Grandchildren---They Are The Best!

Not much to write about today because I am getting ready for the grandkiddies to arrive from Illinois. Sweet Emmrey will turn 3 in June and we are celebrating part of her birthday this weekend!
As you will note in one of my earlier muses, she is going to start tap dance in the fall. So, her leotard, tights and tap shoes are already to go, waiting for the “Unwrapping Party”!

And, of course, she got some toys, too! A special little Barbie with all of the princess costumes will make her a very happy little girl.

Now, she has a little brother who is 18 months old. Did I mention he is also a HOLY TERROR!! Never stops...just keeps on a steady, constant run all day long! And yes, he got a little present to open as well!!

AUCTION ITEMS

I will be listing some more auction items soon, so stay tuned. There is a vintage Meck Trail Blazer radio/phonograph in a wooden case (tube type radio), a cobalt blue ceramic spittoon that has been in the family forever; a vintage brass 3-cigar holder by R&G Co. (cigar makers)...and several more items! I will post some pictures here as soon as I can!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. In Indiana, the sun is supposed to shine and the weather is supposed to be warm. Of course, the operative words are...SUPPOSED TO BE!!! Ya’ll know what they say about Indiana weather....if you don’t like it, wait 5 minutes and it will change!

OLA Wants Me---They Truly Want Me!

If you are an online seller, you undoubtedly are aware of the many changes that eBay has made to their site. It just ain’t what it used to be!! For years, we all enjoyed the thrill of the victory when we won an item. When we first started selling, many would keep hitting “refresh” toward the end of the auction and were thrilled when someone ‘sniped’ the listed items at the last minute. We sold something---we made some money. It was so exciting

We met new friends on the boards. We learned new skills--how to upload pictures and told about our lives to the entire world on the “Me Page”. Enter the era of the digital camera and now---we actually got to see what we were buying!

Some changes took place and we persevered. Then more changes were introduced. We sighed, took the hit in the pocketbook and continued our pursuits.

Then we were SLAPPED---we were knocked down. Many livelihoods were virtually destroyed with the first wave of major changes. Now, buyers are the boom and sellers are doomed. Sellers have no recourse for bad buyers and that just isn’t fair! We are taking it in the backend on sellers’ fees to the tune of a 66% increase.

Many stay-at-home moms are suffering. Many senior citizens spent many hours learning to sell in order to supplement their monthly income. I even chatted with some sellers who were able to manage their prescription care based on eBay sales and when it took a nosedive, they were seriously jeopardized.

Okay, I’m usually one who sees the glass half empty. But, we have to move on and begin to fill the glass again! Many sellers and buyers have transitioned to other sites. During the first boycott, I literally kept refreshing my browser and watched one powerseller with over 10,000 feedback take down his store and delete his inventory. Each time I would refresh, his inventory went from over 5,000 items---then 4,700 items---and on and on until he had totally deleted each and every item in his store. I don’t know the gentleman, I don’t know what his financial situation was and I don’t know where he moved his inventory. I do know it was sad.

I continued to read news articles and online news stories about how eBay didn’t want small-time sellers. I read that they didn’t want us “flea-marketers”. I read that there was more protection for the buyers and sellers were totally vunerable.
Yes, I believed the stories, I believed the online news postings. But it was hard to fathom that eBay, as we have known it for years, was totally changing their format and wasn’t even taking a moment to listen to those who helped build the site many years ago. Most definitely, my bank account believed it

eBay spokespersons actually made it very clear in several quoted interviews and press releases. And, as recently as May 26, 2008, those eBay representatives continue to say--they really don’t want us...anywhere in the world!

My first international sale was to a buyer in Australia. As we know, this is a large island far away from the US mainland. The lady I sold the dolls to was absolutely thrilled to win my auction and have 3 porcelain and bisque dolls, actually in deplorable condition, to learn to restore them and make them new again. She fired off pictures of her exciting win to her friends and wanted to know if I had more dolls to restore. This ecstatic buyer helped me learn the international shipping procedures and was as helpful as she could be. Now, our Aussie friends are being hit and hit very hard. The rest of us will follow in the months to come.

What has eBay done? I will let you read the article yourself. It is sad, to say the least. I don’t know why I was shocked, I already knew the facts. I had already moved on to onlineauction.com.

But dang--eBay truly doesn’t want us unless we play totally by their millions of rules and regulations and give them what we have worked hard to earn. And they don’t want to help us, the sellers, when unwarranted negs are given.

Join with me and thousands of others who have found a new home. Instead of Paypal, I encourage buyers and sellers to look into alternatives, such as www.googlecheckout.com, www.revolutionmoneyexchange.com, and www.xcoin.com.

Will ola.com. completely destroy eBay? No---probably won’t ever happen. I truly believe that only a very, very small percentage of the millions of eBay buyers and sellers actually know what has been going on since the first of the year. They probably haven’t ‘done the math’ to realize the significant bottom-line loss.

But I can assure you that onlineauction.com. will be THE PLACE to sell and buy, to make new friends, to carry on chats and learn about our friends from around the world. There are no listing fees, no final value fees. You simply pay your $8.00 per month and presto---start listing as many items as you want!

I ask that you read this article from AuctionBytes.com. eBay made it perfectly clear that if we don’t like their rules, we are more than welcome to move on to other internet venues.

Then, I ask you to listen to Chris Fain from onlineauction.com.

Judge for yourself.

Thank you for 'listening' to my rant today!! Make it a great day in your life, whereever you are!

LEARNING HTML

I truly believe that if I were age 12 or under, I would understand everything there is to know about html. However, seeing as how I have reached a few years beyond 12---it is like GREEK to me!

The basics I get. I can bold, I can underline, I can put words in italics. Yep, I can even make the fonts

larger

smaller

and pick just about any color I want.

But that is about as far as it goes!
I spend hours trying to figure out how to insert pictures, learning how to “click here”, etc. There are tons of sites that offer help, but then, when it doesn’t work, I have to figure out if a comma, underscore, quotes---or whatever, is in the correct position.

The best sites are those that teach html to adults using very elementary language!!! Thank goodness for the online practice boards.

Some of the sites I have been using are listed below. They offer the basic information as well as "beyond the basics". I think what it all boils down to is practice, practice, practice! A little trial and error on the online practice boards. certainly helps!

www.davesite.com
www.html.net
www.w3schools.com

Yes, you will notice that a couple of these are for the "elementary" learning curve. I'm not proud---gotta start somewhere!

HOW WAS YOUR HOLIDAY WEEKEND?

Here's hoping that your long holiday weekend was a good one with family and friends. Here in Indiana, the weather totally cooperated and our time at the lake was absolutely grand! And speaking of grand, I got to see one of our grandbabies, as well!! That's always a joy!

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT ONLINEAUCTION.COM

Many new sellers have been hopping onboard at OLA. This means lots and lots and lots of new listings and items for sale. Many items are "Penny Over", meaning that you pay just one cent over the listed dollar figure--and the item is yours!

Check in at the chat boards if you have questions or need help or just want to introduce yourself. And be sure to keep checking back. The programmers are hard at work and will be upgrading the site toward the end of June/first of July. This means your searches will be easier and the site will have a new look and feel to it.

Yep, my items are listed on OLA, too! Just click on the large, yellow OLA logo at the top of this web page and it will take you right there! Thanks for looking and happy shopping and selling!

Have a wonderful day and if you have any tips and hints for html...be sure to send me your comments!

YIPPEE FOR A HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

It’s Friday---the day before the weekend....a long holiday weekend. This makes the heart skip a beat in the bodies of all employed persons! Ah, there’s the catch. EMPLOYMENT! I have been looking for a part-time job for a few months now. Hmmm, am I over-qualified, under-qualified or just plain to old! I have a degree in Secretarial Science, I was employed by two not-for-profit organizations for over 25 years and I can’t even get an interview!!! Not even for a part-time job. Walmart doesn’t even want me because I won’t state on the application that I am willing to work any hours they deem me needed!! I always thought I could be a greeter at Walmart!

I have been told the problem is over-qualification. Baa-hookey! It is pretty obvious on my resume how old I am. I state I want part-time work. I’m not looking for a career, for heaven’s sake. Oh, I found one company that was willing to possibly find me a job, but they wanted almost $200 up-front to even start looking for me. And, they didn’t normally specialize in part-time employment! And to go to a temporary staffing company is pretty hard in the larger city where I live. If I have to drive 20 miles one way to get to a job, the gas will eat me alive!

Older workers know what it means to have a strong work-ethic. And customer service? Holy mackrel, Andy! I am the one who walks away from businesses who don’t provide good customer service, so I know exactly what is needed in the workplace.

Maybe it's time I get some value for that AARP membership!!!

And so it goes! I will find something! In the meantime, I will keep blogging, you can keep reading and we will all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Alzheimer’s

But I am going to talk just a moment about the care-givers. I am one. My mother has Alzheimer’s, probably for about the last 12 years. The progression is slow, but it is surely and emphatically taking over her life. And, the life of her loved-ones. My father cares for her 24/7. We do have a family member who comes to their house 3 days a week to help her bathe, do laundry and allow dad to get out of the house for a short period of time.

I’m not going to go on and on right now about every day occurrences. What I have found, however, is that a good sense of humor is absolutely mandatory for the caregiver. Not to make fun of the patient, but to keep sanity within ourselves. We have learned to laugh at ourselves, our short-comings, and with mom when she does silly things and not-so-silly things.

It is also absolutely necessary to have self-forgiveness. Meaning, simply, that it is important that when we lose our “cool”, when we feel we are at the end of our rope, when we say to ourselves that we can’t do this one more day, then it is necessary to forgive our thoughts and actions as we move on to another day.

If you want to learn more about this horrible disease, check out these sites. And I strongly recommend reading “The 36-Hour Day”. At the very least, you will be able to associate with others who have gone through this and realize...you are not alone.

Support groups are the lifeline to all caregivers. There are also support groups in just about every city and town...seek them out for help, support and a little respite for yourself!

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday weekend.

Happy Thursday! HAPPY DAY!

It's Thursday! I'm going to spend the day on the computer and doing laundry! The laundry, I know. The computer and blogging---I'm still in "learning" mode!

Oh, for a quick update on the friend's basement yesterday. It was a tragedy, to say the least. There are 4 floors to this old, old building. The roof had leaked, there were buckets all over. The smell was obviously putrid, to say the least. He took me to the basement and showed me the old bottles that he thought were worth a fortune. Guess what---they aren't. Now, I'm not expert, but first, I would have had to crawl back into this little gravel cavern, infested with live and not-so-live spiders, to get to them. And from the light of my flashlight---they were all broken! I told him he needs to get a dumpster and just shovel it all out!!

Then, on his previous "showroom" floor, I found a couple items. One was a plaster "California Raisin Man". I told him I would take it and try to sell it for him. Well, he gets to the car with it, then tells me, "Oh, I've been offered $7500 for it". I told him to take it back, because there was no way I would get $7500 for it. Just who's leg does he think he's pulling.

I normally sell items that I find around the house, buy at auctions, garage sales, etc. But I would also love to find a "line of items" that I could inventory and sell. So far, nothing has popped up that makes my heart skip a beat, but I continue to look. What is great about selling the items I do---I learn a little about a lot of things! I have found so many wonderful websites to teach me about these items. I will share one with you today.

He also had hundreds of old Beanie Babies, but those will be sold at a flea market in a couple weeks.

So, needless to say, my drive served me no purpose other than to burn up a little fuel.

Speaking of fuel. No, let's not! Isn't it a travesty. Not a thing any of us can do about it, but suck it up, pay the price and get to where we are going. I would walk or ride a bike (if I owned one), but living out in the country, it's a little hard to pack up the bike and go to the Post Office!

ONLINEAUCTION.COM

Now, since the other auction site isn't interested in working with small sellers any longer, I have joined OLA. I'm pleased as punch about the site, but the sales have been a little slow. So...go check it out!

The great thing about selling online is learning about so many items. Take these darling little "Bendel Shakers" (Vantelligen). After obtaining one pair and making over $35 on them, I found another pair and will put them up for auction soon. And, to learn the history of these cute little guys, just visit www.salt-and-pepper-shakers.com.

Ya'll have a wonderful weekend...it's a holiday, so drive safely, arrive home safely and party safely! Spend time with family and friends and may the SUN shine on you...wherever you are!

Happy Wednesday to all!!! I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out exactly how to blog and I think I have made some progress!

Today will take me to a town about 20 miles from here, digging through the basement of an old abandoned building in their downtown area. A friend owns this building and is signing papers to sell it and have it cleaned out in 90 days! WhoooHooo---hoping to find some treasures that he and I can share! We know that it was, many years ago, a pharmacy of some sort. Wouldn't that be wonderful to find old, old apothecary bottles and similar memorabilia. I will definitely post back to you and hopefully can include some pictures of some of the items to share. I think the owner of the building wants me to bring EVERYTHING back----! He must think I live in either a mansion or an abandoned warehouse. My spare bedroom certainly isn't that huge!!!

On another topic...can't wait for the weekend. Am looking forward to seeing my grandbabies from Illinois and hoping that the weather is warm enough to do a little boating.

Speaking of my grandbabies, our oldest granddaughter is only 3, but she will soon start dance classes. Her mother was only 3 when she started...and she danced for 19 years! Of course, we can't afford to invest tons of money into shoes that will only last a few months, but I did find a couple very nice affordable websites.

Dance4Less has a wide array of items and the shipping costs are within reason.

And BabyUltimate also has some of the things I will be looking for! Please check them both out...hopefully you will find something you need for your kids or grandkiddies!

I have to thank my niece, Teresa, for helping me get started with this whole blogging experience. Almost more that a grandma can handle! You can see her www.upsideliving.com.

Is this really as easy at is seems?

I'm truly amazed at how easy this really all seems. As a grandmother and computer-savvy, learning some of this internet is sometimes mind-boggling!

Click on the big yellow OLA logo to see my items up for auction at www.ola.com. That is also www.onlineauction.com and either URL will get you there. With all of the changes at the former #1 spot for auctions, OLA is fast becoming "The Place To Be" for sellers and buyers. My income drastically dropped because of all the changes and now by using OLA, I am seeing an increase...albeit slowly...from using OLA.

And, let's talk about customer service. It is UNMATCHED at OLA. That other auction site could take some well-needed lessons!

Oh, you want to talk about friendliness? The members at OLA are absolutely UNMATCHED! Helpful, friendly and sometimes just downright funny. Stop in at the chats and introduce yourself!

OLA programmers are hard at work to totally refine the site, coming this summer. Searching will be easier, listing will be easier and did I mention, the only cost is $8.00 per month. Other fee formats are also available, including a Founding Member. Again, click on the OLA logo to see my listings!