Thursday's Thinkers

Every Thursday, as a regular feature in my blog, I post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. You can leave your thoughts or comment on how others have responsed.

Here's todays questions:

1. What is the meaning of peace to you?

2. Do you "think green?" Why?

3. Where is home for you?

Thursday's Thinkers

I'm making this a regular feature. Every Thursday I'll post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. Leave your thoughts or comment on others responses. Let's have a dialog! Here's todays questions:

1. There's a kid in all of us. What does yours want to be when he/she grows up?

2. What was the last thing you ate?

3. What talent do you wish you possessed?

4. Which is worse? Stepping in dog poo or sitting in gum?

Thursdays Thinkers

I've made this a regular feature. Every Thursday I post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. Leave your thoughts or comment on others responses. Let's have a dialog!

Here's todays questions:

1. What food best describes your spouse?
2. If they were coming for you, where would you hide?
3. Who would you like to be stuck in an elevator with for three hours?

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Thursday's Thinkers

I've made this a regular feature. Every Thursday I post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. Leave your thoughts or comment on others responses. Let's have a dialog! Here's todays questions:

1. Which month of the year do you think would best describe your personality?

2. If you could ask God any single question, what would it be?

3. Foreclosure filings across the United States nearly doubled last month (compared with those from September of 2006), as financially strapped homeowners already behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer to losing their homes to foreclosure. Without naming names, do you know anyone impacted by or who is facing foreclosure?

Haunted How-To's

Halloween is coming and since it's one of my favorite holidays I'm putting my regular Tuesday feature of eBay Tips & Tricks aside to focus on some Haunting How-To Tips:

The Bubbling Cauldron
Want a real witches’ brew? Mix soap-bubble solution with dry ice, or use liquid nitrogen for bubbles that release fog when they pop. In the following video, PopSci’s contributing mad scientist, Theodore Gray, uses the help of a few young assistants to create cauldrons of toil and trouble.
Here’s how it’s done:
There are many ways to make a bubbling cauldron of witch's brew. As with all magic, some preparation is required for the spell to work properly. The three most practical methods for creating a bubbling cauldron are:

Liquid nitrogen
Dry ice
Mechanical injection of compressed air or, preferably, helium

• All magic potions begin with hot water. If you don't have a fire under your cauldron, it's OK to just fill it with hot water from the tap—the hotter the better. To this, add magic-potion ingredients such as chili powder (for its blood-red color), cayenne pepper (for its strong magical smell) and any other spices, herbs, dried leaves, sticks, bones, wolfsbane or eyes of newt you may have lying around. Bulk chili powder, etc., can be purchased at warehouse clubs quite inexpensively.


• If you want overflowing bubbles, add several good squirts of dishwashing liquid. For some reason, regular (non-Ultra) Dawn is renowned in the bubble industry as the best for producing suds.


• A note on cauldrons: Cast iron is the proper material for cauldrons, but for the potions discussed here, pretty much anything will do. Plastic buckets, cooking pots—anything that will hold at least a few gallons of water is fine. Your cauldron should be about half full (or half empty, depending on how you look at it).


• After mixing up the stock (cragged sticks and 6- to 10-year-olds are best for mixing), you’re ready to add the magic.


• Liquid nitrogen, available from any welding-supply shop (provided you have a certified transportation Dewar to carry it in), is by far the most dramatic bubble maker. A few quarts of it dumped rapidly into a cauldron of hot, soapy water can create a billowing tower of bubbles several feet high in an instant (stand back). Much fun is had by all, but it doesn't last very long.


• Dry ice is much easier to get. Some larger grocery stores and supermarkets actually sell dry ice from chests just like the ones selling regular ice. Call around to find a place that sells it. Ten or 15 pounds should be plenty, and it costs about $1 per pound. Bring it home in a cooler, and use within a day. (Do not try to store dry ice in a freezer. Your freezer is boiling hot compared to the dry ice, which will last longer left alone in a Styrofoam cooler.) Do not lick the dry ice, and handle it with gloves at all times.
  
• Use a hammer to break up the block of dry ice, and add about five pounds at a time to the cauldron. It will bubble gently for quite a while, the bubbles full of spooky smoke. If you have soap in the brew, it will slowly bubble over and spill out in a most satisfying way. If the water gets cold, add hot water.


• The last, and most complicated, method of bubbling a cauldron involves injecting compressed air or other gas using a coil of copper pipe with small holes drilled in it. Air from a compressor works great if you want a basically unending stream of bubbles overflowing the cauldron and making a gigantic mess (which is, I should remind you, a good thing if you're six).


• But the ne plus ultra of bubbling cauldrons is, without a doubt, the helium-bubble cauldron. The same copper-pipe bubbler can be connected to a regulator attached to a commercial helium cylinder (available at the same welding-supply shops you get liquid nitrogen from, and from party-supply stores, though they will not have the right regulator). Turn the helium on just fast enough for the bubbles to rise about one or two inches per second.
  
• Any child who has not seen this before will be absolutely floored by it, as will many adults. Do note: It does not work very well in high winds, and the more you stir or otherwise mess with the bubbles, the less well they float. It's best to leave them alone or just slice them off when you think they are ready to go free. (Just try to enforce that rule once the kids get involved.) Also note that this is an expensive hobby: A full 240-cubic-foot tank (the largest commonly available size) will last about 15 minutes and cost about $80 to fill.

Other ideas:

$20 Fog Chiller - instructions for building a pipe-based fog chiller.

$30 Mummy - instructions for making a wrapped mummy (PDF format).

Baby Alien Specimen - instructions for making an alien-in-jar prop.

Dummies - basic instructions for creating static dummies.

Easy Eyes - instructions for making realistic eyes from deodorant balls.

Eye-Bead Demons - Instructions for making eyes-in-the-bushes out of tin cans.

Cheap Foam Walls - instructions on how to cut/paint foam blocks to make a faux brick/rock wall

FrankenHand Table - basic instructions for an animated wiggling severed arm on a mad scientist table.

Haunted Books - basic instructions for making a row of books that move in and out of a bookshelf.

Spooky Old Sign - instructions for making a weathered sign.

Witch Kitchen Jars - instructions for making with potion jars and labels.

More Haunting How-To's are here.

Thursdays Thinkers

I've made this a regular feature. Every Thursday I post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. Leave your thoughts or comment on others responses. Let's have a dialog! Here's todays questions:

1. If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

2. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Which TV show is the first you remember watching?


3. What happens if you get scared half to death, ...twice?

4. If you could have had the starring role in one movie already made, which movie would you pick?

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10 Suggestions for Better eBay Descriptions

Ok, you posted an eBay ad and now you’ve got a potential buyer that has clicked on your item title, the next thing you want him or her to do is bid or buy the item you are offering! Your aim is to make the product so appealing that buyers can’t help but bid on it immediately.

Remember this VERY IMPORTANT rule to create a good listing:1. Describe your item as if there is no picture of the item for buyers to see. 2. Take pictures of your item as if there is no description for the buyers to read.

Without wasting more time, lets explore what to include in your item descriptions as you sell on eBay:

1. Details. Be as specific as possible in your item description. Would you buy something if you are not at least 90% sure what the item is about? List any special features that comes with the item besides the basic details like size, condition, colors, make and model. Kill buyers’ doubts on the item and speed up sales by reducing the times they need to communicate with you asking questions. ...Be descriptive, but don't overdo it. Don't make your buyer spend more than 1-2 minutes reading your description.
2. List Any Imperfections. If there are any scratches, dents or just any flaws, remember to list them out too. Please do not think you can hide even the smallest stain on that Fila tank top you are selling. When your buyer found out, he may either leave you a negative, call you as a dishonest seller or worst, file a dispute to Paypal saying that item received is not as described. Even if the buyer kept quiet about it, think how this incident could affect your reputation as an eBay seller.
3. State The Benefits. State one or more features of the item and then combine it with one or more benefits. Your item may be the cheapest or the best on eBay, but until the buyers can relate how they can benefit from it, it is as good as the other 21,000,000 items on eBay which ended unsold. You need to appeal to the customers emotionally. A compelling item description on eBay sells 80% more.
4. Offer Warranties. Set yourself apart and let buyers see you as a professional seller. Make your items more valuable by offering warranties or guarantees. Having guarantees on the item makes buyers feel safer to purchase from you. Don’t you feel like that too as a buyer, even at the local superstore?
5. Offer A Return And Refund Policy. Offer an easy method for shoppers to return the items if they are not happy with it. It might sound silly. You might be thinking “What if 10 buyers bought my item and were not happy with it?” In that case, I’d suggest you thoroughly look at your item again. If that item is in such poor quality, consider not selling it. You must be confidence with what you sell. And over the course of selling on eBay, I have zero buyers asking me for a refund because they are not happy with it. Include your Refund Policy in your description.
6. Neatness counts. Although you need to provide as much information as possible regarding your Prada Wallet, keep in mind to keep everything spaced out evenly. Clutter makes it difficult for your eBay buyers to search for information. Put up proper headings like ‘Descriptions’, ‘Shipping’, ‘Payment’ and ‘Returns Policy’ for that specific piece of information. Avoid unneeded items like animated Gifs or colorful backgrounds. You need to keep the buyers eyes on the ‘Bid Now’ button! Use short paragraphs. People have short attention spans.
7. Call For Action. Always include a call for action like “Bid Now”, “Buy It Now”, “Sign Up Now” or “Click to Visit My Store” at the end of your description. Although this sounds simple, most people are not going to do something on their own until you ask them to. Create the urgency! A call for action is such a simple way and usually ignored by most eBay sellers.
8. Use Testimonials. People are greedy by nature and like to get what other people are getting. Some customers send you a message telling how happy they are with the items. Include those messages in your item description. Optionally, you may also add a portion of your positive feedbacks in your description.
9. Linking. Include links to your Store, Auction Listings, Feedbacks and other pages you have on eBay. Make it easy for your buyers to navigate around and let them stay on your auctions a little longer. A link to your store is like an invitation to browse your other items.. many buyer will click on it out of curiousity. One sale might become two. Remember, not to have link outside of eBay though. It is forbidden by eBay!
10. Keep A Positive Tone. Last but not least, sound optimistic in your tone of writing and avoid sentences that threaten buyers. Consider this statement in your eBay item description “Do not bid this item if you are not interested. Non-paying bidder will be reported to eBay and negative feedback will be left.” I know there are all sorts of eBay buyers. But would you think it is a good idea to give an impression that you are just a grumpy old man? Keep a positive and happy tone throughout your description.

Thursdays Thinkers

I've made this a regular feature. Every Thursday I post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. Leave your thoughts or comment on others responses. Let's have a dialog! Here's todays questions:

1. A stitch in time saves nine what?

2. Does killing time damage eternity?

3. If you were able to own or have one thing that a friend, colleague, or neighbor has, what would it be?

4. If you could modify one thing about your current car (and no, junking it and starting over would not be an option), how would you make it be different?

Now it's up to you.. go to the comments section and leave your answer for one, or two, or all of todays questions. Then check back later to read what others have said. Have a great Thursday!

Thursday Thinkers

I'm making this a regular feature. Every Thursday I'll post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. Leave your thoughts or comment on others responses. Let's have a dialog! Here's todays questions:

1. If you could organize a family reunion with all of your dead relatives, where would you hold it and who would be there?

2. Name the grossest thing you have ever put in your mouth.

3. What do you think is the most soothing sound?

4. If your life was a sitcom, what would the title be?

Now it's up to you.. go to the commentssection and leave your answer for one, or two, or all of todays questions. Then check back later to read what others have said. Have a great Thursday!