Ebay is Unfair!

On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:23:07 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
spake thusly:


"Mr. Clean" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:50:13 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
spake thusly:

Yours is like a fat persons worst nightmare. An empty plate.

great. let's make fun of fat people now./sarcasm

what a jerk.

I was speaking the truth!

Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, and wait in the restaurant for
your 50 course meal.

you don't know who you're talking to.

and after this, you won't be talking to me anymore.

puh-l0nk

Roberto Pirezzi wrote:
"Salty" wrote in message
...
Roberto Pirezzi wrote:

I'm done here.

We've know that for while. When did you find out?



Regards

Salty

So, you're another moron who supports cheats!


Well, I am a long way from a moron (exactly how far away are you?)

I don't support cheats. I just have a realistic approach to life and
realise that they exist in every aspect of humanity and there is little
I can do about that other than be wary.


And here was me thinking you were pretty intelligent too! I'm proud to
admit I was wrong!!

I guess that being proud of being wrong is something for you to aspire
to, but you didn't make it this time.


Now, carry on, as you were.

I will, I will. Thank you for the encouragement.

You insignificant little blister on the sole of
humanity. (that got lost in translation, I meant, you're the **** on
someones shoe).

Then why didn't you say that immediately? You really do seem to suffer
difficulty in expressing yourself.


Bottom line, I will not entertain ****ing jackass losers who support cheats
and frauds.

No more entertainment? I am heartbroken.


Way I see it, you're a crook.

So, say what you want. You're a crock.

But then, as you so ably and consistently demonstrate, you don't have
the ability to discern anything accurately.

I am arrogant, impatient when dealing with fools, probably a couple of
dozen other things that are less than admirable, but I take pride in
being honest. What do you base my "crookedness" on? The fact that I
disagree with you?


l2oberto

PS, you shouldnt take things seriously. I don't!

You give a *very* good impression of someone who takes life far too
seriously.


Regards

Salty

Tony Cooper wrote:
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:19:26 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
wrote:

"Salty" wrote in message
...
Roberto Pirezzi wrote:

I'm done here.

We've know that for while. When did you find out?



Regards

Salty
So, you're another moron who supports cheats!

And here was me thinking you were pretty intelligent too! I'm proud to
admit I was wrong!!

Now, carry on, as you were. You insignificant little blister on the sole of
humanity. (that got lost in translation, I meant, you're the **** on
someones shoe).

Bottom line, I will not entertain ****ing jackass losers who support cheats
and frauds. Way I see it, you're a crook.

So, say what you want. You're a crock.

l2oberto

PS, you shouldnt take things seriously. I don't!

OK, Salty, let's try to guess about this one. Fourteen? An older
school-leaver? Resident of a home for the "exceptional"? The
prototype for the saying "Thick as two planks"?



Oh, I think that he is just a nice chap who is having a bad day.

Make that a year.

Hmmm.

Make that a life.

Regards

Salty

Tony Cooper wrote:
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:20:52 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
wrote:

so, you gonna show us or not?

d
If you insist. I'll be in the park at midnight (works better at night). Come
alone, or, don't come at all. :-)

lol

Whoa! This is not a dating service for shirt-lifters.



Come alone or don't come at all ???


Change the spelling on the first word in that sentence and you probably
have Roberto pretty well summed up.


Regards

Salty

As I understand it, on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:08:22 +0100, "Roberto
Pirezzi" wrote:


Apologies for the tardiness of my reply. Datemas.de has been down,
and it didn't occur to me, until just now, to see if one of my back-up
news providers carry nay of these groups. D'OH!

[ as always, snips for brevity]


I have a pat answer I use when someone insults me.
"Oh doom. Someone who has NO influence on me in real life,
and outside of Usenet fodder, no influence on me on-line thinks ill of
me. Oh doom and gloom."
Sometimes I'll replace "Oh doom and gloom" with "How ever
shall I live with the shame?"
Either way, the point is made.

Exactly right, Kent. Noone here has the power or influence to make our daily
lives any different than the way we live them.

I admit, I am not the easiest person to get on with on usenet, for the
reason, too many people purposely say daft things and make comments and
opinions that don't make any sense!

So far I've managed to get along with you. I'll have to
strive to get into an all out argument with you
Um... You sew socks that smell! :-)


That's just the way it is, if people get bothered by strong opposing
arguments, not my problem. :-)

Life is too short to get too worked up about anything that
happens on Usenet.

[...]


But you also wouldn't expect one of your purchases to not turn up. :-) I
think you are like the majority of people, and it's usually the minority
(with very loud voices) that tend to have some kind of bad experiences. I
know you're down $28, but you're not about to slit your wrist over it, or
wage world war III over it. It sucks you lost money, but you know when to
let go. It doesn't make you cynical, it doesnt mean you expect the worst.


Definitely. And it's so unimportant, I can't even recall what
the item was. That's saying something since I have a phenomenal,
though not perfect, memory.

I can tell you what I lost £8 on, Angel Season 1 (region 1, USA Import). Was
for my daughter, had to buy it elsewhere (and only ended up paying £12 brand
new). Had bought 2 other Discs off the same seller, but well, I kinda ****ed
him off a bit (not my fault he took offence to being told not to type in ALL
CAPS). I learnt my lesson to complain AFTER goods are received. Still, I can
still laugh at how mad he got, even though I am 8 quid in the hole!

Sounds like the seller has, or at least had, a serious
maturity problem.

[...]


I'm not even sure if you are actually covered on UK cards under
£100....you

I don't know what the amount is for such. If the card is
stolen and fraudulent purchases are made, the card owner is only
responsible for $50.00 under law.

I think we have a similar excess, and it might be £50. I really should read
the terms and conditions again, rather than just guessing, but i've never
had cause to use the protection measures, so it's not something I have in my
head.

I only know from the consumer groups. I've never committed
the whole of the credit card agreements to memory.

[...]


I looked around egg's (the only credit card I know that is
unique to the UK -- they advertise during Primeval) site but couldn't
find anything. The information may be there. That I didn't find it
only means I didn't find it.

I wasn't even aware the egg credit card was unique to the UK!

I could be wrong (there are MANY precedents for this g), but
as I understand it, egg is UK only.

We bank with
HSBC, and have HSBC Mastercards (Visa also available). My Mother banks with
Alliance & Leicester and has a MBNA Visa Card. My Dad has a Barclaycard,
which I think...is Visa. Nobody knows what the excess is on their cards lol.

I had HSBC years ago when I was first getting started with
credit cards. They are great for such here in the U.S. They have a
secured card (you open a bank account and your credit limit is
whatever amount you have in the account) that enables one to establish
good credit while minimizing the risk to them.

[...]


As you have a purpose to save the armiles up, it makes sense. I Did use my
amazon card for amazon purchases, but ended up paying more than the
incentive was offering.

Not much of an incentive then

It is...and it isn't. I mean, the more you spend, the more you get back to
spend on Amazon, but to do that, required continual spending on goods I
probabaly wouldnt bother buying, had there not have been a incentive
offered. (i.e you got more back by spending at amazon)


If one spends a lot at amazon, it could be a great deal. I
think it's similar to the GM cards. If one knows they're going to buy
a General Motors' brand vehicle, it's probably worth using one of the
cards. Especially is the bill is paid in full each month.
In my case, I know I'm going to fly Delta Airlines, so it's
worth it to use the AmEx Delta card.

[...]


£30 my watch cost. Paid cash lol

I don't wear the Rolex much. I usually wear a $10.00 watch
that I bought at Wal-Mart. It tells the time and date, like the
Rolex, AND has a stopwatch.
Of course, the Rolex is 18k gold. I don't know what the
$10.00 watch is made from. Probably steel and plastic.

Mine is a seconda, and is a excellent time keeper - it's basic, i.e it
doesnt have a stopwatch or date, but I only need it for the time lol, and I
hate LCD type watches.

I couldn't even tell you the brand name of the $10.00 watch.
I want to say it's Athletic Works, but I would need to go into the
bedroom and check to be 100% certain. It doesn't seem all that
important, really. Especially since Lin doesn't suffer insomnia and
doesn't appreciate it when mine flairs up (like now) and I wake her.




I am having major trouble imaging spending 15K on a watch

I've wanted a Rolex for years. When I saw it, I thought to
myself, I'd really like to buy that.
I walked away and waited two days to make absolutely certain
it wouldn't be an impulse buy. When I still wanted it, I bought it.

I see nothing wrong with that at all, it's not everyday you get that chance!


Technically one has the *chance* every day. However, I do
understand what you mean.
The same watch retails for roughly $20,000.00 (roughly £9976)
in the U.S. Given that it took me over a year to pay it off, I don't
think I really saved as much as it first appeared. I don't think I
paid $5000.00 in interest, but I'm certain I paid at least $2000.
I just realized the watch costs as much as the PT Cruiser.
And the car has a built in clock

[...]


The PT Cruiser I bought recently listed for $26,000 but I got
it for $20,000. It's last year's model and I suspect they wanted it
off the lot. I don't KNOW that this is why I got it for $6000.00 less
than list price, but it makes sense.

A lot of dealers will knock money off if you ask the right questions, and
last years models always end up with money knocked off if you ask them. The
problem with cars, is the moment you drive it, it's value decreases.

I forget the exact amount, but there is a great deal of
depreciation just driving it off the lot.


Some of the old classics can be cheap to buy, but *very* expensive to fix if
something goes wrong.

Very true.

[...]



On the other hand, it has been known for spouses to claim benefits for
their
deceased other half. If I can find the news stories, I'll post them, one
went on for years if I recall.

It doesn't surprise me. And I bet when caught each one
claimed it was the benefit giver's fault for continuing to send the
benefits.

Cant recall the specifics, I think is some extreme cases, someone has
pretended to be the said dead person, and signed the forms required for
(continued) benefits!

Our Benefits agencies are a joke even for honest people, let alone crooks!

I've been told that the taxes for UK benefits are such that
there is almost nothing left to pay to the recipient.

[...]



unless it's a private loan shark. Then we're back to the
advantages of being dead (or at least, the disadvantaged of perhaps, being
in a coma)


Don't pay the loan shark, and you could end up in a coma

I'd never borrow from a loan shark. One of Frankie's friend needed £250, so
went to a loan shark, ended up paying over £1000 back.

ACK!

[...]




Pay it in weekly installments of 7p. Then we're
back to the advantage of eventually, dying.

You're boarding on evil. I like it

I do know someone who offered £1 on a £25,000 debt, and was refused lol.

I suppose the concept of "You don't hear yes unless you ask"
would apply.

He
eventually worked with a debt management company to get his monthly loan
payment down from £481 p/m to £230 (I think), this was also refused - but,
the creditor is still taking the "£230" until they make a decision whether
to go to court or not. As it's been 4 or 5 months, I think they are just
glad to be getting something back lol.

I expect most would be.

[...]


I've been known to give bad advice...LOL

On misc.legal I often point out that I'm not a lawyer, if
anything I write could be viewed as actual legal advice.
My standard disclaimer:

"I am not an attorney. If anyone who is contradicts anything
I write, go with their opinion over mine."

That disclaimer would suit my former lawyer too! Mind you, his advice wasn't
too bad, he just had a nasty habit of encouraging his clients to bend the
law without actually saying it i.e "You didn't hear this from me, but..."

Not the wisest thing to tell a client.

[...]


It's never too late. It is far easier for a child to learn.
For example, our son can speak English and Polish fluently, and
Spanish well enough to get his point across (but he INSISTS it's NOT
because he has a crush on the Mexican girl a few streets over, since,
of course, he doesn't have a crush on her).

I am mid 30's (seriously lol) so I guess I have time to learn.

I'm in my late 30's and am learning Japanese. I'm not sure
why as we have no plans on visiting Japan. Of course, 10 years ago,
we had no plans on visiting South America or Antarctica, so who knows?

Japan is one of the cleanest countries i've ever been to, very impressive. I
can't speak a word of Japanese, but managed to get by. lol You'll enjoy it
if you do go. The train network is also very reliable. If you've ever used
the British train network, you'll know the excitement of sampling something
reliable.

My knowledge of British rail comes solely from an episode of
"The Young Ones" in which they were going to appear on "University
Challenge." Not the best source to use to get an fact based opinion


[...]


Where I work, we have a lot of Poles, mostly doing the driving jobs, so I
don't really see much of them. Hard working people though. And rarely late
or off sick.

Since December of 1993, I've missed one day of work due to
illness. I did miss nearly two weeks in January while Lin and I
visited Antarctica, but other than when crossing Drake's Passage, I
wasn't sick.
Drake's is some ROUGH water! And of course, Lin didn't get
the slightest twinge of motion sickness! Grrrrrr!

I dont think we'll ever see Antartica, but never say never.

I never expected to go. To be honest, had I never visited, my
life would have been fine. Lin is the one who really wanted to go.
I don't regret having gone. Not everyone can honestly claim
they've been, so it does put me in a quasi-special class of people.
Not that it really means a great deal. We don't have annual meetings
or anything.

I was quite
surprised to go to the Grand Canyon, as it was never something I ever
thought i'd get to see. The Pyramids in Egypt are next on the to do list.


I would like to visit Egypt. It's not on our current list of
places to visit, but it's not a forbidden place for us. No place is
forbidden.

[...]


More privacy. She can be as open as she wishes and know no
one hearing her will understand. It's why our son and I will speak in
Polish and her parents and I will speak in Spanish when gift giving
times approach and Lin is within ear shot.

Yes, I was being sarcastic :-) she knows her parents are nosey. I'm tempted
to learn spanish to make sure she's not having phone sex with a spanish
waiter lol

If you hear the words "chaka chaka" be worried. It's slang
for sex, at least in Latin American Spanish.

[...]


It will come in handy then.
In the U.S., Spanish is becoming more and more necessary. We
don't have an *official* language, though the American dialect of
English is most widely spoken, so many immigrants from Mexico, Central
and South America don't bother to learn English.
That reminds me of a time, YEARS ago, when I worked at a
convenience store. A good number of our shoppers were of Hispanic
origin. I spoke what Spanish I knew when they came in (it gave them
an incentive to shop with us versus another store).
A man of Anglo descent commented that they should learn
American. I replied with, "They don't have a strong understanding of
English. What better chance do they have of speaking Apache?" I
don't think he ever caught on to what I said.

It still amazes me that people don't understand the origins of Americans. I
have a circle of online friends in the states (mostly into road
haulage/trucking) and a great number are Navajo or Cherokee in origin (some
others that I can't pronounce let alone spell).


There are MANY native American Nations. Trying to know them
all would be a difficult task.

[...]


Yes. As I often tell people, find something you enjoy, then
find a way to make a living doing that.

Not everyone is lucky enough to work with Jenna Jameson!

I had to Google her. EEK!

She's too blonde for me, I used her as an example, as she is pretty well
known in the world of porn. lol

Which is why I had to Google her. You can count the number of
triple X rated pornographic movies I've seen on one hand, and still
have fingers left over.

[...]



Why did *we* learn from *our* mistakes? The dollar coins are
NOT wanted by the general public.

I hated the pound note.

Odd. It always spoke very highly of you :-)

I much prefer the coin. I think the scottish pound
note still exists, but not certain. Remember, the pound note was phased out
in the UK a LONG time ago, so the entire population has become very used to
the coin.

If the paper dollar note were removed from circulation, I
expect we would adapt. We wouldn't have much choice, really.
Our $2.00 bill is fairly unpopular as well. I've never really
understood why.


I do understand why the government wants to issue them. They
last longer than paper notes. A $1.00 note may last a few months
before being so warn and damaged that it must be destroyed. A coin
could last decades. Certainly a few years.

I actually still own a bunch of mint condition, consecutive serial pound
notes - I must have put them in a book when I got them and forgot about
them, Frankie found them a few months ago, so I've put them back in the book
and kept the book safe. In better condition than a note issued 2 days ago!


Given that paper notes are no longer used, you'll probably
find they're worth a bit. The longer you keep them in mint condition,
the more they'll be worth.

[...]


The fact is, any guy she dates will never be good enough for me. Not yet,
not till she's older anyway. I hope. lol

I've already decided no man will meet my standards for The
Princess. However, if he meets hers, that's what will really matter.

Nothing you say will change how she feels about some guy. Unfortunatley for
me, I've had to put up with all kinds of losers (in MY eyes). It's the
downside to having 3 girls. When they were little, they used to love riding
around in a truck with me (the 18 wheeler type), then they stopped being
into that, and found it to be not fun anymore. Basically, the eldest said it
was boring, and the younger two followed her lead. I did smile, however,
when I saw photos on our middle daughters myspace of me at work "My Dad and
his trucks". Cute. :-)

Neat. I don't expect my children will do something similar.
Our son doesn't do myspace ("That's so stupid, dad.") and our daughter
isn't old enough, of course.

[...]


We've bought MANY distressed properties and sold them on the
open market. It's allowed us to buy a condo in Aruba, a vacation home
in Arkansas, and has enabled us to visit every continent.
We also have rental properties. We don't make a great deal of
profit on them though. We charge just slightly more than the total
monthly cost of owning it (the cost presumes no major repairs). You
might think we're crazy for not charging more, but we rarely have any
open units.

The way I see it, if you fill the units, and make a profit, you are doing
something right.

That's been my attitude. Yes, when the other owners had all
their units filled, they were making a bigger profit, but when the guy
across the street had three units open while mine were full, I was
making more.


When I fist got into the rental business I did it with a
single apartment building. I charged $315.00 a month. Everyone else
on the street charged at least $400.00 for the same square footage.
They could have open units for months. The longest I had one
open was three weeks, and that's only because I couldn't get motivated
to clean it up for a new tenant. Once I did get it ready (fresh
paint, steam clean the carpets, etc), it was open for less than 12
hours.
I only made about $700.00 a month profit, which isn't much in
rentals, but I was making money.

$700 is not a profit to be sneezed at.

With an apartment building, it's not much. Still, it was
money and I was making a profit.


One of my businesses was truck repair, and unfortunatley, was competing with
an established business, who I eventually sold out to. Also, I wasnt very
good at it - but dont tell anyone, or they might want a refund!

I can assure you that you were and are better than me. I can
change the oil and fill the gas (petrol) tank. That's about it.
Oh, I can check the air in the tires.

[...]


We buy a lot of cheaper products (Frankie though, likes to splurge of
clothes and shoes in a big way). When we do make huge purchases, we tend
to
make it worth the while. I wont be buying a PT Cruiser anytime soon, not
enough space in the garage lol. Frankie has a BMW (325 Tourer,
silver-grey.
Not my colour, but not my car lol)

Nice ride.

She had the same car, but the lower powered 318i (actually a 2 litre, not
1.8 as one might assume!) - quite common cars actually, it's amazing how
many people drive BMW's these days. I actually filled up at the petrol
station behind a black PT Cruiser yesterday. She hadnt started filling it
when I pulled in, but she was driving half way down the road and I was still
filling mine! 45 litres. Dont know how all my diesel was used up!

ACK! Given your prices for fuel, 45 liters would be A LOT of
money.
We sell by the gallon here and I hate seeing the final amount
when I fill up. It's not uncommon to have a total of $45.00.




I only wear a wedding ring, and that's getting on a bit now lol


I wear my wedding ring as well. It's showing its age. And
it's showing its sheaving been re-sized. When Lin and I got married,
I was around 300 to 350 US pounds (roughly 21 to 25 stone).
I've lost *a lot* of weight and the ring had to be made
smaller.

Mine has been resized too. I was 17 stone when we got married, and I blamed
that on lack of excersise stuck behind a wheel all day. When I started being
more active, the weight just dropped off. Good news that you lost a lot of
weight though, I'd have probabaly reached your prior weight had I kept
driving.

What's really weird, IMO, is how much healthier I was when
obese. Not even a hint of diabetes. And I could run amazingly fast.
It freaked out several people, including a shoplifter at the
convenience store who looked back and saw me a keeping pace a few
steps behind him.
I can still run fast, but I pay the price. This is likely due
to age. The diabetes came as a complete shock, since I would have
thought becoming skinny would reduce, if not eliminate, the chance of
having it. Obviously I was wrong.

[...]


I do a fair bit of online gambling....

I think you could count the number of times I've gambled on
both hands, and have a finger or two to spare.
One time wasn't *really* gambling. Back to the convenience
sto

I used to have a gambling addiction - and it was BAD. Now I gamble for fun,
and on lower amounts. At my worst, I gambled the house in a poker game and
lost. At my best. I won it back, and a porche 911 in a re-match. Porche long
gone unfortunatley.

If you ever win another Porsche and want to get rid of it,
don't forget your on-line friend from the U.S. :-)


The final straw for me, and a wake up call, was when I ran out of money, and
the guys said they'd take Frankie as a "alternative". I didnt mind losing
the house, but wasn't about to risk my wife on the turn of some cards...it
would have taken far more than good luck to have ever won her back. I never
played a hand of poker since. If i'm being totally open, quitting poker
saved my marriage.

I'm appalled that the guys even suggested such an offer. It
would be enough to make me stop as well.


A customer bought six of the $5.00 scratch game. None of them
a winner. He shrugged his shoulders and said something to the effect
of, "Maybe next time." and left.
I knew a winner was due. Even if it was nothing more than a
free play, there was something.
The next morning (we weren't allowed to buy tickets on our own
shifts) I went in and bought two or three of them. $50.00 winner.

I guess working there gives you the upper hand of knowing when winners are
due!

Might have to apply for a job lol

It only happened the one time for me. I didn't pay that much
attention, really. Most people bought their scratch tickets and left
with them, so I wouldn't know if they won or not, unless they brought
a winner in.
A friend I had at the time (we've lost contact with each
other) had the best luck. He would almost always win a sizable amount
when he gambled.
Once, Joe and I went to Prairie Meadows, a horse racing and
slot machine establishment in Altoona, Iowa. We went there to enjoy
the inexpensive steak dinners they had (I wasn't born a vegetarian ya
know g). Upon exiting the car, Joe found a quarter on the ground
and said, "I'm defiantly playing this, since I won't be out anything."
When we left, he had won slightly more than $3,000.00. I was
with him the whole time, so I know he won it all from playing that one
quarter.

[...]


If you ever come to the UK, Concorde is available for viewing at
Manchester
Airport. I think you can board it. It won't be the same as going anywhere,
but at least you can have a taste of the dream.

We have no plans on visiting England or Ireland. Having
recently heard about how the police came down on a child because he
called another child gay, and how the local police visited a friend of
mine to remind him the Tax disk for his car was due in two weeks (he
bought the new one a day or two before), rather than do something
about crime, and we aren't real motivated to visit.

Those are just bad examples of unfortunate circumstances.

The police dont normally visit you for unpaid tax discs, they stick a notice
on your windscreen telling you it has expired and if it is not paid, it will
be towed away and destroyed- I've had 2 cars towed away, and not one visit
from the police. Neither car was destroyed once i'd paid the fees.

They visited Enzo (not his real name, of course) . He griped
about it for a bit. Not so much about the visit itself, but the fact
that rather than preventing crime when possible, or investigating a
crime that occurred, they were spending time to remind him to get his
tax disk.


As for calling a child gay, well, we do try to practice equality, and that
is generally only possible through the younger generation. If my kids ever
called another person gay I'd take away their music rights. :-)


In the U.S. the term gay is often used to mean stupid or lame.
If person A says, "That's so gay." they are simply saying that the
item/action in question is stupid. It has no reference to sexual
orientation.
The definition of gay is changing, as it has before. Once gay
meant happy. Then it meant homosexual. Now it's changing again.

[...]




On a different note, ryanair are supposed to be launching, in 2009, low
cost
flights to the USA from the UK from as little as 10 Euros (£7 as we dont
use
the Euro lol).
787 or Airbus they're supposed to be using. Should be good
for bringing airline prices down!


How the [BLEEP] can they expect to do at that price? £7 is
roughly $13.00. I just can't see how they can do it.

Same way megabus.com do it...low fares start on selected seats and dates,
and gradually rise. We frequently do Dublin for 1p each way. Sometimes 49p -
some trips I've seen for £40.

I'd be more than willing to spend 1p for a trip to Dublin.
Heck, I'm not that greedy. I'll pay the higher 49p each time.
Of course, it's farther away for me, so I don't expect the
nice rate.


Plus they make up money in food and drink, and entertainment also on those
long haul flights apparantly.


I don't recall much entertainment on the trans-Atlantic
flights I've taken. There's the movie, and some music options, but
that's pretty much it.
We have a portable DVD player (I bought it for Lin for
Valentines' Day a year ago) that we use to watch un-edited movies
while on long flights.

[...]


Definitely.
I don't know if I could have gotten the items I won cheaper
elsewhere, as I never looked. I don't think I could since the bulk of
what I've bought is in some way related to Xuxa (A Brazilian actress
and singer).

So, highly specific, and probabaly hard to find...even on eBay i'd
imagine.

A quick check shows only 11 items related to the word Xuxa at
this time.

11 ot of several million makes those items highly uncommon.


Yes. But at the same time it shows that it's a niche market.
Xuxa items aren't likely to be something one would buy as an
investment. It's *possible* that the Rose Art brand Xuxa dolls I
have, in addition to the shoes, the game, etc. will become valuable,
but I don't expect it to happen in my life time.
I've purchased the items because I love Xuxa's work. And they
make for great conversation starters when people visit the house for
the first time.

[...]




One season shows suck. l2achela used to be into Tru Calling, till it got
cancelled in it's 2nd season.

ACK! I hated that show.

It wasn't a bad show actually - the concept was good, and had potential.

I couldn't stand it. I did like the star, Eliza Dushku, but
that's because she's cute.
If I weren't married, MUCH younger, and if Eliza were blind, I
think we'd make a perfect couple :-)

[...]



Never was into Charmed, so I can't comment on it.
I've found the BBC is making money off of me with the new
Doctor Who.

Never got into that, even the original series.

I didn't think I'd like anyone other than Sylvester McCoy
playing the part. He was, IMO, the ultimate Doctor, until Christopher
took over the role. He is now the ultimate Doctor IMO.
Sophie [mumbles last name to hide the fact that I can't recall
it] who played Ace is still my favorite companion.



They'll not make anything off of me from Torchwood.

Not seen that actually, but I keep seeing the DVD set leaping out at me lol

It's OK, but I wouldn't spend any money on it.


Frankie's just finished the Medium dvd's and is about to start Ghost
Whisperer.

I love Medium.


As for me, Finished season 3 of JAG and am onto season 3 of NCIS. (Disc 1
finished this morning, 5 to go)

While I'll watch the episodes sent to me (I know someone with
connections), I wouldn't go out of my way to see it.
They could eliminate all the sex and foul language and have a
great show (I'm of the opinion the sex and language is put in solely
to make it adult).

I dont mind some sex, if it is relevant to the story, and language can help
to keep some things real.

There was one bit that I felt was relevant to the story line.
Owen had a cologne bottle that sprayed pheromones. When he sprayed
himself, the person near him was instantly attracted to him sexually.
I figured the bit was shown to demonstrate how dangerous some of the
extra terrestrial stuff can be.
In another episode, Gwen gets shot. Her vest prevents her
from getting seriously hurt. Her saying the word, "****!" was
understandable. I am certain I would have said the same.


Of course, then they'd have Primeval, which is a
GREAT show.
Not that I've seen it, of course. It's on ITV, and my friend
would NEVER get me stuff from ITV ;-)

ITV is ****.

I've heard that. Seems Primeval is a surprise to everyone.

BBC doesnt have commercial breaks, whereas ITV does, and it
ruins the flow for me (even though most US shows that are aired with ads are
designed that way)

They are. We don't have a license fee for "regular" TV. The
TV stations and networks get the bulk of their revenue from
commercials. Some revenue is generated from selling DVDs, but that's
relatively new.

[...]


I really like Doctor Who. I wish Christopher Eccleston would
have stayed longer than one season. He was very good.

He was quite good in gone in 60 seconds too. Some of us sound like him too
:-)

So you have a North accent?
"What's wrong with a north accent? Lots of places have a
north" :-)


This is not a cut on David Tennant's Doctor. He is very good
as well, but he's not Ecclestion.
Of course, the best looking Doctor was Joanna Lumley from
"Doctor Who and the Case of Fatal Death."

Joanna is ok, but not my type :-)

She's the only woman to play The Doctor (albeit in a comedy
sketch), so while she's not all that attractive, IMO, she still wins
the title of Best Looking Doctor by default

[...]


As is mine. I expect I'll move this to E-mail in time. It's
gotten so far off-topic that it's getting hard to justify keeping it
on Usenet.
Yes, conversations rarely remain on-topic, but I think we're
pushing it here

I think the depth of life and experience prohibits anyone from sticking to
the point lol

I especially hate reading posts that don't show any outside flavour. I enjoy
making a point, and then providing a example to illustrate it further, if
that means also talking about non-topic things, I'm fine with that!

Like, the conversations i've had recently with someone who truly believes it
is OK to pad out postage charges on ebay sales. No amount of proving with
outside examples it is wrong has any effect on him (they) budging from their
stance.


I don't have a problem with a slight amount of padding. It
would be nice if the seller would sit down and figure out the *exact*
cost for the materials and postage, but few are going to do that.
They'll know how much the packaging material is, but the actual
postage may be a mystery until they get to the post office.
Estimating it makes sense, and I don't expect them to under
estimate the amount. So long as it's reasonable (if someone wanted to
charge $50.00 to ship a watch, that would be unreasonable unless that
included insurance), I don't mind.



Take care, and all the best to Lindsay and your family


Muito obrigado. That Portuguese for Merci Bueacoup.
Tell your wife and kids I say, "Hello." We've never met, of
course, but I don't want to appear rude.

Danke Schon

One of them said "Hello County". :-)

I don't get the joke


Speak to you soon!


Are you visiting this weekend? I'll be sure to have
sandwiches and beverages available

Take care.

--
Kent
"I most stonger than Darth Vapor!"
-- Zladko "Zlad" Vladcik

As I understand it, on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:25:08 -0500, "PC"
wrote:


"Mr. Clean" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:08:22 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
spake thusly:

Exactly right, Kent. Noone here has the power or influence to make our
daily
lives any different than the way we live them.

you seriously need to learn how to edit posts before posting.
you could have cut over half of the crap you quoted and your
point would still have been made.



Thank you! I quit following this thread a while ago because it is too much
trouble to wade through the rubbish and find out where he is giving a
meaningful reply.


That's the way to do it. If you don't want to read everything
being quoted and written, don't pay attention to the writer of the
article.

--
Kent
"I'm a ten gov a day guy. It's all I know, and it's all
you need to know, gov!"
- Shouting George

"Kent Wills" wrote in message
...
As I understand it, on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:08:22 +0100, "Roberto
Pirezzi" wrote:


Apologies for the tardiness of my reply. Datemas.de has been down,
and it didn't occur to me, until just now, to see if one of my back-up
news providers carry nay of these groups. D'OH!

[ as always, snips for brevity]


I have a pat answer I use when someone insults me.
"Oh doom. Someone who has NO influence on me in real life,
and outside of Usenet fodder, no influence on me on-line thinks ill of
me. Oh doom and gloom."
Sometimes I'll replace "Oh doom and gloom" with "How ever
shall I live with the shame?"
Either way, the point is made.

Exactly right, Kent. Noone here has the power or influence to make our
daily
lives any different than the way we live them.

I admit, I am not the easiest person to get on with on usenet, for the
reason, too many people purposely say daft things and make comments and
opinions that don't make any sense!

So far I've managed to get along with you. I'll have to
strive to get into an all out argument with you
Um... You sew socks that smell! :-)

How did you find out what i'm selling on eBay!




That's just the way it is, if people get bothered by strong opposing
arguments, not my problem. :-)

Life is too short to get too worked up about anything that
happens on Usenet.

[...]


But you also wouldn't expect one of your purchases to not turn up. :-) I
think you are like the majority of people, and it's usually the minority
(with very loud voices) that tend to have some kind of bad experiences.
I
know you're down $28, but you're not about to slit your wrist over it,
or
wage world war III over it. It sucks you lost money, but you know when
to
let go. It doesn't make you cynical, it doesnt mean you expect the
worst.


Definitely. And it's so unimportant, I can't even recall what
the item was. That's saying something since I have a phenomenal,
though not perfect, memory.

I can tell you what I lost £8 on, Angel Season 1 (region 1, USA Import).
Was
for my daughter, had to buy it elsewhere (and only ended up paying £12
brand
new). Had bought 2 other Discs off the same seller, but well, I kinda
****ed
him off a bit (not my fault he took offence to being told not to type in
ALL
CAPS). I learnt my lesson to complain AFTER goods are received. Still, I
can
still laugh at how mad he got, even though I am 8 quid in the hole!

Sounds like the seller has, or at least had, a serious
maturity problem.

To add insult to injury, he informed he was listing the set on Amazon - I
may be 8 quid in the hole, but revenge is sweet lol :-) enough said about
that I think.


[...]


I'm not even sure if you are actually covered on UK cards under
£100....you

I don't know what the amount is for such. If the card is
stolen and fraudulent purchases are made, the card owner is only
responsible for $50.00 under law.

I think we have a similar excess, and it might be £50. I really should
read
the terms and conditions again, rather than just guessing, but i've never
had cause to use the protection measures, so it's not something I have in
my
head.

I only know from the consumer groups. I've never committed
the whole of the credit card agreements to memory.

You'd be a bit sad if you did :-) Mind you, I used to have every Dead
Kennedy's song committed to memory...no, that's a bad example, that is a
cool acheivement! Not really a fan anymore, did listen to another old punk
band from my punk days, toy dollz, did a "laugh out loud" cover of "livin la
vida loca" or whatever it's called. Though Ten Masked Men do popular songs
with a death metal style, equally as entertaining. Did Britney Spears "hit
me baby one more time". Gotta give them credit for that.




[...]


I looked around egg's (the only credit card I know that is
unique to the UK -- they advertise during Primeval) site but couldn't
find anything. The information may be there. That I didn't find it
only means I didn't find it.

I wasn't even aware the egg credit card was unique to the UK!

I could be wrong (there are MANY precedents for this g), but
as I understand it, egg is UK only.

It could well be..Ive not checked to be honest!


We bank with
HSBC, and have HSBC Mastercards (Visa also available). My Mother banks
with
Alliance & Leicester and has a MBNA Visa Card. My Dad has a Barclaycard,
which I think...is Visa. Nobody knows what the excess is on their cards
lol.

I had HSBC years ago when I was first getting started with
credit cards. They are great for such here in the U.S. They have a
secured card (you open a bank account and your credit limit is
whatever amount you have in the account) that enables one to establish
good credit while minimizing the risk to them.

Well, HSBC was Midland Bank originally in the UK. I know they changed to
HSBC, my (new issue) credit card was different in colour to the Midland
Debit card.

I do know from family experience, HSBC new issue cards generally start at
£500 credit limit.


[...]


As you have a purpose to save the armiles up, it makes sense. I Did use
my
amazon card for amazon purchases, but ended up paying more than the
incentive was offering.

Not much of an incentive then

It is...and it isn't. I mean, the more you spend, the more you get back to
spend on Amazon, but to do that, required continual spending on goods I
probabaly wouldnt bother buying, had there not have been a incentive
offered. (i.e you got more back by spending at amazon)


If one spends a lot at amazon, it could be a great deal. I
think it's similar to the GM cards. If one knows they're going to buy
a General Motors' brand vehicle, it's probably worth using one of the
cards. Especially is the bill is paid in full each month.
In my case, I know I'm going to fly Delta Airlines, so it's
worth it to use the AmEx Delta card.

I do spend a lot at amazon, but I buy from elsewhere too, so it wasn't worth
the incentive...as I'd pay more in the long run. That said, I've just saved
50% on a Hilary Duff CD for my daughter (not me honest!) 4.97 vs 9.97 in the
high street store. Not got it yet though, so...

She's also had the new Avril Lavigne CD, and has complained that th swearing
has been edited!


[...]


£30 my watch cost. Paid cash lol

I don't wear the Rolex much. I usually wear a $10.00 watch
that I bought at Wal-Mart. It tells the time and date, like the
Rolex, AND has a stopwatch.
Of course, the Rolex is 18k gold. I don't know what the
$10.00 watch is made from. Probably steel and plastic.

Mine is a seconda, and is a excellent time keeper - it's basic, i.e it
doesnt have a stopwatch or date, but I only need it for the time lol, and
I
hate LCD type watches.

I couldn't even tell you the brand name of the $10.00 watch.
I want to say it's Athletic Works, but I would need to go into the
bedroom and check to be 100% certain. It doesn't seem all that
important, really. Especially since Lin doesn't suffer insomnia and
doesn't appreciate it when mine flairs up (like now) and I wake her.

I've got a cheap (£5) Ravel watch on now, been working in the garden, so if
it gets a bit damaged, its not the end of the world. I also wear this at
work, if I know i'm going to be working with fork lifts or roll cages.





I am having major trouble imaging spending 15K on a watch

I've wanted a Rolex for years. When I saw it, I thought to
myself, I'd really like to buy that.
I walked away and waited two days to make absolutely certain
it wouldn't be an impulse buy. When I still wanted it, I bought it.

I see nothing wrong with that at all, it's not everyday you get that
chance!


Technically one has the *chance* every day. However, I do
understand what you mean.

Glad you understood! it's the wrong terminology I think...I guess I was
trying to say, its not everday you ACTUALLY do it!

The same watch retails for roughly $20,000.00 (roughly £9976)
in the U.S. Given that it took me over a year to pay it off, I don't
think I really saved as much as it first appeared. I don't think I
paid $5000.00 in interest, but I'm certain I paid at least $2000.
I just realized the watch costs as much as the PT Cruiser.
And the car has a built in clock

Can you lend me a tenner please? lol


[...]


The PT Cruiser I bought recently listed for $26,000 but I got
it for $20,000. It's last year's model and I suspect they wanted it
off the lot. I don't KNOW that this is why I got it for $6000.00 less
than list price, but it makes sense.

A lot of dealers will knock money off if you ask the right questions, and
last years models always end up with money knocked off if you ask them.
The
problem with cars, is the moment you drive it, it's value decreases.

I forget the exact amount, but there is a great deal of
depreciation just driving it off the lot.

depending on the car, changing your mind costs a lot of money!



Some of the old classics can be cheap to buy, but *very* expensive to fix
if
something goes wrong.

Very true.

Jaguars...old ones, dirt cheap. On a not to classic, older Vauxhall
senators, VERY cheap, but unreliable. High mileage. etc.


[...]



On the other hand, it has been known for spouses to claim benefits for
their
deceased other half. If I can find the news stories, I'll post them, one
went on for years if I recall.

It doesn't surprise me. And I bet when caught each one
claimed it was the benefit giver's fault for continuing to send the
benefits.

Cant recall the specifics, I think is some extreme cases, someone has
pretended to be the said dead person, and signed the forms required for
(continued) benefits!

Our Benefits agencies are a joke even for honest people, let alone crooks!

I've been told that the taxes for UK benefits are such that
there is almost nothing left to pay to the recipient.

You dont get a lot, lets put it that way!


[...]



unless it's a private loan shark. Then we're back to the
advantages of being dead (or at least, the disadvantaged of perhaps,
being
in a coma)


Don't pay the loan shark, and you could end up in a coma

I'd never borrow from a loan shark. One of Frankie's friend needed £250,
so
went to a loan shark, ended up paying over £1000 back.

ACK!

[...]




Pay it in weekly installments of 7p. Then we're
back to the advantage of eventually, dying.

You're boarding on evil. I like it

I do know someone who offered £1 on a £25,000 debt, and was refused lol.

I suppose the concept of "You don't hear yes unless you ask"
would apply.

It would be pretty amazing if they did say yes lol


He
eventually worked with a debt management company to get his monthly loan
payment down from £481 p/m to £230 (I think), this was also refused - but,
the creditor is still taking the "£230" until they make a decision whether
to go to court or not. As it's been 4 or 5 months, I think they are just
glad to be getting something back lol.

I expect most would be.

He's gone on constantly about his debt...he is a gambler, like I used to be,
and I think he is trying to borrow money off me without asking directly. No
chance. lol


[...]


I've been known to give bad advice...LOL

On misc.legal I often point out that I'm not a lawyer, if
anything I write could be viewed as actual legal advice.
My standard disclaimer:

"I am not an attorney. If anyone who is contradicts anything
I write, go with their opinion over mine."

That disclaimer would suit my former lawyer too! Mind you, his advice
wasn't
too bad, he just had a nasty habit of encouraging his clients to bend the
law without actually saying it i.e "You didn't hear this from me, but..."

Not the wisest thing to tell a client.

Wasn't too bad, it was never illegal, just borderline. Happened with me in a
power of attorney thing I was involved with. Pretty much told me to
embezzle. and how. I almost did, but figured it would end badly. I have SOME
morals/ethics.



[...]


It's never too late. It is far easier for a child to learn.
For example, our son can speak English and Polish fluently, and
Spanish well enough to get his point across (but he INSISTS it's NOT
because he has a crush on the Mexican girl a few streets over, since,
of course, he doesn't have a crush on her).

I am mid 30's (seriously lol) so I guess I have time to learn.

I'm in my late 30's and am learning Japanese. I'm not sure
why as we have no plans on visiting Japan. Of course, 10 years ago,
we had no plans on visiting South America or Antarctica, so who knows?

Japan is one of the cleanest countries i've ever been to, very impressive.
I
can't speak a word of Japanese, but managed to get by. lol You'll enjoy it
if you do go. The train network is also very reliable. If you've ever used
the British train network, you'll know the excitement of sampling
something
reliable.

My knowledge of British rail comes solely from an episode of
"The Young Ones" in which they were going to appear on "University
Challenge." Not the best source to use to get an fact based opinion


No longer called British Rail, as it's privatised now. Load of crap. Our
local trains are run by Northern Rail (which is owned by SercoNed). Ned = A
Netherlands company, so Dutch. Not sure about Serco.

We also have First (bus company), Arriva (bus company) Virgin (airline, CD
shop, Wine merchant, radio), Stagecoach (bus company) possibly National
Express (coach and bus company) - that's the problem with privatisation,
companies who have never run trains, running the entire network.

The actual rail network (i.e maintenance and track engineering) is Network
Rail I think.


[...]


Where I work, we have a lot of Poles, mostly doing the driving jobs, so
I
don't really see much of them. Hard working people though. And rarely
late
or off sick.

Since December of 1993, I've missed one day of work due to
illness. I did miss nearly two weeks in January while Lin and I
visited Antarctica, but other than when crossing Drake's Passage, I
wasn't sick.
Drake's is some ROUGH water! And of course, Lin didn't get
the slightest twinge of motion sickness! Grrrrrr!

I dont think we'll ever see Antartica, but never say never.

I never expected to go. To be honest, had I never visited, my
life would have been fine. Lin is the one who really wanted to go.
I don't regret having gone. Not everyone can honestly claim
they've been, so it does put me in a quasi-special class of people.
Not that it really means a great deal. We don't have annual meetings
or anything.

I know what you mean though. I think experiences make people better people.


I was quite
surprised to go to the Grand Canyon, as it was never something I ever
thought i'd get to see. The Pyramids in Egypt are next on the to do list.


I would like to visit Egypt. It's not on our current list of
places to visit, but it's not a forbidden place for us. No place is
forbidden.

Iraq?


[...]


More privacy. She can be as open as she wishes and know no
one hearing her will understand. It's why our son and I will speak in
Polish and her parents and I will speak in Spanish when gift giving
times approach and Lin is within ear shot.

Yes, I was being sarcastic :-) she knows her parents are nosey. I'm
tempted
to learn spanish to make sure she's not having phone sex with a spanish
waiter lol

If you hear the words "chaka chaka" be worried. It's slang
for sex, at least in Latin American Spanish.

If I hear it, I'll cut the phone line! Thanks for the heads up!

Thing is, I am a over protective father, and I know it, so does she lol.
Worries me if she does things just to wind me up...:-)


[...]


It will come in handy then.
In the U.S., Spanish is becoming more and more necessary. We
don't have an *official* language, though the American dialect of
English is most widely spoken, so many immigrants from Mexico, Central
and South America don't bother to learn English.
That reminds me of a time, YEARS ago, when I worked at a
convenience store. A good number of our shoppers were of Hispanic
origin. I spoke what Spanish I knew when they came in (it gave them
an incentive to shop with us versus another store).
A man of Anglo descent commented that they should learn
American. I replied with, "They don't have a strong understanding of
English. What better chance do they have of speaking Apache?" I
don't think he ever caught on to what I said.

It still amazes me that people don't understand the origins of Americans.
I
have a circle of online friends in the states (mostly into road
haulage/trucking) and a great number are Navajo or Cherokee in origin
(some
others that I can't pronounce let alone spell).


There are MANY native American Nations. Trying to know them
all would be a difficult task.

I like the basics, easier, and people dont look at you like you're a dumb
sod for namedropping lol


[...]


Yes. As I often tell people, find something you enjoy, then
find a way to make a living doing that.

Not everyone is lucky enough to work with Jenna Jameson!

I had to Google her. EEK!

She's too blonde for me, I used her as an example, as she is pretty well
known in the world of porn. lol

Which is why I had to Google her. You can count the number of
triple X rated pornographic movies I've seen on one hand, and still
have fingers left over.

I've seen a fair bit of it, and some is useful for trying to recreate scenes
(spices things up, especially when sex drive drops)...lol...though some you
don't wanna hear about let alone try!


[...]



Why did *we* learn from *our* mistakes? The dollar coins are
NOT wanted by the general public.

I hated the pound note.

Odd. It always spoke very highly of you :-)

That's because I never spent it!


I much prefer the coin. I think the scottish pound
note still exists, but not certain. Remember, the pound note was phased
out
in the UK a LONG time ago, so the entire population has become very used
to
the coin.

If the paper dollar note were removed from circulation, I
expect we would adapt. We wouldn't have much choice, really.
Our $2.00 bill is fairly unpopular as well. I've never really
understood why.

I travel to Ireland (Eire) a lot, so I'm pretty used to the Euro notes and
coins too. Only things that gets confusing is working out if something is
cheap or not!



I do understand why the government wants to issue them. They
last longer than paper notes. A $1.00 note may last a few months
before being so warn and damaged that it must be destroyed. A coin
could last decades. Certainly a few years.

I actually still own a bunch of mint condition, consecutive serial pound
notes - I must have put them in a book when I got them and forgot about
them, Frankie found them a few months ago, so I've put them back in the
book
and kept the book safe. In better condition than a note issued 2 days
ago!


Given that paper notes are no longer used, you'll probably
find they're worth a bit. The longer you keep them in mint condition,
the more they'll be worth.

I can see them going for a fair bit in later years...bet they're about 30
years old ya know.


[...]


The fact is, any guy she dates will never be good enough for me. Not
yet,
not till she's older anyway. I hope. lol

I've already decided no man will meet my standards for The
Princess. However, if he meets hers, that's what will really matter.

Nothing you say will change how she feels about some guy. Unfortunatley
for
me, I've had to put up with all kinds of losers (in MY eyes). It's the
downside to having 3 girls. When they were little, they used to love
riding
around in a truck with me (the 18 wheeler type), then they stopped being
into that, and found it to be not fun anymore. Basically, the eldest said
it
was boring, and the younger two followed her lead. I did smile, however,
when I saw photos on our middle daughters myspace of me at work "My Dad
and
his trucks". Cute. :-)

Neat. I don't expect my children will do something similar.
Our son doesn't do myspace ("That's so stupid, dad.") and our daughter
isn't old enough, of course.

hers is "rad" I guess. Lots of darkness and "edge". I wouldn't want any of
my kids to do my line of work. :-)


[...]


We've bought MANY distressed properties and sold them on the
open market. It's allowed us to buy a condo in Aruba, a vacation home
in Arkansas, and has enabled us to visit every continent.
We also have rental properties. We don't make a great deal of
profit on them though. We charge just slightly more than the total
monthly cost of owning it (the cost presumes no major repairs). You
might think we're crazy for not charging more, but we rarely have any
open units.

The way I see it, if you fill the units, and make a profit, you are doing
something right.

That's been my attitude. Yes, when the other owners had all
their units filled, they were making a bigger profit, but when the guy
across the street had three units open while mine were full, I was
making more.

You can afford a rolex and a new PT Cruiser, so it works for you!



When I fist got into the rental business I did it with a
single apartment building. I charged $315.00 a month. Everyone else
on the street charged at least $400.00 for the same square footage.
They could have open units for months. The longest I had one
open was three weeks, and that's only because I couldn't get motivated
to clean it up for a new tenant. Once I did get it ready (fresh
paint, steam clean the carpets, etc), it was open for less than 12
hours.
I only made about $700.00 a month profit, which isn't much in
rentals, but I was making money.

$700 is not a profit to be sneezed at.

With an apartment building, it's not much. Still, it was
money and I was making a profit.

Money IN is ALWAYS better than Money OUT (unless it's speculate to
accumulate)



One of my businesses was truck repair, and unfortunatley, was competing
with
an established business, who I eventually sold out to. Also, I wasnt very
good at it - but dont tell anyone, or they might want a refund!

I can assure you that you were and are better than me. I can
change the oil and fill the gas (petrol) tank. That's about it.
Oh, I can check the air in the tires.

That's about all I can do lol. Modern trucks are not built the same...at
all. I wouldn't know where to start!

Our lot uses mostly Volvo (on maintenance contracts), some Scania (replacing
those soon with Mercedes on bio-fuel - changing to another depot with the
work) and several ERF (never seen one, they work from another depot, tanker
haulage) and some demonstrator DAF, MAN, RENAULT.

Probabaly others come and go too, the yard consists mostly of trailers (300
at full capacity - can fit more, but prohibited by law from doing so.
Usually have maybe 250 on a typical day), units are virtually always on the
road. Also, we don't have enough units for the workload, but thats between
you and me.


[...]


We buy a lot of cheaper products (Frankie though, likes to splurge of
clothes and shoes in a big way). When we do make huge purchases, we tend
to
make it worth the while. I wont be buying a PT Cruiser anytime soon, not
enough space in the garage lol. Frankie has a BMW (325 Tourer,
silver-grey.
Not my colour, but not my car lol)

Nice ride.

She had the same car, but the lower powered 318i (actually a 2 litre, not
1.8 as one might assume!) - quite common cars actually, it's amazing how
many people drive BMW's these days. I actually filled up at the petrol
station behind a black PT Cruiser yesterday. She hadnt started filling it
when I pulled in, but she was driving half way down the road and I was
still
filling mine! 45 litres. Dont know how all my diesel was used up!

ACK! Given your prices for fuel, 45 liters would be A LOT of
money.
We sell by the gallon here and I hate seeing the final amount
when I fill up. It's not uncommon to have a total of $45.00.

94.9p currently per litre, yesterday at least.





I only wear a wedding ring, and that's getting on a bit now lol


I wear my wedding ring as well. It's showing its age. And
it's showing its sheaving been re-sized. When Lin and I got married,
I was around 300 to 350 US pounds (roughly 21 to 25 stone).
I've lost *a lot* of weight and the ring had to be made
smaller.

Mine has been resized too. I was 17 stone when we got married, and I
blamed
that on lack of excersise stuck behind a wheel all day. When I started
being
more active, the weight just dropped off. Good news that you lost a lot of
weight though, I'd have probabaly reached your prior weight had I kept
driving.

What's really weird, IMO, is how much healthier I was when
obese. Not even a hint of diabetes. And I could run amazingly fast.
It freaked out several people, including a shoplifter at the
convenience store who looked back and saw me a keeping pace a few
steps behind him.
I can still run fast, but I pay the price. This is likely due
to age. The diabetes came as a complete shock, since I would have
thought becoming skinny would reduce, if not eliminate, the chance of
having it. Obviously I was wrong.

Sudden/rapid weight loss can have adverse effects. My downfall now is
smoking. Hard to run anywhere :-)


[...]


I do a fair bit of online gambling....

I think you could count the number of times I've gambled on
both hands, and have a finger or two to spare.
One time wasn't *really* gambling. Back to the convenience
sto

I used to have a gambling addiction - and it was BAD. Now I gamble for
fun,
and on lower amounts. At my worst, I gambled the house in a poker game and
lost. At my best. I won it back, and a porche 911 in a re-match. Porche
long
gone unfortunatley.

If you ever win another Porsche and want to get rid of it,
don't forget your on-line friend from the U.S. :-)

I doubt i'll ever get that far into gambling that Porches are the prize
again, but if I do, I'll keep you in mind :-)



The final straw for me, and a wake up call, was when I ran out of money,
and
the guys said they'd take Frankie as a "alternative". I didnt mind losing
the house, but wasn't about to risk my wife on the turn of some cards...it
would have taken far more than good luck to have ever won her back. I
never
played a hand of poker since. If i'm being totally open, quitting poker
saved my marriage.

I'm appalled that the guys even suggested such an offer. It
would be enough to make me stop as well.

It became a sleaze culture. People you throught were your friends, only
considered your money to be their true friend. I don't want to go down that
road again!



A customer bought six of the $5.00 scratch game. None of them
a winner. He shrugged his shoulders and said something to the effect
of, "Maybe next time." and left.
I knew a winner was due. Even if it was nothing more than a
free play, there was something.
The next morning (we weren't allowed to buy tickets on our own
shifts) I went in and bought two or three of them. $50.00 winner.

I guess working there gives you the upper hand of knowing when winners are
due!

Might have to apply for a job lol

It only happened the one time for me. I didn't pay that much
attention, really. Most people bought their scratch tickets and left
with them, so I wouldn't know if they won or not, unless they brought
a winner in.
A friend I had at the time (we've lost contact with each
other) had the best luck. He would almost always win a sizable amount
when he gambled.
Once, Joe and I went to Prairie Meadows, a horse racing and
slot machine establishment in Altoona, Iowa. We went there to enjoy
the inexpensive steak dinners they had (I wasn't born a vegetarian ya
know g). Upon exiting the car, Joe found a quarter on the ground
and said, "I'm defiantly playing this, since I won't be out anything."
When we left, he had won slightly more than $3,000.00. I was
with him the whole time, so I know he won it all from playing that one
quarter.

AMAZING story, and proof such fortune does exist. My slot days never
amounted to much off a single coin. Seemed I always played them at feeding
time!

The best of it is, the 3K was only won because he found the coin. Moral of
the story, always pick money up off the floor. I hear our truck cleaners do
alright from drivers loose change....


[...]


If you ever come to the UK, Concorde is available for viewing at
Manchester
Airport. I think you can board it. It won't be the same as going
anywhere,
but at least you can have a taste of the dream.

We have no plans on visiting England or Ireland. Having
recently heard about how the police came down on a child because he
called another child gay, and how the local police visited a friend of
mine to remind him the Tax disk for his car was due in two weeks (he
bought the new one a day or two before), rather than do something
about crime, and we aren't real motivated to visit.

Those are just bad examples of unfortunate circumstances.

The police dont normally visit you for unpaid tax discs, they stick a
notice
on your windscreen telling you it has expired and if it is not paid, it
will
be towed away and destroyed- I've had 2 cars towed away, and not one visit
from the police. Neither car was destroyed once i'd paid the fees.

They visited Enzo (not his real name, of course) . He griped
about it for a bit. Not so much about the visit itself, but the fact
that rather than preventing crime when possible, or investigating a
crime that occurred, they were spending time to remind him to get his
tax disk.

No MOT would be worth a visit, as car might be unroadworthy, thus, the crime
would be prevented (crime of death due to dodgy car).



As for calling a child gay, well, we do try to practice equality, and that
is generally only possible through the younger generation. If my kids ever
called another person gay I'd take away their music rights. :-)


In the U.S. the term gay is often used to mean stupid or lame.
If person A says, "That's so gay." they are simply saying that the
item/action in question is stupid. It has no reference to sexual
orientation.
The definition of gay is changing, as it has before. Once gay
meant happy. Then it meant homosexual. Now it's changing again.

I have a gay friend, but it's usually fag, puff or queer he gets. I've never
heard the term Gay applies to stupid, but you're right, terms and meanings
do change.



[...]




On a different note, ryanair are supposed to be launching, in 2009, low
cost
flights to the USA from the UK from as little as 10 Euros (£7 as we dont
use
the Euro lol).
787 or Airbus they're supposed to be using. Should be good
for bringing airline prices down!


How the [BLEEP] can they expect to do at that price? £7 is
roughly $13.00. I just can't see how they can do it.

Same way megabus.com do it...low fares start on selected seats and dates,
and gradually rise. We frequently do Dublin for 1p each way. Sometimes
49p -
some trips I've seen for £40.

I'd be more than willing to spend 1p for a trip to Dublin.
Heck, I'm not that greedy. I'll pay the higher 49p each time.
Of course, it's farther away for me, so I don't expect the
nice rate.

Taxes add to the bill, but youd pay those whatever price the seat is...soooo
a bargain is definetley personified at 1p :-)



Plus they make up money in food and drink, and entertainment also on those
long haul flights apparantly.


I don't recall much entertainment on the trans-Atlantic
flights I've taken. There's the movie, and some music options, but
that's pretty much it.

I suspect they'll either have in seat AV, or a whip round for the main
screens lol

Point is, I've never gone long haul without watching a movie, and not sure
i'd be unable to pay for it!

We have a portable DVD player (I bought it for Lin for
Valentines' Day a year ago) that we use to watch un-edited movies
while on long flights.

Of course...that would help!!! We have in car DVD set up, but I never get to
watch it lol (unless I decide not to drive)


[...]


Definitely.
I don't know if I could have gotten the items I won cheaper
elsewhere, as I never looked. I don't think I could since the bulk of
what I've bought is in some way related to Xuxa (A Brazilian actress
and singer).

So, highly specific, and probabaly hard to find...even on eBay i'd
imagine.

A quick check shows only 11 items related to the word Xuxa at
this time.

11 ot of several million makes those items highly uncommon.


Yes. But at the same time it shows that it's a niche market.
Xuxa items aren't likely to be something one would buy as an
investment. It's *possible* that the Rose Art brand Xuxa dolls I
have, in addition to the shoes, the game, etc. will become valuable,
but I don't expect it to happen in my life time.
I've purchased the items because I love Xuxa's work. And they
make for great conversation starters when people visit the house for
the first time.

I think to make something valuable, the interest has to exceed availability
(and I don't mean personal interst, but mass interest). That's why woman are
priceless. Everyone wants one, but only a handful want you.


[...]




One season shows suck. l2achela used to be into Tru Calling, till it got
cancelled in it's 2nd season.

ACK! I hated that show.

It wasn't a bad show actually - the concept was good, and had potential.

I couldn't stand it. I did like the star, Eliza Dushku, but
that's because she's cute.
If I weren't married, MUCH younger, and if Eliza were blind, I
think we'd make a perfect couple :-)

Those kind of "go back to stop something" shows are hit and miss.
Conceptually, it was good, they just needed to speed it up earlier on,
rather than spend an entire season introducing the characters. By the time
season 2 started, we knew the characters, but we needed to see more of the
long term potential. Mind you, shows like dawson's creek and felicity were
the same, progression never seemed to happen!

Eliza is very gorgous, but not as cute as Frankie. Close, but no cigar.


[...]



Never was into Charmed, so I can't comment on it.
I've found the BBC is making money off of me with the new
Doctor Who.

Never got into that, even the original series.

I didn't think I'd like anyone other than Sylvester McCoy
playing the part. He was, IMO, the ultimate Doctor, until Christopher
took over the role. He is now the ultimate Doctor IMO.
Sophie [mumbles last name to hide the fact that I can't recall
it] who played Ace is still my favorite companion.

No good asking me! :-)




They'll not make anything off of me from Torchwood.

Not seen that actually, but I keep seeing the DVD set leaping out at me
lol

It's OK, but I wouldn't spend any money on it.

Neither would I. LOL



Frankie's just finished the Medium dvd's and is about to start Ghost
Whisperer.

I love Medium.

Medium is kept very basic and without the glamour a hit TV show would
usually have. It's normal, it represents humanity the way it actually
happens. Sure, the subject matter is open to debate, but the way the have
executed the show is excellent.



As for me, Finished season 3 of JAG and am onto season 3 of NCIS. (Disc 1
finished this morning, 5 to go)

While I'll watch the episodes sent to me (I know someone with
connections), I wouldn't go out of my way to see it.
They could eliminate all the sex and foul language and have a
great show (I'm of the opinion the sex and language is put in solely
to make it adult).

I dont mind some sex, if it is relevant to the story, and language can
help
to keep some things real.

There was one bit that I felt was relevant to the story line.
Owen had a cologne bottle that sprayed pheromones. When he sprayed
himself, the person near him was instantly attracted to him sexually.
I figured the bit was shown to demonstrate how dangerous some of the
extra terrestrial stuff can be.
In another episode, Gwen gets shot. Her vest prevents her
from getting seriously hurt. Her saying the word, "****!" was
understandable. I am certain I would have said the same.

I think there has to be a sense of normal reaction to situations. You woudnt
expect a thug, to ask for your wallet, please. It needs to be demonstrated
with the attitude that you'd expect to find on the streets. As an example.





Of course, then they'd have Primeval, which is a
GREAT show.
Not that I've seen it, of course. It's on ITV, and my friend
would NEVER get me stuff from ITV ;-)

ITV is ****.

I've heard that. Seems Primeval is a surprise to everyone.

I think they have realised it's time to invest in decent TV.


BBC doesnt have commercial breaks, whereas ITV does, and it
ruins the flow for me (even though most US shows that are aired with ads
are
designed that way)

They are. We don't have a license fee for "regular" TV. The
TV stations and networks get the bulk of their revenue from
commercials. Some revenue is generated from selling DVDs, but that's
relatively new.

As our normal analogue channels consist of just 4 (maybe 5 if you're lucky),
2 with and 2 without commercials isn't bad. It's the choice that's the
problem!

Satellite is the main medium for TV above normal terrestial, and I'd say
cable is, where cable exists. Freeview (digital) is probabaly closing in on
normal analogue.


[...]


I really like Doctor Who. I wish Christopher Eccleston would
have stayed longer than one season. He was very good.

He was quite good in gone in 60 seconds too. Some of us sound like him too
:-)

So you have a North accent?
"What's wrong with a north accent? Lots of places have a
north" :-)

We're both from the Manchester area, He, next city along, Salford (so is
naturally, vocally, more deeper, and harsher, as the Salford accent is
harder than a Mancunian accent).



This is not a cut on David Tennant's Doctor. He is very good
as well, but he's not Ecclestion.
Of course, the best looking Doctor was Joanna Lumley from
"Doctor Who and the Case of Fatal Death."

Joanna is ok, but not my type :-)

She's the only woman to play The Doctor (albeit in a comedy
sketch), so while she's not all that attractive, IMO, she still wins
the title of Best Looking Doctor by default

"Not that attractive" is quite a compliment!


[...]


As is mine. I expect I'll move this to E-mail in time. It's
gotten so far off-topic that it's getting hard to justify keeping it
on Usenet.
Yes, conversations rarely remain on-topic, but I think we're
pushing it here

I think the depth of life and experience prohibits anyone from sticking to
the point lol

I especially hate reading posts that don't show any outside flavour. I
enjoy
making a point, and then providing a example to illustrate it further, if
that means also talking about non-topic things, I'm fine with that!

Like, the conversations i've had recently with someone who truly believes
it
is OK to pad out postage charges on ebay sales. No amount of proving with
outside examples it is wrong has any effect on him (they) budging from
their
stance.


I don't have a problem with a slight amount of padding. It
would be nice if the seller would sit down and figure out the *exact*
cost for the materials and postage, but few are going to do that.

The example illustrated in the original topic where the idiot didn't budge,
was £1 item and £19 postage.

I don't recall making such an example myself, as I was talking about a
choice of vendors, which featured 3 seperate item prices and 3 seperate
postage (i.e 3 + 3, 4 + 2, whatever it was I said)

My example - well, whatever it was, it is this example now, is say a CD is
worth £5, youd expect to pay £1.50 at most for postage, as it costs 70p
first class, or 60p second class, packaging, 10p at most - the rest, to pay
the fees with (no problem). I wouldn't expect a seller to under value the
item to avoid paying fees. i.e £1 item and £8 postage. Integrity is
essential when buying, and is a reason I have had general good transactions.

I am STILL only down by £8, as the other couple of quid was refunded
yesterday. (and another 3 today, in both cases, item was dirt cheap by far
than other sellers....makes one suspicious!). I threatened to have amazon
intervene, seems it gets the hand in the waller quick saying that.



They'll know how much the packaging material is, but the actual
postage may be a mystery until they get to the post office.

Shouldn't be, most people have scales, so they can guess to a certain degree
of accuracy. All postal rates are available online anyway.

Estimating it makes sense, and I don't expect them to under
estimate the amount. So long as it's reasonable (if someone wanted to
charge $50.00 to ship a watch, that would be unreasonable unless that
included insurance), I don't mind.

Anything above 3 times the actual cost of postage is unreasonable. TWICE is
the limit, and even that is open for debate - depends what it is.

CD/DVD/SMALL BOOK = 70P 1st, 60p 2nd class. Amazon charge buyer 2.75 for ANY
book, so is unreasonable. I dont buy books on amazon.




Take care, and all the best to Lindsay and your family


Muito obrigado. That Portuguese for Merci Bueacoup.
Tell your wife and kids I say, "Hello." We've never met, of
course, but I don't want to appear rude.

Danke Schon

One of them said "Hello County". :-)

I don't get the joke

Kent is a county in the UK. Down South, near London.


Speak to you soon!


Are you visiting this weekend? I'll be sure to have
sandwiches and beverages available

Pepsi and Ice with a slice of lemon please!




Take care.


You too, Sir

Cheers

l2oberto

--
Kent
"I most stonger than Darth Vapor!"
-- Zladko "Zlad" Vladcik

"Tony Cooper" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:20:52 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
wrote:

so, you gonna show us or not?

d

If you insist. I'll be in the park at midnight (works better at night).
Come
alone, or, don't come at all. :-)

lol

Whoa! This is not a dating service for shirt-lifters.

I apologise, given the way some of you act like drama queens...

l2oberto


--


Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL

"Salty" wrote in message
...
Tony Cooper wrote:
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:20:52 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
wrote:

so, you gonna show us or not?

d
If you insist. I'll be in the park at midnight (works better at night).
Come alone, or, don't come at all. :-)

lol

Whoa! This is not a dating service for shirt-lifters.



Come alone or don't come at all ???


Change the spelling on the first word in that sentence and you probably
have Roberto pretty well summed up.


Regards

Salty

But "probabaly" is just another of your ways of saying you have absolutley
no idea!

I suppose you could be right, or you could be wrong. Hardly think it need
proving! (or does it?)

I do hear semen is of a salty (or is it bitter) taste....explains a lot. No
probabaly about it!

Ciao!

l2oberto

"Tony Cooper" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:19:26 +0100, "Roberto Pirezzi"
wrote:


"Salty" wrote in message
...
Roberto Pirezzi wrote:


I'm done here.


We've know that for while. When did you find out?



Regards

Salty

So, you're another moron who supports cheats!

And here was me thinking you were pretty intelligent too! I'm proud to
admit I was wrong!!

Now, carry on, as you were. You insignificant little blister on the sole
of
humanity. (that got lost in translation, I meant, you're the **** on
someones shoe).

Bottom line, I will not entertain ****ing jackass losers who support
cheats
and frauds. Way I see it, you're a crook.

So, say what you want. You're a crock.

l2oberto

PS, you shouldnt take things seriously. I don't!

OK, Salty, let's try to guess about this one. Fourteen? An older
school-leaver? Resident of a home for the "exceptional"? The
prototype for the saying "Thick as two planks"?


I may be thick, but at least I don't spend £19 postage on a book that only
costs £1! and think i've just bagged a bargain!!

I am sure I heard you mutter "fair value" - **** that! fair value and
Bargain are hardly one and the same!

I'm glad you think I am so young. :-) I take it as a compliment. Seriously,
thankyou!

And, for further reference, the term is "thick as two short planks"!

What is you hate about me? - The fact you were unable to prove me wrong, or
the fact you were unable to prove yourself right?

The way I see it, if I was ever wrong, then why go to all the trouble of
attempting to dismiss me? Surely, if I was THAT wrong...everyone would have
already noticed?

I am now a waste of your time, and you know it. But you can't possibly allow
a "fourteen" year old to have the upper hand?

2 words. "Don't Care". Make it 3 and add your own I.

Ciao!

l2oberto



--


Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL