It's REEEEALLY Annoying When...

[Poboy kartman]

Reported already of course.
since he's not allowed to do that, but ebay does what.. frown?
Yes, thanks, that'll help.

'sid

Picture it-Italy 1945-(sorry Golden Girls flashback)-it was 4th of July weekend but 1 hr. before this guys posted hours of operation ended and 1/2 hr before the end of the auction. The item in question was only very slightly cheaper than local pawn shop prices.
I e-mailed asking if it was available for local p/u.I didn't get an answer (undoubtedly he started the Holiday weekend early.
I won the auction but the guy said it was somebody else's stuff and it HAD to be shipped. I informed him of my Email and gave him 2 optionsay the shipping or cancel the transaction.
When he declined and threatened filing something or other-been like 4years- I just gave in.
HERE'S THE THING- Later this jerk Emailed me crying-"Why did you leave me bad feedback? )
REALLY?????

 

[machinist@large]

One of the biggest reasons I've never been tempted to try and purchase anything from " bay" is because of all the horror stories I hear about.....

A good loose rule of thumb for me is, if I can't pick it up and look at it in person, pay cash on the spot with a receipt, then i probably don't need to deal with " ". This only applies to private party transactions; I've had great luck with Amazon, and the industrial suppliers that I've used for "this and that"" have all been great.....

 

[itsid]

One of the biggest reasons I've never been tempted to try and purchase anything from " bay" is because of all the horror stories I hear about.....

A good loose rule of thumb for me is, if I can't pick it up and look at it in person, pay cash on the spot with a receipt, then i probably don't need to deal with " ". This only applies to private party transactions; I've had great luck with Amazon, and the industrial suppliers that I've used for "this and that"" have all been great.....

Well, yes, new stuff on ebay makes almost no sense at all
(very few exceptions) but if you would like to buy something old
and the watchpart I'm talking about here is made in 1968/69 it's hard to find it at all, impossible to find it within a 100 mile radius.
It took more than 2 years to finally find it at all.

I bought a watch this may on ebay that I was hunting since the beginning of this century (2001),
I cannot let things like that pass just because it's an ocean somewhere between me and the things I want.
Especially not if they're that hard to find.
(Well, I have to surrender in some cases like vintage karts or full size cars because the shipping is not just an envelope or small box; but if USPS or FedEx can handle it, I'm in)

'sid

 

[devino246]

I've had great luck on Ebay. Bought ski boots for $60 and skis for $90 last winter. Just recently bought a new HP power cord for my laptop for $25 and a 50mm enlarger lens for $11 shipped.

 

[machinist@large]

It's REALLY ANNOYING when your computer decides to turn itself on, log onto the internet (using your wireless card) and then sit there in idle mode until you get home and find that you have to shut it down before you can turn it on......

What's even more annoying is when it decides to update itself when you are using it, and that update involves just turning itself off with out warning you.....

THREE NIGHTS STRAIGHT it's suddenly started to do this. Any idea's/ help would be greatly appreciated.....

 

[itsid]

start -> control panel -> System & Security -> Windows Update (left panel-> change setting)
"Important updates" set "never check for updates"
remove all checkmarks and save

This way you need to click the "check for updates" button manually to receive an update.

'sid

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Hammer.

 

[Poboy kartman]

One of the biggest reasons I've never been tempted to try and purchase anything from " bay" is because of all the horror stories I hear about.....

A good loose rule of thumb for me is, if I can't pick it up and look at it in person, pay cash on the spot with a receipt, then i probably don't need to deal with " ". This only applies to private party transactions; I've had great luck with Amazon, and the industrial suppliers that I've used for "this and that"" have all been great.....

It's been @ 4years-so I can't give specifics- but I spent thousands of dollars and did somewhere around 150 transactions-almost all for used parts from private parties and this was like one of 3 that wasn't ideal.
Sooooooo- Ebay+PayPal= 98% customer satisfaction in this case.

 

[fowler]

eBay seems to work great for me

But I'll tell PayPal where they can put their customer service
Some computer system must keep tripping and it sents me a message saying I must prove my identity

Havering to print out forms and take them to be signed at the post office every couple of weeks has nothing going for it
They can go get stuff as far as I'm concerned
Lastly they won't let me close my account or return the last $124 back to my bank

 

[OzFab]

Never use paypal, never will... pretty much for those reasons

 

[Poboy kartman]

Hmmmmmmmmm-Guess you can't trust ANY of your old "Pals" these days. ......
Still planning. ..........

 

[souperman000]

i meant to ask about the whole fire thing in the US
i mean i know its been a dry year and its hot but it seems u guys are getting hammered with bush fires
is the media just blowing it out?

We have 10 states with grass fires burning at the moment, iirc. ..... some people are just idiots,and some of these fires happen naturally, ie lightning strikes.....

A lot of fire are natural or accidental.

We get hammered with brushfires in the west basically every year, though some are definitely worse than others. These massive fires are caused by the poor forest management practices the Forest Service has employed on federal lands over the last hundred years. Their policy included putting out every single fire aggressively. What they failed to realize is that fire is an integral part of the ecosystem, clearing old dead brush and scattering seeds, cleansing soil, etc. With no fire, the brush builds up and we get these catastrophic fires.

Shpeal over...

 

[fowler]

Yea we have a controlled burns program

So the bush is continuing to be burned every 3 years or so

Just small sections at a time
Looking up the escarpment outside the city there's always a plume of smoke somewhere
The aboriginals have controlled the land by fire for thousands of years and it works well
Which is one reason why our native bush is so different from South Africa

We just have issues with private land
Mostly hobby farmers and large house blocks in the forest
The owners fail to clear trees from around their house and fail to pick up fallen material
Then a small spark spreads like well.... Wild fire
And it becomes very hard to controll

 

[firemanjim]

Well, of course media blowsEVERYTHING out of proportion, but it is trulya big problem in the US. In the US, over 70% of the fire depts (iirc , might be 77%) are VOLUNTEER and working with shoe-string budgets. Basic FF1 and FF2 (fire fighter, ff2 includes structural) teaches fire sscience and behavior and what not. Grass fires ,on the other hand, are totally different animals. There is more to the reading of the smoke,now weather is a factor, terrain, available fuels...... unless you know what you're doing,things can get UGLY very QUICK. I've been fortunate to have taken, and passed 2 different wild land fire course(state and federal) and am only waiting to get my cert test arraigned.
On another note,.... imho, it seems to me that MOST people could care less about their fire dept and dont wanna HAVE to pay to have one ........ butif they NEED us , they are SO thankful as i cut and peel the car from around their body...... MOST people wont get out of my way when I'm running "hot" (BUNCH of lights and EAR PIERCING siren) POV, or in the "BIG RED TRUCK" for that matter, yet when you make scene,they ask,.... "what took so long?"........
Uuhhhhhh , no body wanted to let us get through?........

 

[OzFab]

MOST people wont get out of my way when I'm running "hot" (BUNCH of lights and EAR PIERCING siren) POV, or in the "BIG RED TRUCK" for that matter, yet when you make scene,they ask,.... "what took so long?"........
Uuhhhhhh , no body wanted to let us get through?........

That is becoming a real problem over here too. IMO, EVERY emergengy vehicle should be fitted with a dash cam to record & later fine those who don't get out of the way... & not some piddly little $100 fine, make it $1000; people will get out of the way then...

Edit: Hey, that kills two birds; the money from the fines can then be used to fund the respective departments

 

[fowler]

There was an incident over here 2 years ago where someone started a fire in the hills around a town called Northam

A fire truck was cruising up though the hills with a car in front
The car simply wouldn't get out the way for the 40 minute drive

Eventually the car pulled into a servo
So the truck followed
The fireman got out and beat the **** out of the driver
They put the man back in the car and drive off

The driver tried to take it to court but local up cry ment it got thrown out before any hearing
The man got fined for obstructing an emergency vehical and it went quiet
No jounalist would touch it due to the blurred moral of the situation
The story never got out of town

I reckon too bloody right
Good on the firemen

 

[machinist@large]

On my side of the State (Michigan's Lower Peninsula, west side) over 60% of the voter's pride themselves as being "Fiscal Conservatives". It means they want all the services of a real local government, without having to PAY FOR IT.

In the township I live in we don't have our own fire dept.: we contract with the three townships and the the city we border for our fire & rescue services, on a cost per call basis; our police work is handled by the county Sheriff's dept. in tandem with the local post of the Michigan State Police. The cost for police protection is covered by State and County taxes.

For me, this debate is pretty cut & dry; if you want these services, they will require people to do the work; these people need to be pretty highly trained to do their work. These people need to be able to feed themselves AND THEIR FAMILIES.. That means you need to actually PAY THEM.

Things came to a head 7 years ago (off year elections); the township was facing a fiscal deficit due to the outstanding bills from various fire dept's due to a multi county arson ring we had on the loose. The township wanted a one year/ one time property tax assessment to pay the bill. Me being a property owner with multiple outbuildings (small family farm), I wound up with the same one time assessment as the little Mc Millionaires (homes and property assessed in excess of $650,000.00 US dollars.

The one time fee that had these..."individuals"... claiming that a volunteer should provide all their own equipment, cover all their own expenses, etc, just out of the compassionate kindness of their hearts? For a homeowner with a home valued over $500,000.00, or a farm with a land value over $750,000.00 (our farm at that time, 200 acres X $4000.00 an acre = $800,000.00), just what was the fee that had these screaming?

$50.00

That's right. only $50.00, in a one time assessment.

 

[J_Walker]

Here in Florida, it was like 5 years ago? I think. Family friend of mine was camping out little north east of me. some idiots cigar that was flicked from a car window [normally that's how fires start around here.. happens around my house at least once a year, if not more.] started a grass fire, then the tall grass caught the oak trees around it on fire, well he was nearby CAMPING! [yeah, who camps near a road?!] anyway he smelt it, so decided to take a look, faced with a wall of fire, he called 9/11 but his phone cut out and lost signal. So he went to some local quickie mart[had them call 911], and had an ACE near by, picked up a fire hose from the quickie mark, and a pipe wrench.. He opened up some main city water line that had be capped off for like the last 15 year or so... Put out the fire with 5 other guys!

Know how he's rewarded?

800$ fine for breaking that water line.
200$ fine for the water used from the water line.
and 2 nights in jail and court date, after he punched a cop for writing him those fines...

I would like to add, and I'm guilty from this. my fathers side of the family are known for their tempers.. lots of good people, just don't try to reason with them after you "dun pissed em off."

 

[fowler]

Ha talking of paying for services

It's so wet down on the farm that the main road has washed away
We keep asking the shore council to put in some big culverts and fix the road

Well they reckon isn't not cost effective
Except now the main road is so bad that our worker was taking our tractor down it last week and got bogged in the middle of the main road
This is a 600hp 4x4 tractor with duels all round

So now the road is really ****ed

Recently they sent out the rates bill
It was around 12grand
My dad worked out that all the land owing rates in the area and relying on that 30km stretch of gravel the shire is pulling in some 320 grand

Now being as we pay line rental on the power lines and don't have mains water that 300 grand is purely for roads

Now I'm no engineer but for 320 grand u should be able to fix 30km of gravel road

Now dad is putting in a petition in the local area to stop paying rates and fix our own roads
The machinery is already here

The thing is this is happening all over the shire in isolated areas
So where's the coinage going
Oh look the town is getting a new foreshore and jetty

 

[Poboy kartman]

I can't say that these couple of things are REALLY annoying, but they do represent the " dumbing down" of Americans and that is.

Halloween: when I was a kid we were taught that the people who had their porch lights on were giving out candy and the ones that didn't weren't. Seems like most of the people giving out candy follow this code while the kids are clueless.

Then half the time they walk up and open their bags with a blank stare on their faces. What's worse is when I ask- " What do you say? " and they don't get it.

The other little annoying thing is when you buy something with some weight to it (like a six pack of Cokes or something) and the clerk bags it up. Now we are all familiar with the common "paper or plastic bags". The plastic ones have handles built in. So here's your bagged up six-pack sitting on the counter with the handles all sitting up pretty as you please just waiting for you to reach down and grab them. So in the next 15 seconds while you are putting away your change- THAT changes. This mental giant reaches down and picks up the bag. Now it's a whole foot higher off the counter (gee wiz that was a big help) but where in the do they expect you to grab it when their hands are where yours need to be????