Before I get into today's post I think it is important for all of us to tip our hats to Billy Mays, the Oxy Clean guy. If it weren't for him I would have never gotten those poop stains out of the carpet when my dog had Parvo and I would still be wearing spit up on my left shoulder. In honor of Billy Mays, who went down like a fighter after getting bonked on the head by a wayward piece of luggage, we should all refrain from doing laundry for one day. On the bright side I can fall asleep in front of the TV and know that I will never be woken out of a sound sleep by some shouting maniac with petrol treated hair. RIP Billy Mays, you will be missed.
Michael Jackson faked his own death. Obviously. Yeah the guy looked sick, yeah he was a freak but he was also in debt up to his surgically placed eyebrows. He had announced a tour that most 50 year olds who only use heroin or coke would have been unable to pull off. The tickets were sold and he was making money but not enough to cover the nearly 500 million in debt he had accrued through legal fees, plastic surgery that he denied and out of control spending. He was renting a house for $100,000/month when he had a perfectly good two bedroom home in Indiana. It doesn't make sense to me but I suppose if I were jacked up on Demoral I might do some stupid things too.
I remember when Elvis died. It was a hot day in August and I remember the date since it was my grandfather's birthday. I wasn't a huge fan of Elvis but my brother was and I knew all the songs. It never occurred to me that he might fake his death but I was only 11 at the time and didn't know or care about the circumstances of his life or death. I do know a lot of people didn't believe he died but I don't remember why. Space aliens were blamed for his disappearance and I suppose it might be a possibility, he was the king and even aliens need to hear good music. Elvis' estate (his ex wife and daughter) went on to make gobs of money by opening Graceland for tourists and he's probably still selling a ton of records. I'm sure he is worth more now than he was on that day in August of 1977.
Getting back to Michael Jackson's fake death... His family has been interviewed and all they keep saying is that he was the greatest superstar on earth, his kids are doing fantastic and we all need to remember why he will always be the number one superstar. No tears, no sobs, no blame. These people act as if nothing happened. Again I know he was a freak but his family might be just a little upset that he is dead.
And the women who gave birth to his children, Prince I, Paris, and Prince II aka Blanket, (I'm going off topic here just a bit. First of all he only had three kids, couldn't he have come up with one more name? And Prince? Really, you had to name two of your kids after the guy who was your only real competition. Remember when Prince (Rogers Nelson) was the freak and Michael was the normal one?) Any way the women who gave birth to his children have not come forward yet. Why not? When Anna Nicole died there were at least five different men including Senator John McCain who claimed to be the father of what's her name. Surely these women who rented out their wombs and then gave up their children to an accused pedophile might be in the whole baby making thing for money and the money train just rolled in when he supposedly died. There are books to be made, made for TV movies, interviews on every news channel and then the exploitation of these musical prodigies. I realize that if he really did die and his parents have custody that they will be exploited but you'd think the women who gave up their kids so easily might just make an appearance with their hands held open wide.
Michael's music has been selling like hot cakes since they announced his death. Even though the ticket holders to the 50 concerts in London will hopefully be reimbursed he is still making some money right now. More than he has in a long time. He still owns part of the Beatles' music catalog and he has his own as well. I suspect that ever time the news channels play one of his songs or videos they have to pay a royalty. Those fees alone are racking up some nice change at the moment.
He really needed to die. He reputation was horribly tarnished by the whole sleeping-with-little-boys-and-giving-them-Jesus-Juice-thing. He might be able to live down the Bubbles thing or the hyperbolic sleeping chamber or even wanting the Elephant Man's bones but no one likes a pedophile. Okay most people don't like pedophiles but I suppose there are some that can be bought. It was not likely that he would be able to achieve the kind of record sales he had with even some of his more recent stuff after the trial. He had mounting debt, no way to really pay it off since he spent way more than he earned. But in death all that talk of being a child molester will fade away. His music is the important thing. And sales have gone through the roof.
Michael could easily pull off a fake death. Plastic surgery is his forte and since he didn't look like himself anyway it is easy to assume that he would have no problem looking like some one else, possibly Liza Minnelli or Cher. He could become a pop star with a new look and new moves as long has he doesn't make that noise or grab his crotch ever again. Hell he could go back to the way he used to look when he was black and no one would recognize him, not even his family since they don't look like that anymore either.
We haven't heard the last of Michael Jackson. Even if he is really dead, which he isn't, he apparently had hundreds of recorded songs and videos. Tupac has put out an album every year since his death why can't Michael?
I'm reminded of one of Ayn Rands books, either The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged, I can't remember which since I hated both of them. In the book all the really smart people faked their death and went to live in some hidden valley in the mountains. There was some optical illusion used so no one could spot this place. They all lived there thinking horribly selfish thoughts, eating chicken wings and veggies with ranch salad dressing and because they were so smart they figured out a way so that the dressing didn't all go to their hips. I think the book went something like that. Anyway I imagine there might be a hidden valley where Elvis, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, Sonny Bono, James Dean, John Denver, Princess Diana, and Billy Mays are living in peace and harmony. Laughing all the way to the bank.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
I have a cold
I have had the worst cold since Wednesday. Thank goodness Michael Jackson passed away or I would have had nothing to look at on the TV for the last three days. I can't believe how much the world came to a stop when he died. The war in Iraq seems to have ended, Democrats and Republicans stopped complaining about one another, The North Koreans seem to have packed up their nukes and gone away. If it weren't for that Senator who cheated on his wife, who is not standing by him, there wouldn't be any news.
I don't know what is worse, being sick with a cold in the summer or having to endure the song You Are Not Alone, with a nearly naked Michael Jackson, 39 times and on 17 different channels. What is wrong with Thriller? Why can't they show that song over and over again? That was a good one, a fun one, a really cool one to watch and yet they show the video with Micheal and his pretend wife doing god knows what for three minutes.
I had a picture of me with Micheal Jackson during his one glove days but I couldn't find it. I found the picture of me with Ronald Reagan and J.R. Ewing but have been unable to locate the one of Micheal. If I find it I will post it and for sure when Major Nelson dies I have it to post. What the hell is his name? This cold sucks. I can't think straight and yet the meds don't seem to have any effect on my symptoms.
I don't know what is worse, being sick with a cold in the summer or having to endure the song You Are Not Alone, with a nearly naked Michael Jackson, 39 times and on 17 different channels. What is wrong with Thriller? Why can't they show that song over and over again? That was a good one, a fun one, a really cool one to watch and yet they show the video with Micheal and his pretend wife doing god knows what for three minutes.
I had a picture of me with Micheal Jackson during his one glove days but I couldn't find it. I found the picture of me with Ronald Reagan and J.R. Ewing but have been unable to locate the one of Micheal. If I find it I will post it and for sure when Major Nelson dies I have it to post. What the hell is his name? This cold sucks. I can't think straight and yet the meds don't seem to have any effect on my symptoms.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Second Annual Complain About the Heat Post
Here it is my second annual complain about the heat post. It's too hot. Too hot to do just about anything except park myself in front of the fan between trips to the bathroom because I am drinking so much water.
I don't know why I live in this part of the country. It's too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. Spring and fall are weekends separating these two seasons. It's only going to be 96 degrees today but the heat index is going to be 105. For those of you in normal climates the heat index is kinda like the windchill factor. It feels hotter because of the heat that radiates off the concrete pavement and buildings of the big cities. In the winter the wind makes it feel colder than it is so while the temp is relatively mild the outside conditions make it worse. We are also having tropical humidity so that doesn't help either. My grass is loving this weather however. I cut it last Friday and already it needs to be cut again. It's going to have to wait, which means more mosquitoes, because it is too damn hot to go outside and push a stupid lawn mower.
About the only thing I can think of that makes this heat bearable is that it slows down the kids a little bit. It doesn't prevent them from wanting me to go buy one of those big ass pools that leave a gaping hole in my lawn but it does slow them down a bit. I'd take them to the beach but I'm not mentally prepared to expose my pasty white legs or my cellulite ass to everyone just yet. When I see other middle aged moms venture outside in their bathing suits I might but so far it has been a rare sight.
I don't know why I live in this part of the country. It's too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. Spring and fall are weekends separating these two seasons. It's only going to be 96 degrees today but the heat index is going to be 105. For those of you in normal climates the heat index is kinda like the windchill factor. It feels hotter because of the heat that radiates off the concrete pavement and buildings of the big cities. In the winter the wind makes it feel colder than it is so while the temp is relatively mild the outside conditions make it worse. We are also having tropical humidity so that doesn't help either. My grass is loving this weather however. I cut it last Friday and already it needs to be cut again. It's going to have to wait, which means more mosquitoes, because it is too damn hot to go outside and push a stupid lawn mower.
About the only thing I can think of that makes this heat bearable is that it slows down the kids a little bit. It doesn't prevent them from wanting me to go buy one of those big ass pools that leave a gaping hole in my lawn but it does slow them down a bit. I'd take them to the beach but I'm not mentally prepared to expose my pasty white legs or my cellulite ass to everyone just yet. When I see other middle aged moms venture outside in their bathing suits I might but so far it has been a rare sight.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Day 6
It's day 6 of summer vacation and within the first hour I heard the dreaded "Mom, I'm bored".
So far we have gone to the library, though we haven't actually read any of the books, we have camped in the back yard and we have been to the park 8 times.
I'm the designated mom on the block where all the kids hang out. I'm not the only mom who is home during the day but I am the only mom who isn't crazy, or at least who other parents don't think is too crazy that they won't leave their kids with me. Yesterday my neighbor saw my daughter, the neighbor girl on the other side of our house and me in the back yard, she asked if her grand daughter could come over and play for a couple of hour while she and her mother ran a few errands. I said sure, the more the merrier, and told her to come on over. The grandma said they would be home around 3pm. No problem. That was at noon, before anyone had lunch apparently.
The girl was picked up at 8pm.
Now before you go all "establish some boundaries, girl" on me, let me explain. These girls were playing with my daughter which meant I didn't have to come up with entertainment for her. At least that was the idea. I set up the tent for them which was good for, surprisingly, 20 minutes. The girls sat in the tent and told ghost stories. My daughter, who is 6, was captivated by these stories and actually sat still for the whole thing. Of course she would be up all night but at the time I didn't care.
After eating anything and everything the girls decided to get some chalk and draw pictures on the sidewalk. My daughter, unlike me, has her boundaries firmly in place and when another child chalked in her space all hell broke loose. Tears, threats, accusations ensued. I tried to mediate the problem by using tears, threats and accusations. Eventually I went to the local Walgreen's and bought some tattoos for the girls.
What is it about toys for boys and girls? All the outdoor toys for girls are bubbles and chalk. Boys get guns and baseball bats and flying discs. Why haven't they made a plastic Uzi in pink? I'd buy it. The tattoos went over very well. All three little girls covered themselves with tramp stamps and suggestively placed tatts. I wasn't the least bit concerned what their parents would say since no one bothered to leave money, food or activities with their kids when they dumped them at my house for 10 hours. I'd have taken them all to the local tattoo parlor for the real thing if I thought they might be slowed down a bit by the pain of the tattoo gun.
Stanley almost caught a bird. It was an injured, baby bird but he almost actually caught something. This excited all the girls to no end and with their vivid imagination they decided that Stanley had rabies and he needed to be quarantined in the tent. Stanley didn't seem to mind and it gave me the opportunity to shoo the bird out of the yard. Had he gone after a squirrel or two I would have been pleased as punch but no he went after a defenseless little robin whose mother was none too pleased and dive bombed all of us for the rest of the afternoon.
We have a severe squirrel problem. Seems the woman who lived in the house before me liked the squirrels and fed them peanuts. My lawn is filled with nothing but little holes from these damn squirrels looking for the peanuts from three years ago. I hate them, the neighbors hate them and when I was at the hardware store over the weekend I noticed they had a wrist rocket or a sling shot with a brace that goes over your forearm to give that extra torque. I haven't actually hit one yet, in fact when the stone lands near them they think I'm feeding them and go to it. I don't really want to hurt a squirrel and I really don't want to kill one because then I don't know how to dispose of the body. I just want to scare the little fuckers into someone else's yard.
72 days to go.
So far we have gone to the library, though we haven't actually read any of the books, we have camped in the back yard and we have been to the park 8 times.
I'm the designated mom on the block where all the kids hang out. I'm not the only mom who is home during the day but I am the only mom who isn't crazy, or at least who other parents don't think is too crazy that they won't leave their kids with me. Yesterday my neighbor saw my daughter, the neighbor girl on the other side of our house and me in the back yard, she asked if her grand daughter could come over and play for a couple of hour while she and her mother ran a few errands. I said sure, the more the merrier, and told her to come on over. The grandma said they would be home around 3pm. No problem. That was at noon, before anyone had lunch apparently.
The girl was picked up at 8pm.
Now before you go all "establish some boundaries, girl" on me, let me explain. These girls were playing with my daughter which meant I didn't have to come up with entertainment for her. At least that was the idea. I set up the tent for them which was good for, surprisingly, 20 minutes. The girls sat in the tent and told ghost stories. My daughter, who is 6, was captivated by these stories and actually sat still for the whole thing. Of course she would be up all night but at the time I didn't care.
After eating anything and everything the girls decided to get some chalk and draw pictures on the sidewalk. My daughter, unlike me, has her boundaries firmly in place and when another child chalked in her space all hell broke loose. Tears, threats, accusations ensued. I tried to mediate the problem by using tears, threats and accusations. Eventually I went to the local Walgreen's and bought some tattoos for the girls.
What is it about toys for boys and girls? All the outdoor toys for girls are bubbles and chalk. Boys get guns and baseball bats and flying discs. Why haven't they made a plastic Uzi in pink? I'd buy it. The tattoos went over very well. All three little girls covered themselves with tramp stamps and suggestively placed tatts. I wasn't the least bit concerned what their parents would say since no one bothered to leave money, food or activities with their kids when they dumped them at my house for 10 hours. I'd have taken them all to the local tattoo parlor for the real thing if I thought they might be slowed down a bit by the pain of the tattoo gun.
Stanley almost caught a bird. It was an injured, baby bird but he almost actually caught something. This excited all the girls to no end and with their vivid imagination they decided that Stanley had rabies and he needed to be quarantined in the tent. Stanley didn't seem to mind and it gave me the opportunity to shoo the bird out of the yard. Had he gone after a squirrel or two I would have been pleased as punch but no he went after a defenseless little robin whose mother was none too pleased and dive bombed all of us for the rest of the afternoon.
We have a severe squirrel problem. Seems the woman who lived in the house before me liked the squirrels and fed them peanuts. My lawn is filled with nothing but little holes from these damn squirrels looking for the peanuts from three years ago. I hate them, the neighbors hate them and when I was at the hardware store over the weekend I noticed they had a wrist rocket or a sling shot with a brace that goes over your forearm to give that extra torque. I haven't actually hit one yet, in fact when the stone lands near them they think I'm feeding them and go to it. I don't really want to hurt a squirrel and I really don't want to kill one because then I don't know how to dispose of the body. I just want to scare the little fuckers into someone else's yard.
72 days to go.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Going with the Flow of Dairy Queen
I've decided to let go and stop trying to control things that I have no way to control. Big idea, I know. I've been kicking myself for the last few weeks for reasons that I'm not sure even I understand but it has not been a good or healthy thing. So I have decided that I am going to just enjoy the moment, at least for now.
I was laid off a couple of months ago and this has worried me lately. In worrying about all of it I came to a few realizations which you can read about here if you are so inclined. I've decided that I am going to enjoy things the way they are and stop worrying about the things I can't change.
This is a big deal for me since I have spent my life three steps ahead of the game. I had to with a gay dad and a handicapped mom. With my dad and his stuff I was always trying to head off any talk of "queer" or "fag" talk with other kids. This hasn't been a problem in a long time but old habits die hard. With my mom I was always trying to anticipate what kind of mood she was in so I didn't further disrupt what was already crazy. I'd think of answers to her questions and come up with all possible responses she might have. I would choose the least likely to cause trouble as far as my answer went. It's been tiring trying to have that much control and I don't want to do it anymore. Maybe I'm having a midlife crisis without the convertible, I don't know for sure.
The kids are out of school and I'm out of a job so after fighting the reality for so long I have decided to just go with the flow and see where it takes me.
Today I took my daughter and her friend to the public library. Both girls were excited to go so it seemed like it would be a fun excursion. Which it was. I hadn't been to a library since my college days so I no longer had a library card. Ex#2 takes the daughter to the library but he uses his card so she doesn't have a card either. We both signed up for a card and then all three of us went in search of great reads.
My daughter's friend had a summer reading list from school so she went in search of those while my daughter and I looked for a few early reading books. We found several and then went over to the lounge area to wait for her friend. I had to remind my daughter many times about using her indoor voice but really no one seemed too mind that she was excited about finding some great books, and even less upset that she was reading them herself, out loud of course.
While in the lounge area I noticed the book Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. I loved this book as a kid and expressed as much, rather loudly, when I started to read it to my daughter. The librarian just smiled and mouthed the words "I love it too" to me. I got the message and started to read it to my daughter. My daughter balked at the book at first since it was obviously old since I had enjoyed it as a child but after a few pages she fell in love with it too. Her friend, having found all of her reading list books, soon joined us and listened intently. A few other kids gathered round to hear the tale of the eight little duckling and their parents find a home in Boston. If you haven't read this wonderful book in a while, or have never read it make sure to stop by your local library and have a read, you won't regret it.
After the library we stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch. I promised the kids ice cream if they ate real food. I now realize that DQ does not serve real food but it has been so long since I had been to a Dairy Queen that I had forgotten. We ordered our ice cream and went outside to eat.
We've had some really unseasonable cold her for the past week. It's been at least 20 degrees colder than it should be. We've had 50 degree weather and I hate to admit it but I had the heat on, for only ten minutes, in June. I'm horribly ashamed but it was too damn cold. Anyway, it was finally nice and warm today so we sat outside to eat our Blizzards.
On the Blizzard cup they have little trivia blurbs about DQ. On the Blizzard cup it mentions how the Blizzard is so thick that it can be held upside down safely and often the servers will present the Blizzard upside down to prove this point. They don't bother to remind the reader that the inside of the store is air conditioned and when first served the cup is cold.
When you take the time to eat a few bites, give a few bites to your daughter to see if she likes it and take time to read the blurb then the cup, especially if you are sitting outside in the sun, becomes warm and the ice cream melts along the edges of the inside of the cup. They don't mention this but they should. Upon reading about serving the Blizzard upside down, and because I have decided to take more chances and go with the flow, I turned the Blizzard upside down. It plopped out onto the table and then dripped through the patio furniture (the kind of table made of metal with holes punched through it) onto my pants and shoes.
I was embarrassed at first but then as I got up to grab more napkins I noticed that there were at least three other tables with the very thing happening at that very moment.
Take this as a warning, ignore the challenge on the Blizzard cup or turn it upside down as soon as it is served to you if you can not resist the temptation.
I was laid off a couple of months ago and this has worried me lately. In worrying about all of it I came to a few realizations which you can read about here if you are so inclined. I've decided that I am going to enjoy things the way they are and stop worrying about the things I can't change.
This is a big deal for me since I have spent my life three steps ahead of the game. I had to with a gay dad and a handicapped mom. With my dad and his stuff I was always trying to head off any talk of "queer" or "fag" talk with other kids. This hasn't been a problem in a long time but old habits die hard. With my mom I was always trying to anticipate what kind of mood she was in so I didn't further disrupt what was already crazy. I'd think of answers to her questions and come up with all possible responses she might have. I would choose the least likely to cause trouble as far as my answer went. It's been tiring trying to have that much control and I don't want to do it anymore. Maybe I'm having a midlife crisis without the convertible, I don't know for sure.
The kids are out of school and I'm out of a job so after fighting the reality for so long I have decided to just go with the flow and see where it takes me.
Today I took my daughter and her friend to the public library. Both girls were excited to go so it seemed like it would be a fun excursion. Which it was. I hadn't been to a library since my college days so I no longer had a library card. Ex#2 takes the daughter to the library but he uses his card so she doesn't have a card either. We both signed up for a card and then all three of us went in search of great reads.
My daughter's friend had a summer reading list from school so she went in search of those while my daughter and I looked for a few early reading books. We found several and then went over to the lounge area to wait for her friend. I had to remind my daughter many times about using her indoor voice but really no one seemed too mind that she was excited about finding some great books, and even less upset that she was reading them herself, out loud of course.
While in the lounge area I noticed the book Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. I loved this book as a kid and expressed as much, rather loudly, when I started to read it to my daughter. The librarian just smiled and mouthed the words "I love it too" to me. I got the message and started to read it to my daughter. My daughter balked at the book at first since it was obviously old since I had enjoyed it as a child but after a few pages she fell in love with it too. Her friend, having found all of her reading list books, soon joined us and listened intently. A few other kids gathered round to hear the tale of the eight little duckling and their parents find a home in Boston. If you haven't read this wonderful book in a while, or have never read it make sure to stop by your local library and have a read, you won't regret it.
After the library we stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch. I promised the kids ice cream if they ate real food. I now realize that DQ does not serve real food but it has been so long since I had been to a Dairy Queen that I had forgotten. We ordered our ice cream and went outside to eat.
We've had some really unseasonable cold her for the past week. It's been at least 20 degrees colder than it should be. We've had 50 degree weather and I hate to admit it but I had the heat on, for only ten minutes, in June. I'm horribly ashamed but it was too damn cold. Anyway, it was finally nice and warm today so we sat outside to eat our Blizzards.
On the Blizzard cup they have little trivia blurbs about DQ. On the Blizzard cup it mentions how the Blizzard is so thick that it can be held upside down safely and often the servers will present the Blizzard upside down to prove this point. They don't bother to remind the reader that the inside of the store is air conditioned and when first served the cup is cold.
When you take the time to eat a few bites, give a few bites to your daughter to see if she likes it and take time to read the blurb then the cup, especially if you are sitting outside in the sun, becomes warm and the ice cream melts along the edges of the inside of the cup. They don't mention this but they should. Upon reading about serving the Blizzard upside down, and because I have decided to take more chances and go with the flow, I turned the Blizzard upside down. It plopped out onto the table and then dripped through the patio furniture (the kind of table made of metal with holes punched through it) onto my pants and shoes.
I was embarrassed at first but then as I got up to grab more napkins I noticed that there were at least three other tables with the very thing happening at that very moment.
Take this as a warning, ignore the challenge on the Blizzard cup or turn it upside down as soon as it is served to you if you can not resist the temptation.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
eBay still bites
I'm still trying to get rid of stuff on eBay. I didn't mean to post again about it but apparently a few people feel pretty strongly about the whole thing.
The people have changed. They used to be helpful, it used to be a nice community of people. In the last couple weeks I have listed about 75 items. My descriptions are as detailed as I can get and I don't think anyone has been mislead.
I had one item that was for sale and a potential buyer emailed a question about ten minutes before the auction was finished. I have not been attached to my PC for the last couple of weeks and missed the question. It was a stupid question, one answered in the description. The woman, I assume it was a woman based on the username, emailed me after the bidding was over and said she would have bid to $198.00 if I had answered her question. The item sold for $42. so I don't know why she would have had to bid that high but whatever. I have received several emails from eBayers who have contacted me after the auction was closed to tell me that the item was worth considerably more than what the item sold for. Why do people do this?
I can only guess that these people are trying to psych our the sellers or something. And it works. According to these people sending me these helpful emails I have lost at least $700 in the last week. Keep in mind that I tried to sell this stuff at a garage sale for considerably less and no one wanted this junk.
I sold several chairs as well. Big chairs that I have been storing in my garage. I know what they are worth but no one is buying this kind of furniture, no one. I sold them for more than I asked at a garage sale so I feel pretty good about the whole thing and more importantly I get the stuff out of my garage so I can park my car. One guy called me this morning, as we had arranged, and told me he was in the neighborhood to pick up the chair. He was a little early so it was nice that he called. I asked him to meet me in the alley since the chair was in the garage. I got out to the alley and opened the garage door. I noticed a man walking up the alley but assumed that it was someone in the neighborhood and not the guy who was picking up the chair. I assumed this because when we arranged the time he mentioned that he would make it to town by about 9am. That to me meant he had been out of town and would be arriving, in a car, at the appointed time.
The guy walking down the alley, walked up to my garage, picked up the chair, the very large, it takes two people to carry the chair kind of chair, and turned around and walked back down the alley. He barely acknowledged me. I don't think he was just some random stranger who walks down people alley picking up chairs. He was indeed the guy who bought and paid for the chair but how strange that he didn't have a vehicle to put it in. I was tempted to follow him but thought that might be rude.
Another guy, an antique dealer in Canada, bought two other chairs I had for sale. He was one of those who swoops in at the last minute and pisses all the newbies off. He knows how eBay works. He didn't pay right away and ignored my request to set up a time for pick up. I was hoping, and still am, that he backs out of the deal since I had talked to another buyer, whom he out bid, and wanted her to have the chairs.
He sent me an email this morning, as well as paid for the chairs, and said that he didn't know when he would get down here but he would keep in touch. Now if I had room to store these damn chairs I wouldn't care. If I had the room to store the chairs I would not have sold them on eBay. He got a nice deal on these chairs and will likely resell them in his shop for three times what he paid for them. I don't care if he profits, I hope he does. But I want them out of my garage. NOW. I sent him a reply telling him that if he didn't pick them up by Friday I would refund his money and sell them to this other woman, the one I wanted to win. Alternatively I told him if he wanted to pay a storage fee I would store them for him. I didn't throw out a price but I really want my garage back and to me storing these stupid chairs, while I can't use the garage, for an undetermined time is worth a lot more to me that it probably is to him.
In my daughter's old daycare they had this policy that if you were late picking up your child they would charge you $5/min that you were late. This always worried me since I was always broke after paying the regular day care fees and wouldn't be able to pay the ransom if I was late. I often wondered if they would keep my daughter until payment could be made. Many times I wanted to try to see how this worked, especially when I needed a little me time, but I never did. I was always on time, early usually.
I want to charge a storage fee like that. $5/min that he doesn't pick up the items after the standard three days that it takes me to ship anything. I'd store the chairs for a fee like that.
The people have changed. They used to be helpful, it used to be a nice community of people. In the last couple weeks I have listed about 75 items. My descriptions are as detailed as I can get and I don't think anyone has been mislead.
I had one item that was for sale and a potential buyer emailed a question about ten minutes before the auction was finished. I have not been attached to my PC for the last couple of weeks and missed the question. It was a stupid question, one answered in the description. The woman, I assume it was a woman based on the username, emailed me after the bidding was over and said she would have bid to $198.00 if I had answered her question. The item sold for $42. so I don't know why she would have had to bid that high but whatever. I have received several emails from eBayers who have contacted me after the auction was closed to tell me that the item was worth considerably more than what the item sold for. Why do people do this?
I can only guess that these people are trying to psych our the sellers or something. And it works. According to these people sending me these helpful emails I have lost at least $700 in the last week. Keep in mind that I tried to sell this stuff at a garage sale for considerably less and no one wanted this junk.
I sold several chairs as well. Big chairs that I have been storing in my garage. I know what they are worth but no one is buying this kind of furniture, no one. I sold them for more than I asked at a garage sale so I feel pretty good about the whole thing and more importantly I get the stuff out of my garage so I can park my car. One guy called me this morning, as we had arranged, and told me he was in the neighborhood to pick up the chair. He was a little early so it was nice that he called. I asked him to meet me in the alley since the chair was in the garage. I got out to the alley and opened the garage door. I noticed a man walking up the alley but assumed that it was someone in the neighborhood and not the guy who was picking up the chair. I assumed this because when we arranged the time he mentioned that he would make it to town by about 9am. That to me meant he had been out of town and would be arriving, in a car, at the appointed time.
The guy walking down the alley, walked up to my garage, picked up the chair, the very large, it takes two people to carry the chair kind of chair, and turned around and walked back down the alley. He barely acknowledged me. I don't think he was just some random stranger who walks down people alley picking up chairs. He was indeed the guy who bought and paid for the chair but how strange that he didn't have a vehicle to put it in. I was tempted to follow him but thought that might be rude.
Another guy, an antique dealer in Canada, bought two other chairs I had for sale. He was one of those who swoops in at the last minute and pisses all the newbies off. He knows how eBay works. He didn't pay right away and ignored my request to set up a time for pick up. I was hoping, and still am, that he backs out of the deal since I had talked to another buyer, whom he out bid, and wanted her to have the chairs.
He sent me an email this morning, as well as paid for the chairs, and said that he didn't know when he would get down here but he would keep in touch. Now if I had room to store these damn chairs I wouldn't care. If I had the room to store the chairs I would not have sold them on eBay. He got a nice deal on these chairs and will likely resell them in his shop for three times what he paid for them. I don't care if he profits, I hope he does. But I want them out of my garage. NOW. I sent him a reply telling him that if he didn't pick them up by Friday I would refund his money and sell them to this other woman, the one I wanted to win. Alternatively I told him if he wanted to pay a storage fee I would store them for him. I didn't throw out a price but I really want my garage back and to me storing these stupid chairs, while I can't use the garage, for an undetermined time is worth a lot more to me that it probably is to him.
In my daughter's old daycare they had this policy that if you were late picking up your child they would charge you $5/min that you were late. This always worried me since I was always broke after paying the regular day care fees and wouldn't be able to pay the ransom if I was late. I often wondered if they would keep my daughter until payment could be made. Many times I wanted to try to see how this worked, especially when I needed a little me time, but I never did. I was always on time, early usually.
I want to charge a storage fee like that. $5/min that he doesn't pick up the items after the standard three days that it takes me to ship anything. I'd store the chairs for a fee like that.
Monday, June 1, 2009
eBay Can Bite Me
I hate eBay. It used to be a wonderful and fun experience but they changed the feedback policy so that only buyers can leave negative feedback. Before, both buyer and seller could leave positive, neutral or negative feedback. Since your feedback score is visible to all buyers the higher it is the better eBayer you are.
Buyers and sellers didn't want negative feedback so if there was a problem with the transaction they would work together to resolve the issue. Now that only buyers can leave feedback the sellers are pretty much at the mercy of the buyers.
I recently started to sell stuff on eBay again. I had that garage sale a few weeks ago and still have a ton of crap to get rid of. It isn't crap however, it is nice stuff collected by my father who became an antique dealer after he retired. Unfortunately when he was telling me about this stuff I didn't pay attention because even though it wasn't crap to him it was to me. He has since died, leaving me with all this stuff that I know nothing about. But I do know it is nice stuff even if it isn't my kind of stuff. I also know that he squandered my inheritance on this crap and it would have been a sizable one.
So I'm trying to unload it and since I couldn't dump it on my neighbors I decided to use eBay even though I hate eBay.
I just sold a small Russian Lacquer trinket box. In the description I said it was an antique and that it was from Russia. I stated that I knew nothing more about it and since I didn't speak or read Russian I had no idea what the words were that had been painted on it (my descriptions tend to read much like my posts here and sadly most buyers on eBay do not have a sense of humor). I started the auction at 99 cents since I had no idea what it might be worth. I had four other ones with prices still on them for $30 but those price tags were from the 60s or 70s and I don't know if Russian boxes are worth more or less since the cold war ended. A woman bought the box for $11.50 plus shipping which was $5.99. The shipping cost should not have been this high but I hadn't bothered to reset the shipping cost from listing a previous, larger item.
After, I repeat, after she won the auction she emailed me that the shipping cost was too high and that I should lower the cost and ship it first class. I wrote her back and asked her if she wanted to cancel the transaction. I didn't want to dinker around about cost and frankly she pissed me off so I didn't want to refund her through Paypal. I could have and I should have, it would have been fair, but I didn't want to and after the transaction was completed was not the time to start negotiating price. She said she did not want to cancel the transaction but wanted me to refund her $2 for the excessive shipping. I should have done it but she irritated me by being so stupid to think that she could change the rules at this point. I might have just been having a bad day. I wrote back and asked her why people on eBay wait until after they had won the auction to make changes. I admit it was rhetorical and she must have figured that out.
I shipped the item first class and after the cost of postage and the box I had to buy to send it I ended up spending about $5.50. My time is worth nothing to these people so I don't even argue that point anymore.
Today I received an email from this woman who is impossible to please. She said that she wanted a refund since the box was not an antique nor was it authentic. I was not going to argue authenticity nor age with her so I told her to send it back and I would refund the cost of the item. In other words I would not refund her shipping costs either way. I knew this would not make her happy but didn't care. She has the seller feedback to hold over my head and I was waiting to see what she did. I already didn't like this woman and since she could not be satisfied I decided that this was going to be worth losing my perfect 100% seller feedback score for.
She wrote me back saying I had misrepresented the item and that was cause for a refund according to eBay. So there she was dangling the negative feedback over my head. I suppose a lot of sellers really care about this and will do just about anything so they don't get a negative feedback score. I used to care about this too until I spent weeks working with a buyer who said he never recieved my merchandise. I presented receipts from the post office but because I shipped over seas there was no way to track it. I called eBay to find out what recourse there was and they opened a case which the helpful eBay guy told me would most asuradly not go in my favor since the buyer had paid but hadn't gotten his merchandise. I lost a fair amount of money, the items and all the time I spent trying to track down tracking information in a communist country. So I got screwed.
So when this dumb bitch started holding the all important feedback over my head I didn't care. Give me negative feedback. Does anyone read it anyway?
I sold another item, a Lladro figurine that had been broken and glued back together. I stated this in the auction, I also said in the description that I wouldn't bother selling it but it matched another one that was in perfect condition and figured people might want the pair. A woman, also stupid, purchased it for $18. She recieved it and gave me feedback right away saying that the figurine had been broken and someone had glued it back together. I didn't bother arguing with her since she must have hit the wrong key and gave me positive feedback.
I hate eBay.
Buyers and sellers didn't want negative feedback so if there was a problem with the transaction they would work together to resolve the issue. Now that only buyers can leave feedback the sellers are pretty much at the mercy of the buyers.
I recently started to sell stuff on eBay again. I had that garage sale a few weeks ago and still have a ton of crap to get rid of. It isn't crap however, it is nice stuff collected by my father who became an antique dealer after he retired. Unfortunately when he was telling me about this stuff I didn't pay attention because even though it wasn't crap to him it was to me. He has since died, leaving me with all this stuff that I know nothing about. But I do know it is nice stuff even if it isn't my kind of stuff. I also know that he squandered my inheritance on this crap and it would have been a sizable one.
So I'm trying to unload it and since I couldn't dump it on my neighbors I decided to use eBay even though I hate eBay.
I just sold a small Russian Lacquer trinket box. In the description I said it was an antique and that it was from Russia. I stated that I knew nothing more about it and since I didn't speak or read Russian I had no idea what the words were that had been painted on it (my descriptions tend to read much like my posts here and sadly most buyers on eBay do not have a sense of humor). I started the auction at 99 cents since I had no idea what it might be worth. I had four other ones with prices still on them for $30 but those price tags were from the 60s or 70s and I don't know if Russian boxes are worth more or less since the cold war ended. A woman bought the box for $11.50 plus shipping which was $5.99. The shipping cost should not have been this high but I hadn't bothered to reset the shipping cost from listing a previous, larger item.
After, I repeat, after she won the auction she emailed me that the shipping cost was too high and that I should lower the cost and ship it first class. I wrote her back and asked her if she wanted to cancel the transaction. I didn't want to dinker around about cost and frankly she pissed me off so I didn't want to refund her through Paypal. I could have and I should have, it would have been fair, but I didn't want to and after the transaction was completed was not the time to start negotiating price. She said she did not want to cancel the transaction but wanted me to refund her $2 for the excessive shipping. I should have done it but she irritated me by being so stupid to think that she could change the rules at this point. I might have just been having a bad day. I wrote back and asked her why people on eBay wait until after they had won the auction to make changes. I admit it was rhetorical and she must have figured that out.
I shipped the item first class and after the cost of postage and the box I had to buy to send it I ended up spending about $5.50. My time is worth nothing to these people so I don't even argue that point anymore.
Today I received an email from this woman who is impossible to please. She said that she wanted a refund since the box was not an antique nor was it authentic. I was not going to argue authenticity nor age with her so I told her to send it back and I would refund the cost of the item. In other words I would not refund her shipping costs either way. I knew this would not make her happy but didn't care. She has the seller feedback to hold over my head and I was waiting to see what she did. I already didn't like this woman and since she could not be satisfied I decided that this was going to be worth losing my perfect 100% seller feedback score for.
She wrote me back saying I had misrepresented the item and that was cause for a refund according to eBay. So there she was dangling the negative feedback over my head. I suppose a lot of sellers really care about this and will do just about anything so they don't get a negative feedback score. I used to care about this too until I spent weeks working with a buyer who said he never recieved my merchandise. I presented receipts from the post office but because I shipped over seas there was no way to track it. I called eBay to find out what recourse there was and they opened a case which the helpful eBay guy told me would most asuradly not go in my favor since the buyer had paid but hadn't gotten his merchandise. I lost a fair amount of money, the items and all the time I spent trying to track down tracking information in a communist country. So I got screwed.
So when this dumb bitch started holding the all important feedback over my head I didn't care. Give me negative feedback. Does anyone read it anyway?
I sold another item, a Lladro figurine that had been broken and glued back together. I stated this in the auction, I also said in the description that I wouldn't bother selling it but it matched another one that was in perfect condition and figured people might want the pair. A woman, also stupid, purchased it for $18. She recieved it and gave me feedback right away saying that the figurine had been broken and someone had glued it back together. I didn't bother arguing with her since she must have hit the wrong key and gave me positive feedback.
I hate eBay.
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