Hello world.  Grandpa Jim & Logan saying HOWDY!  We live on the beautiful Florida Suncoast!  We heard about Squidoo through the OsiRockstars.com website, where we are Roadie Promoter & Manager.  Just learning our way around Squidoo and finding it GREAT! I, Jim, was born in Celina, Ohio, grew up in St. Mary's, Ohio but have lived in Florida since 1958! (50 years.... ... http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/grandpas Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:56:02 -0600 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.squidoo.com/grandpas-trading-company A TALE OF TWO ~ HOW WE EVOLVED IN THE ANTIQUES and COLLECTING WORLD ONCE UPON A TIME.. (1961 to be exact).. Circa 1960, there were two young people who fell in love. They were both children of parents who had been through the great depression. You may have observed that folks who went through that great depression (which of course was NOT so great). became savers and "keepers". This was true for both of our sets of parents. They saved used bread bags, those metal coated baggie ties, leftovers & cut fabric scraps from old clothes. So, being the generation born of this mindset, the lesson here was that old things were wonderful, cherished and SAVED! Our parents were definitely savers! S & H Green stamps, Top Value Stamps, dishes, clothing, linens, textiles, pottery. Nothing was too insignificant to "save for a rainy day" with the underlying fear of the possibility of the great depression striking again, so they wanted to be prepared. As a result of this mindset of saving, when these two young folks became engaged and later married... they began to be the beneficiaries of all the "saving" that had occurred over the years. Their first home was furnished with Grandma and Grandpa's old oak table and chairs from the 1930's making a surprise appearance from an attic to their new dining room. You can read the rest of the story at the bottom of the lens (and please leave a blurb too), now you can check out some of our current listings from our eBay store.  shopping Tue, 06 May 2008 16:07:19 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/eBaysDSR We can make these new DSR star rankings work for us if we get busy now and make some changes in our techniques and strategies. It is not about the actual description and content of the star ratings, it's more about the buyer's "perception" of what the stars mean to them! Now that eBay has announced their extensive upgrades and overhaul of the site in many areas, the Detailed Seller Ratings are becoming more and more important to the eBay sellers! Especially if you are a power seller for the DSR's will determine if you will still be able to keep your powerseller status after the final changes take place in July of 2008. They DSRs will also imapact whether a power seller receives his discounts, be it 5% or 15%. If you are a powerseller (any level), and ALL of your DSR's are 4.8 or above (for the past 30 days cycle), you will receive 15% off your seller fees for the prior month. If you are a powerseller (any level) and ALL of your DSRs are 4.6 or above, (for the past 30 days cycle), you will receive a 5% discount on your seller fees for the prior month. This is a good incentive for sellers to provide outstanding, continuing, GREAT service all buyers across the board in order to achieve the maximum discount available. If you are not already a powerseller, urge you to meet those qualifications ASAP so you can take advantage of the new discounts offered! If you incorporate these DSR powerseller discounts with the new reduced listing fees and the free gallery, eBay fees take a nice reduction for most sellers. This is an explanation of DRS's from eBay's help pages. What Feedback might "DO" to you from eBay pages. Feedback Scores and Your eBay Reputation This is an explanation from eBay's help pages. This is an explanation from eBay's help pages. January 29th, 2008, eBay posted on the announcement board A Message from Bill Cobb - New Pricing and Other News. Among the news was a list of changes being made to Feedback. Check your seller account after April 1 to hopefully view your discounts. If you are a powerseller, you can check in the MY EBAY view, on the left hand side of the page, to see the beginnings of your new seller dashboard. Click on it and you can see your DSR totals for the past 30 days and it'll help you determine the forecast for your discounts. The full dashboard will be reviewed in the next few months to everyone. The first month of eBay discounts began April 1st and many powersellers have saved LOTS of money on their eBay fees by having 4.8 and above DSR's to receive the top level discount of 15%. For those of you who only received the 5%, you have an opportunity between now and the end of April to get those DSR's up to the next level of 4.8 DSRs or above to receive the 15% discount. It definitely reflects your most current ratings by rolling the numbers over each and every month. So, keep working if you need to get those DSRs up before the end of the month. Because we have over 13,000 shooting star feedbacks here at Grandpa's Trading Company, and our DSR shipping rating began at 4.6 when the new changes were announced, it took us awhile to bring them around. We WERE, however, able to qualify for the 5% powerseller discount the first month and by the second month, by implementing all the changes that we began back in February, we now have qualified for the 15% powerseller discount. The more feedbacks you have, the harder it is to change those DSR numbers, but be patient, it CAN be done as we ourselves can attest! Of course, it goes unsaid, that maintaining those happy customers from month to month is extremely important, as it is a continually changing, rolling total with each new month, you have an opportunity to raise your DSR scores. Put on your buyer's hat and put yourself in their shoes, as well. Begin thinking like a buyer instead of a seller and brainstorm what would make YOU happy as a buyer. It comes to mind that first you must educate your buyers as to what the DSR's ARE and what they can mean to a seller. You can do this subtly in your auction listings, your about me page and in your emails that you send to the buyers, by educating them in the reality of the DSR's and what they mean to sellers. Keep mentioning a 5 star experience and emphasizing how YOU want them to have that type of experience. You can even put a 5 star graphic and paragraph in each auction listing you create so that from beginning to end, your buyers are hearing about the 5 Star experience they will be having when they deal with you. Perhaps including a small gift with your shipment would be a way to enhance their buyer experience? Something with your name and the 5 DSR stars on them might be appropriate yet branded with your specific advertising and contact information. A useful item that they will keep around and possibly cause them to recall the great experience of purchasing from you and encourage them to make a repeat purchase. This could be a small notepad, a pen or pencil, a purse mirror, anything that will be useful to your buyers and keep your name right out in front of them. Be a hero to your customers. Make yourself stand out in a positive way! Are you giving the buyers their best possible experience? If not, think of making changes NOW! If you are looking for ways to source new merchandise for your eBay store, please visit my blog for a great tip! This link will take you to my blog. business Sun, 25 May 2008 21:57:47 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/timpano You'll need the proper enamelware bowl if you want to create the perfect timpano food Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:09:15 -0600 http://best.golden-retriever.ever.com/ Our red, curly-haired Golden Retriever, Logan, is brillant, beautiful, handsome, loving and playful. He is hurricane rescued, after Hurricane Jeanne, in 2005. He was found wondering on the beach along the Florida Gulf Coast after the hurricane, by a kind gentleman who already had a Rottweiler named Betty. Seems that Betty and Logan did not get along well as he attempted to find Logan's family after the hurricane. He posted ads, called all the animal rescue groups to see if anyone had reported a Golden "missing". After three weeks of searching and no luck finding Logan's family, Bob brought Logan to live with us. Our German Shephard had passed away about a year prior to this time and we were ready to share our home with a new dog. Logan was our first Golden Retriever and we feel so blessed to be his "parents" now and his forever family. First thing we did was take him to our vet. She told us that he was probably 3 at the time of his rescue. Found his eye teeth were very ground down most likely from eating driftwood while he was missing on the beach, she told us. A portion of his left ear was chewed off, most likely from another lost and hungry animal after the hurricane. Logan was very underweight and frightened. We had him neutered; micro-chipped; got his shots and a license, had his teeth cleaned; received some special medication for some skin problems. He began to blossom. We visited the Holistic Pet Store to find a healthy and safe diet for our new pooch. We tried many samples of better blends of dog foods and settled on a Logan's healthy favorite! He crunches and munches happily! We quickly learned, as new Golden parents, that a ready supply of tennis balls was a necessity! We also learned of his fear of other animals (big AND small), probably from the time he was lost and chased. Then, there was the issue of his fear of loud noises, rain, lightening and thunder, camera flashes, (that he thought WERE lightening), and a long list of other idiosyncracies! Of COURSE, we also learned how VERY special and loving they are as well! Because of his history of being lost and orphaned, he had some special "needs". The first week he came to be with us, he was out in the garage during one violent summer thunderstorm and climbed up on a workbench, clawed through the indoor/outdoor carpeting on the floor, chewed a hole in the door to the outside and generally wrecked havoc in the garage. We got a first hand look at the scope of his fear. We hired a pet psychologist to help us calm his fears and deal with his fright of storms and other issues. After many weekly sessions, we perfected some techniques to help Logan through the Florida thumderstorm season. He now finds our shower stall his "safe" place and heads there when a storm threatens, day or night. He no longer is destructive. Walks around the house and finds his tennis balls, pet toys, chewies and bones, and carries them all one-by-one into the shower stall and hunkers down there to ride out the storm. He still shakes and is very frightened but this seems to calm him. Following a storm, before we can shower, we get a basket and remove the tennis balls, toys and various Logan "comfort" items from the shower! It is a joy to be his parents. Never a dull moment! One of the calming factors for him is a product called "Mellow Mut". They are chicken breast strips with calming herbs that we can purchase for him locally at the holistic pet shop. Mellow Mut is made from cage free, all natural chicken. They contain chamomile and lavender that helps maintain a peaceful lifestyle. They have NO hormones, NO antibiotics, NO fillers and NO byproducts. Logan LOVES them and if you give them to him before the storm "hits", he is definitely much calmer! He is a VERY strange "eater". He will NOT eat unless his Mom and Dad are here in the room with him, sitting at our table, while he has his two dishes of food at HIS table. This is a raised platform (as he is so tall) and there are two holes in the platform for his food dishes. He likes to stack up tennis balls both on top of the platform behind his dishes and underneath his eating "table". He will only eat after he plays with his tennis balls for about 10 minutes, nuzzling them around with his nose, in and out of his dishes of food and around under the table with his paws and nose both. This is SO hilarous to watch! Will try and post a video of the "action". He will not eat one bite of food, whether it be filet mignon or hamburger or his own dogfood, until BOTH his mom and dad are in the room with him and sitting at the table. If one of us gets up during the course of the meal, he is DONE! Have never had a dog who had eating habits like this one! He loves raw carrots and Pistacio nuts! They are quite good for him and his after dinner treats he eagerly looks forward to! When we first brought him to live with us and he had to be on medication and would not "take" the pills, we buried them in whipped cream from an aerosol can, offered to him on our finger. Of course, now, whenever he hears the aerosol whipped cream on our jello, he is front and center! Now, while we are talking about his eating habits.... we'll talk about his drinking quirks..... He will ONLY drink from Corelle! NO kidding! We have tried stainless bowls, plastic bowls, Tupperware bowls, Rubbermaid bowls.... NO luck! He ONLY will drink out of either an 8-1/2" or 10" Corelle by Corning serving bowl. Good thing his Mom and Dad are ebay sellers who actually sell Corelle! Fortunately our sons and family members all HAVE Corelle so when we go to visit, there is always a Corelle bowl in his drinking future at the visiting location! The first month he came to live with us, he was still not sure he was going to GET a meal each day and when chocolate chip cookies were being turned out for Christmas holiday giving.... left them cooling in the kitchen. We turned our backs, to look for tins to put them in and Logan managed to munch down about a dozen of them in a minute or less! Fortunately they did not make him sick and he's not had another one since! This year at Christmas, we tried to find him a healthier activity. We dressed him in elf hat and "ears" and took him outside to play with the snowman while he was waiting for Santa..... to arrive at our Florida home and let us snap his picture with his "cool" new playmates Logan was diagnosed with malignant melanoma a few weeks ago. When we spotted a growth turning brown and getting larger and larger, very close to his eye, we were alarmed. A visit to the vet confirmed our fears and Logan was quickly taken to surgery to remove the melanoma which was diagnosed as malignant. Consulted an oncology vet specialist who reassured us that it appeared the entire melanoma had been removed, suggesting that we follow up every 3 months with studies. For now, that is the game plan. Shortly after surgery, Logan developed arthritis in his right shoulder and now takes a medication similar to Enbryl for humans. When he was in for his surgery, he was also diagnosed with cataracts. For now, they are in check and have not seemed to progress in the past several months, so also watching them. Dogs can have cataract surgery but the results are less dramatic than in humans for when fitted with lens post operatively, they cannot "tell" the eye doctor what letters are most clear on the chart as humans can, and thus, the strength of the implanted lens can only be guessed at. Logan is a trooper and loves getting his sore, arthritic shoulder massaged and has his good days and bad days with that affliction, depending on the weather "trends". We had a community yard sale today, 2/10/08, and a neighbor left a garden cart with some items in it and covered it with their jacket. When we took Logan out for his twilight walk he began barking at the cart as if he had to protect his territory. All we can think is that he could not quite see it was a cart and thought it was a strange animal! He was funny when we actually walked up TO the cart, he sniffed and and turned around to look at me, as if to day, "Coast is clear, Dad". Guess those cataracts really are affecting his vision! Well, today is Valentine's Day and Logan received a certificate from our next-door neighbor for a grooming and spa treatment, including nails and bath with TLC at a local pet spa! From his Mom and Dad, he had a received a ribeye steak for his supper and an extra cuddling/leaning session! He had a GREAT Hearts Day! He was a happy dog at end of this day! Today, Sunday, Logan had quite an exciting day. He saw the BIGGEST dogs he had ever seen and there were girls riding them! (They were horses, of course) Came trotting by Logan while he was out on a walk and he was absolutely fascinated with them! He just watched in awe! "BIG" was the expression in his huge brown eyes as he watched them! Logan's latest adventure was when he met our son's new bearded dragon lizard last week. He did not pay much attention to the glass aquarium that Mate lived in until Mate woke up and began hunting for his dinner. Logan's eyes got huge and he stood at the outside of the tank NOT believing that it was BIG and MOVING! We took Mate out and Logan kept watching in disbelief! Could not understand why it was crawling up and down our son's arm and shoulder. Luckily, Mate was placed back into his "home" without harm and Logan kept his eyes on him! It is spring here in Florida. The grass is green, the azaleas are blooming and Logan's favorite outdoor activity is rolling in the grass! He rolls and squirms and "smiles" ALL the time he is rolling and frolicking. Sometimes he just lays upsides down and watches the birds and squirels in the trees above him. He is in Golden Retriever doggie Nirvana when he rolls! As with all playful, happy-go-lucky, fun-loving, inquisitive and spirited, Golden Retrievers, there is always another story just around the corner...... animals Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:29:46 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/spanishmoss Much has been written regarding Spanish Moss and its' interactions with various tales and superstitions. Spanish Moss is one of the "ingredients" used in making those spooky voodoo dolls. Many DO consider Spanish Moss to be "spooky". One of the folklore tales regarding Spanish Moss involves a Cuban who came to the the Charleston area with his Spanish fiancee in the 1700s to start a plantation. The most striking feature of the bride-to-be was her beautiful, flowing raven hair. As the couple was walking through the forest to reach the location of their future plantation, they were attacked and killed by Cherokee Indians, who were not happy to have these strangers on their land, as the tale goes. The Cherokees offered a warning and cut off the long, dark hair of the bride-to-be, threw it up into an oak tree. As they came back day after day, week after week, they noticed that the hair had shriveled and turned gray but spread throughout the tree. Wherever the Cherokees went, this "hair" moss followed them; eventually chasing them from their homeland of South Carolina. The tale goes, that even today when one stands under a live oak tree, you can hear the moaning of the woman and will see the moss jump from tree to tree, defending itself with a large army of beetles. This tale is depicted in a You Tube video linked below from the History Channel. Very interesting! Having lived in sunny, South Florida for the past 50 years, my knowledge of Spanish Moss is first hand and diverse. When I was a Boyscout Leader, we often used it to pad the ground under our sleeping bags to make the hard, sandy Florida soil kinder to our sleeping bodies. My grandfather, who came to Florida in the 30's and 40's used to recount tales that he had slept on mattresses and bedding made from Spanish Moss and that it had even been used as an upholstry material in his "day". It was a carpenter for the Ringling Brothers Circus and helped to build their circus show grounds in Sarasota, Florida off of Orient Avenue. Mostly, I know Spanish Moss first hand from the draping, charming appearance it lends to the Live Oak Trees and just about anything else it can attach itself to here in south Florida. I've seen chain link fences covered in Spanish Moss, it growns in my citrus trees as well. The state citrus inspector assures me that he causes no harm to the trees and insists that I have the most beautiful citrus trees and particularly one specific orange tree, on his large route. I know that not everyone is a particular fan of Spanish Moss. I have one neighbor who borrows my 10 foot ladder about once a month and my long picker for grapefruit and tries to rid their trees of the moss. Definitely not appealng to them! Also a futile exercise as moss growns about two feet a year and there are plenty of seed spores floating in the air to create new plants! I do love to watch it sway in the breeze from my front porch and also find it in nearly every birds nest I've ever found! The cardinals and wrens love to play in it, hang from it and flitter through the trees that are full of it. Now, when one of those famous Florida hurricanes roars through our area, you can be sure there will be about 20 or 30 trash cans full that has blown out of the trees on our property. Guess it is nature's way of "cleaning house" (or "trees") as the case may be! It is definitely NOT a fungus and will NOT kill the trees that it attaches itself to! Despite most folks believing the opposite! animals Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:46:02 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/recycledfiestaware This vintage Fiestaware item was assembled in 1986 by my son, a multi-talented artist, craftsman, graphic designer & electrician while he was a graduate student at Ringling Art School/College of Art and Design. In total, he made about a dozen unique pieces of Fiesta "art" during this semester at Ringling. Several of them have been purchased and are in use around the country, from California, to Maine to Miami. You will be receiving one that is unique and different from any other piece he made! How wonderful to think that instead of just tossing out these beautifully-styled pieces of vintage Fiestaware, they can be recycled into a unique collectible! It is NOT easy to drill through Fiesta without cracking or chipping it and he learned the process by trial and error. Using a wet, diamond point drill proved the safest method, along with lots of patience, perserverance and determination! Just sold this Fiesta Ware light green Carafe Lamp to a gentleman in Virginia who said his extensive collection totals over 800 pieces of Fiestaware and he thought this would make an interesting addition. He wanted it signed by our son to make it extra special. Of course, our son was pleased to oblige! The buyer of the red Fiesta lamp was delighted as well! Very COOL one. This one is still available in my eBay store. I'll be listing more soon! Also have them available in Harlequin and Stangl versions as well as Blue Ridge too. arts Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:15:19 -0600