Friday, January 30, 2009

Ebay...Sheese!

How hard can it be? You take a few pictures, you post them on a website with the lowest price you're willing to accept for the item, you choose a few variables, you click "upload" and you're off and running as an ebay seller. Someone bids, wins, pays you, you package, ship, and wait for feedback.
Easy as pie! Right?

Wrong! In my opinion, while it's not hard, physical labor, selling on ebay is HARD! Or, maybe that's just the case for a worry wart like me.

The pictures are easy. Time consuming sometimes, but easy. Take the item outside, take a picture. No brainer. Upload said photos to computer, only to find out that some are not as clear as they should be. Take the item back outside and try again. Ok....that works.

Pull up "Auctiva". Start a new listing. Import the photo(s). Remember what you paid for the item, mentally add ebay fees and Paypal fees. Figure out the shipping weight. Decide between parcel post and priority. Choose between flat rate or not. USPS, UPS, or FedEx. Write a glowing description, being chipper and cheery, and/or try to inject a bit of humor.

Have you decided on your return rules? Shipping rules? Do you want a fancy background to showcase the item? Don't forget to add the fees for that to the minimum price! How long is the auction to run? 3 days? 5 days? 10 days? (10 days is more money...add that to the cost)

Upload it to Ebay. Sit back and wait. Is anyone going to even see it? Are they EVER going to bid? Get used to tapping your fingers on the desk.

Wait! Someone bid. Get out calculator and figure out again what it's going to cost you. Did you remember to include the cost of gas to get to the post office? Forget about your time. All of the sudden, it's cost you $1.63 to send off this lovely item to it's new owner. Yes. That's right. You've lost money on this auction. Not only that, but then you have to wait to see if you get good feedback or not....

Is it worth it? I dunno. I just can't decide. I've made some fairly good money on a few things, but have lost money on others....

Guess as long as I don't end up having to declare bankruptcy because of my ebay sales, I'll call it "entertainment"...

Monday, January 19, 2009

Mr. President

I can't stand it anymore.

I didn't vote for him. Had absolutely nothing to do with the color of his skin or his gender. Had everything to do with his platform and promises. One man does not change the country. One man who has, as his primary "feature" dark skin, was elected to the presidency of the United States. Regardless, he WAS elected, and in my book, that makes him nothing less than "Mr. President" with full honors. I will support him in his endeavors to make this country a better place to live.

I'm sorry if what I have to say is offensive to some. It's not intended to be, but I fully believe that President Obama was elected because of the color of his skin. (That, and the Republicans couldn't come up with a better canidate)
I can't believe we elected a man, who had as his main topic of his campaign and acceptance speech, "I'm black". Have we forgotten that the man is half WHITE? When has THAT come up as a positive in his bid for election and subsequent press coverage?
Point I am trying to make is this. It shouldn't matter that Barack Obama is black. It shouldn't matter that he's half white. This country elected a man, and unless that man was elected because he was black, it simply shouldn't be an issue. Who CARES what color his skin is? I don't. I care about what he's going to be able to do to save this country from itself. I think that as long as there's the distraction of his skin color, there is not going to be anyone watching what's actually happening in Washington. I think that he's got a wife that is not going to be anymore happy in the White House than she has been all of her life. What idiot let her start a speech at the Democratic Convention with, "For the first time in my life, I am proud of my country!"

Lest you think that I'm against the man for the color of his skin, or because he's not female, please note that I'd be in seventh heaven if Condoleezza Rice would run for the presidency! I really wish she would have....she'd have kicked both Obama's and Clinton's butts in a fair election! ;)

It worries me. It really does. I'll sit back and watch. We'll see if Obama and his followers can put their prejudice behind them. Tell me that they're not prejudiced. His whole acceptance speech was based on the "First BLACK President", and look how far blacks have come. I've heard nothing about how the white side of him made it to the presidency. I've heard nothing about the HALF black man that was elected.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. Cut the "Black" President thing. Whodahell cares? I don't. And if one is truly not prejudiced, they don't either. All we care about is someone who can run the country effectively. Someone who can do a good job. I honestly believe that as President, Obama MIGHT be able to do just that, but he's going to have to set the color of his skin aside and get busy. There's more to running the country than being black. I've never done it myself, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.

So...all of that aside, I have this to say to Barack Obama.

Dear Mr. President,

Please know that you have my full support, even though you did not have my vote. Please know that my prayers are with you as you start this journey of Presidency, and that my prayers are also with your children, as they give up their father for the next four years.
I will not always agree with your ideas or your actions. I don't believe that bringing the troops home at this time is a good idea. I believe that if we do that, then all of the men and women that have died in the war on terrorism will have died for nothing, and that thought is too much to bear. We need to finish what we've started.
I believe that my right to bear arms needs to be protected. I don't, however, see a need to own an AK47 or any other kind of assult weapon. Gangs need to be treated like the terrorists that they are. Don't consider them to be terrorists? Wanna walk down the street in LA at night? Alone, without the Secret Service? That's what most Americans have to do to go anywhere at night, even if it's just to get to their car.

Please Mr. President. Put the color of your skin behind you and take the Presidency of the United States as simply a man, not as a "black man". Remove the label that someone's slapped on your back. It's unbecoming for a non-racist President.
Sincerely,
Charlee Turner