Still Stuck With Ebay Madness

Well, season is here but I am not a happy camper. After playing nice, paying my extra large fees all year long to Epig...they reward me by not allowing me to list any thing new or relist any of my items that roll off. Oh, and what listings are left they have decided not to "show" them to anyone on the internet. And I am paying for the honor of all of this...I just got a bill for $165.00 - which Ebay will grab out of my bank.

Last year at this time I has trying like mad to keep up with my mailings I had so many going out. Not this year. Yet Ebay gets paid. Wish someone would start a class action suit...I would surely sign up.

There was a tremendous outpouring of good will and love shown to me through a neighborhood group that I belong to, the Jewelry Neighborhood. Quite a few of the people there felt that what was happening to me was very unfair. So en mass they jumped in and bought stuff from me....and immediately gave me good feedback, along with only 5's FIVES on the dumb DSR star scores. So I am back to listing again, now I have to run and play catch up and try to make up for the last two weeks of non-posting hell that I've been put through.

Ebay has done this to thousands of people this past month, I am trying to establish myself on another venue.... http://www.TheBonz.com/Bejeweled120

So if any of you need good quality jewelry or plants....come make me an offer...just mention that you are a blogger and I will take 30% off...

Anyway, Bonanzle is growing like a weed...we just have to water it a little more, tell your friends about the new site...they have a very nice way about them, very friendly...it doesn't cost anything to list...only when you sell and then it's still cheap compared to Epig......

Small Rant Just have to Vent

Ebay. One word, right now it's driving me crazy. the powers that be over there in Bay-land have decided that sellers haven't any rights, don't deserve any rights and sure as heck will not get any fairness from them either. In other words, just pay your dam exorbitant Ebay fees, fees to post, fees when you collect..their final valuation fees..then you run the gamet dealing with Paypal.

That's another world entirely. Now realize that a buyer can do anything they want...bid on an item, win it and not pay you. Bid on an item, have you send it out and then claim that it is "not as represented" in the auction you did. Huh? Paypal holds your money up until the case is resolved, better yet they go into your bank account and will remove the amount in question if you don't have enough in your Paypal account..Cute huh?

Then even after you cave in, wait for the item to be returned, issue a refund...it should be all over right? Oh, no...it's just begun. Now the buyer has you by the probable short hairs...it's called Feedback. They can say anything they want, give you red strikes, call you everything under the sun and Ebay will smile at them...patting their heads, saying "What a good little buyer you are".

I seem to be a magnet for evil buyers, people who have nothing better to do with their lives than to try to ruin someones reputation over a $5.00 item. Imagine these people driving? Is there a word for Internet Road Rage? Let's start a new word...NETRAGE...the art of going totally ballistic over a suspected slight, ie: postman late with the mail, seller did not email you the last time she took a crap, post office raised their rates, mad that seller offers free shipping and will not pay for her to ship her ring back. All sorts of scenarios are possible...especially since every single thing I have sold or do sell is guaranteed to be genuine and in good shape or I immediately issue a refund upon return receipt of item. That is not good enough.

Ebay sucks, I just went from 100% feedback down to 99.2% and my DSR ratings are horrible. I have over a thousand happy customers and it only takes a few jerks to ruin it, right before Christmas too.

Anyway, I am over my rant it felt good to get it out...if anyone is interest go to http://stores.ebay/AllAboutYouCollectibles.com

I wanted to tell everyone about a terrific selling site that I found and joined. I really believe that they will become another Ebay in years to come. Only difference is..they are nice, human - easy to deal with and funny too. I tend to trust people with a sense of humor, one does have to laugh at one's self sometimes. The name of the place is http://www.bonanzle.com/

They only started in August and have quite a following already. My booth over there is Bejeweled120, which goes along with the jewelry better than my other name. There are so many talented, creative people who have joined over there..runaways from Ebay trying to find another home, it reminds me of J-land....AOL and Ebay have a lot in common they both treat people like crap.

Anyway, I'm making it my mission to advertise http://www.bonanzle.com/ to anybody I come in contact with, if you like the site please spread the word about it. Oh, if you sell on Bonanzle they do not charge you anything until you actually sell it and then their fees are quite low....check it out...

An Amazing Day

I received the following little email, of course I know that it is mass produced and he had to send it to hundreds of thousands of people who participated, but still it felt good to receive it....


Sandra -- I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first. We just made history. And I don't want you to forget how we did it. You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change. I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next. But I want to be very clear about one thing... All of this happened because of you. Thank you, Barack

At my age I couldn't go knocking on a lot of doors, but I could blog and I did, I could make phone calls and I did. I could donate a little and I did. I think the grass roots all across America came together to let our voices be heard firm and clear...it is time for a change. Time for this country to be made well again, it is a time for all Americans to come together, put our differences aside for the better good of the country.

Yesterday brought tears to my eyes, no I am not a person of color, but I am someone who grew up seeing just how unjust a society could be to it's fellow citizens and even as a young child I questioned why? I am so very happy for this course of events.

Last night viewing the hundreds of thousands awaiting Barack's arrival at Grant Park...my mind went back to the Autumn of 1968, I lived in Chicago's outskirts...the city of Niles. It was a time of anger, distrust of the man, a time of total violence and very frightening. The riots went on for days, some people were killed and thousands wounded. People were pushed into plate glass windows in downtown Chicago, ashtrays, glass objects were thrown at the crowds below from the high rise buildings...hurting so many. The overflow was too much for the downtown hospitals to handle...our local hospital starting filling up in the ER too. As luck would have it, my two year old hurt himself catching his finger in his sister's playpen - so off we go to the hospital with our hearts in our throats not knowing what we would find out on our streets and in the ER. It was not pretty, walking wounded, sights that will stay with me forever. I was thankful that the staff in the ER took pity on my little one and he was treated quickly...I didn't want him exposed to all of that either...

So you can imagine how I felt last night seeing how magnificently well behaved, respectful and joyous that crowd was. We've come a long way baby.....

PS...Obama will be a good president for ALL of us....Sandi

Almost There

Well, it's been a long run...Tuesday will show the results. I went from feeling a rush of pride that a woman was running for the Presidency to the absolute certainty that we as a nation needed to elect Obama as our next President. Why, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Our nation is made up of every nationality, race and color of our world. It only makes sense that in order to break away from the stigma of racism that has constantly enveloped our country at times...that a person of color be elected. To me it seems only fair.

I've really gotten angry at some of the statements that I have seen on line, in chat rooms - extremely nasty and actually unconscionable. Now, of course, I am not voting for him just because of that. Obama is an extremely intelligent, genuinely concerned for America's future. I believe he is our best bet to revive our sagging economy, end the war in Iraq, go after Bin Laden the right way and mend our fences around the world....I can't understand why so many people get so scared of change. Anyway, my angel is helping me say a prayer for Tuesday....

A Halloween Tale....

It was a cold, miserable night, the winds were howling, pushing the trees against the roof of the little cabin in the woods. Slivers of rain poured in torrents off the sides of the roof, every lightening bolt made the occupants of the cabin jump.

The storm had knocked out all power in the area so they had to make do with candles for light. The fireplace added a glow to the room, but still there was a gloom that draped itself around the little cabin. Four people huddled together, sitting in front of a roaring fireplace, seeking warmth. They were all young very alive and bored to death.

Seth, a nice looking young man of about 20, turned to Angie, a pretty girl of about 18, asking "Ange, don't you have something we could play? Take our minds off this storm? Damn boring just to sit."

Angie smiled, turned to the other girl, asking "Sabrina..where did we put that one board game? You know, the one where you ask the board questions and it answers you?"

Sabrina started to get up. She was a real beauty with dark flowing hair, pleasant smile. "Oh, let me look, just a minute I'll find it," she said, turning on her flashlight as she exited into the next room.

The other young man in the room started to get up saying, "wait a second, I remember seeing it when we loaded in the supplies right before Josh left with the van, it's in the kitchen".

.Sabrina turned to him and said ,"Oh, Tony you notice everything how do you keep it all in your head?" Within minutes the two of them returned bantering with each other as couples tend to do. Sabrina held the game in her arms, "where do you want to play?" , she asked the group.

They pulled a small cocktail table over by the fireplace so they could see better and opened the game. They started to position the pointer shifting positions slightly so that all four would be able to lightly touch the pointer surface.

A sudden burst of lightning illuminated the whole room casting hideous shadows of imagined creatures against the walls, just at that moment the pointer zoomed to "Goodbye".

"Hey! Come on guys, don't fool around ", said Angie. Tony, Seth and Sabrina looked at one another and said in unison "No, we didn't do anything..we didn't move it really."

.Angie said, "Ok, let's start again but really concentrate this time please." This time the board seemed to have a life of it's own, it was moving easily on the different letters, first an R, followed by A J I R A P O O R.

"Hold it, hold it", Seth shouted, it's spelling out a name! Raji Rapoor, look! Sure enough it was."

"Oh", groaned Sabrina " I know that name". "A few years ago, there was a horrible murder committed in our town, they found this poor young man's body murdered and his head was missing!!"

Tony said, "yes, I remember that...they never did find his head did they?"

Sabrina shook her head no. The others looked at each other and Angie said, "Well guys the board is evidently trying to tell us something, unless one of you is doing this. Why don't we continue and see what else it will say?"

They started to play again, this time addressing the board as Raji, asking who he was, what had happened on that terrible night years ago? The answers started slowly coming off the board one letter at a time.

Seth had opted not to touch the pointer this time, but instead to write down all the letters that were flowing off the board. It started with an..I W A S M U R D E R E D B Y A R I V A L M Y W I F E A R R A N G E D I T...M Y H E A D I S I N A B L A C K B A G A T U R D O O R.. Then the pointer just stopped. Nada, Nothing, no movement.

The group breathed a deep sigh jointly. Seth said, "Yum, guys,.err, we have a problem, ummm." " Come on spell it out, what's wrong?", Angie wanted to know.

Seth handed the paper that he had been writing on to Angie, she started to read it and her face went totally white.

Sabrina grabbed the paper, saying "okay, a jokes a joke but it's not funny anymore" She looked down at the paper and it said: I was murdered by a rival, my wife arranged it, my head is in a black bag at your front door.

Tony, either out of bravery or stupidity, reached the front door first gingerly opening it - there sat a black bag. "I'm not opening that bag", Tony said"in fact, I'm out of here."

The rest of the group grabbed their coats and ran for the door. In their haste to exit the door, Sabrina tripped and fell directly on the dreaded black bag. "Oh, my God!", she yelped as she fell, .not wanting to touch what she knew was in the bag.

The rest of the group turned back to help her.. Seth reached her first, pulling her upright and away from the bag. "Oh, no, no, no", she moaned, "I touched it! "A sense of calm descended upon the group, they gathered around their friend to try to soothe her.

Angie said, "Listen, I don't know where we were running to, Josh won't be back until tomorrow with the van".

"Yeah, we have to wait, it's too far to walk, especially in the dark" said Tony. "Let's go back inside where it's warm and bright at least", said Angie.

Sabrina let herself be led back into the cabin, she felt herself being lowered into one of the overstuffed chairs, she closed her eyes and let herself drift. Sabrina drifted into an uneasy sleep. She dreamt she was on the edge of a vortex that kept spinning closer and closer bringing her to a gaping maw in the center of it. She found herself peering into the ragged opening as free floating heads came flying out of the darkness at her.

Tony motioned to the others to come into the kitchen. "I didn't want to get her anymore upset, but I noticed something funny about that bag". Angie and Seth said almost in unison .."What??"

"This is really messed up but I swear that I saw the bag move a bit!" Angie said, "Oh, no - nothing could be alive in there could it?"

"Now I'm scaring myself silly". Seth said, "well, you know what we have to do, don't you?" The other two shook their heads, no, no,no, but Seth continued, "we have to and I mean HAVE to open that bag."

"Okay, if we do it, we do it together, but first I want to get something", said Tony. He reached around Angie, opened one of the kitchen drawers and pulled out a huge butcher knife. "Now, I feel better", he said.

The threesome slowly entered the living room heading even slower for the front door stepping nearer, nearer and nearer with each passing second. Tony, again, was first at the door, he grabbed the door handle, turned it and yanked it wide open, all in one fell swoop, not giving themselves time to even think about it. Standing in front of them was a tall, gaunt figure of a man dressed in total black holding THE BAG.

Angie almost fainted with fright, Tony stepped back a bit and Seth's heavy breathing belied his steady gaze at the man in black.

"Oh, MY!!" said the stranger "I didn't mean to frighten anyone, I'm so sorry, it's just that my automobile broke down and I'm trying to find help".

Tony gathering his wits about him asked "Who are you and what's in the bag?" Now Tony was not painting a pretty picture standing there with a butcher knife poised ready to strike, but the man in black started to tell his tale.

"I'm a traveling salesman, I've covered hundreds of miles today, normally I would be pulling into a motel just about now and resting" "But, my office had received a call telling me to come out on this route that there was a customer near here that really needed our merchandise. Do you know where 7235 Wells is?"

Angie, Tony, Seth and a now awakened Sabrina looked at each other before answering, "Whew!! why that's our address, right here, said Angie". "Who asked you to come here?", asked Seth.

The man in black replied, "He said his name was Raji Rapoor".

All four gasped together at once.. "What's in the bag????", asked Sabrina.

The man in black replied, "my samples of course". .

"Samples of what???", asked Tony "Small headstones, in miniature to illustrate what the finished product will look like to my clients", said the man in black.

The four friends decided not to spend the night even if it meant they had to walk miles to get home, in fact they decided never to ever go back to the cabin in the woods....ever.

PS. Right before they left they threw the Ouija Board and Pointer into the fireplace, the dying embers caught the board quickly. If you listened hard enough you could hear a soft moaning, saying, .my head, my head...ohhhhhh

Joe The Plumber

Isn't it strange the way the news plays up someones profile - places one under a microscope for "in-depth" scrutiny. Only to find that, uh oh, look his feet are crumbing to dust...must be made of clay!

Betcha by golly (pun intended) poor Joe the Plumber is sorry that he asked anybody anything at this point. Poor guy is probably burying his head hiding under his bed for sanity at this point.

Well, Joe, first off - don't LIE to fake a point, it will always come back and bite you in the ass. I, for one, think you deserve it.

It seems our "every guy" Joe has not paid his taxes, has already voted for the side he wanted (McCain), is certainly not in a position to "buy" his company...far from it. He doesn't even have a normal, everyday Plumbers License...let alone the Master Plumbers License that you need to start a business.

Seems that McCain does not check into any one's background that closely, unless it is Obama himself..lol. Hmm, interesting scenario...

Picture McCain sitting across from Palin at their first meeting.
"Ok, nice to meet you..let's put all the cards on the table first of all, is there anything that could be used to embarrass you in this campaign?

Palin.."Oh my goodness to gravy, it's just sooo nice to meet you, no I think I'm pretty enough to win."

McCain..."yes, you are but that's not what I asked you...but by all means use that ploy when reporters talk to you..lol."

Palin..."Well, I might have a few skeletons in my closet, but I don't think anything really bad."

McCain.."Welcome aboard Sarah, but to play it safe we will keep you away from the reporters for a while."

Skip to now....McCain..."Let's get this straight...her 17 year old daughter is prego by a teenage boy, she did get money for the bridge to nowhere,she did try to get her ex BIL fired, she did fire the chief because of it, her own hubby is a member of a group that wants to make Alaska it's
"own" country - separating from the United States. She belongs to a church that is quite hateful with regard to any other religions. They believe they will take over the earth. Where have we heard that before?"

I wonder just how happy McCain is with his choice now?

Oh, and the debate. Only Obama really answered the questions, where was the substance in McCains responses? He only wanted to go back and attack, not go forward and tell us how we are going to resolve the mess we are in right now....

I can only say...please vote...we need a good turn out. I really pray that people will look beyond any racial preducises or cockeyed lies that have been made up....

Monday, sweet Monday

Good morning world. I am sitting here awaiting the first day of fall...it comes very late to those of us that live in warmer climes. I may have to wait another two weeks before I get that sweet, crisp, fresh scent of cold blowing in from the north.

Actually, though, I did cheat a bit...boarded a plane and headed north by northwest, flying high over our great land...viewing our magnificient landscape with heightened awe. Especially flying over the Cascades mountain range and seeing the snow capped mountains somehow made me feel so very insignificant...just the majesty of it all.

Ah...arriving in Portland, Oregon...temperatures were in the low 70's, coming from Tampa and 93 degrees...believe me it felt good.

Oh, I could be a snowbird so easily. Of course, I'd have to get rid of hubby, he can't abide cold weather any more. In fact, when the temps here go below 65 degrees he starts moaning over wanting to move further south for more heat. Hells bells not me! I just want to turn off the air conditioners, throw open the doors and windows - to know the feeling of breathing fresh air without the noise background.

I'm still planning on visiting New York for Christmas, maybe I'll get lucky and this time there will be snow. I want to throw a snow ball, build a snowman with the grandbabies...and if it snowed high enough, throw myself down and make snow angels in the snow...lol. At my size and weight that would be quite a picture. I can see it now...Grandma Sandi falls and she CAN'T get up!! They'll leave me there for spring thaw...lol.

Now I have to see if I can add any pictures to this blog...bear with me while I experiment...