Ah, the world of e-commerce never ceases to amaze me and keeps me very busy.

I have been selling on ebay since 2008 (?) and have maintained a 100% feedback despite myself.  I sell mostly bird seed catchers which is a band that goes around the cage to deflect the seeds back into the bottom of the cage.  I sew these to order in the size and color that the customer wants.  If they are buying, they might as well buy something they like.

Occasionally I will exchange many emails to arrive at what I have on hand and what they want for thier home.  Usually it goes something like this:
"What color do you want?"
"What color do you have?"
"What color do you want?'"
"Grey."
"Great!"
This conversation takes 1 1/2 minutes.  But occasionally I get a person who is probably lonely and wants something special.  This was a very interesting discourse and I am still laughing about it so thought I would share it with you.  Names have been blocked to protect the sender.

Dear loumercer3,

my question is this simply: I bought one of the kind that does not have a bottom, but the seeds just fall out the bottom part so no good. It is like a see through mesh and white color. To me non mesh kind is dumb, as you cannot see the birds through them. The mesh does not get torn and is fine to me. Yes maybe not as tough, but I have had no problem and it was half the price - just no bottom part. SO, can you make me a see through mesh kind with a bottom? => I do not care if the boittom is solid material as you do not see it really. I just want the mesh kind, to be able to see the birds better. Others that are mesh are colored, BUT the sheer white looks the best (more neutral and see through) and sellls the most.. If I invented these I would make it as clear as possible, not even white. And have a bottom on them. I do not understand why I see none on the whole eBay like that. So le me know if you can make me this and is it extra cost? I need this size. Thank you, William

I replied:

Dear bazmart,

I do not sew net, mesh or chiffon which is what you are describing.  First it is very hard to sew, does not hold up well and I worry about tiny toenails getting hung up in the net.  Sorry.

Loumercer3.

He sent the same email

Dear loumercer3,

Once more:      my question is this simply: I bought one of the kind that does not have a bottom, but the seeds just fall out the bottom part so no good. It is like a see through mesh and white color. To me non mesh kind is dumb, as you cannot see the birds through them. The mesh does not get torn and is fine to me. Yes maybe not as tough, but I have had no problem and it was half the price - just no bottom part. SO, can you make me a see through mesh kind with a bottom? => I do not care if the boittom is solid material as you do not see it really. I just want the mesh kind, to be able to see the birds better. Others that are mesh are colored, BUT the sheer white looks the best (more neutral and see through) and sellls the most.. If I invented these I would make it as clear as possible, not even white. And have a bottom on them. I do not understand why I see none on the whole eBay like that. So le me know if you can make me this and is it extra cost? I need this size. Thank you, William

And I replied.

Dear bazrmart,

I am sorry, but this is the issue...I will not under any conditions for any price sew a mesh seed catcher either with or without a bottom.

Lou Mercer

And he replied:

Dear loumercer3,

ok thanx for reply. Here is the deal. Only you and 1 other seller make these in bigger size and they said (nicely I may add) that they could not also. My wife has an older singer sewing machine left to her by her mother. She got if fixed for $100 (it is the real good kind everyone wants that is like one of the best old kind). BUT, she won't do it as too lazy (poor me). SO, I will just sew a bottom on it by hand myself. And I think I may find a way to have them made myself (plenty of Guatamalen people in Florida who will work cheap. And be your competitor on eBay (no I am not kidding). Again, you can see the birds through them, so I will bet people will buy them way more than the others. Like I say, the white mesh looks the most see thru more than the color ones, and it sells the most by far. So if I make it even more see thru and add a bottom I will take a good market share. Have a nicer day!

And I replied:

Dear bazrmart,

I wish you much luck in your endeavor. I am 73 years old and would like nothing better than to retire and move up in the mountains away from wifi and all its's entanglements. Too bad your wife is lazy, but like you said, lots of cheap labor around. I think I will raise my prices and help you out.

Lou

 So there you have it.  I may have been a bit strong in my reply, but such is life!  As of yet, I have had no answer to the last email and if I am really lucky he is now out searching for a Guatamalen with a sewing machine who is interested in replacing his lazy wife!  LOL

Please bring back the Pony Express!!!

So as you all know, I sell on ebay and thus use the postal service for delivery.  On orders in the United States I have tracking free.  Buy through ebay and track it righ to the door. Not so on International orders.  Oh, I get a tracking number, but it ends at the edge of the ocean or the Canadian border, so I am used to things diappearing into a customs office and never coming back.  Or if a package arrives at a post office and is not picked up I see it wend it's way back to my door.  But from here to Oregon is pretty much a straight shot, or so I thought!

A lady in Eugene, Oregon bought a book on November 13.  I immediately posted it at my Wedgewood office.  It left there sometime that day and arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah 8 days later.  That must have been one helluva trip  It remained in  Salt Lake City for several days until they got tired of talking to me.  It  then came back to Denver.  After due time it caught a wind and headed out west.

It then spent 2 days flying to Washington.  After spending the night in Federal Way, Washington it spent 2 days flying to Eugene, Oregon.  So 15 days later it arrived on her door step. Below is my tracking record.  

This is a post-only message. Please do not respond.

Lou Mercer has requested that you receive a USPS Tracking™ update, as shown below.

USPS Tracking™ e-mail update information provided by the U.S. Postal Service.

Label Number: 9449009699938911873408

Service Type: USPS Tracking^™

Shipment Activity	Location	Date & Time
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered, Left with Individual	EUGENE, OR 97405	November 28, 2014 11:58 am
Arrived at Post Office	EUGENE, OR 97405	November 28, 2014 8:56 am
Departed USPS Facility	FEDERAL WAY, WA 98003	November 26, 2014 2:40 am
Arrived at USPS Facility	FEDERAL WAY, WA 98003	November 25, 2014 6:59 pm
Departed USPS Facility	DENVER, CO 80217	November 23, 2014 3:00 am
Arrived at USPS Origin Facility	DENVER, CO 80217	November 23, 2014 2:21 am
Departed USPS Facility	SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84199	November 21, 2014 6:55 pm
Arrived at USPS Facility	SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84199	November 21, 2014 3:10 pm
Picked Up	PUEBLO, CO 81005	November 13, 2014 1:36 pm
Pre-Shipment Info Sent to USPS		November 13, 2014

Reminder: USPS Tracking™ by email

Seems like the real vacuum hole seeems to be beween Pueblo, Colorado and Salt  Lake City, but that is not the case.  Only God knows where that thing was.  So after many weeks I was most happy to find this email in my box:

Holy Moley, it's on the correct edge of the country!  lol

Happy Thanksgiving, Lou

:-)  Jeanne

And finally, this one:

EUREKA!!!!  Silly Sally has arrived!

:-)

-Jeanne

Now I just went and checked out the Pony Express and copied what was there for you to read:  The service opened officially on April 3, 1860, when riders left simultaneously from St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. The first westbound trip was made in 9 days and 23 hours and the eastbound journey in 11 days and 12 hours. The pony riders Annual Pony Express Re-Ride covered 250 miles in a 24-hour day.

So am I off base in suggesting that they might bring back the Pony Express?  I figure I could shave a good 3-4 days off my delivery time.  Let me know.

In the meantime, I do hope Jeanne is enjoying Silly Sally.  I want to thank her for being so patient.  Most people would have given up early in the game.  Sure hope to do business with her again.

Oh, Oh! Damn! Where does time go?

I looked at the calendar just now and January is almost gone.  3 days until the anniversary of my husband's demise.  This date coincides nicely with the Super Moon which I want to try to stay awake to see.  Then one
day to whip out the goodies for Addie's open house 90th birthday at the church, which is Saturday which is no longer January.  From here it is down hill through tax time, spring cleaning and garden planting, into the hot summer, through the fall and ito the freezing cold winter so I can start moaning about the lack of  Christ in  Christmas and then start the whole thing over again.
 
Many years ago I was into doing a lot of hand embroidery and made several cute little pictures that hung in the bathroom in little brown frames.  They were called Thumbprints and a little sheep looking thing said "Ewe's not fat, ewe's fluffy."  The little thumbprint then looked like a woman on top of a hill and said  "When you are over the hill. you pick up speed."  My favorite was the thumbprint with the confused look on it's face that said "Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most."  That little collection seemed to mirror my life so I threw the whole bunch in the Goodwill box and never looked back.  I am now rethinking all of that!

The wise saying about being fluffy still holds true, although the fluffs now have wrinkles in them.  The picking up speed is almost scary.  If there was a policeman in charge of time marching on, I am pretty sure I would be ticketed every day as time whizzes past me.  And as for the mind being gone, it is not so much gone as just out to lunch a lot of time.  Some one asked for my phone number the other day and I drew a complete blank.  "How in the hell do I know.  I never call it.  There is no one home."  I did, however, manage to recall the sequence of digits.  I have only had the same number for 31 years.

Most of my day is spent running either upstairs and wondering why I came up here, or going back down the stairs only to remember what I went up there for in the first place.  After a few of these marathons sprints, I usually set down in my recliner and the cat jumps up on me and holds me down.  Since I am captive at that point, I usually fall asleep.  How long I sleep is a matter of whether or not a car passes by up on the road causing the dogs to unleash a flurry of barking in an attempt to scare it away which always works, hence the term "car passes by."  God help them if they are heading for my house and come up the drive because they will be licked to death!  But barking is apparently very important to them.

Now I do not want to make you think that all I do all day is sleep, because that is far from the way it is.  I do have my little ebay business and it keeps me busy listing things to sell, making things to sell, photographing things to sell, selling things I sell, packaging the things I sold and then running to the post office with my parcels.  Anyone who is privy to my operation is amazed that I know where anything is.  Me too!  I have lost a coral and turquoise ring some where between the roof and the basement, I think.

And I do manage to do a little volunteer work sometimes.  And of course visiting.  Going to have lunch on Friday with my friends Renate and Val.  Have not decided where yet, but I am sure we will.  Oh, and I need to get the oil changed and the tires rotated.  I need to pick up a bale of straw so I can clean the goose house, but may put that off until  Spring.  I do need to get down in the basement and dig out that box of old Playboy's and get them listed.  Pretty sure I am not going to read them.  I am pretty sure the garden is going to be taken care of by my friend, Richard, this year.  He plants, weeds,  waters, and harvests and I eat it.  Well, some of it anyway.  I told him I have the dirt and that is all of my involvement in this little venture.

And now I have rambled on for a full page and said absolutely nothing.  This, dear friends, is the story of my life!

Update on the clip on earrings and the bubble wrap!

Dear loumercer3,
Hooray!!! Hallelujah! The clip-on's have arrived!!!!! They are beautiful! Thank you so much for your efforts to make sure I receive these earrings. I've left you positive feedback, and I hope we do business again some time!

Amy

- amysue20921

If the bubble wrap arrives, can the earrings be far behind?

For all you people out there who have come to think of me as someone who can be depended on to do the right thing, I have a surprise for you.  Apparently I am either the most inept woman on the planet, or I have got a poltergeist on my shoulder.  On December 9 (my late husbands birthday) one of my auctions on ebay closed with a $4.99 sale.    As with all my auctions, I went and got the product, which happened to be 5 pairs of clip on earrings.  I put them in a box on the buffet and printed my shipping label.   I pride myself in same day shipping so I  stapled the receipt to the invoice, attached the  label to the package and drove over to the shipping center.  A job well done!

 

 

That evening I was jacking around in the office and low and behold!  The package with the clip on earrings was on my desk!  Damn!  I immediately emailed the intended recipient and told her that I had inadvertently sent her 13 pairs of pieced earrings which was on the same shelf.  I told her I would immediately get these in the mail and she should keep the pierced  earrings as a penance on my part.  She was very understanding.  I told her she would first receive the pierced earrings and the following day would be her actual purchase.  So, I printed the shipping label, stapled the receipt on top of the first receipt on the invoice and the next morning scurried off to the shipping center.

 

A day passed and I got an email from the little lady in California that she had received the first box and it contained, not earrings, but empty jewelry bags.  What the hay!  I went to check on my plastic bag supply and what do you think I found?  Nothing!  I went to the desk and what did I see?  Those wretched clip on earrings twinkling at me in their plastic bag.  Grabbing them in my tight little fist I crammed them in the box.  I showed the box to my daughter and together we sealed the box and held it while I printed yet a third label!  This we attached to box, stapled the receipt on top of all the other receipts on the invoice and decided I must be losing it.

 

 

Last night I received an email that the second box had arrived and it contained bubble wrap!  By this time I am doubting my sanity completely.  Where are the damn pierced earrings that I so carefully sent the first day?  I have a 2400 square foot house which I have turned upside down and not found them!  They have got to be here some where.  I sent plastic bags, bubble wrap, and clip on earrings (I hope).  Now this is a total of $7.14 to send what should have been one item.  I can see where I am going in the hole here.

My daughter decided that I must be wound a little tight so we needed to relax a bit.  She treated me to a pedicure, which I have not had since Marlene went to Las Vegas and stayed!  That will be reviewed on    Hey! I Been There!  in a day or so.

 

In the meantime, I am just letting you know that I am NOT infallible!  So if you make an appointment with me and I don't show up, it is nothing personal.  Know also that your secrets are safe with me, not because I am trustworthy, but rather because I forgot them.  If my house looks like a hurrican hit it that is because I am still looking for my MP3 player and those damned pierced earrings!

And thank you, dear Amy, for being so patient with an old woman!

The cat and the hummingbird and NO CAMERA!

I have Sherman's desk that he left me right by the front window.  Outside the front window hangs the hummingbird feeder.  Inside the window is a bookcase and of course, a window sill.  Scenario is set!
I sat down in the little chair at the little desk for just a moment.  In that moment, the calico cat, Icarus, leapt on to the bookcase.  At the same moment outside the window, the hummingbird arrived for his afternoon feeding.
Hummingbird and cat spotted each other at the same moment.  Hummingbird came closer to the window to tease get a better look at the cat.  Icarus was plastered with front feet against the window while hummingbird dove and fluttered within inches of those deadly claws!  I knew exactly where my camera was.  It was on the front seat of the car, ready for action.  But I was inside the house and the action was here!

And isn't that rather how life goes?  Seems if I have the good shot in my eyesight, the camera is not near.  If the camera is near, there is not a good shot!  So, what does this say about my life?  Could it be that I am missing a lot of good opportunities simply because I was not expecting them to arise and I did not appreciate them when they did?  See the word tease up above?  See the word tease here?  That is called a strikethrough and it is done with a process called HTML.

 A couple of  years back ebay had chat rooms and I spent a lot of time in one.  There I met a man who was an editor for a newspaper in Chicago or some such place. (And he really was because I googled him and found his bio.  See, on the internet, you can be anything you want, until someone googles you and you are reduced to being an everyday nobody.)   Maybe Cleveland.  Anyway, at the time I was interested in learning the art of HTML.   I would ask him "How do I do the copyright sign?" and he would tell me. ©   See how easy that was?   Or something like this:

WATCH THIS

So I hung out in that chat room until ebay finally did away with our little playroom, but I still have my HTML sheets and I may very well surprise you from time to time with my prowess in this area.  Give me an HTML format and I can dazzle you, but do not be confused that this means I am a computer genius by any stretch of the imagination.  Just something to do.

Alas, back in May of 2011 I noticed Dan was no longer hanging out.  I emailed him.  Nothing.  I thought that odd and I started asking around the chat rooms.  Finally I got an email from someone I did not know, sent outside of the chat rooms.  It contained short note that said simply "Because you care." and a  link to an obituary.  And that was it.  I do not know why this came up today, but it just goes to show how thinking about a hummingbird led to thinking about a computing process which in turn led to thinking about something silly that happened many years ago.

I guess this just goes to show that nothing ever really goes away.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  And that, my friends, is my words of wisdom for the day!

 

And my world is once more in turmoil...or is it? Could this be a good thing?

No, I am not perfect!  I thought I was and  by the end of the day I may be perfect again, but last night I lay in my little bed trying to  rationalize myself to sleep.  I marched through 6 husband much like William Tecumseh Sherman marched through Atlanta on his way to the sea during the latter part of the Civil War and never dreamed any of it was my fault.  I came through all those years, while not unscathed, my head was still held high.  Today I am humbled, bloodied, and bowed.  This is the reason:

	Member id loumercer3 ( 1388) Top Rated: Seller with highest buyer ratings Click for help Proven track record of excellent service Ships quickly, with tracking provided on over 90% of items sold Has a minimum of 100 selling transactions per year Learn more about Top rated seller BubbleHelp Opens Start of layerBubbleHelp End of layer
	Start of Layer The positive Feedback percentage is calculated based on the total number of positive and negative Feedback ratings for transactions that ended in the last 12 months, excluding repeat Feedback from the same member for purchases done within the same calendar week (eBay time). Note: This could mean that the number of ratings used for this calculation is different from the same number shown in the recent ratings table on the left. Positives Positives + negatives This member's 12 month Feedback ratings Positives: 290Negatives: 1 This member's positive Feedback percentage 290 290 + 1 = 99.7% End of Layer Positive Feedback (last 12 months): 99.7% [How is Feedback percentage calculated?]
	Member since: Feb-06-06 in United State

Recent Feedback     ratings (last 12 months) This table shows the number of positive, neutral, and negative overall Feedback ratings the member has received in the last 12 months. More help about Feedback Rating- opens in a new window or tab   1 month 6 months 12 months Positive 35 205 326 Neutral 0 0 0 Negative 1 1 1 I have been operating on ebay since February 06, 2006.  In all those years I have maintained 100% both as a buyer and a seller.  Just check around and you will find that few people have managed that along with a Power Seller button and a Bronze rating.  Ebay is a cold, hard business with a lot of rules.  I have managed to stay on the good side of the powers that be for over 7 years. Needless to say when I checked my feedback yesterday I was astounded to find a red negative on  a $12.00 item.    Let me explain further what feedback does.  100% ties in to give me the power seller button and the bronze rating.  The best part about the bronze rating is the discount on my monthly bill to ebay.  Ah!  Now we come to the real nitty gritty of the business.  I pay for all my privilege's and the bronze rating reduces that bill by a percent that is tied to the feedback.  Now, I talk to people who do not give feedback or just click neutral.  Neutral is also bad, but does not actually count.  When I buy on ebay I will check a seller's rating.  If it is not over 99.5% I will find a seller that is.  Feedback is my bread and butter. So I contacted this lady and asked her what I had done to displease her.  Her verbal feedback was good, so I thought she may have just hit the wrong button. I was right.  She did say she would get on later and try to fix that.  If not the red negative will march across my dashboard for all the world to see for a full year.  But the damage has already been done to my little psychic.  My potential customers will see it and may choose another seller.  But all the "could'a, should'a, would'a," can not undo what is now planted in my little mind.  Perhaps I was not the perfect wife after all!  Maybe if I had the grit and determination during the marriages as I do with my little ebay business, I would now be a widow to my first husband, or the second, or the third......you get the picture.  But I wasn't and that brings to mind another old saying, "That is water under the bridge."  Yep!  Lot of water under the bridge and it looks like storm clouds gathering out west!  (That is a cryptic message to my avid followers.) So today I am off to church.  I am furnishing communion today and I made fresh bread, not because I want to impress anyone, but because I was to lazy to go into town and buy it!  While in the hallowed house of God, I shall bow my head and ask him to do something about this little problem.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I do not think that God will reach down and change that negative to a positive, but I think he may do a little something about this haughty spirit of mine that could sure use a little humbling.  As I contemplate my bucket list, that is one of the things that I want to change.  That and my filing system and my will.  Oh, yeah and clean the damn car. So you all have a good day and as a biker friend tells me, "Keep your hand on the wheel and the rubber side down.  Life goes better that way!"

From Vista to Windows 8 and so to the nut house!

Oh, I am way to old for the leap I made today.  I went Sunday, as you read, and came home with a new computer.  I finally decided to pull it out and hook it up when the other one completely refused to get online today.  So first I made a carrot cake and then to the business.  Have you seen Windows 8?  That is the one that opens with all the apps on little cards and you just take your finger and throw the one you want to the forefront and the rest disappear.  And when you are done with that one you throw it out and pick another one.  Not me.
I decided to go the mouse route as opposed to buying a new monitor for $300.  So I kept jacking with it and missing my AOL and I do hate that Bing.  I like Google and IE.  After many hours, a sugar free Pecan Pie and lots of coffee I am setting here writing you on my blog which I just found and added to my AOL toolbar which I also found and installed much to MSN's chagrin.  I feel like a genius!
So that is it for this little update.  I look forward to being back in my little rut after Thanksgiving since the craft fairs are over. 
Right now I have to go down and hook up the old computer and find the notepad and get all the addresses that I have in there so I can find all the places I used to go to.  Going to be a long night!

Feedback is now at 100% where it has always been!

Do you know what this is?  It is my feedback profile on eBay.  I have been operating on eBay since Febuary of 2006.  To save you doing the math, that is 6 1/2 years.  Knock on wood I have never had a negative feedback.  I try very hard to remain 100%, but let me tell you what happened one year ago today.
A kid in California bought a seed catcher for $12.00 with free shipping.  When it came time to leave feedback he wrote "Very nice product, but a little pricey."  Then he hit the Neutral button.  Neutral does nothing to the feedback rating, but my heart was broken.  I wrote him and explained that the shipping cost $2.50, the fabric cost $2.00, elastic, thread, vytek envelope to mail it in, final value fee to eBay, fee to paypal, wear and tear on my machine making it, gas to drive to the post office, and my time involved fairly well left me with very little if any profit.  He wrote me back and apologized saying he did not understand the feedback so he just hit neutral and agreed that my price was more than reasonable.  He said he tried to go back and change it but he could not.
I thanked him and have now spent exactly 365 days checking my feedback and watching the little gray button.  30 days the number 1 was under 1 month.  Then it stayed under 6 months before moving to 12 months.  And this morning it is gone!  It marched on off the right side of the page.  I feel the need to celebrate, but that will not happen.  In the dog eat dog world of online sales I can not let my guard down for one moment.
I try very hard to keep my customers happy and for the most part I succeed, but there is always the little chance that the mail will not move fast enough, the seed catcher will not be the right color, or a chip will miraculously appear on a piece of pottery.  I try not to do glass or anything fragile, but sometimes that is what appears on my door step.
So I would ask you when you are dealing with us sellers on eBay to be kind and think carefully about what you leave on the feedback. I know there are shyster sellers out there that will screw you over.  If you have a problem, discuss it with the seller and don't just leave a bad feedback because the cat ticked you off first thing in the morning!
So bottoms up on my clear feedback.  100% and still trying!  Thank you , my customers!  And little guy in California, if you happen to read this, I love you and learned from you.  Everyone in my life has taught me something and you taught me patience!

Recent Feedback ratings (last 12 months)

Click for help This table shows the number of positive, neutral, and negative overall Feedback ratings the member has received in the last 12 months. More help about Feedback Rating- opens in a new window or tab BubbleHelp Opens Start of layerBubbleHelp End of layer

	1 month	6 months	12 months

	Positive	22	125	411
	Neutral	0	0	0
	Negative	0	0	0

Well, my eyes were open very wide!

You know I sell on eBay, right?  And you know I run a lot of junk through there, right?  Earlier in the week I had listed a Minolta 35 mm camera on the auction with a starting price of $4.99.  Well imagine my surprise when I popped over there to check on my auctions and found I had not listed a Minolta at $4.99, but rather a Leica digital 16 mega pixel and the starting price was $4,000.00.  

Now my little mind alternates between forgetfulness and  worrying about forgetfulness.  What in the world had I been thinking.  I quickly clicked on the item thinking perhaps some one else's items were inadvertently thrown in my store.  No.  There it was and the Seller was loumercer3, power seller, 1080 feedback, bronze star.  I went back to the list and discovered that a cheap bauble for $1.99 was now a set of something for a drum set.  Dead panic.  I immediately called eBay security and learned that this was an account takeover.  Needless to say, I was on the phone with them until I thought my ear would fall off my head.  But they immediately suspended action on my account, removed the items, refunded my listing fees, and then we went through my store item by item to be sure that all the listings in there were mine.  After that I then had the pleasure of changing passwords and security questions.  I did thank my lucky stars that no damage was done and that I caught it very early.  (And people wonder why I hang out on this computer!)

Now, this brings up the rest of the scenario.  Say I had not caught that.  First I would have paid a very high insertion fee for this $4,000.00 camera.  Then say it sold, I would have $4000.00 deposited in my account.  Of course, when I did not mail the camera to the fellow who just gifted me with $4000.00,  I would be out of compliance and in big doodoo with big Mama eBay.  No doubt they would jerk the money back, sue me for the fees and there would go my stellar career as an eBay top seller.  Which leads me up to my big question here;

No doubt this is what is called a hacker, but why?  What did he/she get out of this little intrusion into my life.  Apparently they have more time on their hands then I do.  I squeeze time out to do my listings.  Course the Minolta that they altered is gone now and that one will need to be completely rewritten.  May be able to work that in Monday.  The thing is I will be busy the rest of the morning changing passwords on everything that has a password.  Damn jerk!

I love my computer and I love the ease with which I can dance around the Internet, buy stuff, talk to people in other lands far away, look up information, and just all the good things, but don't I hope that someone invents a program that the next time someone tries to access my information, it just fries their computer.  Oh, that would be ideal!  Especially if there were a camera to record their face as it happened.  If someone is smart enough and determined enough to go to all the work of getting into my account they should be clever enough to do that.

Ok, done for the day.  I am off to alter pin numbers, passwords, and whatever else.  Have a good one and be safe out there!

It's 4 in the morning and once more the dawning.....

It seems like I do my very best thinking early in the morning.  The clarity with which I can see the world at 3:30 or 4:00 AM is almost blinding.  My house is a wreck.  I thought it was Bret and Amanda that were the messy ones, but I have since discovered that it is I!  There is no one here but me and these animals and yet the place looks like it was struck by a hurricane, and it very well could have been.  So yesterday I decided it is time to take control of the situation.  I decided that I spend way to much time on this computer, so I am going to limit the social aspect of the Internet.  I have lost contact with several of my "e buddies" so there is no reason to keep copies of our correspondence. 

So, first goes the guy from Vermont or where ever he was actually from.  Idle curiosity made me weigh that file.  One and one half pounds!  That is a lot of paper wasted.  I thought about reading it, but opted to just toss it in the recycle bag.  I do confess I may have leaked a little tear on that one, but life goes on.  I am sure the demise of that friendship was all his fault.  Then I picked up the one from Gino.  But he is still my friend.  We correspond on a very irregular basis, but I know he is there.  Niagara Falls.  I will probably drop him a line this week.  But Wayne, Steve, and the interminable list of "one week stand's" are lost to me.  I do keep my little Amy in a special file on the computer and I will not lose touch with her.  Alex is a 3 minute job a couple times a week.  So my butterfly days are over.  Unless somebody really interesting pops up on the horizon.

Now eBay.  That is a vital part of my livelihood, so that has to stay.  But I will henceforth hold myself to a schedule.  I will do all my listing in the evening from 4-6.  I will still answer questions through the day when they arise.  I will do the packing and mailing thing early in the afternoon so it can go in the mailbox by 4.  This will work very well except when eBay surprises me with free listings or penny listings.  So I have to add, unless eBay changes my pattern.

The blogs will be taken care of early in the morning.  Like now.  I will stop rambling and keep them short and concise!  I will keep a list beside the desk of things I want to write about.  And I will adhere to that list.  Unless something comes up that I really must address like a spider making a web over there in the window on the outside and I am afraid it will come inside so I have to watch it. 

Oh, and then there is the yard to maintain, geese to take care of, garden to till and plant, seed catchers to make, newsletters to write, people to take care of, visitors to entertain, cookies to make, dogs to walk, lunch with Phyllis, and that nap thing in the afternoon.  I guess we will just see how commited I am to this getting a handle on things.  First I better make a list.  And get ready, Lisa, Dorothy, Tina, and Tommy, because I am going to tell secrets on your mother in the very near future.  I just been thinking about her and this will make you laugh!

Well, surprising as it may seem, I have once more gotten off track.  So I am going to get with the program and take 2 steps over to that desk and throw away the floppy disks I have been saving since 1994.  I will make you proud!

Do you know what this pin represents? three guesses!

I put this on an auction and a very lovely lady was kind enough to give me the information on this pin .  It is about 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch high.  It is a lapel pin.  I will give you exactly two days to tell me what it signifies. 

Post your guess either on the comments here or on face book.

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Me and eBay, it is a beautiful thing!

Most of you know by now that I have been selling on eBay for a number of years.  In my mushy little mind it seems like I have been doing it since last month but in reality I know it has been longer than that, but less then nine years.  I think about eight maybe.  There is a point coming!  Drum roll, please!
Feedback on eBay is paramount.  Very important to the survival of a seller on their site.  When I reached 50 and was 100% I was very happy.  Then I reached 100.  Then 250.  Then 500.  I still remain at 100%.  Somewhere along the line some guy bought a seed catcher for $12 and left me a neutral feed back and the comment  "Very nice quality and arrived quickly, but a little pricey!"  Oh, I almost had a stroke!  Good feedback is green.  Bad feedback is red.  Neutral counts for nothing and is gray, but somehow that little gray dot broke my heart.  So I wrote him.
"My dear fellow.  I am very sorry you were not happy with my price, but here is the deal. I have fabric, thread, store fees, insertion fees, final value fees, and time involved.  Oh and then there is that free shipping thing every seed catcher customer gets. I do not feel the $12 is too far out of reason if you check the other stores where they sell for $20.00 plus shipping."
I did get a letter of apology back explaining that he did not understand, but since I had told him he would go back and change it if he could, but he had tried and could not.  So the little grey circle passed from one month into the 6 month column and someday it will march on off the right side of the page.  Right now I am setting with my purple star and 100% rating and a little fellow who looks happy and that is the Power Seller guy.  There is also a medallion with ribbons out the bottom and that means I am a top rated seller.  These along with my Bronze rating gives me a discount on my eBay fees which makes them only a little bit absorbenent.  And my feedback number is now 995.  In only 5 more feedbacks I will reach a thousand.  I trust I will get something special.  Lord only knows what, but I hope it is good.  I kind of hate to loose my purple star since that is my favorite color, but
I know I will get something better, maybe.
There is no way I will ever get rich there on eBay, but I do make a little money for PFLAG, other people and a few dollars for myself.  You can not walk through this part of the house, and I have a storage trailer full of total crap, but I still have my wits about me and I can find an item when I need to lay my hands on it.  Seed catcher business is hopping cause people do not want to clean up the cage area 3-4 times a day and they do not want the cheap net things at Petsmart.  I make mine to order and it seems that no matter what colors I have ready in the bin, that is not the color they want.  But that is fine, because I like to put my personal touch on everything that leaves here to a new home.  I have made a lot of friends on eBay and expect I will make a lot more. 
I had a cold recently and a lady from Michigan sent me Nasturium tea.  Big shot at General Motors in Niagara Falls sent me tea shirt from Buffalo, other memorabilia and $20 to buy a bottle of wine along with a cork screw.  Murano heart necklace from a girl in Daytona Beach. (That is the same one who drove 2,000 one way to meet me.)   Necklace and a tie-dye tee shirt from a lady in Palm Bay, tea towels from Wales, ice scraper from Missouri, and I could go on all day, but I think you get the picture.
So as I keep clicking over on the feedback waiting for the next five to come in I am celebrating my own little personal best here and I can not beleive it...IT IS STARTING TO SNOW!!!! I thought spring was here!  Damn!

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This is a bunch of paper from a box I just unpacked.  If you look closely in the center you can see a black thing.  Do you have any idea at all what that could be?

 Ah!  It suddenly becomes clear, doesn't it?  Icarus, the cat from hell! 

May I have my chair?

I wish I could borrow that note book or see that screen.

Right now the devil cat is climbing through a box of eBay stuff that belongs to some one and I know if I try to make her move there is going to be a bunch of crashing and then I will have broken glass to clean up and something to pay for  that I sure did not need.  She is now peering at me from under the monitor.  Pretty soon she will start swatting at my fingers.  I have no idea how I have managed to keep my Internet up and running with her prowling all over my desk.  I think she can read, so I expect that will be swatted off  pretty soon.

I do not remember how long ago I got this cat.  Seems like over a year.  Hell, it seems like I have always had her.  She was a rescue cat and had just had a litter of kittens.  Of course she was skinny and had the droopy boobies.  Always amazes me how people can neglect an animal, but a lot of them do.  Anyway, when I got her, I kept her inside because I knew she would run away if she got outside.  She would go back to her old home, cause I hear that is what cats do.  Silly me.  She immediately settled in and thought she was a dog.

When I go out to do my chores, my dogs go with me.  Elvira is a Lhaso/Shitzu and Daisy is a Jack Russel Terrier/Wiener dog.  Both rescue dogs and I think I told you Elvira had just had a litter when we got her.  Daisy was just an unfed little runt with two black eyes.  She was Bret's dog.  So here they are, the three of them.

Daisy

Elvira 

Now when I go out there are all three of them with me.  I do not know how that cat knows I am even on the move, but here she comes.  The dogs are never more than 10 feet away, just waiting for some action.  So we go out back and every one of them goes and sniffs everything, but the real action comes when we start for the house.  Icarus and I get to the gate first and have to stand and holler for the busy little dogs.  Icarus settles her self down behind a barrel and waits.  When the first dog arrives she leaps through the air and lands on it's back and rides on into the house.  I have tried to get a picture of that, but all I get is a blur. 

I had to get another printer because the controls on the other one were on top and she kept walking across them and running the scanner.  Guess she was doing "cat scans".   This printer fascinates her and when she hears me hit the print button she jumps up on the desk and peers into the place where the page will come out.  As soon as she sees it coming she grabs at it and if I don't get her first I fear she may be jerked in and spit out the other side.  And it is very hard to read the page after she has shredded it.  Well, the same thing happens in the bathroom.  If the stool is going to be flushed she is going to be with her paws over the side watching it go.

I have often thought about getting another cat to keep her company, but what if I then had 2 devil cats?  No matter where she is during the day, if I set in the recliner and flip  the foot rest out, before it is in the full upright position, Icarus will be on my stomach.  And the first thing she does is knead it for me.  When it is soft enough, she lays down and puts her paws on either side of my throat and turns out just enough claw for me to know that if I push her off my stomach, my jugular vein will be ripped from my throat. 

At night I wake up and find her perched on my shoulder, or laying curled up on the other side of the bed, or staring out the window at Lord only knows what.  But for all my complaining, I love all my animals, even the 13 geese out back.  Guarantee there is not a man walking who could cross that yard if I were not there to run interference.  Guard Geese.  Gotta get that sign up!

Well, I am off to start another day and hopefully I will actually get something done, but I doubt it very much. Today I am babysitting a 2 year old, so it is cuddle time around here!

Have a good one.

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But are you missing my real calling?

Just a little note here to let some of you know that if you are not checking in on http://www.delilahsdatingdilemma.blogspot.com then you are missing my feeble attempt at a novel.  I do not want to give it away, but I am writing ahead of what you will be reading and I have to work on it in the daylight because I am scaring myself.
You will need to go to the address above and go back to the November 6 post to start at the beginning, unless of course, you like to read magazines as I do.  I start at the back and read to the front.  But on books I start at the front.  All a matter of personal preference, me thinks.
When you read this please keep in mind that it is pure fiction at it's very best  And leave me a comment which you do by clicking on that little envelope at the end of the post.  Give me your real opinion, cause you know I appreciate honesty!
The name of it is Chapter One.

My world is slowly tilting back to the level mark, but not 100%.

Before I can continue with my mother and father, I have to wait for a part to arrive from the Philippine's for my new printer/copier/scanner.  In the mean time life rather goes on here on South Road and on the Internet.  Kids are settling into their house and getting ready for an open house on the day I have to work at the weavers sale all day, but that is par for the course.
Today it is snowing but not sticking.  I went out and planted Rye for the geese and they should be very happy in a few weeks.  See the rain will fatten the seeds and the sun will warm them and they will sprout. Hooray!  I can see better days ahead.  I have been in a terrible funk, mostly of my own doing, but you know me, I never accept all the responsibility for anything.  Wiggle room abounds in my world.
My eBay is chirping right along and I hope you read about my string of plastic pearls getting 16,000+ hits.  My products are all ready for the November sales here in the real world except  for putting the bottoms in some purses and finishing weaving the big bath towel.  Patty came and helped (did) with the packaging of the lotion and body butter. 
I am currently alone and think I shall remain that way.  I had a fellow on the East Coast that I had met in the chat room over a year ago and that was perfect, but alas, all perfection is in the eye of the beholder and apparently I had a rather cock eyed view which was way different than his.  I figured he and I and Amy would continue our friendships until we grew old or the hard drive got a virus.  Well that was kinda what happened.  Amy and I are still tight and she and her husband are coming out to Colorado next month.  Course I have to lure her with cookies, but it will be a very fun time and I am looking forward to the visit.
But see the online romance was perfect.  We talked and laughed and everything was hunky dory as long as that was all there was to that.  I made the mistake of thinking that mayhap the guy ought to acknowledge my birthday or the fact that I was going on a long trip alone and he actually chastised me for feeling that way as he was very busy.  OK, now you people who deal with me in the twilight world of reality know how well I took that little rebuke.  You know like when I thought the Fourth Street Bridge should be straight and not curved in the middle.  I was right and you all know I was right, but the engineers just would not see it my way.  I am still pouting over that one and the bridge has been open for over a year.  Or when the AIDS walk did not go my way.  Well, you see what happened there don't you?  I pulled out and then Karma sent all that snow and they had to close the Garden of the Gods.  I am not saying I was right or wrong on this one either.  But you all understand Karma, don't you?
But this is how it goes in my world.  I always get what I want.  If I don't I don't play.  So I have had to kill him.  I hated to do that, but I just can see no other solution.  If two people disagree the game is over. Should I apologize for being a needy neurotic woman?  No.  that is what I am.  Should he apologize for not wanting to be bothered in his busy little life?  No.  He has his life  and I have mine, but in order for everyone to win, he has to die.  Course he has the option of killing me also.  And the joy of it is no one ever knows.  He does not know he is dead and if I am I do not know that either.
But then the Internet is a big place and I know there are a couple little fellows out there who are waiting in line.  Just a word to the wise, be very careful what you wish for cause you just might get it. 
For now I am content to set here in my little world and dream up things to do.  I want to write a book and have the blog set up for that.  It is called  Chapter One and as soon as the Weaver's Sale is over I am going to jump into that.  It is going to be about an online stalker and I am making notes!  I have the notes made on the stalker and he is a hunk and a half,  just a little off in the head.  And Meg is a very sweet woman.  I hate to see her have to go through this, but hey!  She should not have gotten in my head!!  LOL

They are winging their way to Hong Kong!

First..click here to donate to my account for the AIDS Walk!

Today I had a small victory and I want to share it with you!  See that package  up above?  That contains 4 vinyl records and I built that box with my own two hands.  Why?  Because anything over 4 pounds going to Hong Kong requires Priority Shipping; under 4 is First Class which is much cheaper.  Now I am getting quite proficient at doing the online International shipping, but this one had me stymied.  Until, along came Matt!

This is Matt Phelps and he is my buddy at the Mesa Pharmacy. I had packed this order very carefully the night before thinking my maximum weight was 5 pounds. I could not buy first class postage online because that is just the way it is, and besides that the address was too long. See, here we just say John Doe, 54 elm,nowhere, no state 12345.  In Hong Kong the addresses are 4 blocks long.  So when I got to the post office I found that it was a pound over and would cost me $49.98.  No way.  So Matt unpacked the whole thing and weighed the box, my packing materials, the records and pronounced it a mess.  He looked for a box, but still it was overweight.  So I brought it home and constructed a box that was lighter, smaller, but still sturdy.  The corners of the albums I protected with bent card board  and lined with foam sheets.  Back I went and Matt met me at the door.  To the scale and voila!  A miracle.  3 pounds and 14 ounces!  First class and money saved.

  

Here is my receipt for $32.87, exactly what I had charged Mr. Cheng!  I will not figure the profit on this little transaction at an hourly wage, because the packing, running back and forth and the stress of the whole thing could not be measured.  Below you see the change I received from two $20 bills. You also will see the front of Mesa Pharmacy.  

So, today I salute Matt Phelps who works at Mesa Pharmacy out here in Blende.  25th Lane and Highway 50.  If you get a chance to pop out and see him, be sure to tell him Lou put in a good word for him.  He is one of the good guys and they are getting so few and far between that it is kind of sad!  So I gotta say thanks to Matt and tell you girls out there that he is still single!  But watch him go!