Dear bowerbird

>the disks were unusable both times.
>(the post office looked to be the culprit the first time,
>and inferior diskettes were the problem the second time.)

As you know, each FD drive had tracking problems
Therefore,
When you receive FD, always lock (write-protected key) FD.
Otherwise Mac try to update (write) information each time.

Have you ever tried to read that floppy disk in other FD drive?

If FD is readable in other drive, please make sure your FD drive is OK.
At least clean up your FD drive!

Masakazu Nakao 
Hiroshima Japan
masa.nakao@...(Masakazu NAKAO)