat them with the respect that Seinfield gave the Soup Nazi. Works every time.