Captain6-antiquediamonds 4 the Best jewellery on ebay

Hello All.... my name is Deborah, Ive never actually noticed this link before so thought i would introduce myself for those of you who dont know us

We at captain6-antiquediamonds specialise in Finer Jewellery Diamonds, precious gemstones and all precious metalsFrom Ancient Jewellery, to Antiques, Vintage and the of course Contempary many of which are important designers the likes of Van Cleef and Arples , Bulgari , Chopard , Chaumet and Many more

Hopefully our feedback speaks for itself,so if your in the market to invest some pennieseither because you have been left some or because its your Birthday or Anniversary,or any special occasion why not check out our vast array of GemsMany of which are on a Buy it now, with an option for best offer where no reasonable offer is ever refused , ALL our items are seen as investments guarenteed to grow

Or if you perfer you can check out our 10 Day Auction listings and join our many followers bidding to win one of ourNO reserve auctions guarenteed there will be a winner and when you have done all this perhaps you would like to read our ' About Me Page 'this tells you how we started out , our History what makes us tick and what makes us UNIQUE to all other sellers on ebay not just in the UK but Worldwide......

What does AF mean in a ceramic or glass listing?

A
customer mentioned the other day that she didn't know what the term AF
or A/F means with regards to ceramics and glass, but is seeing it in
titles and listings more often these days.AF can mean either AS
FOUND or ALL FAULTS, and is a frequently used term by auctioneers to
indicate that there is undisclosed damage and that the customer should
take care, as the item is to be bought with all faults whether
mentioned or not.In eBay terms, AF therefore means that the
item is damaged, and what you see is what you get. This could be
anything from a fine hairline crack, to an item that has been
completely smashed into smithereens!Any item showing AF in the
description should have a full description of the damage you can
expect, and you should ask for further details and/or pictures if you
are not sure how badly damaged the item is.

!! FAKE NEW 20 POUND NOTES !!

Please be aware that there are counterfeit new 20 pound notes in circulation. I got one given to me and they are very good. The way to spot them is,
1, If you look closely at the holagram it doesnt change from the pound sign to the number 20 when you tilt it on the 2nd

Backing Up Your Hard Drive

This guide has only 1 purpose to make you think about all the information you have stored on your computer

I have spent 20 years having conversations with people regarding the loss of really important Data. Forgive me if my guide is blunt but this is a really important issue. We tend to take for granted all the information we have stored on our computers and forget to remember how difficult life would be if one day we woke up and it was all gone.

We all hold critical information on our PC or Mac. Digital Music, Digital Photographs, Movies, Important Documents the list goes on. What would happen if you get up one morning switch on your computer and the drive has failed?

Sheer panic, how do I get my information back? can I get my information back? If you have got to this stage at best you are going to cause yourself some huge amounts of stress and at worst if you need the data so badly you are going to end up with a huge bill for data recovery. When I mean huge I mean hundreds of pounds.

Lets start at the beggining

Your data is not covered under the warranty of your hard drive. This includes both the hard drive in your computer and any external hard drives that you have. All that is covered is the drive itself so there is no use hoping that the warranty will cover the cost of the data recovery.

Secondly if you buy an External Hard Drive to clear up some space on your internal drive ie take 20Gb off the Internal Drive and copy it onto the External this is not a back up, its original data. Think about it a back up means you have a copy of the data. Once you delete it from the internal drive then the External Copy is not a back up its the original content.

The solution is very simple make copies of your Data so if you lose one drive you have the information stored on another.

For example my Laptop has a 60Gb Internal Hard Drive. I have a 60Gb External Hard Drive and I simply back up the content from my Laptop to my External Hard Drive once a week. I downloaded a piece of free software off the internet and once a week it comes up and asks me if I want to do a back up. I click yes and job done.

My picture library going back 5 or 6 years is over 100Gb. I keep it on 2 x Portable Hard Drives both of 100Gb each

My music library is around 40Gb and again I keep two copies on 2 x 60Gb Portable Hard Drives.

The other alternative of course is make copies to DVD or CD but always keep a copy.

A lot of people say well I would but it's too expensive to have so many drives. It's really down to scale of importance. You can buy a 60Gb Portable hard drive for 28 pounds or a 100Gb for 37 pounds which is surely not expensive when it comes to saving your information. In fact a 160Gb Desktop Hard Drive will only cost you 30 pounds so if you have the space this has to be the best 30 pounds you have ever spent if its going to help you in the future.

All I want you to do is THINK. What if I woke up tomorrow and all my data had gone how much impact would this have on me? If I were to ask any user who had lost all there data through a hard drive crash, if I could turn the clock back and charge you 30 pounds to buy a drive to make a copy of your data would you do it ALL would say yes, truth is I could for some say 300 pounds or even more

Think about it that's all I want you to do. If it has made you think then please give the guide a vote otherwise I have no idea if it is serving its purpose.

As always if you have any questions about the guide or if you need any further advice about saving your Data then please email us or give us a call

Fake callaway x20

Just bought what seemed to be a 100% genuine set of callaway x20 golf clubsoff a ebayer with good feedback.

Hey guess what? yes u guessed 100% fake set, put in a claim back for my cost of these clubs against paypal ( i aint crossing my fingers).

I have had 100% positive feedback untill i bought these clubs, i left a neg against the seller so now i guess i'll get my first neg back, but i dont care about the neg i get back, as long as i put off potential buyers of people going to buy off this ebayer of counterfeit goods, dont know if i can put this ebayer names on here but if someone tells me i can i will. but the number of the item i bought is 320227686702, hope this helps others

Quality of Paintballs

Having just read a guide from someone with a grudge it is obvious a more bias independent opinion may be required. As a Chemist who was employed in the encapsulating industry for 7 years I was involved at the highest level in making paintballs here in the UK. I still play ball at 50 and my choice just happens to be Zap for logistical reasons but my main reason for this article is to have some opposition to an inaccurate, non-technical, strictly personal report.

Today I lecture on the marketing side of life and I can confirm most peoples choices in life are personal in selecting their paintballs or even their cans of beans. I had a Ford once in the 70s and it was the biggest rust bucket I have ever had the misfortune of owning. I vowed to never own one again and slagged Fords off at every opportunity. However, later in life I became more aware of lifes idiosyncrasies and bought another Ford in 2007. It is the best car I have ever owned, so it proved a judgement can be tainted by an experience, but it is not always the experience of others and is considereda bad basisin makingan informedchoice. I read this guys report who attacks zap and other brands saying they are rubbish, yet the same brand is the largest selling brand in Europe so everyone else must be wrong and this guy right. The same analogy can be used with your choice of Beer, Holiday, my Ford or even your choice of dog breed as a pet. If your mum was bit by a corgi when you were young I am sure you are under the misconception that all Corgis are from the piranhacaninus family.

For paintballs it is a similar thing, if you were sponsored by a said brand you are likely to love them until the sponsorship runs out, if you buy paintballs for your field you may be less fussy as you are the customer of the brand and not necessarily the consumer. The majority of field owners like an Asian ball as it is made with Bovine gelatine and therefore less likely to break, except maybe the skin of the receiver. In 1992 most of the then industry moved over to Pig gelatine as scientific results showed it is more likely to burst on the target and therefore safer due to more elasticised properties. The current Asian influx of paints into the market will sell well until the field operators see the damage they cause beforeabandoning the Bovine gelatine again. That same ball the Field owners covert is of course not exactly what a rec. player or Tournament player wants in a ball.

In complete contradiction to the other article I read on EBay by the guy with a grudge I will say scientifically there is almost no difference between a ball made in UK to a ball made in Canada, USA or Italy. The ingredients can alter by no more than 1 or 2 percent of formula. If you take a 10 quid bag of say Zap and compared it to a 10 quid bag of Draxxus you will find very little difference in Polyethylene Glycol (PEG), Gelatine, Sorbital etc. The difference in price often comes from the ingredients at the same level of ball, nothing to do with quality. The bottom end Draxxus at 5 quid a bag will hold a percentage of reclaimed gel ribbon, possibly a bit of non PEG in the fill, like chalk, Starch or clay and possibly a lower ph PEG or die. The time spent examining the paint in production is halved, the colours used may be mixed in the bag fillers etc. Pennies saved here and there determine the cheaper paints, not quality. The same priced Zap ball or RPS Ball will have the same shortcuts to try and get the paint to as cheap as possible. Marketing also costs and as such the sponsored paints may also have a large bearing

Much of the quality differences you experience as a player is determined by drying time, rolling time, packaging and age. The Shell of the ball is Gelatine, it is a living organism, in theory, it is a shell full of bugs and slime if you like. Because of this it is forever changing its state of hardness and elasticity due to fill migration to the shell or a concentration of certain molecules at the base of the ball. This 1st of point dryness and the timing of alternating states is part of the manufacturing process and considered when drying the paintball. When making a batch of paint it is known when the paint is likely to be used and therefore it can be dried to allow the Shell to be at its best for use. If it is past its best when you get it, you can store it for two weeks and you may find it is great again. In theory a Canadian ball coming to Europe will be manufactured to peek three weeks after it leaves the dryer, an Italian ball will peek a week after leaving the dryer etc.

The paintball in the factory goes through very stringent tests and then shipped if it passes ALL of them. At the time it is arriving at its country of destination the paint is again tested in the plant to see if the timing was right. It is fair to say NO manufacturing company lets a sub standard ball leave the plant on purpose. The company receiving the paintball will also test the ball immediately and consider the results. One batch may be perfect, the next needs a couple more days in 24oC etc. However this seems to be the end of the knowledge tree and the end of the preservation of the paintball according to what statistics reveal read on..

The paintball factory is the warmest of environments being critically kept at 22oC, and I mean all of them, Nelson, Procaps, Zap, PMI etc. They all have the best interests of the paintball at heart and do not intend to let the slightest thing go wrong with their flag ship product. When the paint is manufactured it is dried to harden the shell and shipped in Temperature controlled containers called Reefers to their final destination. When these reefers arrive in Tilbury, Southampton or Liverpool after 12 to 14 days being plugged into the electrical supply on a boat you can guarantee their quality. It then moves on a truck that is primarily used to allow these Reefer containers to maintain temperature on its final journey. A temperature recorder sits on the top of a box and it is electronically signalled back or mechanically opened on its arrival at final destination. It generally never drops below 20oC or peeks above 23oC.

Every manufacturer has took the trouble to do their bit. However the problem comes when a distributor has to send paint to a field. He can not deliver it himself and there is no regular daily reefer trucks running around the UK. He has to therefore send the paint by overnight courier where all the work to date can be destroyed. When the paint gets to a field the owner usually takes it out of his Freezing Transit and puts it in a hut where even the member of staff is wrapped up for the arctic. If you get my drift; statistics show that paintball goes through its problems in the hands of the couriers and customers. There are exceptions, some site operators do look after the paint but statistically it is rare. In 2004 we did a tour of 22 UK Fields to see if our paintballs were matching the criteria required for a field owner. We were horrified to see 18 did not look after the paint at all, some even put the paint on their transit the night before leaving home for the field.

Science.. Gelatine freezes at 8.9oC, there is nothing anyone can do about that, it is science. However at 10.1oC it has shown that the paintball will shrink to its minimum size where every molecule is squeezed to its minimum. This shrinking can start with long periods of exposure around 12.9oC. A paintball is round, but the product has no memory and does not know it is supposed to be round, therefore when the shrinking occurs it is not uniformly shrinking in a nice spherical manner; the dryer molecules shrink faster than those with a little migration of moisture from the fill or indeed the molecules exposed to the fill. This can make dimpling effect as the fill is looking for somewhere to go. The fill is a liquid and therefore less susceptible to compression. The shape of the ball is now changing, sometimes unseen by the human eye. Certainly the make up of the shell density has not started to change and this is at 12.9 well above any Summer morning in the UK.

The warming up of a paintball after it has been frozen or near frozen is often where the next damage occurs. The Gelatine if you remember has no memory of being spherical and therefore as it warms up again the molecules randomly expand. However the fill expands faster and needs room to move, this usually means the shell will stretch unevenly like stretch marks on skin or a crme-brul baked to fast. Under a magnifying glass a thousand hairline stretch marks will be seen like a London street map and everyone of them a fragile fault in the shell. The results being barrel bursts, hopper bursts and even bag bursts.

So before anyone goes off and accuses manufacturers of making bad paint, it may be prudent to look closer to home. Make your own mind up and do not take the word of someone else as your sole guide to choice. My advice is to study the logistics before buying, then consider how you yourself treat the ball thereafter, Thesew two factorshave a greater bearing than who manufactured it. If you spend thousands on Kit and hundreds on maintaining it over a year, do not penny pinch on paint. Your $100 barrel is likely to be a vanity purchase if you try to put a $40 case of paint through it, however that $60 case may be worth the barrel investment.

If you found this article informative, interesting or helpful please click below and say so to bring it higher up the ladder of millions of articles so more can read it. On average it is read 100 times before one person rewards with a click.

FAKE COPIED BOOTLEG RIPOFF DS LITE GAMES NO BOX NO BOOK

hi, I'm writing this guide to help other Ebay users SPOT the fake games that might not work as well as you first think, I myself have been ripped off twice in a month by fake game sellers which is why im writing this because there's thousands of fake and bootleg games being sold on ebay every year.The last fake game i brought was Mario party the seller stated the game was sealed and when i received it, yes it was sealed BUT not like any other new game i have ever purchased. It was like shrink wrapped of heat wrapped, unlike ds games in which the plastic cover is folded neatly as circled in the picture, which i thought was strange but the game was a US import so i just put it down to that, but US games and all legit ds game are wrapped the same.The next way to spot a fake is the printing of the sleeve, booklet and safety booklet. fake ones will be smudged and images will be blurry and the instructions inside be vague, in my instructions there were no list of controls the front of booklet had a water mark down it, and the back page the print did not go right to the end. And also when i compared the copy with my other original games there was bar codes on the back of the every booklet, but not on the FAKE one, at the top.The next and the easiest way to spot a fake is the actual cartridge the fake one does come with the Nintendo stamp like every original game. But on the back of an original game there is a printed number, i also noticed that the Nintendo stamp on the fake game was more prominent then on the original so it seems to stand out more. in the photo's below the top cartridge is the Fake. And finally another way is test the suspected fake game. the two fake games i brought were both single card download play, this is where you can have a multiplay game against other people using only one cartridge, with the fake games this feature does not work.Since i have wrote this i have noticed sellers selling DS games with no box or booklet, always read their feedback! If they are selling more than 10 and the games are "NEW" why dont they have the boxes? because they are fake and the easiest way to spot them is from the cover and book. and some are charging 2 for postage i sell on ebay and charge 1 postage for a Xbox game in the box with the box so how can they charge 2 for a small cartridgeNow my guide is over i hope it helps you, and helps get these thieves off Ebay. neilw2778

Bedford RLHZ green goddess

Around 2000 green goddess pumps were ordered by the government in the 1950's as part of a national civil defence force. They were never really meant to be used to fight fires, they were designed to work in relays to pump water from rivers and lakes great distances from the sites of nuclear explosions. Enough has been written about the Auxiliary Fire Service to make it wasteful to devote a lot of time here. They were built on the 4x4 Bedford RL, earlier ones used the S type chassis. These were very advanced for their day and, even today are not that far behind the pack. I can pretty much keep up with the trucks on normal roads and I reckon it's only the gearing that lets it down on the M4. The Sigmund pump is rated by many as one of the best fire pumps of all time! They are powered by a 6 cylinder petrol engine and the mechanics which are fairly bomb proof in normal use.Years passed, roles changed and by 1998 they were part of a general reserve for civil contingencies. They were best known for being deployed when fire fighters went on strike. Last being used in 2002. That wasn't all though, when major flooding threatened Chichester 18 Green Goddesses operating in relay pumped like crazy and saved the town. When drought affected Yorkshire, causing all sorts of moorland fires, the Green Goddess got to the places other fire engines could not reach. They were always dry stored and well maintained meaning they should be in remarkable condition for vehicles which are over 50 years old. I own four and really love them. Just so I am honest - I also own a hell of a lot of the spares the government used to hold for them too and I really have far more than I need so I have been selling it all off slowly. So if you are looking to buy one what should you look for? The first place to look is on the roof. Whilst these vehicles were in storage they were well maintained, once the decision to cast them was made they were immediately moved from air conditioned warehouses to a former airfield in Lincolnshire. The exposure to the rain and wind did nothing for them and many of the roofs coverings will be in poor order. This is rarely as bad as it looks though and a number of means have been utilized to recover the roof. It is rare to find one that is not structurally sound the wood underneath is usually OK. Next come round to the front and check the steel parts. Rust here is common but not the end of the world as wings and panels are available from several dealers, usually off the shelves of the same store that held the GG. Paint work will usually look pretty faded and grim. Do not be put off by this; the fading is normal and easily rectified by resorting to a mild cut and polish. The original paint is basically the same as paint type as Dulux Exhaust systems should be checked carefully. Silencers are probably still a current part, but the front pipe and tail pipe are almost certainly not. That said they are not very complex and would not cost the earth to have made. It's very important to keep the zorst complete and free from leaks, for some reason they run really badly if they don't have the right back pressure. Spark plugs should be replaced as a matter of course with NGK B6S since they are almost always original to the vehicle from when it was built. It's not that they fail just that the NGK's are much better. Not the same for the coil which is bolted to the back of the engine where it gets the "benefit" of lots of heat and vibration. You should move this out of the engine room to the bulkhead above the clutch pedal. There are even holes already there to take the bolts and route the wires!!Charging systems have also been known to act up. This is an old fashioned dynamo system with a mechanical charge control box which will usually respond to a bath in WD40. An electronic replacement was made and stocks were sold off at disposal. Alternatively fitting a modern altenator off a Land Rover 90 is not that hard. The clutch is prone to sticking, the driven plate sticks to the flywheel. Parked up for any time it is normal to use a stick to hold the pedal down. If the clutch does stick it takes a whole 20 minutes to remove a plate under the engine and prize the plate off the flywheel. The tools in the "hearth kit" are ideal for this. Similarly use wheel chocks rather than the hand brake if you mean to park it for any length of time. Also pump the tyres to 100 psi if it is to be parked up for any time. Keeps them in shape!The key when buying a GG is equipment. At first sight they all seem to contain a bewildering amount of gear inside outside and on the roof. This is deceptive. When they were released in 2005 they were moved about quite a bit and sometimes storage was not as secure as it might be. Consequently things had a habit of "vanishing". A lot of the equipment is original from the 1950's and of a far higher quality than modern tools. The "hearth kit" added in the 1980's, a coverall bag of hammers and saws seems to have been very attractive to the light fingered. An awful lot of the fire gear is aluminium. So it's very common for things to be missing. You will really struggle to re equip one that has been looted. By the time they were sold there were two basic levels of kit. 1979 spec and 2002 spec. The main difference between the two is the type of hose. 1979 spec is to have 16 lengths of 75 foot canvas hose dating from the 50's.2004 spec is to have 10 lengths of 70 mm and 4 lengths of 45 mm red duraline hose together with 4 drums of foam compound. Now here comes the difficulty. The duraline was changing hands for lots of money at one stage so people would remove it, replacing it with canvas hose, usually about 8 lengths of it.Vehicles in 1979 spec are fairly common. The 2004 specification was still being applied when the decision to sell was made in 2005, probably only a few hundred were so converted and many of those will have subsequently lost their hose. The owners group - a yahoo group called RSOLES, (confession - I own that too) has full kit lists in it's file section so you can check everything is there. Of course the vendor should have this anyway as part of the vehicles records. You need to check provenance. Many GG come with their original delivery papers from the 50's and records of everything it did and was done to it thereafter. A full service history!! Others, usually ones stored at Branston immediately before 1990 may have very little before that date. Branson GG will have a stock number on the front somewhere. Northern Ireland types are a sub group all of their own. There were about 30 of these and you can tell them apart easily. They are bright yellow and have grills over the windows!! They are fitted with radial tyres which gives them a slight edge in terms of speed and fuel economy, you can also hear yourself think when driving over 30 MPH. Those old cross plies are like having timber wolves howling in the cab with you!! Another complication is fuel. There was no such thing as unleaded when the GG was built, modern fuel also runs at a far higher temperature. This is bad news for the engine which has iron valves and soft seats which do not cope at all well with the heat. Some protection can be given by the addition of an additive; Castrol Valavemaster was the only one approved by the Home Office. Some other products may offer no protection at all. Including a device you pop into the tank that is supposed to release Zinc or some other metal into the fuel. For some reason the EFS set them to run really retarded and rich to the point where they can frequently gas themselves when they are hot. To set the mixture, there is a control screw on the side of the carb; screw this right in then back it off two whole turns. That should be close to right, then tweak it in and out a little till you get the smoothest tickover. For the timing. ignore the timing marks, they are for running on really poor quality 50's fuel. The simplest thing to do is to find somewhere quiet, drive it round with the engine covers off and the distributor lock nut loose. Then and assistant can turn the distributor till you get the best running and most power - you will be amazed how much advance you will give it to get the best power. This all gives you more power and economy. Economy is not a word that springs off your tongue, if you get 10 mpg you are doing very well!!Many were converted to run on unleaded, but it's not as simple as that either. Conversions may well still have soft iron valves which do not like the higher combustion temperatures of modern fuel and have been known to fail with catastrophic consequences. Steel exhaust valves are available (from me) or can be made for about 30 pounds each. You can tell an unleaded head by stripes of green and yellow paint on the back of it. But it is still worth checking the valves - far better spend hours checking than days rebuilding an engine!! It's not a "big" job, the bits are all available and access to the engine, like pretty much anything on the GG is really easy. In fact working on one is quite a delight to someone who has worked on modern cars, they are really simple and straightforward. It's rare to find one with more than 6000 miles on the clock and I have seen one that said it had done 250 - not too sure about that though. They were all originally on Avon tyres, over the years many migrated to Goodyear. My personal preference is for the Avon, I think it's a nicer tyre. A very small number were on radial tyres. To the best of my knowledge only the NI vehicles were so fitted. You have to reconfigure your style for driving one. Modern "use the brakes for all slowing down" will not cut it with these. Use the brakes when you have to and try and let it slow down naturally or use the gear at other times. Otherwise you will forever be adjusting the brakes and have regular changes of shoes - suits me I have loads of brake shoes! Plan your driving, chose your line, double de clutch, enjoy driving that way, I love it They are not at all hard to drive, my son reckoned they were easier than his land rover, he was 12 at the time, he still says he is a better GG driver than me. My daughters learnt to drive in one. Oh, the speedo lies like a cheap watch"It said I was doing 30 officer" Is not generally recognized as a defence in law. Also get yourself a grease gun and when you intend to take it out, especially if it has been stood a while give the drag link and track rods a little squirt of grease. This really is strong arm steering when you are maneuvering. In summer open the windscreen (but not too much) for winter, open a little hatch in the floor and let the air from the exhaust manifold pour in for as long as your passenger can take the heat. Don't forget the coiled wire "windscreen heater" which will smoke as it burns off any dust accrued over the summer! Really, they are as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. Wherever they go they don't just stop the show they cancel all shows!! People to stop whatever they are doing to come and have a look. I have given up on seeing other vehicles at shows, I just know I will spend all my time explaining what everything is and how it works to lots of people. And of course you will start out not intending to know; but as soon as you buy one you will lock yourself in your bedroom so you can avidly read all the drill books and manuals. You will be googling and researching, trust me, it's quite normal.... They are also the most incredible tool box, there is rarely a problem I cannot find something on the back of the truck to solve. The kit list is very comprehensive. The pump is an enormously powerful tool for moving water, one of our guys in Scotland pumped out a small ship that had sunk. Re floating was a matter of a few hours. If you want a flavour go and look at you tube. There are videos of GG driving up the road, flattening bumper deep snow drifts and pumping ridiculous amounts of water. There is even a video of fire fighting during the last strike. In 2002 there were about 1000 left. Including the 30 yellow ones which have seemed less popular with buyers too. About 300 were gifted to foreign governments and others sold for export. One guy had one shiped out to east coast of the USA then drove it home right across the states. Another drove one from Melton Mowbray to South Germany!There is a bunch of people who intend to enter the London to Mongolia rally next year. It's hard to work out how many are now in the UK, left in the open a lot of them got in very poor condition and ended up being cut up. No one seems to know the final tally, but I would estimate many hundreds ended up weighed in as scrap with their registration numbers retained for future sale. To the best of my knowledge there are none left in Government hands they have all been sold. Well OK except four that were sold to Wiltshire because they are still better than anything else for pumping floods. In terms of what they are worth, the answer has to be: what you are prepared to pay!!Broadly though in the current market, the body sides are aluminium lots of the kit is aluminium, there is lots of brass too, the pumps are worth about 700 pounds as scrap on their own. . The current market is still in a state of over supply. But how long that will last is anyone's guess. Between rising scrap prices and future rarity they are a bit of a bargain at the moment!!If this inspires you to make a few bids, bring one home, the wife leaves you (not that you will notice you will be too busy playing with your GG) and spend the rest of your life finding things to do with one. Please don't phone me to complain, I will be busy.......Rhys

JOYS - VERY POOR SERVICE

I too would like to add the appalling service we received from JOYS INTERNATIONAL SEWING MACHINES

It took me 18MONTHS TO GET MY REFUND. The 'free' overlocker they sent didnt work from the start, and when emailing the customer service line for advice, you persistently get the document for how to use it sent back, with a message stating that most problems are user error.

I too had to return the FREE GIFT and finally only got a refund by applying for it through my Credit Card insurance, they twice sent me back a faulty machine, second time, they kept the CD software, and the USB cable, so the machine was useless anyway.

DO NOT THINK THAT BUYING FROM JOYS IS CHEAPER AND BETTER

Its a complete scam

SPOT A FAKE CHANEL HANDBAG... DO NOT BE FOOLED!

Step1

These products are sold through a network of CHANEL Boutiques and very select high end retailers. They do not allow their items to be sold on websites, discount stores, wholesalers and you cannot purchase Chanel items on the Chanel.com website. Do you really think any high end designer makes quality merchandise for sale in their boutiques at top $$$$ and also sells to websites at a fraction of the prices, NO WAY, they don't need too and would ever do so.

Step2

CHANEL stricly prohibits anyone infringing on the integrity of their famous trademark and FULLY prosecutes anyone who does so! They have a legal department dedicated to removing counterfeit items listed on ebay and other websites to protect innocent buyers who think they are getting that deal of a lifetime. If the bag is selling for cheap, or way below retail, it is most likely a fake, even a used CHANEL will hold its value and will sell for close to retail as when new.

Step3

CHANEL uses high quality calfskin on their bags NOT LAMBSKIN. They do use many other leathers and fabrics but the Cambon line is entirely made of calfskin. Cambon bags are made in Italy, not France although CHANEL DOES manufacture items in France. The new "COCO CABAS" line was also made in Italy, not France and I have verified this over and over with CHANEL. They do not sell 2nds to outside sources and any bag that is not PERFECT is shredded and destroyed to prevent anyone including employees of CHANEL to resell them. They also do not allow websites to offer their bags for sale, such as sacbelle.com or fetucci.com . I have looked at the bags on these websites and even called their customer support, they claim they scour the world looking for overstock on these bags and santch them up and offer them for 1/4th the cost, simply not true. When did you ever hear that Chanel was "Overstocked" on bags. There are alot of them out there, claiming they buy in bulk and can sell these bags for way below retail, simply not true. CHANEL controls where their products are sold and sets the retail price. You can buy in bulk, almost MIRROR image high end designer bags from Asia for very little money and then re-sell them for thousands, I have the catalogues and sellers names who are doing this. pictures can be deceiving or even stolen, you do not always get what you see. They claim they are real, when they are not.

Step4

Right now, the most commonly used counterfeit serial numbers on CHANEL bags are :7244764, 8947749, 9316391, 9395451, 9395455, 9675223, 9777617, 10218184, 10501946, 11062948 and 10803549. Even counterfeits come with a serial number card and matching # inside the bag. The card should be black and gold, not laminated in plastic and the hologram inside the bag will pull apart if removed, thus ruining the tag. Please avoid purchasing a bag with one of these serial #'s. They are counterfeits. The tags, and authenticity cards provided with each bag is made to the same specifications today as they were 25 years ago, they are not changed yearly as some sellers will tell you. They do not make several different styles of authenticity cards. BLACK with GOLD trim and lettering.

Step5

CHANEL and other high end designers DO NOT authenticate items for buyers in writing, they will offer a verbal to you but beware of those sellers offering refunds if you have a letter from a boutique manager stating the bag is not authentic, CHANEL NEVER offers written proof.

IF THIS GUIDE WAS HELPFUL CLICK YES TO SUPPORT ME PLEASE!!

Buying and Wearing WW1 Era Officers Trench Watches

Buying and Wearing WW1 Era Officers Trench WatchesI am by no means an expert on watches, but since I have been interested in vintage WW1 era "Officers" or "Trench" wristwatches I have bought some good ones and some bad ones, and leaned a little bit along the way, so I hope the following might be useful and help you to avoid some of the mistakes I have made.Important things to look out for when buying a vintage wristwatch are:First, find something you like the look of - if you like it, then chances are others will too so it will hold or increase in value; don't buy something just because it's old. The most important thing is to make sure that the watch is in good condition, running and keeping reasonable time, and that the case is OK, with no broken lugs or hinges - spare parts for watches that are getting on for 100 years old are no longer available so repairs to the movement can be at least very expensive or at worst impossible, and case hinges are also very difficult and therefore expensive to repair. A broken wire lug, or scratched or discoloured crystal, is not too bad, but make sure it is reflected in the price.Avoid the temptation to buy a non-runner that needs repairs unless you are sure you know exactly what is wrong with it, and exactly how much it will cost to repair. Be very careful about a watch described as simply "over wound" - this is not a fault recognised by watchsmiths! Vendors who use this phrase are trying to imply that it can be easily fixed, and I am sure that this will turn out not to be the case. A watch that doesn't go at all always requires repair, which certainly won't be cheap, and may be very expensive or impossible. A cheap purchase can easily turn out to be an expensive mistake! You should expect to have to get a watch serviced, that is cleaned and oiled, if you want to actually wear and use it. If someone doesn't mention the going condition, ask - they may be trying to hide something.Try to get a watch of a reasonably large size: ideally 34/35mm or bigger across the case diameter, excluding the lugs and winding crown, but definitely at least 32mm . Watches smaller than this are either ladies, or are just too small to look good on a man's wrist and therefore have a low resale value. If you have a small wrist or just like a small watch, then by all means go ahead and buy it, but remember that it won't be so easy to sell, or likely to fetch a good price. Very few people collect ladies watches. If someone doesn't mention the size, ask - they may be trying to hide something.Be aware of the dangers of luminous dials, but don't be too afraid of them, they are usually on nice period military watches. See my web page about luminous dials for more on this. If you are going to wear the watch every day, you can get the luminous paint replaced for a reasonable cost. If you only wear it occasionally, don't worry about it, just take basic precautions. Make sure that the hands match the numerals in style. If the numerals are railway style, that is outlines which were painted in with luminous paint, then the hands should be cathedral or poire squelette style of open lattice work design to carry luminous material. You see lots of watches with luminous numerals that have had the original hands, which were very delicate, replaced with plain hands that don't match the numerals and couldn't possibly carry luminous paint.If you are going to wear the watch every day, bear in mind that shock protection for the balance was not invented for another couple of decades after these watches were made, and that they are not water or dust resistant like a modern watch: So you mustn't drop it else you will likely break the balance staff, which will write it off from an economic point of view at least. And don't get it wet or dusty. Take it off when washing your hands or mucking about with water or gardening etc. And no chopping wood while wearing it!Price: This is a very rough guide as these watches are going up in value all the time, but if you can get a nice watch in good condition that you like for under 100, you will certainly make money in the long run. If you can get it for 60 / 80 you have done very well. This will be an anonymous watch in a silver case - solid gold cases are rare (many have been melted down for the gold, which is why there are lots of uncased movements about) and expensive, and also tend to be on the small side, which doesn't look so good. Avoid gold plate / rolled gold / gold filled cases.Watches with the maker named on the movement go for more money - sometimes a lot more money, especially in the case of well known makes such as Omega or Longines. Rolex prices are always much higher than even these, and the legendary makes such as Patek Philippe or Vacheron Constantin are stratospheric. Be aware that watches of this era almost never had the makers name on the dial, that only started with Rolex in the 1920s. If there was any name on the dial it was that of the retailer, and this was screen printed on in indian ink or similar, so has often worn off. If you see a watch with a makers name on the dial but not the movement, be very suspicious - it's easy to paint a name onto a dial.If you have found this guide useful, then I would be grateful if you would register a positive vote for it.. If you have not found it useful, or noticed any errors or ways that it could be improved, I would be grateful if you would let me know. Thanks!Regards - David (fsbr1908)

SEWLAND OVERLOCKER, CRAP

I BOUGHT ONEFOR MY WIFE[ I NOW KNOW I WAS CONNED, WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP, BE WARNED IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBE TO THREAD THEM THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE NOTHING SHORT OF WAISTED PAPER VERY POORLY PRINTED NOT EVEN GOOD PICS, JUST BE WARNED THEY ARE CRAP AND SHOULD BE SENT BACK TO THE FAR EAST AND BLOWN UP WITH THE C--TS THAT MAKE THEM.

Beware fake Choo's Louboutin and other designer shoes

If you are in the UK or Europe do not buy so called designer shoes such as Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik or other expensive shoes from theUS or Asian countries. The customs fees are very high and if they are fake you cannot claim back the custom fees or forthe expensive postage back to the original seller. You always need proof of postage so to send back to these countries could cost up to 15.00 if you send back by international signing. You cannot claim this back from paypal.

BEWARE of fakes. I have purchasedover 20pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes and but about a year agoreceived one of the worst fakes ever. The seller tried to get out of this by saying she never actually said Jimmy or Choo shoes in the descriptionbut had a picture of the shoes that said Jimmy Choo on the label. There are good fakes and poor fakes, do the following.

SMELL the shoes. All these shoes are made of genuine leather, even if the shoes are silk or satin the heels and soles are always leather.

TEST the shoes. Feel around the edges, they should be smooth. The soles and heels should be very neatly within the design of the shoes.

LOOK AT THE DESIGN. They should look outstanding even if theyhave been worn, they should bethe best quality shoesor boots you have ever seen. If they look like a high street brand, they are fake. If the size is right they should feel like the most comfortable shoes you have worn. All the top designer shoes arecomfortable. This is whyhavea starting price ofat leastof 250.00to over 750.00 or more.

SIZE. All of these designer shoes are at least between a half to a size smaller than the usual high street shoes. So if you are a UK 6 or 39, you would fit into a UK 5 to 5.5, 38 to 38.5, if they are tight or fit you perfectly for your usual size they are probably fake.

DON'T BE FOOLED. Even if a seller has the box and dust bag they can still be fakes. I have had buyers offer me 15.00 just for a box. (I turned them down). Notice there are buyers selling boxes, dustbags and carrier bags for designer shoes and boots and people pay for these. If someone buys these it is easier to list a pair of shoes on ebay and pass them off as designer shoes.

IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS after you have purchased a pair of these designer shoes ask the seller for more details, where they bought them, how much they cost the actual name of the design. If you cannot find these details on the internet report them to ebay and make a claim via paypal.

Little Tikes Country Cottage Play House

Hi,

We have recently purchased a Little Tikes Country Cottage for our little girls. The cottage itself is fantastic, andmade of really hard wearing plastic, plus there are no nails or any sharp corners for the kids to catch themselves on. I really could never complain about the quality of the item, but be warned..... although the houses do come to bits, they are still big.

We have a Renualt Megane Scenic, we took all of the back seats out which made it about the size of a regular van (not transit), and we still struggled to get it in the car. They are fab little houses, and I high recommend them, but... think about how you're going to get them home before you buy them.I would imagine loads of people have fallen down because sellers advertise them as being easy to move due to coming to bits, but when a bit of them is about 4ft x 3.9(ish)ft up to the peak, it's a massive 'bit'.

I hope this prevents buyers from getting in a rather uncomfortable situation.

Take care,

Kate

A guide to replacing your pickups - easy!

Rewiring or replacingyour pickups?

If you have ever thought about replacing your pickups but have been worried aboutmaking a bit of a mess of it? Well that was me a few years ago! At least first time round I found it hard as I just figured it out from scratch, but it is actually quite easy once you know how to do it.

Almost all low cost guitars will benefit from new after marketpickups and upgrading pickups in your guitarcanreally transform an otherwisedull sounding uninspiring guitar into a tonemachine that sounds amazing.

What you will need is a soldering iron (for electrical wiring soldering) and a tube of electrical solder from any DIY shop such as B7Q etc. You will needscrewdrivers and pilers or clippers to clip the wire.

Take off off the old strings and bin them. New pickups deserve a new set of strings and they will sound even better with a fresh set of shiny strings. Remove the pickguard with the pickups on it if it is a Strat or remove the control or access panels in teh rear if it is any other type of guitar.

Before you start, draw a plan of where the wires are currently soldered on the guitar so you can rewire it back to standard if you get totally lost.

Seymour Duncan is aleading pickup manufacturer and if you go to their web site at seymourduncan.com and click on the 'Support' tab and then 'Wiring Diagrams' you will find many easy to follow wiring diagams of just about every combination of pickups for every type of guitar on the market. These are very useful to follow and I use these all the time no matter what brand of pickup I am fitting.

Just remember that all manufacturers use different wiring colour codes but that isn't a problem if you translate the colour codes before you start. So one manufacturer may say Red is the HOT wire and Green is the GROUND wire, whereas another manufacturer maycode their wires asBlack is the HOT wire and White is the Ground wire. What I do is to get colour pens to recolour the wiring diagram appropriate for the manufacturer's colour codes before I start. It is really that easy! You can get the manufacturers colour codes usually on the box that the pickup comes in or colour codes are printed on a sheet inside the box or you can find their colour codes on the manufacturer'sweb sites.

So all you do is simply use the soldering iron to melt the solder from the connections and remove the pickups and then solder the new ones in their place. Solder hardens in 2 seconds so it is quick. if you need to do it again, just melt the solder again in 2 seconds and do it again, no problem. Remember to ensure that everything is earthed as it shows on the wiring diagram, including the bridge and the volume and tone pots. Also, cover the guitar with a cloth or newspaper in case you drip hot solder onto the finish. Watch out as soldering irons have extremely hot tips.

If you are changing the Volume and tone Pots then usually Strats and Teles and most single coil guitars have 250k pots and Les Pauls, SGs and most humbucker type guitars usually have 500k pots.

That is about it...simple really. Just be sure that the pickup heights are adjusted after you fit new strings and away you go.

For a review of different types of pickups available and other guitar subjects please see my other guides.

Finally, did youfind this guide useful? If so, please vote "Yes" below. Thank you kindly.

LITHUANIA FRAUD

If you have a winning bid from an unverified Paypal account in Lithuania (even if the address is CONFIRMED) for electronic goods, RUN FOR THE HILLS...I am just one of many people I have made contact with now who have been defrauded... Somehow (and this is in the hands of the Financial Services Ombudsman because it seems INCREDIBLY EASY for the fraud to be facilitated time and time again and it's ludicrous that the seller ends up being made ALLEGEDLY liable by Paypal/eBay - read your Paypal small print much???) a fraudster in Lithuania hacks into an eBay and Paypal account, changes the address and details to a PO Box in Lithuania (the same guy is doing it again and again but moving PO Box numbers... currently in Vilinius, shame this can't be simply tagged by the most elementary security system somewhere, eh Paypal/eBay?) and then cleans up by ordering cameras, phones, laptops etc...After the sale, you'll get money credited to your Paypal account and then swiftly removed again (always about 4-5 days later) and then Paypal will start chasing you for the money, saying it's been recredited elsewhere, and you've lost the money, the goods, and paid for the postage to send it to Lithuania.

buyer complaint of seller J.S.M. sewing machines

I bought a sewing machine from jsmmachine from Joys International Sewing mMachine Ltd.. it worked well for 3 hour long sessions. then it ceased to work. I took it to my local sewing machine expert, whom I have known

spotting fake perfume fragrances

Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum Spray 3.4oz, which retails for
$110.00, was on eBay for $39.95. This item, when it is available, sells
in the wholesale market for around $85.00. As a consumer, this should
immediately put up a red flag as it did for me that this product was
either counterfeit or stolen. Based on the price I ruled out stolen
merchandise. There is no need to cut the price of perfumes this low. In
fact, you can sell perfumes close to or at market price.

The
first clue in determining if a product is real is the pricing. If it is
too good to be true, it usually is. To further my research,
the Coco Mademoiselle. At first glance it looked real but then I
closely examined the details of the packaging and components against
one I purchased from a distributor for Chanel. There were obvious
differences between the products.

Here are some things to look
for that will let you spot counterfeit perfume. You can do this by
comparing the item in question against one from a department store

1. Examine the outside packaging. Is the lettering the same font and type?

2. Is the wording on the box in the same place?

3. Is the box folded and glued in the same manner? Is the seam even and properly connected? Does it fall apart when handled?

4.
The detail bordering need to be the same. In the Coco Perfume case
there is a gold trim around the outside of the box and the inside flaps
are gold.

5. The UPC Bar code on the box should be in the same place. Do the numbers match up?

6. Are the trademarks present and in the right places?

7. Is there an inner lining inside the box and is the construction consistent with the perfume box you are comparing with?

8.
Look at the details, angles and coloring of the cap and its
construction. Does it fit properly on the bottle? Does it slide on and
off easily.

9. The bottle construction is very difficult to copy. Are the angles of the glass smooth and even? Quality bottles are seamless.

10. Check the clarity of the color and print work on the bottle.

11.
Another good indicator is the sprayer. Examine the sprayer detail
outside and inside the bottle. In this case the gold sprayer and the
stem inside it were completely different.

12. Finally, see if the
coloring of the juice and the smell are consistent with the department
store product. The smell test is always the first test for consumers,
but it can be hard to tell the difference unless you wear it for a
period of time.

Thankyou for reading my guide/review if it was of help to you please click yes so others can find the review more easy

Maintaining Breast Milk Production

Maintaining a Good Breast Milk SupplyBreast feeding is a learnt skill. Some find it so easy, but for many mums, there can be many tears shed with episodes of frustration and despair.When first beginning to breast feed, or when a baby changes its feeding pattern, mums often believe that they are not producing enough milk. Furthermore, as baby gets older and becomes a more efficient and faster feeder, a mum may feel that she isnt meeting baby's feeding needs.Mums can also feel that their supply is insufficient if milk stops leaking from their breasts, if they stop feeling the letdown reflex, or lose the 'fullness' feeling. The loss of these feelings is a normal sign that a mums body has adjusted to a babys feeding requirements.LaLache League believe that only 1-2% of women are unable to produce enough milk for their baby. This minority of women does not include those mums who have breast infections, difficulties getting baby to latch on, or a mums lack of, or low confidence in her ability to breast feed.There are also a few medical conditions that can cause a low milk supply.Low or high thyroid levels.Drugs, for example, combined contraceptives or cold remedies that contain decongestants such as Pseudoephedrine.Large blood loss during and after labour.Birth by Cesarean Section, especially if carried out in an emergency.Premature birth.Self HelpOne of the common reasons for a mum to give up breast feeding is because she feels that she isnt producing enough milk. For some mums this indeed may be true, but for others it may just be case of how and when she is breast feeding and what else can she do to help improve her milk supply.PositionEnsure that you are sat in an room in which you feel relaxed and happy to breast feed.Sit in a comfortable position.Just before breast feeding gently massage your breasts for about 5 minutes.Prior to feeding, have a warm drink to relax you, and have a glass of water available since breast feeding can make you feel thirsty.Make sure you have quiet time with your baby so that you can both concentrate on feeding without being distracted.RestTiredness can affect your breast milk supply. It can be extremely difficult to get some sleep whilst caring for a baby, trying to breast feed and dealing with everyday tasks.Try to sleep whenever baby does.Dont be afraid to ask family or close friends to help and take up any offers of help.It is important that your husband/partner knows about the importance of rest so that they can support and help you. Ask your partner to massage your shoulders and back as often as possible.Try to have a relaxing bath or shower each day.Treat yourself to some nice bath remedies and massage oilsFrequency of Breast FeedsDuring the first few weeks a baby will feed as often as 6-12 times a day. The more baby is put to the breast, the more milk you will produce.Make sure baby is correctly latched, as you may develop sore nipples.If baby sucks on your nipples as opposed to the alveoli your supply will be affected.Whilst your milk supply is becoming established let baby feed for as often and for as long as he/she needs.Fluids and DietTry to drink approximately 3L of fluids (but not too much caffeine, or carbonated drinks) in every 24 hours and have about 500 calories more to eat than what you would normally have.Diet can affect breast milk volume so its important that you take good care of yourself. There is no need to diet when breast feeding.Skin to Skin CareAlso called Kangaroo Care. This can really help with increasing your milk production.Strip baby down to just a nappy.Lie baby directly onto your tummy/ breasts and cover his/her back with a soft blanket.As well as helping to increase your milk supply you will find this relaxing and babies love it too! This direct contact also helps babies who are suffering from colic.You can also try expressing breast milk whilst having skin to skin care. This can also help to increase your milk supplyAlternative RemediesThere are a number of remedies available which may help to improve and enrich your supply:

Milkmaid Tea contains a blend of organic fennel seed, organic fenugreek, organic nettles, organic red raspberry leaf, organic orange peel and more. This tea can be drunk hot or cold.

More Milk contains blessed thistle, nettle leaf and fennel seed. This does not contain fenugreek and is particularly beneficial for those mums who have suffered from its potential side effect of loose stools.

Fennel tea and Fenugreek tablets can also help to stimulate the production of breast milk by boosting your prolactin levels.

DrugsThere are a number of drugs available which help to increase the levels of prolactin which may help improve your supply.The most common drugs prescribed are Metoclopramide and Domperidone.These drugs can have side effects though, so it is essential to discuss the benefits of starting on this medication with your breast feeding councillor or your doctor. Growth SpurtsDuring a growth spurt, a baby will often feed continually for long periods. It is a babys way of helping a mum to produce more milk.When a baby has a growth spurt he/she will want more milk and will feed more frequently.Cluster FeedingCluster feeding is a method that baby naturally uses to encourage mum's breast milk supply.Cluster feeding can also be called 'bunch feeding' and is very common. It occurs at a certain time of day, normally in the evening, when a baby will bunch a number of feeds altogether over a few hours instead of spreading the feeds out.Afterwards a baby may sleep for a longer period than normal. It is especially common when a breast fed baby is getting ready to start sleeping through the night.During cluster feeding or a growth spurt, mum has two more options to help improve her supply.She can put the baby to the breast as often and as frequently as the baby demands.She can consider expressing her breast milk.There are two specific methods of expressing that can be used to boost supply during this cluster and growth spurt period: Power Pumping

Sony Bravia TV's - Ready or Full HD

You are thinking about buying a new High definition TV, and are confused about HD ready and full HD??

I will try and help a little !

For starters, lets take standard HD ready, or HD resolution.

A flat panel Tv is made up ofrows (or lines)of dots.These dots are
known as pixels.A standard HD ready tv has a lot more lines of dots
than a standard tube tv.If you take a standard Sony LCD panel, you
will see the resolution is 1366 x 768.

This means the screen has 1366 dots across the width of the screen,
and 768 down. Therefore you can work out how many dots there are on the
screen by multiplying the 2 numbers. 1366 x 768 = 1049088. Thats just
over 1 million pixels making up the picture. (with me so far ?)

Ok - now a FULL HD panel.

The resolution of a full HD ready panel is 1920 x 1080. When we
multiply the figures we get - 1980 x 1080 = 2073600. Thats just over 2
million pixels making up the picture.

Q -So double the pixels means a better picture yes ??

A - Not necessarily !!

This is where a lot of confusion lies, you see the quality of the picture is dependant upon what you are watching.

If you are watching standard tv, the broadcast quality is simply not
enough to fill all the dots on an Hd screen. The TV has to work to add
extra dots to the picture so it fills the screen, this is the reason
why when you get too close to a screen it looks fuzzy or "pixelated".
The more dots there are on a screen, the harder the tv has to work to
fill those dots. Therefore, if you are watching a standard broadcast -
the cheaper standard HD ready Tv will give you a better picture !

SKY HIGH DEFINITION

The Sky hi-definition service is well under way, and for those of
you that have not seen it.......WOW !! It will blow you away with
the quality. Quite simply the HD transmission from Sky contains more
pixels, so the picture fills the screen, the tv does not have to work
as hard, and therefore the picture quality is much better.

What most people dont realize though, is that the Sky high
definition service only currently outputs 1 million pixels, so if you
plug it into aFULL Hd panel, it will only fill half of the pixels on
the screen, so the TV still has a lot of work to do. The picture is
still good, and miles better than a standard broadcast, but you are
still not seeing its full potential.

SO WHY FULL HD ?

There are many full HD sources on their way, the new high definition
dvd discs that are just starting to emerge (blueray for example) will
offer a full 2 million pixel output, and the long awaited PS3 games
console will also be able to fill all the pixels on a full HD panel.
Also, inevitably, Sky will at some stage in the future probably launch
an enhanced broadcast.

SO WHAT DO I BUY THEN ?

Well it all depends what you are going to be watching. If you are
going to be simply playing a PS3 and watching blueray high definition
films, then maybe it is worth spending the extra cash and going the
full hog. Me personally, i considered both options, and went for the
standard HD ready panel. It can be argued that a full HD panel is more
"future perfect" but i didnt want to suffer a worse picture in the
meantime. Also, i have seen both versions working, and to be honest, i
could not really tell the difference. I am also very wary of the whole
situation, especially when you look at the way digital cameras have
gone over the years. I have a 3.2 million pixel camera, that takes
great photos - yet if you go to buy one today, you apparently need 7.2
or 10.1 million pixels. - is the human eye really that good !!!????

Now that you hopefully understand some of the basics of how the Tvs
work, and how they have to fill in the dots to enhance the picture. If
you look at the current Sony BRAVIA range, you will see that most of
them have a Bravia engine. This Bravia engine is the piece
ofelectronic trickery inside your Tv that fills the dots in for you.
It does a pretty good job, and there are other toys too in various
models that can enhance the colour etc etc. Considering how much work
the set has to do to give you the nice big picture you want - in my
experience these toys are all good, and the more the better.

My own decision was to buy a Tv without the extra pixels, but use
some of the money i saved towards a model with extra toys in it. (i
went for the V-series)

It is also rumoured that over the next 5 - 10 years, the resolution
will be stepped up again and again - much like digital cameras have.
Some experts speculate that we will be seeing 7000 x 5000 panels in
about 10years time. Thats 35 million pixels !!

I hope this guide helps you a little in your decision. please
remember that these are my own personal opinions, and others who work
in the field may recommend otherwise.I guess alot of it is down to
personal preference.

Full HD isbetter, but it is only worth spending the extra money if you are going to fully utilize it.

INVALID BFPO postcode problem SOLVED!

THERE IS A SOLUTION!

As a serving member of HM Forces (Army) and a dedicated eBayer (apparently I'm one of their stars!) I was furious that the latest revamp of the site had rendered the military community based overseas unable to use the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) postcodes.

I enquired by email as to why this change had been made and recieved the following reply from Denise Tate (eBay customer services):

"I would like to inform you that as of now eBay does not support BFPO addresses"

I did some digging and there is an answer.Simply ensure that your BFPO number is in the last line of your address. In the 'Postcode' box enter AA0 0AA. This postcode is accepted by ebaY but is not assigned to a location. The post office cannot read the postcode so they look at the next line up... and BINGO! ---

Land Rover Ninety, One Ten

Land Rover Ninety, One Ten

Buying a Wrist-Watch, Rolex, Omega, Longines, Breitling

Vintage mechanical wrist-watches have seen a growth of interest in the last 10 years, as collectors and many others have focussed on this area.

Collectable brands include, Patek, Vacheron, Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Longines and Zenith. As with everything you really get what you pay for in the area of wrist-watches. A short list below gives some useful pointers for the 1st time buyer.

1. Check the return policy of the seller, if there isn't one, avoid!

2. Whilst many of us love a bargain, and you can find them on Ebay every day, avoid the many sellers, who are breaking Ebay rules and of course the law by selling fake watches.

3. Check that the watch you are wanting to bid on has been serviced and over-hauled. Otherwise you may get a nasty surprise, after purchase. High-grade Swiss wrist-watches can often be very expensive to service and overhaul, if you have to take them back to official agents.

4. With vintage wrist-watches it is normal to find them with restored dials. Do check that this has been done professionally, if so, this will ensure the watch retains its value. However, do avoid those watches with incorrectly restored dials using dreadful colors or changed to increase the value of the watch.

5. Check that the movement is also in good condition and there is a clear picture of this on the listing. Many vintage wrist-watches have suffered in the past, with earlier repairers using ammonical cleaning solvents which has often stripped the finish off movement plates. Also check to see the screws and plates are not mauled or scratched.

6. Final point - workingvs non-working - unless you are a capable restorer avoid watches which need work or cleaning. There are always gremlins and further problems the seller may not have seen or even known about. Unless very rare, there will always be another watch in better condition

A Healthy Well- Balanced Diet.

A Heathy Well- Balanced Diet.If you are concerned about your child's weight,encourage a variety of fresh , nutritious foods in his or her diet.Starchy food which contains rich in complex carbohydrates are bulky, relative to thge amount of calories they contain. This makes them both filling and nutritious . Sources such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, and chapatti should provide half the energy in a child's diet.Instead of high-fat foods like chocolate, biscuits, cakes, and crisps, try healthier alternatives such as fresh fruit,crusty bread or crackers.Try to grill or bake foods instead of frying. Burgers, fish fingers and sausages are just as tasty when grilled, but have a lower fat content. Oven chips are lower in fat than fried chips.Avoid fizzy drinks that are high in sugar. Substitute them with with fresh juices diluted with water or sugar-free alternatives.A healthy breakfast of a lower-sugar cereal (eg wholemeal wheat biscuits) with milk, plus a piece of fruit is a good start to the day.Instead of sweets, offer dried fruit or tinned fruit in natural juice. Frozen yoghurt is an alternative to ice cream. Bagels are an alternative to doughnuts.Changes to Eating Habits.To achieve lasting effects, the whole family attitudes and habits towards food and excercise need to change.Try to set a good example with your own eating habits.Provide meals and snacks at regular times to prevent "grazing" throughout the day.Don't allow your children to eat while watching TV or doing homework.Make mealtimes an occasion by eating as a family group as often as possible.Encourage children to "listen their tummies" and eat when they are hungry rather than out of habit.Teach children to chew food more slowly and savour the food, as they will feel fuller more quickly and be less likely to to overeat at mealtimes.Don't keep lots of high-fat, high-sugar snacks in the house.Try to get children involved in preparing food as this will make them more aware of what they are eating.Physical Activity.Doctors recommend a gradual increase in physical activity, such as brisk walking, to at least an hour a day.Encourage walking to places such as school and the shops, rather than jumping in the car or bus.Suggest going to the park for a kick around with a football, or a game of rounders, cricket or frisbee.Visit a local leisure centre to investigate sports and team activities to get involved in.Make excercise into a treat by taking special trips to an adventure play park or an ice skating rink, for example. Involve the whole family in bike rides, swimming and in-line skating.When it is safe to do so, teach your child to ride a bike.Reducing Physical Inactivity.Phyically inactive pastimes such as watching TV or playing computer games should be limited to around two hours a day or an average od forteen hours a week. Encourage children to be selective about what they watch and concentrate only on the programmes they really enjoy.The Emotional Factors.Food can take on emotional significance when used to comfort or reward children.Don't use food to comfort your child-give attention, hugs and listen.Avoid using food as a reward as this can reinforce the idea of food as a source of comfort. Instead of having a fast-food meal to celebrate a good school report, for example buy a gift, go to the cinema, or have a friend to stay overnight.This a continuation of the previous link:-Avoiding Childhood Obesity

Ford Consul, Zephyr, Zodiac Cars

Ford Consul, Zephyr, Zodiac Cars

This is one of many illustrated classic car guides I've created for the community. I hope you enjoy it. If youwish to find out more about the classic carart featured in this guide please click here.

Consul 375 Mk2 1961

Revised low-line Mk II models were launched in February 1959. Changes were mainly external, being a lower, flatter roof-line and increased use of bright-work. In 1961 the Mk 2 Consul was given the full title Consul 375 in order to distinguish it from the medium sized Consul Classic 315.

Zephyr Mk1 1951-1956

The Mk 1 models, in production from 1951 to early 1956, were promoted by Ford as The Five Star Cars. Technically advanced, with monocoque construction, overhead valve engines and independent (MacPherson) front suspension, these were the first modern post-war cars from Dagenham.

Zephyr Mk2 1956-1962

The Mk 2 Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac followed the success of the original MkI range in 1956. Featuring significantly larger bodywork than before, its styling having a distinctly transatlantic look. The Zephyr now used a 2,553cc six cylinder offering increased performance, an automatic gearbox was also available for the first time on a UK built Ford.

Zodiac Mk 2 Convertible 1956-1962

Convertible Versions of the Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac were included in the Mk II range from the launch. The Zodiac Convertible came fully loaded with luxury fittings and even boasted a power operated three-position folding hood. Two-tone bodywork added even more glamour. Always rare, only 16,309 MkII convertibles were produced, just 2.4% of total production.

Zephyr 6 Mk3 1962-1966

The Mk 3 range featured a new bodyshell, which had striking fins and a lower roof profile than the Mk II cars. The Zephyr 6 had a distinctive front grille and a plush interior, overdrive and automatic transmissions were both available as options. Front discs were now standard.

Zodiac Mk3 1962-1966

The Zodiac was a six-light saloon and the first 100mph car to be catalogued by Dagenham, its increased performance due to a redesigned, high-compression cylinder head and dual exhaust system. Now a unique model, its major breakthrough was a four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox. Zodiac estate conversions were offered by Abbott of Farnham.

Zodiac Executive Mk4

The Zodiac Executive was launched at the 1966 Earls Court Motor Show. Based on the Zodiac, this luxury saloon was even better equipped than the standard Zodiac, with automatic transmission, power steering and hide upholstery. Other standard fitments included a heated rear-screen, fog and spot lamps, a push-button radio, steel sliding sunroof and inertia seat belts.

Thank you for reading my guide and I hope you found it interesting!

How To Stop Mobile Phones From Being Stolen.

OUT OF YOUR HAND.

Call It.Block It.Stop It.

Protect Your Mobile Phone.

If Your Mobile Phone Is Stolen,Report Your Number To Your Network Operator And The Police.

The Handset Can Now Be Barred On All Networks And Will Be Useless To Thieves.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You Can Help Protect Your Mobile Phone.

REGISTER Your Mobile Phone With Your Network Operator.

RECORD Your IMEI Number And Keep Them In A Safe Place,Seperate From Your Mobile Phone.

Your IMEI Number (15 Digital Serial Number )Can Be Accessed By Keying *#06# Into Most Mobile Phones Or By Looking Behind The Battery Of The Mobile Phone.

REPORT The Number Of Your Stolen Mobile Phone To Your Network Operator And The Police As Quickly As Possible.

IT CAN NOW BE CANCELLED IMMEDIATELY LIKE A STOLEN CREDIT CARD.

REMAIN ALERT Your Mobile Phone Is A Valuable Item.When You Out "Be Aware Of Your Surrounding " And Dont Use Your Mobile Phone In A Crowded Areas Or Where You Might Feel Unsafe.

Help Yourself,The Police And The Mobile Phone Industry Fight Mobile Phone Theft.

Thanks For Looking And Take Heed.

WWF HASBRO WRESTLING FIGURE GUIDE PART 2 ! ! !

PART 2 OF THE HASBRO WWF FIGURE GUIDE

OTHER ITEMS IN THE WWF HASBRO RANGE........

RINGS

BLUE RING WITH BLUE TURNBUCKES
BLUE RING WITH BLACK TURNBUCKES
YELLO RING - KING OF THE RING EDITION
UK EXCLUSIVE BLUE RING WITHHULKHOGAN AND MACHO MAN FIGURES INCLUDED
UK EXCLUSIVE BLUE RING WITH SOUND MODULE

MISCELLANEOUS

HULK HOGAN DRESS UP SET
ULTIMATE WARRIOR DRESS UP SET
JAKE THE SNAKE ROBERTS PET SNAKE DAMIEN (WITH CLOTH DRAWSTRING BAG!)
KIDS SIZE CHAMPIONSHIP BELT

PROTOTYPES

A RYTHEM AND BLUE TAG TEAM SET WAS PLANNED BUT NEVER PRODUCED.

IN A WWF MAGAZINE IN 1991 SOME PROMOTIONAL SHOTS WERE TAKEN OF THE TAG TEAM AND FEATURED A NEW LOOK GREG THE HAMMER VALENTINE BUT STILL THE SAME FEATURES AS BEFORE, ALTHOUGH THIS FIGURE WAS MADE FOR THIS THERE IS SOME ARGUMENT TO THE AMOUNT OR EVEN THE EXCISTENCE OF ANY TODAY.

IN THE PURPLE CARD SERIES, A BRUTUS THE BARBER BEEFCAKE FIGURE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RELEASED WEARING HIS MEGA MANIACS OUTFIT. SADLY THIS WAS REPLACED WITH TATANKA AS BRUTUS HAD LEFT JUST BEFORE THE RELEASE OF THE SERIES.

ALSO BEFORE THE FIGURES WENT TO PRODUCTION THEIR WAS DIFFRENT LOOKS TO RICK STEINER AND DOINK THE CLOWN, BUT THESE WERE CHANGED.

THE ORIGINAL IDEA FOR THE HBK VERSION OF SHAWN MICHEALS FOR THE YELLOW CARD SERIES WAS TO HAVE HIS RIGHT ARM STRAIGHT WITH A SPRING ACTION, THE DESIGN WAS CHANGE JUST AS IT WENT TO PRODUCTION.

THERE WAS PLANNED A FINAL SET ON ORANGE CARDS BUT SADLY THE SERIES WAS NEVER RELEASED AS THE CONTRACT WITH HASBRO AND WWF FELL THROUGH, FIGURES TO BE RELEASED IN THIS SET WAS......

LEX LUGER (US OUTFIT)
JEFF JARRETT
OWEN HART (KING OF HARTS OUTFIT)
MO (FROM MEN ON A MISSION)
MABLE (FROM MEN ON A MISSION)
DIESEL
BASTION BOOGER

SOME PROMOTIONAL PICTURES FROM THE TIME......

I HOPE THIS GUIDE HAS BEEN HELPFUL, PLEASE LOOK AT PART 1 TO SEE THE COMPLETE LISTINGS OF THE HASBRO WWF RANGE

PLEASE VOTE YES IF YOU THOUGHT THESE GUIDES WERE HELPFUL.

THANKYOU

danielross1783

FAKE ALERT - Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth putter

I have recently purchased an Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth Putter. The putter turned out to be a fake. This was confirmed by Callaway Customer Services. I cannot stress enough, if you are thinking about buying ANY golf club, PLEASE ask the seller for the serial number of the club and check it out with the manufacturer. Please also bear in mind though that the smarter scammer can always clone genuine serial numbers, so even this is no guarentee. the seller was retailersmk90 and email address is retailersmk @ yahoo .co .uk he is still on ebay just now. Hope no one else gets stung like me. hope this helps otherpeople out.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU SEE A PHOTO OF THE BOTTOM OF THE CLUB FOR THE SERIAL NUMBER AND MAKE SURE ITS THE PUTTER YOU ARE GETTING AND NOT SOMEONE ELSE PHOTOOF THERE CLUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mercedes Benz Key Programming / Reprogramming

Hello everybody.

Firstly, I must apologise to all those who have purchased these instructions from me over the past few months.

From May this year, Ebay revised their Downloadable Media Policy

Unnecessary lies, verbal abuse, threats and negatives.

BEN 10 - DON'T BE RIPPED OFF

Soon the kids will be going back to school and some will be starting their first day and the main thing all of these kids will want is a lunchbag. I bet every parent out there has been told by their little boy that they want a Ben 10 one. I definately have been told. My son is mad on it and finding him anything to do with Ben 10 is very hard as there is alot of demand for it.

I have noticed thatsome ebayers have been buying up these items in bulk to rip us parents off, Don't pay the disgusting amount of money that they want on here for them (starting around 12.99 for the hand lunchbag and 14.99 for the shoulder lunchbag).

I have spent the last 2 weeks searching the shops for one and eventually i found them in Toys r Us and they have quite alot and are on sale for 9.99. They also have the omnimator, view finder, games etc available so check around before you buy these ridicolous amounts.

Don't Buy BEN 10 Stuff on EBAY U Are Likely To Be Ripped Off.

Another few things i have noticed is the clothing. U can buy these following items from woolworths, they are in stock or you can order them online:-

Ben 10 hoodies 11

Ben 10 T-shirt 8

Ben 10 lunchbag 9.99

Ben 10 undies(all sizes) 5 for 5

Ben 10 socks(pack of 2) 3.50

Ben 10 slippers 8

Ben 10 pyjamas 9

They are also selling ben 10 caps and other Ben 10 merchandise.

Oh another thing i have also spotted is that Argos are Selling the Ben 10 skateboard for 14.99. They also sell the duvet set for 17.99.

Thought i would share my findings with others as i don't like the idea of people being ripped off. I won't pay the stupid prices on ebay so why should you.

Hope you have found this helpful.

FREE POSTAGE - EXCESSIVE POSTAGE CHARGES

Why do some sellers charge so much for postage ... shouldn't it just be the cost of a stamp plus a little extra for packaging ?

Well that really depends on when whether you want to receive you goods in one piece or even at all ..... sellers offering free p

Buying, moving, and living with a Rayburn

There are a couple of good guides on Rayburns here at Ebay already. I would like to add some info helpful to beginers. ( I am an amateur too!) . I have to say that regs. now demand a lot of professional instalation work, but even if you do employ a professional, some background knowledge helps. Right here goes!

Models

These progressed through Nos 1,2 Regent, Royal, Supreme, Nouvelle 200and the current models.

The early models must have been good quality to still be serviceable after 50 years, but I suggest you don`t pay too much for them. The later Royal offers some refinements, modest spare parts cost. (eg the solid fuel grate and boiler are simple)and with wood will probably run 2-3 rads hot water.

You can get optional flues on theleft or rightend on the Royal which might be crucial for your instalation. (Butdiscontinued on later models ,right hand only)

The Supreme has a more complex "L" shaped boiler , with an internal boiler flue and so is a better hot water producer. A flap valve allowsyou to choose todirect heat either through the boiler or over the hot plate for cooking .You could run 4 radiators hot water on wood fuel. The penalty is a much higher replacement boiler cost, and an additional chore sweeping and rodding the boiler flue . The solid fuel grate has a series of rocking bars which are expensive. they rest on a "toblerone" shaped support which tends to crack and distort. Obviously the larger Supreme, Nouvelle and following models consume more fuel.

Fuels

Most Rayburns were designed for coal, and are best on it. On coal you can add 1 or 2 radiators to the figures given above for wood.Burning wood has to produce less heat - it has less calories. Cooking can be more hit or miss on wood depending on the quality of wood and how you fire it. My Supreme can get through 2 barrow loads a day, may be 4 tons of wood in a 6 month season. That is an awful lot of collecting, sawingsplitting and stacking. If you burn wood you must be poor, have a free wood source, and want to save the planet. Or you will soon get sick of it! sorry! Or maybe you just want to be warm and hang the expense- buy it in.

There was a multi fuel Rayburn claimed to burn just about every thing, but it seems rare. Standard Rayburns will burn wood well, although the fire bars are spaced a bit wide. You won`t need the rocking grate.

I suspect the heat ouput of wood relates largely to the dry weight alone. So don`t rule out scrap wood, such as pallettes, Laurel, Rhodedendron , anything really as long as it is dry. However, if you have a cold external chimney or a stainless liner you may be wise to avoid resinous wood.If you are buying wood you will ensure it is well seasoned and has some of your favourite species. Mineare Sweet Chestnut and Ash. They spilt easily and season quickly with a fine heat output

Oil and gas. Modern condensing boilers are so much more efficient, the poor old Rayburn simplycan`t compete, so I can`t imagine any one installing one now.

Seller Hype

Sellers are very misleading. Don`t believe the large numbers of radiators claimed for wood fuel. (see above). An overburdened Rayburn producing luke warm output is a miserable affair.Cooking, especially baking needs extra skill if you are used to a thermostatic oven. Slow oven cooking or hob topcan be reliable.

Sellers often claim an oil fired conversionmodel can easily be returned to soild fuel. Not so! the grate, firebricks, ashpanand dampers will have been discarded and need replacement.. Cost about 300. Look carefully to see if extra holes have been cut for air supply and oil lines. I fell for this one, and it was cheaper to buy a second Rayburn for donor parts. Then again most of the parts required are "wearing" items, so you will be getting your reconversion into top condition.

Condition

Rayburns are very repairable. The flue collector boxes (the square bit) tend to crack, but it usually isn`t serious. A worry is the boiler condition, you should view any dampnees in the ashpan with suspicion. Corroded decorative endplates are common as the water pipe unions often weep and misleadingly look like the boiler is at fault. Firebricks and rope seals are all wearing items so expect to replace them.

Moving

Get about 5 wooden rollers made from 3" fence poles sawn up. Scaffold poles are often recommended, but wood is kinder to floors. A crowbar with packing will help lift the Rayburn onto the rollers, and you will need some stout boards eg scaff planks. Your assistant will put the rollers under while you push. Wait till the assistant says ok, so you know their hands are clear. To negotiate humps or hollows balance the Rayburn on 1or 2 rollers so that the front end can be raised or lowered or turned.

The best transport is of course a truck with tail lift. Failing that, a low trailer can be tilted on the jockey wheel to match the slope of your plank ramp. A van may be too high, and need a carefully constructed runway with lots of muscle or a winch.

Before the auction ends quiz the seller about access, and hazards like steps etc.

Installing

Even solid fuel is likely to need professional work and building regulation compliance. On a solid concrete floor my building inspector said no special hearth was needed. On wooden floors you will need a fire proof hearth, and extra support for the weight etc. This could well involve cutting back the wooden floor and making a soild hearth up from the ground. If it is permitted, a lightweight hearth can be made from vermiculite mixed with cement an cast insitu with a brick surround..

Flues

You will need to plan the connection to the flue carefully. If sound, an existing flue might be used. The ideal situation is an inglenook type, where the rayburn can be accommodated inside. A simple vitreous enamel pipe leads up to a blanking plate at lintel height. This blanking plate can have a door for soot, and sweeping. You will need an extra 6" width to allow for the bend and couplings on the water pipes. Builders Merchants keep concretelintels and flue "gathers" (see the Redbank range)to make your owninglenook - but you must support the chimney during installation and this needs competent work.

Try to make provision for easy sweeping, otherwise this essential chore won`t get done. I don`t think it is practical to sweep through the 6" vitreous flue. You will need a separate sweeping door about 1 metre off the floor to allow the rods to bend. If an inglenook isn`t availableRayburn can be placed in to the side or front of an existing chimney breast. the snag is the flue pipe won`t be in line with the centreline of the flue. Careful planning will be needed to arrange the flue to penetrate the brickwork nearly at 90 degrees, eg 2 offbends. Put ina nominal steellintel (EG angleiron). The flue pipe can be sealed into the brick with vermiculite concrete and finishing with a fireproof board and firecement.

Waterworks

The rayburn website has full info .Briefly,.the Rayburn needs a conventional indirectvented 2 tank (in the loft) system. (1 tankfeeding domestic hot water and the other feeds the Rayburn boiler)

The boiler output needs to lead to the hot water cylinder so that hot water will thermosyphon. ie circulate naurally by rising hot water. This is critical for safety as the Rayburn has no safety device to shut down if overheating. So the cylinder must be above the Rayburn and horizontal pipe runs minimal. You can get away with a short horizontal to pass pipes through a wall.

The cylinder must be big to provide a sink for hotwater, and if you can only fit a small cylinder, you will have to put an additional permanently connected radiator in the circuit (safety again). My cylinder is 1000 x 450 with a 20mm heating coiland doesn`t need the extra Rad.

Tee-ing off the boiler out put to the cylinder will be 20mm pipes to the Rads. Upstairs rads will thermosyphon even through short (8`) horizontal sections, and in 15mm pipe.

Greater horizontal runs will need a pump. A problem arises where the pumped return rejoins the boiler return pipe. An "injection" T is required to avoid the pumped water pulling water through the cylinder coil. This tends to cool the cylinder. It isn`t correct on my system, and I`m afraid I haven`t the answer yet!

to be continued...

FREE VOUCHERS TO TOURIST SITES - DO NOT BUY IT'S A SCAM

Beware of sellers offering vouchers that admit the bearer free admission, half-price admission, 2-for-1 admission, etc, to UK visitor attractions.For example, one seller has listed these vouchers in February 2009, all on a Buy It Now option of between 0.99 and 1.35: 3 Free Child Entry Vouchers Cadbury World Save 30.30 Two Free Child Entry Vouchers Fleet Air Arm Museum 3 for 2 Wristband Voucher Blackpool Pleasure Beach Two 2 for 1 Entry Vouchers for Black Country Museum Two 2 For 1 Entry Vouchers SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham Two 2 for 1 Entry Vouchers Manchester United Museum Two Free Child Entry Vouchers Wookey Hole Caves 2 Free Child Entry Vouchers for Dudley Zoo Save 13.90 Two Free Child Passport Entry Vouchers Ironbridge Gorge 2 for 1 Entry Voucher Camelot Theme Park Save 19.00But, what the seller does not tell you is this:All of these vouchers are promotions run by the attraction operator in conjunction with the Heart of England Tourist Board, and they are TOTALLY FREE for anyone to download from their website:www(dot)visittheheart(dot)co(dot)uk/Sellers listing these and other similar free download vouchers on eBay may be in breach of eBay's Prohibited Items policy.All Tourist Boards probably have similar promotions, so if you find a seller listing tourist attraction vouchers for sale on eBay, here's what you could do:While the listing is live1. Ask the seller if the vouchers are website downloads2. Ask the seller to identify the source of the vouchers3. Check the seller's feedback for relevant comments left by buyers4. Check the seller's other items -- if they have lots of vouchers, be suspicious5. Go to the relevant Tourist Board website and search their promotional offers -- you might find this is the source of the vouchersIf you buy a voucher only to find it's a free download
1. Complain to the seller -- ask for a full no-quibble refund (it worked for me)
2. Report the matter to eBay
3. Leave feedback that warns others about buying something they can get for nothing (eg: FREE DIY vouchers from Tourist Board website - do not buy)



And finally ... if you have found this guide helpful, please would you vote 'yes' for it? Just click the 'yes' button below, and you're done. Your vote really does count, as it will raise the guide's profile. Thank you.

Bathroom Astrology: Feng Shui

Bathroom Astrology, or Feng Shui, is a very important aspect in our home decorations. Careless or improvident design can have unimaginable adverse effect on your fortune, health, career, family, etc.Bathrooms can be cluttered, stagnant places. It's a place where energy is disposed of, where it's drained away. It's a place where things accumulate. It can be humid, dark and may be in desperate need of a Feng Shui cleansing.In Feng Shui, position is important. Some locations are more problematic than others. For example, a bathroom in the center of the home is quite possibly the worst location, as it throws off the energy in the entire household. Don't fret. By placing a large crystal or stone in each corner of the bathroom you can help to stabilize the energy. Placing a mirror on the outside of the door is also recommended.

If, when you open the bedroom door, you look directly into the door of the bathroom, this is considered inauspicious, as the incoming Chii moves directly into the bathroom and into the toilet and you may loose any new opportunities coming your way. One remedy would be to place a folding screen in front of the bathroomBathrooms have an unavoidable draining effect on the home. To minimize this effect, be sure to close the bathroom door at all times and to always put the toilet lid down after use. This will help keep healthy chi from escaping.If you are fortunate enough to have a window in your bathroom, open it daily. Try and let in as much natural light and fresh air as you can. Bathrooms can be humid and stale places. Open windows can help get the chi flowing. If you do not have a window, pay close attention to your lighting. Bright, evenly distributed lighting combined with a bathroom fan can help make up for the lack of a window. Also try hanging a crystal or a wind chime to act as a window.Be sure to keep the bathroom as clean as possible at all times. Try to organize and store clutter and to do your best to avoid small objects that gather dust. This is a place of cleansing and purification. It needs to reflect its purpose.

Leafy plants and bamboo are highly recommended as chi movers. They also help to absorb humidity and add a bit of natural color. If you have limited light in your bathroom, bamboo is ideal. Avoid using fabric in your bathroom decorating. Surfaces should be smooth and easy to clean. Fabric traps humidity, encourages mold and adds to the yin features of the bathroom space. Most importantly, make your bathroom a sanctuary. It should be a place where you enjoy being. Make sure that when you enter the bathroom first thing in the morning and before you go to bed at night, you leave feeling relaxed, refreshed and revitalized.

Second Chance Offer scam - BEWARE

There is a scam going around with second chance offers.

Basically, you bid on an item and find that you get outbid by the close of auction. Hey ho, never mind. But then within a day or so, you get contacted by the seller to see if you still are interested in the item, as the highest bidder has not completed the purchase. Sounds great, as they offer it to you at the price you offered or maybe even a bit less to entice you into the deal.

However, the seller does not set up a legitimate ebay second chance You then get asked to send the money via Western Union (or similar 3rd party) for safety and tell you to send your address so they can get things in motion. This is clearly to steer you away from the safety of ebay and an attempt to do the deal outside of the site. If you do this,you'll never see your money again or the item.

I had one item that I lived very close to and wanted to collect. Even then, they made some balonie about not accepting cash on collection. They wanted me to pay upfront (Western Union) and they would then arrange for their friend to unlock the garage the next day and let me collect it.What cr*p and just goes to shows that its a scam. So its worth asking this question just to see what response you get.

Also, the English may be questionable highlighting the possibility of foreign scams. If you decide not to deal with them after starting correspondance, their responses do start to get stroppy.

So if you get someone offering you an ebay item you got outbid on, only accept it if they are prepared to set up a second chance offer for you. Don't deal outside of the bay.

Hope this helps.

Zumo 550 GPS

I bought myself a Garmin Zumo 550 GPS in December, and I'd like to share my experiences.

This is a GREAT GPS especially as its nearly waterproof which I beleive is the only one on the market, the 550 comes complete with a bike AND car fitting kit, 2x power leads, bike connects directly to the battery, car is cigarette lighter type, NOTE the 450 and 500 comes with the bike ONLY option, also you get a computer program called mapsource so you can upload and down load places, settings, and tracks of where you have been.

The internal maps are hard wired into the Zumo so if you buy one from abroad you will also have to purchase UK maps and mapsource for the UK, so this doesn't make it a cheap option.

When in the car the holder has an internal speaker, for bike use you will need either a blue tooth headset (scala rider about 99), or headphones with an extension lead or an autocom etc kit (nothing for bike use is supplied). The Zumo also connects to your mobile phone via bluetooth so you can make or answer calls while on the move.The internal SD card (not supplied) allows you to listen to MP3 tracks while riding. I have also purchased for 20 per year a subscription to the speed camera database and this lets me know when they are coming up (this was my main reason for buying one)

In March the unit packed up (normally they are really reliable) I sent it back to Garmin who without hesitation sent me out a complete new set, fittings and all.

If your looking at fitting this to a sports bike (I have a GSXR 750 K2) you will have to make your own bracket or buy one (about 35) as these were made to fit to either the clutch or front brake lever of bikes with no fairing.

I also bought a GTX12 traffic receiver for car use and this lets you know of traffic hotspots and will detour around them, at the same time I got an external aerial thinking that in London it wouldn't work well, how wrong was I, the aerial is still in the bag as the Zumo has excellent reception.

I know its a lot of money but you are getting 2 for the price of one and if anything happened to mine I WOULD buy another.

UPDATE

Nearly 1 year on, and the Zumo is still going strong in the car and bike, and I also like to think that its saved my license on more than one occasion