I have to tell myself to be patient. It is too easy to give in to the temptation to just bid on ANYTHING. And NOW.

The result is often paying too much for an item you don't want, don't need, doesn't fit or doesn't suit you.

For example, this one looked great in the picture, but when I got it back, it just didn't suit me. This is something you can't really tell when buying clothes online, you just have to give it your best guess.



VERDICT - Win some, lose some!

However I learned from this experience and did a lot of "Watching" and a lot less "Bidding". Finally I found the perfect top, put a bid on at the right time (ie. there was no-one else bidding!) and won the top for 0.99c!!!



VERDICT - SUCCESS!!

This is a good example of the old saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure":...
A person buys some videos in the 1980s. They watch them once and store them on a shelf for a long time. In 2006, when ebay is the place to sell your old wares, a golf nut discovers these two titles and puts on a bid. The seller gets money and some shelf space, and the golf nut gets two indispensible instructional videos.

And they all lived happily ever after.

VERDICT - SUCCESS!!

Time for a ratings update.

To recap on the "Ratings System" entry - the results are either "Success" or "Not". Simple!!

Click on the picture for a bigger view:





So far so good.

The debate rages on. Many will tell you that digital is the way of the future,
because it's new, it's better, can hold more information, keeps for longer....etc.etc.etc.

Well, I'm not sure that applies to everything. On comparing digital voice recorders for recording ideas such as:
song ideas
movie scripts
a novel
blog entries(!!!)

I realised that these little digital recorders (see fig 1.) have their setbacks. On reading the 5 star rating review system on Amazon.com, I was amazed at the number of complaints about these machines. I was intrigued so I read on..."erased all my information"...."wasn't compatible with XP software"..."recorded 30 hours of grainy, scratchy, unintelligible information"

I was stunned.

fig 1.



These gadgets boast "30 hours recording time!!" but in the small print it actually means 30 hours of unintelligible static OR...3 hours of high quality recording. And what if the machine crashes while downloading to your computer? What then?
A novel lost!! Brilliant ideas down the drain!!

And nobody wants that.

So then I thought, what about the alternative? I could get a dictaphone (fig 2.) ...yes, that's right...using TAPE!!!! (Techno savvy metros gasp in horror here)
But seriously, you record a side of a tape. You turn it over. You record the other side. You knock the tabs out. If you simply HAVE to have everything you ever create on computer (and many do!!) then get a male to male stereo plug, plug one end in the "line in" jack at the back of your computer, plug the other end into your dictaphone, or tape recorder or whatever, use a program like "MP3MYMP3" (freeware, check any site such as tucows etc.) and record the ideas as MP3s.

Brilliant!!!

Fig 2.




If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Or, to go one step further...

Don't "upgrade" to something crap.

I apologise for the gap between entries, I have had the flu!

Here is a list of today's ebay items that you might find interesting:
I like to include the outright bizarre - today's focus is MAGICAL ITEMS!!!

With all the links, highlight the entire area from "http://" to "ViewItem"
and paste into a new browser window.

THESE ONES ARE 'MAGICAL':
Logic dictates that these things don't work. But getting 100% +VE feedback for magical items is pretty impressive. Jury's out on this one.

FAIRY PORTAL

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/
HAUNTED-FAIRY-PORTAL-AND-NECKLACE-FROM-101-YR-OLD-WITCH_W0QQitemZ300012574160QQihZ020QQcategoryZ19270QQ
ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


GENIE

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HAUNTED-GENIE-
BOUND-TO-WITCHS-300-YEAR-OLD-CRYSTAL-BALL_W0QQitemZ300
012562124QQihZ020QQcategoryZ19270QQssPageNameZWDVWQ
QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


MERMAID FAIRY

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HAUNTED-MERMAID-
FAIRY-BEAUTIFUL-MUST-SEE-HER_W0QQitemZ300012848080
QQihZ020QQcategoryZ19270QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1Q
QcmdZViewItem


THESE ONES ARE 'HAUNTED':


HAUNTED COPPER URN:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Haunted-
Solid-Copper-Urn-Style-Odd-Item-ALTAR-ROOM_W0QQ
itemZ280011593942QQihZ018QQcategoryZ19270QQss
PageNameZWD2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


WHITE WITCH'S GLASS BOTTLE DECANTER:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Glass-Heart
-Bottle-Decanter-Haunted-Witchs-Item_W0QQ
itemZ270012838606QQihZ017QQcategoryZ1927
0QQssPageNameZWD2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



AND PSYCHIC READINGS:

These one had 100% +VE feedback)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/TRICIA-
PSYCHIC-HIGH-ACCURACY-READING_W0QQit
emZ280011006508QQihZ018QQcategoryZ1025
16QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Spirit-
Guided-Psychic-Tarot-Reading-NEW_W0Q
QitemZ150015745526QQihZ005QQcategory
Z102522QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/FULL-PSYCHIC-
CLAIRVOYANT-SPIRIT-TAROT-READING-BY-
ANDREA_W0QQitemZ270010341899QQihZ017
QQcategoryZ19271QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/AUSTRALIAN-
PSYCHIC-MEDIUM-TAROT-READING_
W0QQitemZ170012111013QQihZ007QQcat
egoryZ102516QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Remember to always read the feedback for the person you are buying from. And always with this kind of thing, take it with a grain of (sea) salt!

Happy Shopping!!