I've begun at long last to sell
extra dolls on eBay. It is what is known as a learning experience.
Questions arise that don't seem to be answered in any FAQ's.
If boxes provided by USPS are the only ones suited for Priority mail, why are
we always asked if we want our Christmas fudge, boxed in recycled bleach
boxes, to go Priority?
Why is the USPS FAQ so circular? When the general FAQ wasn't enough, I was
encouraged to ask a question ... and was sent right back to a list of general topics,
not one of which offered the specific information I wanted.
None of the priority boxes is the right size for an 18 inch Miss Revlon or a 22
inch lookalike doll.
Why have all large-sized padded envelopes vanished from stores?
I spent $7 to mail something that
should have gone for $3 in a padded envelope. How can a company that sells up
so often be in the red?
Why is eBay so pushy about leaving feedback? The Leave Feedback command pops up
the instant you enter a tracking number. If you leave feedback at that point
and something goes wrong, you can't change it.
Why is it easier to end an auction early than to get revisions to stick? Silly me. Because they can CHARGE you for ending an auction.
I need to keep records. Standard record keeping systems don't have the right
kinds of spaces. I have to create a template.
Why is the 21st century so complex?
Having people bid on a doll I no longer have house space for is a mood
elevator. Adding up the shipping costs and time is not. There's photography,
research, writing descriptions, driving to the post office. Driving to the post
office could be considered a mental health investment, because I actually leave
the house.
I have spent money on a postal
scale, postage, camera batteries (lots of them) and mileage. I have poured time
into writing correct descriptions. I've still got too many dolls and researching dolls for
pricing help makes me want more.
I feel as if there is only
an illusion of progress, but I'm afraid to add
and subtract and find out for sure. I do have an appropriate monicker: haneysews.
Until
Christmas, I had precisely 3 music CD's (Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, and Marie-Lynn
Hammond), some LPs bought before I got married, and tapes the
former partner cringed at. Married, I never had to buy music because the partner acquired it the way some people breathe: in large gulps.
It was obviously time to buy more. I started with CD's from
the dollar table at 2nd & Charles. Lee Ann Rimes, Reba McIntyre, Kathy Mattea, Shawn Colvin because I'd heard and
enjoyed Sunny Came Home.
Aside from that one song, I can't stand the Colvin album. Turns out it is a divorce album. Feh. So is the Kathy Mattea. I sure can pick'em. Lee Ann Rimes Blue is a good wailer.
I bought James Blunt's Back from Bedlam because I hovered between being
appalled at how maudlin the lyrics were and enjoying singing along. James Blunt
said that for the videos that went with his first album, he allowed them
to bury him up to his neck in the desert, and push him off a cliff into
icy water. Now that he knows more about the music industry, he said,
he'll stick to videos where he gets to stand around on a beach. He's
charming and funny and has good comedic timing in interviews (also on youtube). It is best, I
find, not to think too much about the manipulative song construction.
Now
I've bought Josh Groban (partly because he has cute puppy dog eyes and
was amusing on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, a British show I
devoured on
youtube) but mostly because he can stay on key and is pleasant. I knew he'd sung a 
duet with Celine Dion in Las Vegas. Dion's singing has always
sounded loud and flat to me. I feel
that liking Groban puts me firmly among the fogies. He's known for full throated operatic treatment of popular songs, but this album seems more operatic. It was not on the dollar table.
Also from the Pop/Rock stacks, I bought Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell II for I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That). The entire album is Jim Steinman tunes. The former partner HATED Jim
Steinman tunes, calling them overwrought, over-emotional and
manipulative (but how do you really feel?) I would never have bought it
if Meat Loaf hadn't been so charming on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
I'm less than thrilled with the convention of overprinting the lyrics onto photos, and printing in 4-point type. And albums that don't include lyrics? I really really hate them.
