A Poem

I found this at Associated Content. It's a poem entitled Lava Words. I thought it interesting. I hope you do.

Cursors, Part 2

I published my first set of cursors the other day! You can check them out at Real World Garphics. Just click on the Real World Graphics logo th the left on my blog page and click on cursor downloads and search for a set called Blue Wedgie. I hope you like them.

Cursors

Do you make your own cursors? I do. I find it quit enjoyable. I use an older version of Microangelo. It may not have all the features of the newest version but it's paid for! I've made hundrerds of cursors with it, most on my computer, which is down at the moment so I'm using my wife's computer. I enjoy the challange of thinking up different ways of doing the same thing all the time. Some of my cursors are quite good, even if I do say so myself. Some are real stinkers, too. I created a line based on the original Windows arrow which I called "Wedgies" because they looked a bit like a wedge. The first ones were little more than black and white 2D imagies but as time went on I refined my technique and made them 3D and in various shaded colors. The current "Busy" cursor for the series is a little anti-gravity animated robot. I'm quite proud of him.

My latest series really doesn't have a name. They started out as flat 3D shapes but ended up as raised shapes with a shaded side. I've made several different varieties of them, each different yet recognizable as from the same family. The current set that I am using is USA themed, red, white and blue in color. The "Working In Background" features the basic cursor but with a US flag atop it which changes to the basic cursor with the word 'Wait' atop it. The "Busy" cursor is a US flag that changes to the word 'Busy'. The "Help" cursor is a basic cursor with the word 'Help' atop it which changes to the word 'Me!' atop the cursor. All in glorious red, white and blue.

Because I have a program called 'Cursor XP' I'm able to have little US flags follow the cursor around (that's more for my wife that me. I like the program for the other features it has, like shadow control).

I'm sure that I'll be on to other cursors soon. If anyone knows of a place that will host and distribute my cursors for free, speak up!

Shipping Costs

Up until my lovely wife put the kibosh on my spending I purchased a lot of stuff on-line, especially from eBay. It's fun to shop on-line. It's peaceful, quiet, there's no crowds and I can shop in my underwear. Try that in Wal-Mart! I can most often find things on-line cheaper than I can in retail stores. The trouble is that they slam you with shipping charges! The shipping charges are usually more than the item that I'm wanting to buy! It's ridiculous! And it will vary from vendor to vendor. One place will have the item for X dollars while another place will have the exact same item for the same X dollars yet one place charges $10.00 to ship the item while the other charges only $2.00! Come on, the Post Office charges both vendors the same amount to ship the same item to the same place. So why such steep shipping charges?

I think that a lot of hidden 'handling' charges are tied up in the so-called 'shipping' charges of some vendors. They want a higher price for the item but can't compete with other on-line vendors so they 'sell' the item for the same amount or less then jack up the shipping cost to cover the remainder of the real price of the item. Or perhaps they can't buy in bulk like the other vendor. They are charged more so they have to charge more. But again they couldn't compete with the other vendors if they did. So again they advertise one price but recoup the rest of their profits by charging the customer such outrageous shipping charges. In some cases I think the vendor is just plain greedy. They want more so they jack up the shipping charges.

All other things being equal, who do you think I'm going to buy from? The vendor with the low price and low shipping charges, or the vendor with the low prices and high shipping charges? Duh! It's a no-brainer. Of course I'm going to buy from the guy with the lower shipping charges! Who wouldn't? Doesn't mister 'high shipping charges' know this? And just how does he stay in business? Do they ever sell anything? Of course they do, they are still in business so somebody must be buying from them! But who?

Then there is the vendor who has the corner market on an item. He knows it's a hot item, hard to find, limited edition, etc., and he jacks the price up 25% to 50% knowing that if you want it bad enough you'll pay his price. And when you do they still jack up the overpriced shipping charges on you! They get you coming and going!

Then there's the one who insists that the item has to be shipped whatever the most expensive way is then ships it a different, cheaper way! Or the one who claims that shipping by (insert carrier here) costs $X.XX. But later, when you have to return it you find out that your cost to ship it back the same way by the same carrier is a lot less!

Then there's the guy who charges an honest rate for whatever he's selling. He may charge you a dollar or two more for the item, but still within the average price range for it, but he only charges what it actually costs him to ship the item out. You got to love this kind of vendor. He's not out to gouge anyone, he's out to make a profit, sure, but he really cares about his customers and wants to have them for life. This is the kind of guy I like to buy from. They seem to be few and far between now-a-days, but Ive found a few on eBay and a few other places. These are the people I'll throw my business to, how about you?

My First Blog

This is my first Blog. I have a lot of thought on everything but at the moment, I'm speechless! Imagine that, a blogger with nothing to say! It sure is nice of Blogger.com to host this blog for FREE! Thanks! If you want to read a few of my thoughts on Pens and Pencils visit my posts on the JetPens forum. Just do a search for all my post under my handle there, onelonegunman. I'm sure that if you are a pen and/or pencil addict you'll find them interesting.