eBay Feedback....Skunks

I love eBay - in some aspects, but I think the feedback thing is wrong - especially when unwarrented negative feedback is left. When that happens, there's no way to remove it. How do I know? Recent experience!!! I went to purchase a book off half.com (one of my favorite sites) and saw my feedback looked like it dropped. HUH? Ok, so I click on it, and sure enough I have a negative!!! So, I start look, and find it's from the last auction I won. Now, I'm totally confused, because the seller emailed me a couple days after the auction saying the book I bid on was lost, and he was sorry. OK - no biggie. These things happen - end of story. Or so I thought. A month later, this sweet seller leaves me negative feedback with "OK" as the comment. I've emailed him - with my emails ignored. Thought maybe he accidently left the wrong feedback, as I really shouldn't have gotten any - since the sale didn't go through, and the comment doesn't match the rating. Well, nothing from him. I went looking at his information - as when I bid, he was a new seller. He lost a few people's books, has a few negatives, and seems to love posting negative and neutral feedback for those that purchased from him. With that all being said, there's nothing eBay will do, except for me to leave him a negative and then have him mutually withdrawl his comment.

DH says it's no big deal, but I think it is. It has a reflection on my trading/buying reputation. I have always both bought and sold with the thought that I would treat all the way I would like to be treated. I have always sent the payments and packages out when I said I would - and if something did happen, where I couldn't, the recipient knew - as I emailed RIGHT away. I let the person know when things are sent, and received, and it takes a lot for me to grumble about a bad trade, as I am very slow to grumble and don't find fault with charts that have bends, marks, etc. as long as I can read them. I have had a few people take me for a ride, and not send their trade to me, and stop emailing - so I do know how that feels, but keep my fingers crossed that something happened and they will get it out ASAP. Well, some haven't in more than 4 years, so I guess those ones aren't coming :-) Well, I just hope they enjoy what I sent, because if I traded it, I really must not have needed it.

On to more fun stuff.... For the last few months, DH has found something nesting in our outdoor boiler. It is insulated, and something made a home in the insulation. He figured it was a cat or something of that nature. What a surprise we had, as our guest was none other than a sweet striped skunk. We came home one night and pulled into the driveway to see it run into its nice nest :-) Well, that then explained the times we went out and thought we called our cat, and it ran the other way.... why the cat dish was always knocked over, and why the nasty yellow jacket nest next to the horseradish was dug up and all the larva gone. That last was a blessing, as we garden organically and didn't know how to get rid of them without putting something offensive in our garden. Well these guys did it for us.

The skunks have been around for months and have never sprayed or be offensive in any way toward us. In fact, they are quite tolerant of us. Here's a picture of on that visits our patio to munch on the bird seed the messy birds dump every day:



And here is the same one, after cleaning out the cat dish some, and having a drink:



Now when these were taken, I was no more than just a couple feet away - I was on the top step of our porch landing, and he was only 2 steps down. The flash didn't bother him, nor did I. He just goes about his business every evening, and watches us as much as we watch him.

If you notice, I did say they a bit before. Yes, there's another that is about twice the size of this one, that is almost pure white on the top - including his tail. It looks like someone held him by his nose and tail and dipped him in black paint up to his chest. That one is a little more skiddish of us, but still doesn't bother.

We snicker about how many times we've all been out in our yard after dark - kids playing and running around, and us just enjoying the evening - and never being bothered. Makes one wonder what we pass in the dark every night!! :-)

The kids are back home and playing catch up. They did do their schoolwork while they were away. That really is a nice surprise. Wasn't sure if they would or not. Even with all the work they did, they didn't want to come home. My brother received a call from a neighboring farmer that needed help loading some hay, so my brother took DS and went up to help. The farmer was impressed by DS and told him that he'd like to hire him next summer if he was available. DS is in 7th heaven - as he's been wanting to get a job. He's saving for a car and that will help. Our kid is 13 and already saving for a car. My brother and DH both like rebuilding wrecks, so DS will be able to end up with a very nice car with minimal amount of $$ into it. His goal is to buy a wreck and work with DH and DB and do his own. I'm all for that, as with working on a car that way, he'll appreciate it a lot more, and know how to fix it when something goes wrong.

DD is saving for a trip to NYC. She wants so badly to go to the Big Apple and see life in the city. I've been to Detroit, Washington DC, Baltimore, and Nashville, and found all of them OK - fun to visit, but not for me. I'm much happier "watching corn grow" than being in all that "hustle and bustle" that I found in the city. I wonder if she will like it as much as she thinks she will.