Shenanigans...

Yes, I'm still alive. No, not getting much knitting done. The Dream Week project is inching along, but every time I think I have a free day or evening, something comes up. Yes, it's like that!

Went to Fibre East with M on Saturday. The weather was lovely for once (it's been very unsettled lately) - sunny but windy/cool. Resisted buying any more yarn but did buy a really nice peg-loomed scarf that took my fancy (because clearly I don't have enough scarves already).

Been quite stressed out lately, and sleep has been in short supply. Presumably that explains why I blacked out at one point and knocked some poor woman into the side of a tent. If the woman was you, I apologise! One minute I was walking away from a tent, the next thing I knew I was on the ground and they were trying to get me into the recovery position (not aided by the fact I had a rucksack on). I think the first aiders were a little miffed I didn't want to sit down and have a cuppa, but I'd just had one - perhaps there was something in my coffee?! :) Actually, I thought I was having a panic attack, which I haven't had for some time, so I wasn't expecting to go down like a ton of bricks. Ah well, nothing seems to be broken, although my right leg felt like it might bruise at some point, it hasn't so far. The last time I fainted due to stress I was going through a very stressful period with an estate agent some 11 years ago. Don't faint on a train going to Coventry - they end up taking you back to Birmingham! :)

So why the stress? Well, I shan't go into too much detail, but suffice to say that when I select "local pickup only" on a certain auction site, I do not expect to find some dingbat, with selective reading ability, from outside the UK has bought my item. The item in question was very large, very heavy, and boxless, otherwise I would have considered it - but the postage costs would have been more than the item's sale value. The buyer refused to listen to reason and denied my request to cancel the transaction, so the auction site still gets to make a profit, which comes out of the total I've made for my friend (the item has since been sold privately). I did appeal, but got a cut and paste e-mail response, which bears no resemblance to the question I actually asked, and which appears to indicate I cannot pick and choose my audience - it's either all or nothing. The telephone contact number just gives you scads of recorded messages - I'm not sure any actualy people work there anymore. The whole thing has become very expensive for a private seller, and is geared for profit (their cut is 10%, and the payment company seems to calcuate fees on a random scale). If one chooses to offer second class postage (which is cheaper), one has to use one's own funds for this. The payment company only has the choice of first class and a few others, which in no way reflects Royal Mail's complex pricing system (and is more expensive). Royal Mail does not use online payment services, only VISA or a prepaid account. So guess who went overdrawn last month? Sellers can only leave positive feedback, despite the website itself seeming to indicate it's democratic - it's not! It is, alas, all tilted in favour of the buyer, which is fine most of the time, because I rarely sell online.

I do have some small items left to list, but they will be advertised elsewhere.