Every expat in America knows this: you need to own a shredder in this country. When you go to buy your shredder you probably have a 'size' in mind. Take that size and go for one two orders of magnitude higher. Your shredder shouldn't be hand held. It should have a frightening set of ratings. It should be able to shred paper, credit cards, CDs and small calf. You are basically after something which could be used as a torture prop in a Bond movie.