I just concluded a dealing on eBay that most sellers encounter sooner or later that leaves you frustrated and with a bad taste. A winner in one of my auctions started almost immediately after the auction ended. Wanted to know when it would be sent and wanted me to leave positive feedback for him. Explained my normal policy is to mail out packages the Saturday after the auction's end (my day job keeps me away from the post office the hours it's open) and I would leave feedback when it's left. Kept sending e-mails at least every day. Then he started in when I didn't answer each e-mail he sent and wanted to know why I didn't claim his PayPal payment (hey, pal, try putting in a verified address. Then again, given what happened, maybe that's why he didn't want anyone to know where he lives) He was getting on my last nerve. The last straw came when he tried to reported me to Square Trade and threatened to contact his lawyer. It isn't worth the hassle for $10 action figure, so I refunded his payment and left negative feedback. Of course, he responded in kind, and replied that he was innocent, I was being unprofessional. I've never wanted anything I won on eBay so bad I harassed someone daily and got mad when they didn't respond to every e-mail. I've just responded to his e-mail claiming it was all my fault and blocked his e-mail address on my account. How much you want to bet he tries to contact eBay about this next?
Ironically, of the other 3 auctions ended last week, one paid by PayPal last Thursday, the other said he was mailing payment, haven't heard from the other yet.

You thought Halliburton was the only government contract abuse in Iraq? Check this out.

I don't know if 4 people are reading this, but here's hoping...

Dear Friend,

Over the next few weeks, President Bush and his congressional allies will try once again to ram their disastrous energy bill through the U.S. Senate. They fell only two votes short in November and they've vowed to make passage of the bill their top priority now that Congress has returned from recess.

This bill may be the worst piece of legislation you and I will see in our lifetimes. It would pick your pocket, despoil your natural heritage, endanger your family's health and smother your hope for a more secure energy future. We ignore this bill at our own peril.

Let me tell you our simple plan for thwarting this shameless attack on our environment and pocketbooks. If millions of Americans each took one minute to protest this bill, it would cause every senator who is tempted to vote for it to think twice about doing so.

You can make this happen within the next few hours by doing two things:

First, go to this link and send your two senators an email or fax, telling them to vote against this pro-polluter energy bill.

Then, forward my email to at least four of your friends, family members or colleagues.

I am emailing this message to 500,000 BioGems Defenders and other NRDC activists. If each one forwards this message to just four more people, we will generate a national tidal wave of opposition before this day is over.

And that won't be a moment too soon. This disgraceful bill would pick our pockets to hand out billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to the oil, coal and nuclear industries. That's their long-awaited reward for making big-time contributions to the Bush-Cheney campaign. They profit while the rest of us pay the price -- in tax dollars and environmental degradation.

This bill gives the energy giants a free pass to drill their way through our last wild places, burn more dirty coal, build a new generation of risky nuclear power plants and dramatically increase air pollution that would sicken the vulnerable -- especially children and seniors -- for decades to come.

It would establish oil and gas development as the dominant use of our federal public lands, open national parks to the construction of electricity transmission lines, exempt polluters from core provisions of our clean air and water laws and waive liability for the producers of the toxic gasoline additive MTBE -- even though it has contaminated at least 1,500 public water supplies in all 50 American states.

You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more backward-looking, wasteful and self-defeating energy "plan" than this one. At a time when the federal deficit is soaring and we're going to war in the Persian Gulf oilfields, the White House wants to stick us with the tab for prolonging our destructive dependence on fossil fuels, foreign oil and dangerous nuclear technology.

This is not a national energy policy. This is corporate welfare, pure and simple. Estimates of the bill's corporate tax breaks range from $23 billion to well over $100 billion with loan guarantees included. No surprise there. Big energy companies cooked up this raid on the federal treasury during hundreds of secret meetings with Vice President Cheney's energy task force and their allies on Capitol Hill.

It's one thing to gouge taxpayers. But to claim this rip-off is in the national interest, as the White House would have us believe, is a slap in the face to every working American.

Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of voters -- of both parties -- understand that we simply must reduce our out-of-control appetite for fossil fuels if we ever are to secure energy independence. That means turning American rooftops into the Persian Gulf of solar energy. It means producing cars that get 40 miles per gallon. It means constructing efficient buildings that use half the energy of the average American office without sacrificing comfort.

Making this transformation to a super-efficient, low-pollution economy would save consumers upwards of a trillion dollars, spare our last wild places from destruction, improve our health, slow global warming and reduce our dependence on undemocratic regimes overseas. It's a no-brainer to anyone living outside the White House.

But unless millions of Americans speak out right now, the enactment of the president's energy bill will doom us to an apocalyptic future of blighted wilderness, poisonous air pollution, devastating climate change and endless wars over fossil fuels.

Please make your voice heard. Go to this link and tell your senators to obey the will of the American people, *not* the dictates of giant energy corporations! Call on Congress to create a sustainable and affordable energy path.

And please be sure to forward this message to at least four other people. Believe me, millions of Americans are just waiting for a simple way to stop this madness and lend their support to a sane and hopeful energy future.

Sincerely yours,

Robert Redford
Board of Trustees
Natural Resources Defense Council

Originally, I was going to head directly to ClixCon after work. The snag occured with the Bravada I was borrowing from my dad to go up, as he thinks the van I usually drive can't make the trip. I loaded it up last night, went in to start it up...wouldn't turn over. I didn't leave anything on in it, but it was hovering close to zero temperature wise. I went over to his house, asked about borrowing another vehicle, and he said to take to van to work and come home to pick up the Bravada. That's an extra hour on my trip...if I get to go. I guess I should've just loaded up the van and take my chances, it's less than 100 miles, within range of my AAA-Plus membership.
I looked into what to do in case I have to cancel, so I won't be out any money if I don't go. I'll check on it before the hotel cancellation deadline, and e-mail the organizers to see if I can get my pre-pays refunded. Also, I'm trying to plan how to spend my weekend if I don't get to go. Seems like when I do that, things go as planned, especially if I make good back up plans.
If I go, I'll post a report next week. If I don't you'll hear from me sooner.

UPDATE: I called my dad at lunch, and he said he didn't see where I wouldn't go. Thought it was likely just changing the battery. So it looks like an hour delay in getting there.

Mark Evanier points out this point by point rebuttal of the State of the Union address.
Elayne Riggs posted a link to a Presidential Quiz to determine the best match among the candidates. Kucinich was 100% match, followed by Sharpton, Dean, Clark and Kerry. I was making up my mind between Kucinich and Clark, but by the time the primaries make it to Indiana, it'll be decided for me.
Alan David Doane relays info from Drawn and Quarterly that a new issue of Optic Nerve is coming! Preview here!
Harvey Pekar talks about American Splendor and how the film affects his future prospects.

Desperate Times 0
Dork Tower 26
Fantastic Four 509
Liberty Meadows 35
Lurid 2
New X-Men 152
Outsiders 8
Super Manga Blast 37
The Norm Magazine 2
True Story Swear to God 7
Uncanny X-Men 438

Now it looks like they're out to ruin our credit rating.
Meanwhile, it looks like the Iraqis are wanting those who supported Saddam to stand trial along with him. And apparently, they're not too happy with our brand of democracy.
And here's some real stats on the State of the Union. Speaking of which, Mark Evanier makes a good point about "activist judges" that thwart the will of the people by overthrowing elections redefining marriage. And as the Bob and Tom Show pointed out, half the room applauding his statement were divorced. Margaret Cho makes some good points in a reply to Michael, a fan who'll defend her opinion, but... Another good point was made some time back by Jon Stewart pointed out on The Daily Show, (and it's from memory, forgive me if it's isn't 100%) if some is injured and hospitalized, and their partner/loved one is denied to see them, make decisions about their care, or even know their prognosis, it doesn't sound right. Has anyone noticed that the same people that were saying gays were perverts and deviants are kicking up a fuss when they express that they want committment and rights that conform to their idea of normality. Or that the same arguments against this were made last century by those against "mixed" marriages, giving rights to anyone other than white males?
I realize and respect that some parts of society feel homosexuality is wrong, but I feel it is equally wrong to deny someone rights just because they conflict with your beliefs. Also, there are some parts of the Bible that are no longer applied, as shown in the Dear Dr. Laura letter and this classic column from Paul Harris, quoting how that letter was used in an episode of The West Wing.

Alan David Doane posted a good review of Street Angel #1, and included a link to a preview. Looked so good, I just told my shop to add it to my order. Check it out, if you like, please do the same.
UPDATE: Grotesque Anatomy is talking about a posting on a message board ranting about it (or is it publicity?)

At my day job, they have a rule that you're late if you clock in more than 3 minutes past your scheduled start time.
Also, they have a rule that you can't clock in anywhere except your cubicle. It wouldn't be a problem if it were anything close to instantaneous. However, you have to log in to the program, wait for it to come up, then select time clock and clock in.
The problem comes up if you're just on the edge and barely make it to work, you can't use someone else's computer to clock in. Or rather, if you're someone the supervisors don't like. They have me positioned in front of one supervisor who seems to think catching people and tripping them up is a perk. I've taken on tougher people that were bound and determined to get me fired, and I survived. Any revenge tips? (And don't tell me I should've come in sooner. I usually make it in plenty of time, my point is the rules shouldn't be used as a club, or for someone to get their jollies, like the cops)
It wouldn't hurt anyone to clock in at another cubicle if you're squeaking in under the wire, they just want to do that to rack up the occurances. If you're more than 3 minutes (or less than 2 hours) late, it's an occurance. You're allowed so many a year before warned, another one written warning, one more and you're fired. Same with absences (which is more than 2 hours late, or not in at all) Then they wonder why some people are "abusing" the system, like calling in absent if you have too many late occurances. They don't want to realize they're the ones creating the environment. People are going to rebel if you crack down on them. For instance, once I saw I was going to clock in late, I didn't clock in. I went to fill up my drink and took my time to clock in without losing time paid for. Hey, they can only give me one occurance. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man (see link at left) just posted a description of his job that brings up some of the same things in stronger language. I went back in and added more on this posting. I don't know why I'm so wussy and just don't come out and say my supervisor's a bitch, I guess I'm afraid there's the off chance someone will see it (although I haven't told anyone outside the 'net world I'm doing this blog). Also, I tip-toed around about spelling out specifics on my job including my policy, but I don't want to give them an excuse to bust me, not when they're working so hard to look for reasons as it is.
Fortunately, they let us surf the net if there's no calls coming in, that's about the only reason I tolerate this job (that, and more than likely having to take a pay cut and work evenings and/or weekends if I get another job. And don't get me started on how it's hard to interview for a new job when the possible hours for an interview are the same you work). And there's this blog where I can talk about her and get away with it. Blogging: the best revenge!