Make It Happen

What I love about eBay

I love the absolute glory of commerce, and the survival of the fittest, that is eBay.   

Hundreds of thousands - maybe even millions - of things for sale.  Sellers' skills in describing their offerings, the competitiveness of their pricing, and their ability to "think like a customer" (use relevant keywords, offer good pictures & detailed descriptions, etc.) all determine whether they'll be successful or not.   

Buyers have to actually pay for what they bought before it gets shipped out to them.  And if they're especially stupid, and don't read the whole description, they can buy something that wasn't what they thought it was... and too bad for them, nobody's going to wipe the tears from their eyes and protect them from the consequences of their laziness.  You didn't read the description, and you didn't realize you were bidding on a PICTURE of a plasma TV, not the TV itself?  Sorry.  Item was exactly the way it was described - you bought it.  Did you really think you were gonna get something worth $3,000 for $3.00?

Consequences for everyone are nearly instant.  Did you bid, but not pay? Bad feedback for you, buyer, and no product either.  Did you lie about what you were selling?  Bad feedback and maybe have the money returned to the buyer (depending on how they paid).  Make no effort as a buyer?  Some other bidder will "snipe" your bargain - stealing it away with a pennies higher bid at the last second.   Make no effort as a seller?  No one bids.

Bid wisely, pay promptly, and buy from sellers with positive (more than 96 rating) feedback - and you can find bargains galore; delights not commonly seen in your local mega-mall.    As a seller, list a full description, provide plenty of photos, ship promptly, and you can clear out your clutter while making some cash.

The system isn't perfect.  But by golly, it's good.

Brilliant design! feminine handbag for Gadget Girls

I've been searching for a feminine handbag that would let me carry all my personal technology gadgets as well as my girl goo and attendant miscellania in an organized, but still stylish, office-worthy and non-frumpy manner.  When I say searching, I mean hours - literally - of surfing and scrolling and clicking and brick n' mortar store visits.

I kept telling myself: "I canNOT be the only woman looking for a nice leather handbag that will hold a cell phone, a Blackberry, a GPS, a wallet, some makeup, some mints and bandaids and chapstick and pen and paper and sunglasses (and the occasional small paperback)."  Yet all I seemed to find were nylon monstrosities, or cavernous totes with a measly two pockets, or man-bags.

Until today.  Someone has created exactly what I needed - and I am now anxiously awaiting delivery.  I resisted the urge to order multiple colors; I will wait to see what the quality looks like when the bag arrives - but if it's as good as it looks, I will absolutely be ordering more.   Just look at all these compartments!

The bag bottom is constructed so it doesn't tip over; it comes in 2 sizes (so far), and a variety of colors.  I chose coffee, as it should take me from late summer to winter gracefully.

Brilliant Designer Jen Groover, I Salute You!

New Place - Maybe

So, I've been shopping for a place to rent in case the sale of the house actually goes through.  I think we've got it - a reasonably well maintained place in Kennesaw with a good basic floorplan in a quiet neighborhood. 

I like the size of the rooms - I'd rather have fewer large rooms than several small spaces.  I could easily love the screen porch and decks on either side in the back. 

Before I go too far in mentally arranging furniture, though, we have to be sure this house deal is going through. 

Even though I repeatedly told the buyer that while she was welcome to have an inspector come through, so she'd feel comfortable with buying the house, but that we were not paying for any work to be done - predictably, she asked for  us to spend money doing things that aren't - even in the inspector's report - wrong or broken.  I reminded her that I'd said several times there was no money left on the table.  No budget available.  Finis.

Her response?  Well, she asked long ago for us to pay the $300 for a home warranty and we said no.   So she's had to outlay cash she didn't want to put out.  Umm, honey?  How about we've made 9 months worth of mortgage payments - theoretically building at least SOME equity - but she isn't paying more for the house?  How about I'm paying to move twice - once to a rental and again when I find something permanent - just so I can accommodate her aggressive moving schedule? 

So the deal could fall apart - again.  I'm not going to hold my breath any more than I can help it.   And while we shilly-shally through this latest obstacle, we can't put a deposit down on the potential rental.  Sigh. 

At least we have a possible place to go.  That's progress from "we have to get out and have no idea where we're going".

Tech Lust & Queasiness

I've been waffling over the poor state of my home PC for nearly a year.  It was a good enough system when I bought it oh, probably 8 years ago - but these days, a P4 with 256 mg. of RAM and a 40 GB hard drive just doesn't run fast enough to execute all the things I need and want to do.

On the other hand, it DOES still run.   So I've left off playing any games on it, and tried to work around the lock ups & that it takes at least 5 minutes to launch MS Word, and tried to ignore the horrible grinding sound the hard drive makes sometimes.  I've watched the sales, consulted with my more technical friends, monitored CNET reviews, and reminded myself that I'm trying to get out of debt - and a major purchase doesn't exactly fit well with that plan.  Still, my frustration kept mounting - exacerbated by the fact that I realize the grinding noise is typically the forerunner of Hard Drive Permanent Failure.

Friday, I succumbed to the Tech Lust I've been battling lo this long while.  On order (shipping on or around 5/11) is a brand spankin' new Dell E520, with a Intel Core Duo E6420 (2.13GHZ,1066FSB) with 4MB cache; 2 GB RAM, a 256MB nVidia GeForce 7300LE TurboCache graphics card, a 250 GB (7200 RPM) hard drive, and a 16x DVD RW drive.  And a 20" widescreen digital flat panel monitor. 

I'm extremely excited & can't wait to see how it runs - I suspect it's going to knock my socks off!  The sheer processing power difference alone will change the way I organize my work time; having all that storage means I may actually join the 21st century and get some music going.  Very, very exciting and heady stuff.

BUT: I'm still a little queasy about spending a chunk of change on something that's just purely for me.   I realize that's silly - what difference does it make if I write one large check or a series of smaller ones that total to the same amount?  And the amount I've spent on this new system isn't enormous - I spent double this amount and then some just having the exterior trim on the house painted last fall.  In fact, several of the home improvement things I've funded in an attempt to increase curb appeal, and hence the ability to sell the house, have totalled up near or more than this amount. 

I could legitimately justify the purchase to myself over and over, but that's not really the point.  The reasons I get queasy about spending four digits (even if just barely!) in one fell swoop on something that serves only to make my life better are not rational and sound reasons.  They aren't even fair reasons.  I can cut a four digit check on something to benefit a shared goal, or to benefit me plus someone else, without experiencing this internal anxiety.  I simply evaluate what is needed, find the best deal (price & value), and make it happen.  I can make ongoing commitments to help someone I cherish that total far, far more than this.    I can do it without qualm (not without serious thinking, just without serious queasiness) if it's of benefit to someone besides me. 

I'd like to learn to treat myself that reasonably.  That justly.  That kindly. 

Asceticism isn't attractive - and it's certainly not part of my life in non-fiscal arenas.   I know why the fiscal arena is the hardest for me - and I know how I got here - I just have to continue to hold my own hand and gently lead myself through the  scary bits until I reprogram the default panic settings.

So yay me, I'm getting a really cool new system!  It's going to make lots of things faster and more fun and more functional and better!  Yay!  And gentle pats for the scared and queasy part of me: It really is OK to do this.  It wasn't a hasty decision, it wasn't poorly thought out, and satisfying myself in reasoned, well planned and well executed ways is no crime. 

Catching Up - kinda

Today marks the third day at home, after being gone for 12 of the prior 14 days.

First leg was up to NY (fun before work) and NJ (just work):  my boss, just prior to resigning, asked me to come up to discuss the state of the department and what more my team could contribute, since we're succeeding in our current agenda.  Of course, once he resigned, it quickly turned into a four day swamp of politics, positioning and posturing at its Dilbert-esque best...  The good part was heading up the Saturday before all the meetings began, so I had some time for fun & adventure.  I visited my milliner, so my two winter hats could be properly sized - and managed to order two spring/summer ones while I was at it!  A variety of shopping and a few lovely restaurants capped off the weekend quite nicely.

Home for a day - just long enough to rotate the business clothes out of the suitcase and replace them with casual day wear, before jaunting off to the second leg of the journey:

San Francisco with my older sister & nephew for six days.   My subscription to Zagat's  served us well, as we were able to explore several really good restaurants in between all the shopping and turista stuff we did.

We had a big time - more on that later - but by the time I came home Friday, I was glad to be coming off the road for a bit of rest.

Of course, since I'd been gone, all the houseplants needed watering - and the patio containers all needed to be dead-headed, rotated and tended (I hired the neighbor's children to keep those watered during the trips).  I had no less than eight loads of clothes to wash, and needed to replenish both personal and household stock items - necessitating trips to the bookstore, Harry's Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Tuesday Morning,  Best Buy, Bruster's, Publix and Koger.  With two weeks worth of mail to sort through, stuff to unpack and put away, and the fact I was more than ready to do a little cooking... well, let's just say I'm not ready for Monday even though it's rapidly approaching.   I did manage to make some dark chocolate chunk pecan brownies; some lamb / feta burgers (using my home grown mint, oregano & thyme; served with a lovely galangal scented jasmine rice); and a pair of Enchilada casseroles - one for now, and one for the freezer.  I also managed to finish two books, watch some TV with hubby, catch up with a girlfriend, and walk the yard surveying the frost damage a few times.

Why do I list all this out?  To console myself, really.   I can take some comfort in all that's gotten done - instead of focusing on everything NOT yet done, such as:

• Writing & posting my resume - because with aforesaid boss's resignation, I really can't afford to ignore the handwriting on the wall at work any longer
• Actually taking action on the stack of mail: pay it, file it, shred it but one way or the other - get rid of it
• Picking a realtor & listing the house, even though 60% of me thinks it's going to be another exercise in futility
• Finding that cleverly organized envelope of year end paperwork and getting over to the accountants to file taxes
• Finding stuff to purge that equates in value to the new acquistions made on these two trips

I won't apologize for being driven.  But I do need to be a little nicer to myself about it, and remember that it's really ok to pursue the stuff I want to do - like travel and dine out and read and cook and shop and visit/socialize - the non-fun stuff doesn't ALL have to get done immediately nor must it all be complete before I allow myself to do things that are strictly for my own gratification.  This isn't a "eat your supper before you get dessert" situation - it's my life. 

And I'd much rather spend Sunday evening thinking of all the fun I've had than thinking of all the not-yet-finished "gotta do" items.

OMG ads

I'd like to have a Mini Cooper someday.  But the ad recently pointed out to me makes me ask just who their target market is - and can I somehow get the name of that market research firm? 

WARNING: probably NSFW!!!

Mini Cooper Ad

Definitely take the time to click through all the little asterisks to um, learn about the car.

My older sister sent me this one for Doritos from the Superbowl:

Checkout Girl

Watching the two ads back to back is Not Recommended unless your current partner of choice is immediately physically accessible.

Computer Lust

I've been lusting after a new home PC for months and months now.  My current technology ... let's just say it's old.  Very, Very Old.  128 mg RAM in a proprietary format that would cost more to upgrade than to replace the machine kind of old.

So I've been watching the deal websites and looking at mailer coupons and sales flyers and visiting stores.  I've been begging my techie friends for advice and insight and URLs.

Have I purchased? No.

If I configure my "very nice but not latest greatest" machine, the best I can pull together seems to run around $1200.    Now, admittedly, that's a pretty sweet machine - and more than I need today, but if I kept this last one for seven years, don't I want to buy something that won't be completely useless for another five or so?

My Trusted Geek Advisor and Friend said "No".  He recommended - quite logically- that I divide out the budget and instead spend half that figure on a machine that will last 3 years.  His reasoning?  Technology advances so fast, the exponential difference makes it worth it.  Very sensible of him!

But I still vacillate.  I see what looks like a forest of options in the $500 - 600 range; and even though he was kind enough to send me specific URLs  for machines he thought were well equipped... it's hard to hit the "add to cart" button.  What if there's a better deal just around the corner?  and how can I justify adding to my credit card total anyhow?

So I fret, and I curse the machine I'm using for locking up, and being slow, and not having the horsepower to run Sims 2, and being noisy. 

I'm definitely my own worst enemy here.

Pricing - AGAIN

A while back, I wrote about people who provide arbitrary pricing.   Earlier today, I wrote about gut wrenching levels of anxiety. 

We have a concatenation, and I almost feel sorry for the person on the front line.  Almost.

One of the companies who gave me an outrageous bid on a paint job called back to see if I'd ever decided to move forward with the job, and if I'd heard back from their sales person with a new quote.  Testy bitch that I am today, I walked that caller through an in-depth cost analysis: That if the going rate for a painter is $15 per hour, the price they quoted me should cover three painters working a full eight hours for just over three days.  I explained - in excruciating detail - how the total wasn't the problem - the VALUE for the total was the problem.  That I'd pay $50 for a steak dinner with an appetizer, glass of wine and dessert - but I wouldn't pay $50 for a hamburger.  And that their sales person quoted me a $50 hamburger.  I made her take notes, too, so she could explain it back to the sales person.

Normally, if I were feeling more salubrious, I'd have simply said, "the price is too high, no thank you".

Not today.  I'm under-slept, overwrought and just plain intolerant.

Next caller, please.

Fashion Horrors

I'm not sure what the underlying reasoning is behind this spring's fashions.  All I can surmise is that designers have finally decided that we'll buy anything, literally anything, we see advertised or worn by some "celebrity".

There's not a shapely frock to be found - not a feminine line nor an elegant fabric - in any of the multitude of places I've scoured online, in catalogs and in brick n' mortar stores.  Instead, there are the horrors of conflicting prints - empire waists that make even the slimmest lass look three months pregnant - "boho" and "hippie" shapeless sacks of non-natural fibers.

I am either going to have to improve my sewing skills sufficiently to start designing and fabricating my own wardrobe, or find a seamstress who can work at a reasonable wage & pace so I can can have my clothes custom made.

I may be pleasantly plump, but I'm not looking to wear a caftan.  Nor am I going to wear a print better suited to some mud-encrusted Woodstock throwback.

Bleh!

Arbitrary Pricing

We live in a fairly nice subdivision, and the house is both large & pretty.  Because of that, we get a lot of sales people stopping by, leaving off random flyers for a variety of high-end fluff they automatically assume we might be in the market for.

That's fine, I have a trash bin.

What frustrates me, though, is when I want a quote for some type of service.  About half the quotes come in way, way over the going market rate - because some people assume "they can afford it".  The prices are arbitrary for these companies - not based on an estimate of the time and materials plus a reasonable profit, but rather on what they think we'd be able to pay.

Example One: we have a handkerchief sized lawn, because most of the land is actually wooded.  I've had quotes of $300+ per month to just keep it mowed & trimmed.  The guy who won the bid is mowing, trimming, fertilizing, areating, pruning the shrubs and occasionally planting new materials I furnish - for $153.33 a month. 

Example Two: I want the side deck pressure washed, stained & sealed to keep the wood from deteriorating.  The first quote I got was over $1k.  For a deck that is MAYBE on a loose tape 17x25 feet.  Hell, I've had a quote to entirely rip out carpet & install hardwood floors on a similar size space for $2k - including the cost of the materials!

Apart from being fundamentally insulted - do these people think I have no idea what something is worth? - I'm never going to let a company like that work on my property.  If they assume I can - and should - pay above market rates just because I have a nice home, then what's to say that they would think I deserved to get a quality job? After all, I can afford to have it fixed, right?

The lowest quote isn't always the best.  The quote that is based on facts - an expected # of hours, and an expected amount of materials - and presented by someone who clearly knows what they are talking about, has a passion for quality and listens to reason - is the one that wins my business.

The arbitrary quote - whether it's highest, lowest or somewhere in between - gets rejected every time.