two reasons for my recent lack of posts...

it's springtime and i am as happy as a little girl...i have alluded in the past that i had been selling items on ebay to go towards the purchase of an xbox 360. last week i made the trip to my local circuit city and made said purchase. since then i have logged many late-night hours with my new console and the newest edition of the major league baseball series from 2k sports, mlb2k7. much has been written about the incredible graphical realism and gameplay from this next-gen game. it is nothing short of spectacular on my standard 27" tube tv, i can only imagine what it looks like in high-def. the gameplay itself is decent but can be tweaked using the in-game sliders if the play becomes too easy or too difficult. in short, it brings all of the sights and sounds of a major league park into your living room minus the smell of hotdogs and beer. from a kid that used to re-create major league baseball games using the roll-the dice card game method of strat-o-matic and a.p.b.a., this game is one step short of pure baseball sensory overload.
yes, i am 39 years old. yes,i still enjoy playing video games.

quote of the day...

Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
- George Carlin

whats going on...

a lot of stuff happening right now with work and personal life, which has contributed to my recent lack of posting. that and the fact that none of it seems particulary blog-worthy. it seems i either have to spill it all or do nothing. picking the later seems to make the most sense for the time being. i'll try to organize some thoughts soon and post something valid. in short, i'm glad the work week is over and the weekend is here. more soon...

old age is always 15 years older than I am...

i share my birthday with these random people in history...

barbie (doll, mattel) 1959

mike leach (minneapolis, mn tennis star) 1960

juliette binoche (paris france, english patient, unbearable lightness of being) 1965

brian bosworth, (nfl player) 1965

other random events that occurred on march 9th...

1562 kissing in public banned in naples (punishable by death)

1961 sputnik 9 carries chernushka (dog) into orbit

1979 bowie kuhn orders baseball to give equal access to female reporters

1997 steve elkington wins doral-ryder golf open

still in my 30's..for at least another year. more later

you "can" sell it on ebay...

in the past few months i have sold a several items on ebay. though i've been a member since 2002 i only recently decided to become a seller and i have dispatched with several items, including a seldom used leather jacket, an unused ceiling fan, several xbox games, some music cd's, etc. they have all been flawless transactions except for the last couple. the whole ebay community is an interesting thing, you sort of have to learn the lingo and the ground rules, written and implied. a large part of its success is based on the fact that there is a certain built-in trust. a trust that the user provides an accurate description of a given product and a trust that the winning bidder will actually pay you for it. let me be clear about a couple of things. if you are a bidder on one of my products, please consider the following.

i do not lie in my descriptions. if i describe an item is a certain way, you can be darned sure that it is. i am many things, but a bold-faced liar i am not

if i ask to be paid via paypal, please pay via paypal. i don't want a personal check, don't care how you move your money around to obtain the required funds, just pay via paypal, as i described in my listing

if i ask to be paid within 3 days of the auction-end, please pay within 3 days of the auction end. you had the opportunity to review the terms of the auction before you bid. if you didn't like it, don't bid. period.

have the money. three days to come up with the money to buy an item seems reasonable. if you don't have the money now, and have no plans to get it any time soon, don't bid. plain and simple.

.

if i said i shipped something, i shipped it. i don't print shipping labels for which i paid the postage, and then sit on the package. doesn't make sense. i am not playing games. if something is delayed in the mail, please direct your complaints to the usps.

if you have questions, such as "hey, can i take a few more days to pay", or "can you ship this a different method" ask them BEFORE you have the winning bid, as is also outlined in all of my listings. i will, in most cases, cheerfully comply to your requests, as i have many times before.

i know thats a hard line stance and probably not an effective way to present myself to a potential buyer, but my enthusiasm for ebay has waned in recent weeks due to a couple dead-beat buyers. maybe i'll have better luck in my next listing, whenever that is.