I don't use eBay that much, mostly to sell unwanted (but pristine) comics, and to buy some cheap electronics. I managed to get a lovely Barnes & Noble HD+ 9" tablet for under £100, which I was very pleased with, although I got stung on p&p charges :( But those fade in the memory over time and I am able to enjoy the tablet.
You may have noticed by now that I love a bit of technology. I was counting up the number of electronic devices I own the other day, or actually that exist in the house, and we arrived at the following answer:
HP Laptop - 15" running Vista, due for replacement
Samsung Netbook - 10.1" running Linux Mint
Samsung Chromebook - 10.1"
Barnes & Noble HD+ 9"
CnM 7" tablet
Nexus 7 tablet
Samsung Tab Original 7"
Barnes & Noble Simple Touch e-reader
HTC One X
I did buy a 'broken' Samsung Tab 2 cheaply off eBay, all it needed was a factory reset, then I decided that I didn't need it so I sold it on eBay, again, and made a few pounds. The trouble is, though, that eBay and PayPal fees eat into any small profits, and in the end it ends up costing money rather than being a benefit.
The one tablet I'd not tried was an Amazon Fire. So I bought one which was again sold as 'not working'. It switched on, but didn't get past the initial power-up screen. I thought that maybe I could do something following an XDA script, and possibly recover it? So unfortunately I didn't get it to work, and relisted it on eBay as 'spares or repair', and that's where the disputes bit comes in.
I was quite pleased with the price that the device sold for, but then the buyer started asking questions about the device. I had described my attempt to replace the bootloader, and I had also included the fact that I had taken the back off and tried to repair it. Admittedly, the focus of that was that I had damaged the edges of the Fire, but the information was there. I had also advised that returns would not be accepted as the device was described as not working.
So, the buyer's first gambit was that it wasn't the type of Kindle Fire he was looking for. I asked what his intentions were, and he advised he was thinking of returning it, which came as a surprise to me, as this was the first I'd heard. Then he claimed that I'd interfered with the tablet and it was not as described. At no point did he actually ask for a refund, and I think he was hoping that I would offer one. Unfortunately I had listed the item as 'no returns', so I wasn't going to offer voluntarily. And now there is a case open against me, because apparently the item is 'not as described'.
I think he was hoping that he would be able to plug the device in and get it to work, in a similar manner to the method I had employed with the Samsung tablet earlier. Unfortunately that wasn't the case; as I'd described in the sale, the device was completely unresponsive. And now the buyer is trying to back out of the sale, claiming it was not as described. And that's just part of the problem with culture today, in my opinion; no-one is willing to take responsibility for their actions.
If the buyer had asked for a refund, I would have considered it, which is the strange thing. If he'd said that actually he hadn't read the description, that he had made a mistake, I would probably have (reluctantly) refunded him. After all, I would then have to relist the device, or contact the 2nd highest bidder and offer the tablet to them. But I cannot accept that the device was 'not as described', I spent a lot of time ensuring that the description gave any reader fair warning of what to expect. And so we have come to an impasse. I rejected his claim, because in my opinion it is as described, and the buyer hasn't actually asked directly for a refund. Of course, we are now past the point where that kind of request might be accepted. So it is now 'sub judice' with eBay and we are waiting for their adjudication. We'll see how that goes.
This is all of course the turn of events from my point of view, and actual facts and happenings may have occurred differently in reality.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Wednesday, July 02, 2014
Sunday 14-06-29 - Party Day
And the day of the party arrived.
I was in bed at about 22:30 on Saturday night, and I woke up at 00:30. TW was still not back, and I was slightly concerned. I did think about texting her, but decided not to, and went back to sleep.
I was woken again at 03:30, when a very drunk TW staggered in and slumped into bed. I was a bit miffed at the time, as she didn't close the toilet doors or the bedroom doors.
To explain, we've recently moved up into the loft. Things are still a bit ad hoc, and we haven't got any blinds or curtains up in the stairwell or the bathroom. And, what with it being right at the height of summer, or at least the time of the longest days, it's important that we close the doors to keep the light out as the mornings creep up on us - it's only sporting to give them a chance.
So that was annoying. Then when I got up later, at about seven and went downstairs, I thought it was odd that I could feel a breeze. As I got to the ground floor, I spotted that the front door was open. So not only had she not closed the doors in our bedroom, to keep the light out; she hadn't closed the front door to keep the burglars out!
I did a quick check; of course, nothing had been taken. In matters of that nature we are quite lucky. Eldest had requested three types of sandwich for her party: ham, jam and egg mayonnaise. Once the others roused themselves and I had drunk a sufficiency of tea, and caught up with the latest events in 'The Winx Club', I headed to the kitchen and started buttering. I made the jam and the ham sandwiches, and then TW surfaced. I told her she had to make the egg sandwiches, but unfortunately she wasn't up to the challenge. She had boiled the eggs the night before; on Sunday morning she got the girls to peel them, and then mash them. When it came to loading the mixture into the actual slices of bread, she couldn't take the smell.
It was cruel of me to make fun of my wife at such a time, I admit it. But hangovers are self-inflicted and it wasn't like Eldest's party had come as a surprise: TW had booked it, planned it, and organised it. For her to lie on the sofa, groaning, asking me to take over, was a bit much, especially as I hadn't really been involved up to that point. She eventually knocked on a neighbour's door and asked her for help when I refused to make the egg sandwiches - which I wasn't expecting.
As it turned out the neighbour wasn't available but her daughter came round to help out. So once I'd cut up the carrot sticks and celery, I took over the egg duties, for my sins (I really don't like egg sandwiches). And once we'd done that, it was time to go to the party.
Once others were involved TW perked up, of course. But that was good because obviously it meant that the girls had a good party. Of course, after we had cleared down and got everything home, TW went straight to bed, until about 5pm. We spent the rest of the day eating party food; all those ham and jam sandwiches I made earlier, and party sausages (no, not that type of party sausage...). And then, of course, it was bedtime.
I was in bed at about 22:30 on Saturday night, and I woke up at 00:30. TW was still not back, and I was slightly concerned. I did think about texting her, but decided not to, and went back to sleep.
I was woken again at 03:30, when a very drunk TW staggered in and slumped into bed. I was a bit miffed at the time, as she didn't close the toilet doors or the bedroom doors.
To explain, we've recently moved up into the loft. Things are still a bit ad hoc, and we haven't got any blinds or curtains up in the stairwell or the bathroom. And, what with it being right at the height of summer, or at least the time of the longest days, it's important that we close the doors to keep the light out as the mornings creep up on us - it's only sporting to give them a chance.
So that was annoying. Then when I got up later, at about seven and went downstairs, I thought it was odd that I could feel a breeze. As I got to the ground floor, I spotted that the front door was open. So not only had she not closed the doors in our bedroom, to keep the light out; she hadn't closed the front door to keep the burglars out!
I did a quick check; of course, nothing had been taken. In matters of that nature we are quite lucky. Eldest had requested three types of sandwich for her party: ham, jam and egg mayonnaise. Once the others roused themselves and I had drunk a sufficiency of tea, and caught up with the latest events in 'The Winx Club', I headed to the kitchen and started buttering. I made the jam and the ham sandwiches, and then TW surfaced. I told her she had to make the egg sandwiches, but unfortunately she wasn't up to the challenge. She had boiled the eggs the night before; on Sunday morning she got the girls to peel them, and then mash them. When it came to loading the mixture into the actual slices of bread, she couldn't take the smell.
It was cruel of me to make fun of my wife at such a time, I admit it. But hangovers are self-inflicted and it wasn't like Eldest's party had come as a surprise: TW had booked it, planned it, and organised it. For her to lie on the sofa, groaning, asking me to take over, was a bit much, especially as I hadn't really been involved up to that point. She eventually knocked on a neighbour's door and asked her for help when I refused to make the egg sandwiches - which I wasn't expecting.
As it turned out the neighbour wasn't available but her daughter came round to help out. So once I'd cut up the carrot sticks and celery, I took over the egg duties, for my sins (I really don't like egg sandwiches). And once we'd done that, it was time to go to the party.
Once others were involved TW perked up, of course. But that was good because obviously it meant that the girls had a good party. Of course, after we had cleared down and got everything home, TW went straight to bed, until about 5pm. We spent the rest of the day eating party food; all those ham and jam sandwiches I made earlier, and party sausages (no, not that type of party sausage...). And then, of course, it was bedtime.
Saturday 14-06-28 - Party Prep
So the weekend arrived. And the first thing I had agreed to was a work-related call at 09:00. How very relaxing. I logged on to the laptop in advance of the call and saw that the team had emailed me the results I needed to check, rendering the call unnecessary. So, I checked the results, provided some feedback and thought that would be it. 'Ah', advised my colleague over IM (Instant Messaging), 'now we can move on to the second stage of the change'. Oh, bugger.
'Do you need me online for that?' I asked. In three hours or so, came the reply. 'Okay, I'll log back on at one pm', I wrote back.
TW had, by now, taken the girls to gymnastics, and so I showered and went to pick them up. Once we returned, I was faffing around with something, then TW's best friend (and husband, and young son) arrived. So we had a very nice time chatting and drinking tea. TW made lunch, some lovely burgers in rolls, and by then the son was getting tired and so our visitors left, heading back to the Big Smoke. Or actually Maidenhead, I think it's where they've moved to. Anyway, then I checked the TV listings and saw that there was some T20 cricket on, so I sat and concentrated on that while TW was very active doing washing, and shopping and stuff. She does do things in a disorganised manner; if I was her I would arrange my life so that I actually got to sit down for a few minutes. But that's not her style; even when she's busy (or says she's got a lot to do), she's quite happy to sit and play Candy Crush for 20 minutes. So, I've given up trying to work her out. She was going out in the evening, some wedding reception which I wasn't interested in attending, and she wanted to make sure that things were ready and in place for Eldest's party on the Sunday.
At 6:30 or so she got a text message - we had arranged to buy a tent and the guy selling it was back and available. So I jumped in the car to go and pick it up, and guess what? Heavy summer showers. As soon as we do anything related to camping, it bloody well rains. We just don't have the luck. So I collected the beast (it was so big that light was bending around it) and took it home.
Once I'd unloaded that, it was time to ferry TW in to town.
That evening I had a couple of EPAs from River Cottage and watched a bit of telly. I headed up to bed at about 22:30 I think.
I had forgotten to log back on to the work laptop to validate the second lot of results...
'Do you need me online for that?' I asked. In three hours or so, came the reply. 'Okay, I'll log back on at one pm', I wrote back.
TW had, by now, taken the girls to gymnastics, and so I showered and went to pick them up. Once we returned, I was faffing around with something, then TW's best friend (and husband, and young son) arrived. So we had a very nice time chatting and drinking tea. TW made lunch, some lovely burgers in rolls, and by then the son was getting tired and so our visitors left, heading back to the Big Smoke. Or actually Maidenhead, I think it's where they've moved to. Anyway, then I checked the TV listings and saw that there was some T20 cricket on, so I sat and concentrated on that while TW was very active doing washing, and shopping and stuff. She does do things in a disorganised manner; if I was her I would arrange my life so that I actually got to sit down for a few minutes. But that's not her style; even when she's busy (or says she's got a lot to do), she's quite happy to sit and play Candy Crush for 20 minutes. So, I've given up trying to work her out. She was going out in the evening, some wedding reception which I wasn't interested in attending, and she wanted to make sure that things were ready and in place for Eldest's party on the Sunday.
At 6:30 or so she got a text message - we had arranged to buy a tent and the guy selling it was back and available. So I jumped in the car to go and pick it up, and guess what? Heavy summer showers. As soon as we do anything related to camping, it bloody well rains. We just don't have the luck. So I collected the beast (it was so big that light was bending around it) and took it home.
Once I'd unloaded that, it was time to ferry TW in to town.
That evening I had a couple of EPAs from River Cottage and watched a bit of telly. I headed up to bed at about 22:30 I think.
I had forgotten to log back on to the work laptop to validate the second lot of results...
Friday 14-06-27 - Sussex vs. Middlesex at Hove County Ground
Friday came as a bit of a surprise; as I had taken Thursday off, I was in full-on weekend mode, and not really in the right frame of mind to be in the office with my nose to the grindstone. But I struggled through and made it to 4:50pm.
On a Friday it's one of my customs/traditions/habits to get a sausage sandwich from the canteen in the morning, but unfortunately on this occasion by the time I got to work they had run out. Just lately they've been pushing the breakfast items - sausage and egg muffins, bacon and cheese croissants, and I think they've created a bit of demand for cooked goods early in the morning. I had to take the second-choice option of a Danish, which is probably just as enjoyable, but it wasn't a sausage sandwich.
At lunch I decided to save my sandwiches (homemade by TW) for the evening, and I had a salt beef ciabatta with piccalilli. It was delicious, but I think that was down to the piccalilli rather than anything else; the salt beef was a bit chewy, but I managed it nonetheless.
So, anyway, on to the cricket. As ever, I left work slightly early and tried to get to the Hove County Ground in time for the opening of the gates. Of course I missed that, but I got there early enough to get a front row seat, which was pleasing to me.
The cricket was okay; Sussex managed to restrict Middlesex in the first innings, which was a surprise after seeing how Middlesex performed on Sky on Thursday night. One of Middlesex's sure-fire boundaries was stopped by a seagull, and the moment was captured for posterity by the cameras:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&CMP=EMCSPTEML942&v=g2C22nbwg2s
Sussex's response was pretty good, but inevitable. They completed their run chase in 16 overs. On the way out, people were saying that it was the best game of the season; somehow I don't think they were right. The first game of the season was a real thriller and that one was nip and tuck all the way, with Sussex winning off the last ball of the innings. I think that is the best game I've seen so far this year - and possibly for a number of years.
So I headed home a happy man that night :)
On a Friday it's one of my customs/traditions/habits to get a sausage sandwich from the canteen in the morning, but unfortunately on this occasion by the time I got to work they had run out. Just lately they've been pushing the breakfast items - sausage and egg muffins, bacon and cheese croissants, and I think they've created a bit of demand for cooked goods early in the morning. I had to take the second-choice option of a Danish, which is probably just as enjoyable, but it wasn't a sausage sandwich.
At lunch I decided to save my sandwiches (homemade by TW) for the evening, and I had a salt beef ciabatta with piccalilli. It was delicious, but I think that was down to the piccalilli rather than anything else; the salt beef was a bit chewy, but I managed it nonetheless.
So, anyway, on to the cricket. As ever, I left work slightly early and tried to get to the Hove County Ground in time for the opening of the gates. Of course I missed that, but I got there early enough to get a front row seat, which was pleasing to me.
The cricket was okay; Sussex managed to restrict Middlesex in the first innings, which was a surprise after seeing how Middlesex performed on Sky on Thursday night. One of Middlesex's sure-fire boundaries was stopped by a seagull, and the moment was captured for posterity by the cameras:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&CMP=EMCSPTEML942&v=g2C22nbwg2s
Sussex's response was pretty good, but inevitable. They completed their run chase in 16 overs. On the way out, people were saying that it was the best game of the season; somehow I don't think they were right. The first game of the season was a real thriller and that one was nip and tuck all the way, with Sussex winning off the last ball of the innings. I think that is the best game I've seen so far this year - and possibly for a number of years.
So I headed home a happy man that night :)
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