This is so typical of my Petey, he's always coming up with ways to make me laugh!

We have 2 little black minature pinschers who are chair hogs. When either Pete or I aren't sitting in our recliners, one of them is usually using it. So whenever we want to sit down, we have to tell the dogs to get down first.

Casey got me this black neck pillow for Christmas and I love it. But, my vision being as poor as it has become, I often find myself seeing it as I approach my chair and telling it to get down. Then, of course, I feel ridiculous when I realize it isn't one of the minpins...so one day while I was back working in my shop Pete did this. You will note that "he" is even using the TV remote with his tag/"arm" :).

I laughed myself silly when I came up to the house that day and this was staring at me! That's my Petey, always showing me how much he loves me by giving me laughter :).

Playing/Singing: He Set My Life to Music

I've been working since last fall to gain more control in my throat; the stroke affected my swallowing and also my singing. "They" told me that it would come back (not that I was ever a great singer to begin with) but I'm still waiting . Anyway, I love this song so I did it anyway, and I can hear bits and pieces of my "old voice" now and again so maybe it will come back...

I'm playing this on my Yamaha PSR-9000Pro, and using its Vocal Harmony feature as I sing. (When my voice breaks, the harmonizer cuts out a bit because it doesn't know what to do...)

If this worked right, you can click on the title of this post to get to the song. If I didn't, then you'll have to click here: http://www.box.net/shared/f2vkfe97g0 .

Without God, there would be no music :).

An eBay Issue - Who Would Have Thought?

Recently I sold 3 electronic gadgets on eBay, for the purpose of buying a Nokia N810 that I otherwise couldn't have afforded. It will do what the other 3 have done for me, but I just about had to carry a suitcase with me wherever I went, to carry them plus their cords and extra batteries and earplugs and so forth...anyway, 2 of the 3 sales went flawlessly. The first 2 buyers paid at once, and wrote to me before I even had a chance to contact them; in both instances I sent their items out the very next day, via Priority Mail, with delivery confirmation. And in both instances I gave immediate feedback (fast pay! good communication!) and requested the same from them. Both paid via Paypal to which I provided the delivery information - when confirmation was received from the USPS, my funds were released to me. Smooth and easy and lovely transactions.

Then came Joe Girmscheid. I'm not worried about using his name, I'm just writing about my own experience here, and he is part of it. He purchased my Palm Pilot. Same as the previous 2 buyers, he paid instantly via Paypal, and sent me an email requesting I send the tracking number to his @verizon email address (as had one of the others also, not a problem); like the others, I left him the same positive feedback. Within 14 hours I had his Palm on the way to him, and sent him the tracking number to the email address he requested. I got my little note from Paypal that my money would be held pending delivery confirmation or positive feedback, as I had for the others.

And that's where the similarity to the others ends. The Palm was delivered to him 48 hours later, but the postman for the Trevose, PA route neglected to scan the item, so there was no delivery confirmation. So I wrote to Joe Girmscheid and asked him to please leave my feedback so that my money could be released. No response. I wrote again, a couple of days later, this time through his eBay account, his eBay email address, and his @verizon email address. No response.

I contacted our postmaster, Tom, here in our little town. He is GREAT. He contacted the postmaster in PA, nope they couldn't find it but the mailman "remembers" delivering it to that address. But they can't provide proof of delivery based upon the mailman's memory. Our postmaster and the one in PA go back and forth for a few days, Tom is right on top of it, calling me with updates, etc., and getting the district management involved here in MI. He learns from the Philadelphia postmaster that it's really common there, "a big problem," that mailmen don't bother to scan packages for delivery.

Meanwhile, with every communication from Tom, I'm updating the eBay messages and also sending them to Joe Girmscheid's 2 email addresses, along with requesting a feedback and/or letting me know he has the Palm, so that my money can be released. Absolute silence at his end. My frustration is enormous. Joe Girmscheid has become a thorn in my side and I've left him a positive feedback that says "good communication" - HA! I can see why sellers wait to provide feedback now...anyway, the other thorn in my side is the PA end of the USPS who can't provide any proof that the Palm was delivered because somebody didn't do his job.

And so it goes. Nearly 3 weeks later, Tom is still trying to get something from them, Joe Girmscheid still refuses to communicate, my funds are still being held by Paypal, and I'm fighting a really strong sense of the unfairness of it all, as well as bitterness toward Joe Girmscheid, which is not the way I typically operate as a Christian. I pray for him anyway.

Lessons learned:
Withhold feedback until the entire deal is done, and Paypal has released the payment.
Add as many layers of CYA as you can - don't just ask for delivery confirmation, request a signature, and insure.
Don't assume that the buyer is as honest and helpful as you are; don't assume anything - get proof of everything.

I won't stop selling on eBay but I will never sell anything again to Joe Girmscheid of Trevose, PA.

The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin

"History affords us many instances of the ruin of states, by the prosecution of measures ill suited to the temper and genius of their people. The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy... These measures never fail to create great and violent jealousies and animosities between the people favored and the people oppressed; whence a total separation of affections, interests, political obligations, and all manner of connections, by which the whole state is weakened."

--Benjamin Franklin, Emblematical Representations