Time to evaluate online e-commerce carts

 Wow, a good sale Etsy yesterday! I have done nothing to promote my three e-commerce carts so a sale for $150.00 was a welcome surprise. Now to find my shipping supplies and, thanks to good inventory tracking, pull the necklace out of inventory and ship next week.

My carts cost me far more than I make as I more or less just parked 300 plus items online. Listing online is a lot of work and if I should quit my largest cart, Bonanza, all my listing go to the cyber boneyard. 

Time to evaluate which if any carts I should maintain. My basic Ebay cart costs $4.95 a month plus rather high selling fees. On the very plus side, Ebay has great brand recognition and I can list most anything legal. 

Etsy is for handcrafted by seller items and the listing fees are reasonable with rather high seller fees. With the exception of Native American crafted jewelry and mineral specimens I could move about another 150 of my handcrafted jewelry to Etsy. 

Again, Bonanza has more than 300 listing but cost more than $200.00 a year to maintain and seller fees would be in addition. The window here is closing as my annual fee will be due in a few months.

Just wondering and evaluating and comparing costs.

FedEx round about delivery (hoping it's delivered)

Only part of the round about

with FedEx
Tracking ID: 498877215457
You're seeing the same order status information that our Customer Service associates can access.
Wednesday, February 25
2:26 PM
Package left the carrier facility.
North Salt Lake, UT US
12:50 AM
Possible delay in delivery due to extra carrier processing
North Salt Lake, UT US
12:49 AM
Package arrived at a carrier facility.
North Salt Lake, UT US
Tuesday, February 24
8:51 PM
In transit to pickup location
Nephi, UT US
8:48 AM
Package left the carrier facility.
Phoenix, AZ US
1:17 AM
Package arrived at a carrier facility.
Phoenix, AZ US
Monday, February 23
9:07 PM
Possible delay in delivery due to extra carrier processing
Yuma, AZ US
9:05 PM
Package left the carrier facility.
Yuma, AZ US
10:10 AM
Package is returning to seller because it was damaged.
Yuma, AZ US
10:10 AM
Package held by carrier as the delivery address is incorrect or incomplete. Please contact the carrier to update your address information.
10:10 AM
Undeliverable: Incorrect address.
NA, NA
3:39 AM
Package arrived at a carrier facility.
Yuma, AZ US
Sunday, February 22
10:34 PM
In transit to pickup location
Yuma, AZ US
2:02 AM
Package left the carrier facility.
Phoenix, AZ US
Saturday, February 21
11:52 PM
Package arrived at a carrier facility.
Phoenix, AZ US
7:59 PM
In transit to pickup location
Glendale, AZ US
7:51 AM
Package left the carrier facility.
North Salt Lake, UT US
2:00 AM
Package arrived at a carrier facility.
North Salt Lake, UT US
Friday, February 20
6:12 PM
Package left the carrier facility.
Boise, ID US
6:12 PM
In transit to pickup location
Boise, ID US
3:55 PM
Package arrived at a carrier facility.
Boise, ID US
10:04 AM
Carrier received the package.
Boise, ID US
Package left the shipper facility
Times are shown in the local timezone.

Memories that still hurt

 I'm a member of the town's Parks, Cultural and Beautification Advisory Board. We were discussing commissioning the creation of mural(s) at today's meeting. Wow, memories that I tried to bury for decades came flooding back.

I thought back more than half a century to when I had drawn Little Jack Honer who Sat in a Corner on the corner in my children's bedroom. My kids were about 2 and 3 years old and this was just before I started going to college full time. I remember that my drawing was good and well detailed.

My husband had no problem with it and thought it was rather cute. Then along came my mother-in-law. She took one look at the wall and my drawing and said no way that would ruin the value of the house, the house that she and my father-in-law helped us buy.

My drawing was done with a lead pencil and I haven't painted it yet so I washed it off the wall and never again attempted a drawing much less another mural. My mother-in-law found fault in pretty much everything I did. This didn't help as my marriage was failing, I was miserable and I wanted a  divorce. About that time I started college and at the end of my freshman year I divorced my husband. Three years later I graduated with a Bachelor of Science and had a job waiting for me. My kids and I moved to the Chicago area.

I never really tried drawing anything again until decades later when I started making wall hangings using large metal rings, blank plastic masks, lots of leather and feathers. I painted the faces and sold most them. I still have happy kitten and unhappy kitten. I haven't made a wall hanging for years but I still have all my supplies, perhaps someday.

Every now and then I would buy a sketch pad and pencils but I just lost my enthusiasm decades ago because I let my mother-in-law get to me, my fault, I gave her power over me. Now that I took that painful trip down memory lane... well I just ordered drawing supplies and will try again.

I sold this before I named it.

This is Foxie Lady

My musings on vaccines

 After years I finally posted on a fb polio board where no mention of C-19 or the jab was allowed by dictate of our advocate. After 5 1/2 years of gaslighting I had to speak up as so many polio survivors seem to think all vaccines are to be discontinued. The following is what I posted fulling expecting it to be taken down.

"Vaccines are available for those who want them but will not be mandated. 

Back in 2020 we were told if we brought up C-19 we would be removed from the polio group. This was repeated when the vaccine was being mandated. No discussion or out you go.

I researched as best I could considering the amount of censorship back then. I followed the doctors who said "first do no harm" and lost their licenses for speaking up.

Being close to the Mexican border, several of us were able to buy the OTC meds that are now, 5 1/2 years later available. 

Bill Gates has done great damage in Africa. Dr. Fauci and his people destroyed the aforementioned OTC meds that had been used for decades and insisted on meds and protocols that proved to be deadly. The FDA, WHO and more were culpable both in the failed treatment of C-19 and then in mandating the C-19 vaccine.

I knew that if I posted anything other than the mainstream propaganda I would have been deleted from our facebook polio groups. I rather expect this post will be taken down but first one last comment, I recommend reading "The Real Anthony Fauci" by Robert Kennedy Jr. 900 pages in length with 300 pages being documentation."

The Pope's Red Shoes meets The Wizard of Oz

Another decade, another Pope. While I'm not particularly interested in Catholic affairs, I respected former Pope Benedict's intellect. That said and full disclosure, I can have a very convoluted sense a humor at times and see patterns were perhaps none exist.

Years ago when Pope Benedict resigned I was half-way listening to the bloviating about the pope’s departure. I heard a comment about his red shoes. I was not aware that the Pope wore red shoes as one of the symbols of his office. I thought about the comparison between the Jesus and the regalia of the Pope. Rather than special red shoes and royal vestment, Jesus walked about in a pair of sandals and homespun and served as our propitiation before a righteous God.

Now where else were red shoes of such importance as at the Vatican? The Wizard of Oz comes to mind. Like me, most of you have probably watched the Wizard of Oz any number of times. After Dorothy's house was flung by a tornado into Oz crushing an evil witch, Dorothy was presented with the witch's red shoes.
I started to make a mental inventory of the primary cast of characters in the story. There was sweet innocent Dorothy who was just trying to get back to Kansas. There was a scarecrow looking for a brain. There was the immobilized tin man looking for a heart. It was amazing how much a few drops of oil enabled him to move his joints. Completing the trio of Dorothy's new friends was the lion looking for courage.

What does all of this have in common with the Catholic Church? Perhaps Dorothy could be compared to the millions of Catholics hoping to go home/ heaven and placing their reliance on church clergy. Accepting the gift of salvation through Jesus to me would be as simple as Dorothy clicking her red shoes together. Given the history of the Catholic Church, popes such as Innocence the third certainly could have used a heart as could the tin man. The requirement for oil by the tin man brings to mind the five foolish virgins who had no oil and were "frozen" in place and not allowed into the Marriage Feast. Like the lion in the Wizard of Oz, there is certainly no comparison between the Catholic Church and the coming Lion of Judah. As for the scarecrow wanting a brain, I would again compare this to those who don't seem to be able to think for themselves and/ or are lacking in Discernment of spirits.

Then there is Malachi and the Prophecy of the last pope... recall the Wizard was exposed as being little more than a puppet master operating the gears and pulleys of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy.  When Francis became the 112th Pope the question of his name came up, Francis not Petrus. Interestingly and convoluting enough the name Peter is somehow in Francis' line.

So what of Malachi and the Prophecy of the Popes. The prophecy concerning the 112th and final pope states: “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The end.” 

Taffic Ticket with No Standing Quartzsite Court System

 The court system in Quartzsite sure presented me with a terrible birthday present. Seems I own more than 800 dollars for missing a court date.

This spring I had allowed my vehicle registration to expire and was stopped by an officer. He told me my address was wrong on my driver's license and I told him no, motor vehicles had the correct address. Sadly I apparently signed a notice for a court appearance. I call motor vehicles and brought my registration up to date. I asked about the address and yes they had the correct address. So I thought all was OK. Wrong, it seems one organization doesn't talk to another organization so even though motor vehicles was satisfied apparently the Quartzsite court was not. 

No notification by the court until I picked up my mail last week, a notification from ADOT that I was delinguent in paying a fine. I call the number provided by ADOT and got the case number, the amount of the fine and the Quartzsite court number.

In talking to a Quartzsite court employee it seems I have no choice but to pay this fine. Although I can hire a lawyer I'm not allowed to handle it myself, Pro se:

"Litigants or parties representing themselves in court without the assistance of an attorney are known as pro se litigants. “Pro se” is Latin for “in one's own behalf.” The right to appear pro se in a civil case in federal court is defined by statute 28 U.S.C. § 1654." 

So much for the year of law school I had decades ago. 

I haven't given up so I'll likely go to the Quartzsite courthouse once a week and pay them 10 dollars towards their "pound of fresh." I'll be sure they know that I'm paying under protest and not as an acknowledgement of my being in the wrong.

‐‐‐------------------------------

Update, I paid the ticket as my license was up for renewal. 

Michigan State University - When Did It Go So Wrong?

Originally written Oct 4, 2019 but not published to blog until June 17, 2024.

IMO, another sign of a declining country.

I've long recommended a college education in a field sought after by businesses, usually technical in nature. Once the graduate has worked a few years, go for an advanced degree, usually paid for by your employer. I realize that not all high school graduates want to go to college/ are cut out for college so learn a trade which will usually provide a good living.

Earlier this month a student from Michigan State University (MSU) called for a donation. I graduated from MSU way back in 1966. I asked about the current cost of tuition. When I attended MSU we were on term hours and 180 term hours were required to graduate. MSU went to semester hours long ago so now 120 semester credits are required to graduate. When I went to MSU tuition was $112.00 a term for 12 or more credits or about $1,344.00 for four years. Now tuition is $371.00 per semester hour for the first two years and $406.25 per semester hour for the final two years. This would be nearly $47,000.oo in tuition compared to $1,344.00 in my day.

Inflation, lets check it out. I had a job offer several months before I graduated from MSU, $7,500.00 per year or roughly 5.58 time as much as my tuition for four years. I haven't checked what 2010 grads are making to start out in my field but I'm sure it's not 5.58 times $47,000 tuition. BTW, back in the day (6/1966) $7,500/ year was a good starting salary.

I'm still a promoter of achieving a solid and salable college degree, however, the Return on Investment has sure gone to he##. What happen? I had great teachers in high school and in college, technical degree not a liberal arts degree. I was able to get good paying jobs throughout my career. Back in the day, and IMO, there was a far greater bang for the buck for college tuition. Fold in books, fees and housing and the many students graduating with a not in demand degrees, OMG!