Well, I'm sitting here in my hotel in Moscow right now, so it worked out okay. As I said, I know the local postmaster, so I ran down to the PO yesterday morning before my flight left and way before the place opened. He had just dug it out of the bag and handed it to me as I came to the back door. I got lucky this time. I don't need that kind of stress in the future. I think the answer for future last minute trips like this is to do as others suggested; i.e. use a visa service to help out.