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How People Count Cash? - Watch more funny videos here

On Monday, I deposited a check from a buyer of one of my eBay auctions. The check posted to my Wachovia account yesterday. Knowing of eBay scams where a check is deposited, the item is sent and then the check bounces, I called the issuing bank to ensure funds were available before depositing it. I just got off the phone with Wachovia to learn of when the funds should be collected by them - 4 to 5 days. That’s fine, though in the age of electronic money, I’m a bit surprised. However, the one thing I found out Wachovia could not do is confirm the money has been collected. All they can tell me about (and act on immediately) is the failure of the collection. That seems like something that could easily be tracked. I would like to be able to call (or better yet, find out online) when a deposited check’s funds are collected and the money is finally mine.

Some people are saying Obama is unpatriotic because he didnt cover his heart during the pledge. Well, it WASNT the pledge, it was the national anthem and modern custom does not require a hand over the heart. But if you watch closely: He is the ONLY one singing! Clinton clearly is not, Richardson might be. So, who is the unpatriotic one?

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"Oh my God, I wish I prayed!" –Jericho on SciFi

There’s a little cash to be saved nowadays… Since the only thing I’m watching (i.e. recording) on “premium” cable channels is Realtime with Bill Maher, it’s time to pare down the TV bill. Showtime and HBO… gone!

Looks like cable will be gone soon anyway… Once we’re moved, we’ll be giving DirecTV a go.

All attack is a call for help. When you know this, you begin at once to look deeply into the question of what kind of help is being called for.

–Neale Donald Walsch

I finally got onto MySpace.

I recently created several auctions on eBay to sell off some of the electronics and tech-related stuff I’ve acquired over the years. There were nine auctions and, of those nine, FIVE have been pains in the ass.

My biggest auction, a UMPC and related equipment valued at about $2000, was canceled by eBay because the winning bidder’s eBay account was hacked. Now I do appreciate eBay canceling the auction and preventing my possibly being screwed out of my money on it. Still, it took me (a novice seller) over an hour to craft that auction listing. In canceling the auction, eBay also completely deleted the listing. WHY?!? They even acknowledge the pain in the ass such an action is, “We know that this is an inconvenience and we apologize for the negative impact it may cause you. We are working on tools to allow you to relist your items without starting from the beginning, but they are not available at this time.” WTF? This is frickin’ eBay here! How frickin’ hard can it be to keep a copy of a canceled listing??? Dicks.

UPDATE 2/25/2008: Number 2, while another pain seems to be working out… check was deposited today.  Once it clears…
Lastly, three of my auctions were for Microsoft textbooks. All three were won by the same guy. When he emailed me asking about combined shipping, I quoted him what was on the auctions: $8 for the first and $3 each for the others for a total of $14 shipping. When he paid, his shipping address was in Canada. I notified him of the “Ship to USA only” statement on the auctions and that I would have the shipping priced when I went to ship other items. If $14 covered it, I’d ship it then. Otherwise, I’d notify him of the price. The cheapest available was $28. I notified him of it and received, “I prefer USPS. Please let me know how much will be shipping USPS Priority Mail International. Thanks.” Pricing that would require another trip to the shipping store, so I told him there would be an additional $5 fee for me to find out for him. He paid the additional $14 yesterday, though I received no communication from him about it, and I’ll ship it on Wednesday. Still, what a pain in the ass.

If this is indicative of what selling on eBay is like, I want nothing more of it. Throw on top of it the fact that eBay is taking away the ability of sellers to leave feedback about buyers… Fuck eBay.