And despite the occasional slip of a date reference from various executives, an official ship date still hasn't been set.

CNN: Some see ploy in Microsoft NT rename

Heroic pronouncements like the one above, which would seem to raise the specter of failure and impel employees forward, perversely do just the opposite: they incent employees to lobby to lower the bar and slip the delivery date.

FORBES: We Never Fail

RKA, having still had no money from the government, quietly allowed the launch date of the service module to slip from April to December of 1998.

ECONOMIST: Rocket science

Peterman sells its slip-on Oneida Moccasins, which date back to World War I when workers on dirigibles wore them so that they wouldn't puncture the balloons.

FORBES: Russell Moccasin Keeps Quality High, Audience Small

Naturally, with a high profile launch like this we're guessing Apple has done all it can to ensure shipments won't slip through earlier than the June 19th launch date, but hopefully at least few folks will get lucky -- and at least they've got one of the only guarantees of a launch day phone going.

ENGADGET: iPhone 3G S pre-orders start shipping, reservations estimated in the hundreds of thousands

Indeed, the likely date of the first round of enlargement keeps on slipping: supposedly it is 2002, but 2005 now looks a much more plausible date for admitting the first new countries, and even that could slip.

ECONOMIST: The void in Europe

Stock prices readjust on the ex-dividend date to reflect the pending payment, and there is no guarantee the shares won't slip below the trader's breakeven point, resulting in losses.

WSJ: Running With Scissors: Another Way Dividends Can Boost Your Stock Portfolio