eBay

Me again...
Ouch! I hate the fact that this blog program I'm using does not save my text when I exit the program. Maybe not a bad thing, as the previous entry that I started began with me venting about life...



Ah, it's amazing how good it is to use the functionality that is right in front of you! I discovered the famed 'Save' button on the app I'm using!

eBay!
On a positive note, I am managing to sell my comics and other stuff on Ebay, with some mixed success/experiences. This included my first negative rating, which the buyer thankfully reversed after I gave him a full refund of course, though I still don't think that I was at fault (I would say that, wouldn't I?)

A loss of sorts
I am making a huge loss on all the items, as I'm nowhere close to recovering the money originally paid for these items. At this point, I'm just glad to be getting something back. I get so happy when I see the items starting to sell, even if for just 99c...I guess because I'm glad to be rid of the items, without having to give these away (don't know who would take them?) or worse throw these away. I've got to stop myself from launching the Ebay app on my phone to check progress!

So once again, that's my story as of now..

My Long Sunday Night

One night....in 2009, with my family away and me home alone


One of those OOPS moments..
Smart one that I am, I ran out of my apartment at 8:20pm thinking I was late for an appointment at the local Apple Store. As soon as I closed the door, I realized that I had locked myself out. It was too late to phone the resident office manager to let me back in and I wasn't willing to pay the $200-$300 minimum for a locksmith callout.  To add insult to injury, the Apple Store closed at 6pm. There was some bug on their online system that allowed me to proceed to make the reservation for the Genius Bar. I should have paid more attention to the store hours before making the reservation (bad MO!!)

A quick trip to the airport post office to post an item that I had recently sold on Ebay, while making a booking at a local hotel for less than $50 (including taxes) where I thought I could spend the night and return to my apartment at 8 or 9am on Monday...that's when things started going a little wonky!!

Hotels.com debacle
Hotels.com allowed my reservation to go through. I promptly called the hotel to let them know that I'd be coming in quite late, as I thought that I'd catch dinner at the local IHOP (one of the only takeaways that was open late on a Sunday), and if I had time also watch "The Invention of Lying". The hotel promptly let me know that there was no record of my reservation and that they were fully booked. Hotels.com was not able to re-book me (due to their system running on East Coast time, and hence not allowing them to book for Sunday when their system indicated that it was already Monday), so they refunded me. Normally I've had great service from Hotels.com, so I'm not going to roast them for letting me down this time. Needless to say it was looking like a very expensive night for me.. 

Late dinner..
A late dinner at IHOP and I made it for the 10:35pm showing (got to the theatre at 11pm, only missed a few minutes of the beginning) of 'The Invention of Lying' (an okay movie by the way, though I still maintain that Jennifer Garner can't act, even after exposing myself to 5 seasons of Alias!). At this point, the cheapest hotel was either 20 miles away or a local seedy looking motel, each of which would have set me back close to $100, which was a bitter pill to swallow, given the expenditure on dinner and the movie, which I could have avoided if I was at home (yep, thinking seriously budget conscious, as I was not working at the time)

The Movie and staying awake for hours...
Left the theatre at +-12:30am and decided to visit a 24 hour 'book' shop that I'd recently discovered. Wandered around for a bit, confirming that the DVD arcade in the shop definitely did not show 'regular' movies (had to ask!), and drove around a bit more, catching up on podcasts that had been accumulating on my phone. Spent the next few hours on the phone with family and friends back home (with timezone differences it was midday there, while early  hours of the morning here)...thank goodness for cheap calling cards and unlimited nights calling plans!

Rest of the story for Sunday night/Monday morning
The conversations and the podcasts kept me awake for the hours I was driving round and round the neighborhood...I think that I must have done just over 100 miles, used about a quarter tank of gas...though still much cheaper that getting a room for the night.
After a quick breakfast/coffee at Starbucks, where I confirmed from my phone that the office manager at my apartment starts work at 9am. I finally get to the lobby area at 9:15am (just over 13 hours since I left home), only to see a notice stuck over the board showing office hours, indicating that from today the office manager starts at 10am, for the next two weeks only!!!
Hmmm...wait around in the cold for another 45 minutes, or in my car, where I would probably end up sleeping from the exhaustion???
Nope, off to a Peets coffee near the Apple Store (I'd rescheduled my appt for just past noon the previous night, when I thought that I'd secured the cheap hotel room) and then off to the Apple Store to wait for my appt.

It's now 12:30pm, i.e. about 16 hours since I was locked out. I'm still at the Apple Store, typing this, while I wait for my turn. Writing this blog is keeping me awake right now. After I'm done here..I'll get some lunch from one of the nearby eating places (starving, won't be able to wait to go home and eat), may only get back to the apartment in the next 2 hours. I estimate about 17-20 hours before I can get some rest. Hmmm..reminds me of what a typical work day used to be like, though the hours are a bit messed up and I haven't been at all productive!!!

So that's my story...for now anyway.

How did it end?
Back to my apartment building, only to realize that it was the apartment manager's day off (can't recall what holiday it was).

19 hours since being locked out and I can't get hold of anyone from my landlord to let me back in.

$92 and one locksmith call, finally back in my apartment...if only it ended there...but it gets better! My telephone line at home has been disconnected, awaiting UPS to deliver my Vonage phone today. Problem is that the UPS guy would buzz me on my home phone, which he can't do, as it's disconnected, pending the Vonage phone.

20 hours later, waiting in the foyer for the UPS delivery, so that I don't miss him as well as no phone service for the whole day and everything else that's going on.

Finally some peace...; UPS guy delivered shortly after the locksmith got me back in and Vonage is giving me half off my first month due to the inconvenience...all is good for now.

A little about me...

Hi! This is my first post on my new blog...which I hope will provide me a means to express myself, my thoughts and perspectives. If anyone reads this, they're welcome to add comments and perspectives which would be appreciated.

I'm a 'classic professional', formerly in transition (i.e. Laid Off/Retrenched/Pink Slipped) due to the ever 'improving' recession in the US economy. Formerly from sunny Africa, I am married with a little boy.

I'm interested in technology, and tend to frequent blogs such as Engadget, TUAW, Gizmodo, IO9, BGR, etc. to get my daily fix. I'm also a comic book geek and listen to podcasts.

I'm on Twitter and update Facebook sometimes, though I mostly just catch up with news on Twitter.

That's me...for now anyway, thanks for looking!