Its infuriating, sometimes...

...being a father of girls this age. What I am talking about are those moments when you say "Come here." to your daughters. Now, you can get 1 of 3 responses.

1 - they come to where you are. This is not infuriating, its gratifying.

2 - they run the other way. This is, while not infuriating, most annoying.

3 - they smile at you and stand there, sometimes swaying back and forth, as if to taunt you into believing they may actually heed your directive. This is infuriating.

And it's not like I can do a whole lot. A quick swat on the backside for the older one, but she sees this coming, and will jump to comply once I start this process and then I really can't proceed. Giving the younger one a smack on the butt isn't really going to help, she wears a diaper anyway, so that's not going to deliver the message.

I dislike doing it anyway, but I also know "spare the rod, spoil the child". That is the burden of parenthood, I believe now. It's not so much the financial burden, the time burden, etc. It's that burden of having to enforce what you know if the right thing on a kid that doesn't want to know it. I sort of feel for my parents, now.

I Hate eBay

So, I've come to the decision that I wont be using eBay for selling any more. Its too much of a hassle, there aren't enough protections for sellers. I may still buy something there now and again, but for selling items its probably going to be Craigslist from now on.

Here's some important new points if you haven't sold on eBay in a while:

1 - if receiving money through PayPal, you have to wait either:

a) 3 days after confirmed DELIVERY (confirmed via UPS/USPS/FedEx) to get your money out of their escrow queue. During that time, they have your product, you don't have your money.

b) Wait for the buyer to leave positive feedback. If they just don't feel like it, see option a.

2 - if a buyer doesn't pay, you are essentially screwed, because:

a) You can't leave negative feedback for a buyer as a seller. What the HELL they were thinking when setting this up is beyond me.

b) You can go through the whole "Resolution Center" process, but that just essentially wastes time and in the end you only get back your fee that they take off the final price. The listing fees still apply.

Gamer, movie of the year (2009) in my opinion

Just finished watching Gamer. Wow. Blown away.

It also has alot in common with another movie that came out last year that I was really into, Surrogates, staring Bruce Willis. They both depict a future society on the brink of losing its humanity through technology.

This move nailed what our future could be like, if we let it. The references to actual "gamer" jargon, "teabagged" for example, are spot on. They even got technical things right, such as the use of the term "ping". I wont go into a summary of the movie, its too engrossing. Having gone into it fresh made it all the more enjoyable.

Its not for the squeamish, its one of the more violent movies I have seen in a while. There's also alot of nudity, and sex. But its integral to the story, not something thrown in to improve sales.

Gerard Butler is becoming one of my favourite actors, serving up great performances in action, comedies, and everything in between. Two other good movies of his are The Ugly Truth, and Rock 'n Rolla.

...still going

(sigh) This idiot is still trying to work me over. He's going to get nowhere with this crap.


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can you give me a second offer for 120 include the shipping? i will
 pay when i get it.
 if we still cannot make it, i am sorry to say that i have to give up
 on your item.
 thx

- Douchebag

-----------

Its $120.00 plus shipping. Period. Take it, or leave it.

- Me

---

So I was eBaying stuff this week...

I haven't eBay'd with any regularity for a while now. There's been some changes. First, PayPal now acts like an escrow service. It withholds your money until the buyer has a> posted feedback (positive, I think) or b> they, PayPal, can confirm delivery.

The second big change - eBay is now completely full of jagaloon idiots. I was used to the occasional scammer, but after selling 4 items in one week, I can say the ratio of scammers and fools to solid eBay users has to have quadrupled.

See the below exchange for an example of what I have dealt with this week from eBay users.

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Subject: Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #
Dear You,

hi i am sorry i put the wrong amount of bidding your item. i put 855 instead of 85.50
so actually i dont want to pay that much for this item. but if you can sell it for 100 include the shipping, i will buy it

- Douchebag

----------
Subject: Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #

No, you can buy it for $120.00 or get a report of being a non-paying bidder.

- Me

----------

 i just put a wrong bid.
 if you cant do it for 85, i can pay you 100 include the shipping.
 if you want to leave a negative feedback to me, go ahead and i will do
 it to you too.
 i already told you i put the wrong bid. i put $855 when i just wanna
 pay $85.5 for it.
 but i still can do my best to put down 100 for it, or you can. think
 about it

- Douchebag

---------

There's really nothing to think about. You "claim" you put in $855.00,
but you would have had to CONFIRM it when you put it in, so you either
are really inept, or you are lying to me. Either way, I don't really
care. $120.00 is the price you agreed to pay. You might get away with
this with someone who was a retailer who had investment tied up in
stock. But thats not my situation.

I actually don't have to leave feedback to file an unpaid bidder alert,
so threatening me with retaliatory negative feedback is a waste of time.
I can then either give the second highest bidder a second chance offer,
or re-list it. Be assured, by the way, that all these emails will be
documented with eBay's Resolution Center. I may even blog about this,
who knows.

I will consider the item un-paid-for if I don't receive payment by 4PM
Saturday, which is actually pretty nice of me since you are basically
telling me you wont be paying...

You may want to read this.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/unpaid-items.html#problem

- Me

-------
Subject: Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #


well, i am sorry about the trouble.
i really put 855 by mistake. but i dont know how to cancel the bid.
if the phone is in fully function, and garentee work, i will think about it and see if i can pay that much.
cuz my budget for it is around 100. so how about 110 if you can garentee it works?

- Douchebag

----------

Subject: Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #

Wow you really have no clue. You didn't even investigate enough to know
what you were buying. Its not a phone, dude. Its a wifi tablet. And, for
you, it costs $120.00. Pay it, or don't and I will follow through with
all the steps available to me via eBay's processes. Its really very simple.

- Me

---------

Subject: Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #

well, yep i really no clue about it sir. lol.
i really willing to buy it but are you garentee it works fine?
and you will send me a second offer for 120 total if it works fine and no personal code on it rite?
thank you

- Douchebag

----------
(5 minutes later)
Subject: Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #

thx i guess i give up.
sorry for the trouble though.

- Douchebag

First post.

I need to get back into blogging, and to do one that is not so centered on a specific subject or theme. So, I've decided to start anew, and this is that start. My entries will be general musings and ramblings. Some funny, some not. And now...WE BLOG!