Okay, Verizon Wireless has wore down my last nerve. If you're shopping for a new cell provider, DO NOT go with them. Here's the deal.

Thanks to a hectic work schedule, I got behind on my bill (by a week or so). So I went on-line to pay. I had to change the credit card associated with the account (my bank has switched their debit cards from Visa to Mastercard, which means even the card number changed). So I went to pay and was presented with the folowing options: credit card, ATM card. Since my card is a debit card, I selected "ATM card". Verizon's website then said, "Sorry. Your payment did not go through. Please try again later."

I checked my email to make sure there was no payment confirmation. Nope. So I went back and tried the payment again, this time selecting "credit card". The payment went through. I checked my email. Yep. Confirmation.

Later that night, I came home and checked my email as usual. Uh-oh. A new confirmation, thanking me for my payment via ATM card.

So I ended up paying my cell bill twice.

So then I contacted Verizon, trying to get my overpayment back.

The first person I spoke to blamed it on me. "You must have hit the payment button twice." Nope. The first confirmation email I received said, "Thank you for your credit card payment." The second (received hours later), said "Thank you for your ATM card payment." The service rep said the payment would be credited back that day.

The next day, there was still no credit. So we called back. "Oh. It could take up to three days to credit back."

A few days later, still no credit. Hubby called, and the rep told him, "Why would we credit it back? It's money due." Ummm. That second payment isn't due for TWO WEEKS! If I overpaid $1200 dollars, would they say, "We won't credit it back, because it will be due EVENTUALLY?"

We thought the whole issue was resolved when we finally DID receive the overpayment back . . . but then the collection calls started, and the text messages saying our service would be cancelled if we didn't pay the bill. But the bill wasn't due for two weeks yet.

And today our service was cancelled. Our next Verizon payment is due November 13th and there is NO overdue balance, but our service was suspended. When I called customer service, the rep said it's automatically suspended whenever a payment "fails." But our payment didn't fail. We overpaid, and had the overpayment refunded. But still our service was suspended.

In these tough economic times, you'd think companies would be trying to provide excellent customer service, NOT cancelling the accounts of customers who are paid in full.

Verizon Wireless, you've just lost a customer for life. I hope you hear me now.

Okay, first rant: eBay.

And first thing’s first-- eBay just implemented some awful new policies. Every time they implement new policies, you hear a lot of seller’s screaming about leaving eBay for good. This time, it’s actually going to happen-- partly because of how awful the changes are, and partly because of how eBay has publicly responded to the outcry. The new guy-- (I can’t remember what his title is; CEO? Who knows-- I prefer to call him Captain of the Titanic)-- referred to the seller’s complaints as “noise,” and said it will die down soon enough (i.e., sellers are whining and crying and pissing in their pants like the babies we are, but it’s irrelevant because we’ll soon bend over and take it like we always do; what power do we have against the great and powerful eBay). And he likes to go on and on about how eBay needs to get rid of its flea market mentality and purge the Pez dispensers (hm . . . that’s funny, I thought that’s why it started in the first place. If I want to go buy a fucking shirt or a lamp, I’ll go to goddamn Wal-Mart).

And they tried to put a ridiculously positive spin on the fee increases (“You asked and we listened, so we’re reducing fees”), as if we’re too stupid to do the math. They dropped listing fees and threw in free gallery (for those that use it or want it). So the total front-end savings is .40 (I don’t use gallery, because my products are all the same; and if you’ve seen one CD, you’ve seen them all). Meanwhile, final value fees went up from 5.25% to 8.75%. That’s an increase of $.88 for my products. So their “reduced fees” actually cost me .48 more per item (.83 if you count that gallery is useless for me anyway--ironically enough, my last eBay rant was about this very issue; eBay had given free gallery, so I used it, and a buyer emailed me ranting about how useless a picture of the CD was).

But the fee increases I could live with. It’s the other changes that have drawn the line in the sand.

First and foremost, they’ve changed it so buyers can only receive positive feedback. The only check and balance that eBay has against unscrupulous buyers and sellers is feedback; and now they want to make it unbalanced. They keep saying that as long as you’re a good seller, there’s no risk of negatives. Hockey puck. Do you know where my bad feedback (and the threat of bad feedback) comes from? Paypal confirmed address. Paypal has the policy that if you don’t ship to a confirmed address, the buyer can claim non-receipt and get their money back, even if you have delivery confirmation. So buyers can keep your product AND get their money back. So our auctions state that buyers must have a Paypal confirmed address and we can only ship to *that* address. And do you know how many buyers we get that freak out about it? Our latest neutral is over that very issue. We’d have much more negative feedback over it except that the exchange usually goes like this:
Buyer: “If you don’t accept my unconfirmed address, then I’m not going to pay and I’m going to leave a negative.”
Me: “I’m sorry you feel that way, but that is your right. However, the confirmed address policy is clearly stated in our auctions so that buyer’s can make an informed decision before purchasing. By purchasing with an unconfirmed address and insisting on making payment with an unconfirmed address, you are in violation of our auction terms. Unless payment is made within X amount of days, either with a Paypal confirmed address or via one of our other acceptable methods of payment, we will have to file an Unpaid Item Report and leave appropriate feedback; polite, professional, and very clear that we aren’t going to put up with people giving us bad feedback over issues that are very clearly addressed in our auctions.

Another area where this occurs is with shipping-- bidders bid on an auction with a clearly states shipping price, win, and then complain the shipping is too high and threaten a neg unless the seller reduces it. The only thing that keeps these kinds of buyers from leaving bad feedback is the knowledge that if they’re going to do something THAT stupid (win and then complain about the terms of sale), they will receive bad feedback in kind.

But eBay considers it “retaliatory feedback.”

I disagree. Retaliatory feedback is when a buyer leaves a neg like, “extremely slow shipping; paid 1/1, package postmarked 3/1” and then the seller leaves a feedback such as, “buyer is ugly and stupid” (and yes, that kind of crazy feedback IS left sometimes).

And then, of course, there are the buyers that are just fruit loops. In my years on the board, I’ve heard of sellers getting feedback like:

Neutral: I just sent you Paypal payment. When you ship? (the infamous “buyer thinks feedback is a communication tool”)

Negative: Book was boring as hell (wow; the seller didn’t write it; he/she just sold it too you)

Negative: Decided didn’t want item anymore, seller filed unpaid item on me (well duh; if you aren’t going to pay it, the seller has to file the unpaid item to get some of their fees back).

(by the way, eBay says the last example will be taken care of through their new UID policy; if the buyer doesn’t respond to the unpaid item process, their feedback will be removed. However, all a buyer has to do to respond to the process is to type any letter or character into the text box. Then their feedback will stick because they have, technically, responded to the UID).

So, buyers will be more willing to leave negatives (even unwarranted ones) because they know there will be no repercussions for them.

To make matters worse, eBay is starting some new “good seller rewards.” HAH!

First, if eBay foresees that their might be a problem with your transaction, or if your customer satisfaction rating isn’t high enough, they may hold the transaction funds for 21 days. So a seller would have to ship the item (completely out of their own pocket) and then wait and see if they buyer is happy before they get their money.

AND, if your customer satisfaction rating isn’t high enough, you will have less visibility in their new “Best Match” search.

So, in theory:
A seller gets a couple of numbskull buyers (or maybe just one-- the policy now counts ALL positive feedback from a single buyer, so it may count all negatives from a single buyer) and gets a couple of negatives. So now the seller’s satisfaction ratio is such that Paypal is holding their funds. They have to ship items out of their own pocket in order to fill their orders and HOPE that the funds will come through. Even worse, their stuff is showing up dead last in all searches, thanks to their low customer satisfaction rating, and they are selling fewer and fewer items.

Beautiful. Now there’s a business model I want to be a part of. So I’ve closed my eBay business. There are other venues I’ll be checking out, plus I’ll be working on a new marketing plan for the website. But as far as eBay goes, I’m done-- selling AND buying.

Let’s see what Microsoft and/or Google can come up with. If they build it, we will come.

Talk about a long hiatus . . .

Well, fear not. The blog is coming back. I've got a collection of rants I'll be posting in the next few days (in an election year, there's always plenty of stupidity to get me riled up).

So stay tuned!

I just can't figure out why people think being on the internet excuses them from obeying even the smallest rules of polite society. Take this, for example (an actual email, an "ask the seller a question" email I received on ebay):

This message was sent while the listing was active.
(name removed for privacy) is a potential buyer.
-------------------------------------------------------
showing a picture of the CD tells me nothing about the worksheets. I need to see the worksheets or a table of contents or something before I will even consider buying this. How well does it match up to the calif state standards in math. your picture of the CD tells me nothing. Give me info about specific content and not just a CD to look at and I might think about making a purchase

Nevermind that the listing is 100 lines long, listing the table of contents; nevermind that there's even a link in the auction that takes you to actual samples of the item . . . what the fuck is this guy's problem? Even if I hadn't listed the table of contents, even if I hadn't linked to sample worksheets, this email is way too impolite and aggressive. I'm sorry that I sprang for a picture of the item (at additional cost, no less) IN ADDITION TO all the other details that the dumbass rails about.

Give me a fucking break. This was one time when I broke my "rule of professionalism." I emailed back, "the table of contents *is* listed in the auction, as well as a link to allow you to review sample sheets. Wow. In all my years on ebay, I have never received an email as aggressive as yours. Do both of us a favor, and DON'T consider purchasing my item." And then I added him/her to my blocked bidders list.

And people wonder why I get so worked up about being a seller on ebay! Mrs. Manners would roll over in her grave if she even saw HALF of the people I have to deal with on ebay.

Why, oh why, do I continue to sell on eBay? I have good buyers--I even have great buyers--but the dumbasses are a real trial. And they just keep coming.

Case in point: I ship out my items the same day (or next day) after the buyer pays. Two days after I ship an item, I get an email from a buyer: "Can you tell me why I paid $X.XX for shipping when it only cost $X.XX to mail? Please answer asap so I can leave appropriate feedback." That sort of email immediately raises my dander. First of all, there's the implied threat in the statement about feedback. Secondly, I use stealth postage, so the cost doesn't show on the label--only the weight shows. So the buyer had to go to the USPS website and enter in the weight, the zip codes, the package size, etc., to get his "postage" cost. And the rate he quoted was JUST postage-- he didn't even include delivery confirmation (a USPS service that was obviously used, as he could tell from the label he was reading the weight off of). THAT, at least, should have been an obvious add-on. And then the whole reason I use stealth postage is because buyers thinking "shipping" just means the cost of postage. They forget that packaging materials, time to pack, and gas for running to the post office are also required in order to get their package to them. In my case, the box adds a LOT of cost because I use special boxes designed specifically for my product (to minimize damage AND so that the packages qualify for the weird requirements for Delivery Confirmation on First Class Mail). So a lot more than stamps goes into getting a product to the customer. But if you ship your buyer's merchandise to them in a hand-carved cedar box that cost you $20, they'll still just read the $2 postage on it and bitch about paying anything more than the postage. So that's why I use stealth postage.

Anyway, so I say, "Goos-Fra-ba" a few times and pop off a professional email about how we are "sympathetic about shipping and handling concerns due to some unscrupulous sellers inflating shipping charges, but that our shipping charges included . . ." and basically listed the items above, detailing how "shipping" was more than postage. I also wanted to tell him/her that they agreed to the price when they bid--if they thought it was too much, they shouldn't have bid in the first place--but I didn't. I kept it professional. And, amazingly enough, they left me a positive.

And then they REALLY pissed me off. They sent me an email politely (but firmly) demanding that I leave them feedback, too. I *HATE* when anyone tries to strong-arm me into feedback. It's going to take an awful lot of "Goos-Fra-ba's" before I even attempt it. Otherwise, they might find themselves wearing a new red badge: "Customer complained about clearly stated shipping, tried feedback extortion, then demanded feedback." That's more than the 80 character limit, but I bet you I could get it shortened up enough to work. And, of course, guess what buyer just made it onto my blocked bidder list, so he/she never has to worry about my shipping charges again?

Like I said, most of my buyers are excellent. It's just that some days, I feel like I'm putting half of eBay on my blocked bidder list. Today it was two-- there was another potential buyer who emailed me saying, "Your postage is too high. I might consider buying if you lowered it." And before you say it, no, it's not too high, it covers the basic costs (as stated above) AND it's at the lower end of the range for my category. Most sellers in my category charge at least $2 more than I do, and they ship in a bubble mailer (not a box). So my shipping and handling is a bargain (not to mention, I've been doing this for several years with the same postage cost, even through the postal price increases, and most everyone has been fine with the shipping). So shipping complaints are rare, and two so close together are unheard of. Almost makes me wonder if my buyer and the potential buyer are the same person (perhaps to potentially prevent me from labelling him a PITA in feedback; if somebody else is complaining about it too, then he can't be such a PITA, right?) So the second complaint could be a fluke, or it could be a red herring. Either way, both made it to the blocked bidders list.

Well . . . how about that?

For the past few weeks, I've been having a lot of pain in my arm (see last post; thought arm might be broke). After I went in to the doc and got that stupid armband, the pain actually got worse for a while! It seemed to spread all the way up to my shoulder. I'd twist my arm and I could feel something "pop" all the way from my elbow to my wrist, my elbow would lock up, and my shoulder would catch and I couldn't move it. But it wasn't broken, and it wasn't "tennis elbow" as the doc suggested. Know what it was?

Lack of gun shooting.

Seriously. I went and picked up my concealed carry gun, a Kimber Ultra Carry II, 45 ACP. For a few days, I held back on test firing it. After all, deer season is creeping up and the last thing I want to do is to potentially injure my arm so close to deer season. And the kick of a .45? Definitely could be a problem.

But you know girls and their toys!

I couldn't resist. Hubby wanted to go scout out some of the deer hunting areas this weekend, so I brought my tiny Kimber along for the ride. And when we got to a good spot, I just had to try it out. It was 20 degrees with a 20 mph wind, and the tears just streamed from my eyes from the cold, but damn! It was fun! The Kimber was frighteningly accurate (I swear, all I had to do was *think* about where the bullet should go, and it went). The power was incredible, and the recoil was minimal, and the gun never bit my hand. Good thing, too, because that's what I was most worried about. My last self-protection gun was terrible! It was a Takarov CZ, and I couldn't hit squat with it (and I'm a pretty freaking good shot) and it tore up my hand every time I shot it (which may have been a function of the specific gun-- I know plenty of people who *love* their Taks and can drive nails with them-- but for me, it was a *bad* gun). So I was worried about picking up the Kimber. It's one thing to spend $100 on a bad gun; another thing entirely to spend almost $700 on a bad gun. But so far, I'm delighted. I put 50 rounds or so through it, and it worked perfectly (and fired like a dream).

Side bonus? The pain in my arm is gone. No shit. From shoulder to hand, everything is functioning beautifully with no pain whatsoever. I haven't had to wear that stupid armband since the day I shot the Kimber. So apparently, for maximum performance, I need to shoot a gun every now and then, LOL!

Of course, 50 rounds is hardly a measure of performance, but so far, so good. I can't wait 'til the next shooting trip where I can put more rounds through it. I'm already shopping for more clips (it's a necessity-- we watched Dawn of the Dead tonight, and I need more clips just in case there's an outbreak of zombies anytime soon). ;)

The only bummer is that I can't even have it with me when I'm deer hunting-- it's not legal for deer, so you can't even have it in your possession while you're out deer hunting. That's another thing that held me back about buying it-- it's not practical, as it doesn't have any hunting value (it's only for self-protection and target). But it's so damn fun to shoot, I'm glad I got it.

when you’re having fun. Or not . . .

On the up side of things, I’ve gotten a few more publication credits under my belt. On the bad side of things, I’m having a hard time writing anything these days thanks to a fishing mishap.

Last Saturday we went fishing. We didn’t know it at the time, but it turns out that it was probably our last fishing trip of the year--we’ve had snow (though it hasn’t stuck around) and night-time lows are in the 20’s, so it’s way too cold for fishing anymore (barring an unexpected warm spell). But that’s okay because deer season is right around the corner. Anyway, our last fishing trip turned out to be a good one. I caught three Northerns. Two were good-sized, and the third almost rivaled my big fish from last year: 36.5 inches and 11 pounds. And it’s the one that did me in.

I was having a hard time getting the fish to shore because it was fighting like crazy AND because I was having a hard time standing (the shore is small boulders--that rock and wiggle--and the wind was gusting at darn near 50 mph). My dad had went to fish in another spot, so the only one there to net my fish was my mother. Since I was worried about her getting hurt (and since she’s not supposed to lift anything over 10 pounds because of her aneurysms), I was trying to bring the fish to her, rather than her having to chase the fish around. And then once she had it netted, I grabbed the net from her because I didn’t want her lifting the fish (because even at that point, I was pretty sure the fish was over her lift-limit).

After the adrenaline left my system, I notice my elbow was hurting pretty bad. I figured maybe I’d just strained a muscle. A week later, my elbow was *still* hurting. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t hold a book in that hand, and if I tried to hold anything heavy in that hand, pain would shoot down my arm and it would go numb. Then hubby looked at my elbow and said it looked really weird. So he thought maybe I broke it.

I protested. I may be getting old, but I’m certainly not so old that I’m going to fracture a bone catching a fish! But then I remembered: a few years ago while caving in Kentucky, I took a horrible fall. I landed on my elbow and slammed my shin into a rock. Of course, I was going to go see a doctor down there, and by the time I got home they didn’t hurt so much, so I never saw a doctor about it. I’m pretty sure I at least fractured my shin because it has healed with a large, hard knot on it (like repaired bone). So it could be plausible that I fractured my elbow in the cave and it never healed right. And fighting with the fish may have broken the weak spot.

So I went to the doctor. They didn’t do x-rays because they are convinced I have tennis elbow, and now I have to wear this stupid dog collar thing around my arm. It gets in the way of *everything* (though I have to admit, my arm does hurt less when I wear it; probably because I can’t move my arm like I usually do!).

When I told the doctor how the injury occurred and my theory on it (hurt catching a big fish; reinjured an old cave break), she looked at me like I was crazy. But all she’d have to do is look back through my medical records to see it’s simply par for the course:

Emergency room: surgery to remove porcupine quill embedded in leg (I was crafting a gift for a friend)

Family physician: x-rays of finger to check damage; two months earlier nearly cut finger off trying to saw through a frozen kielbasa (never went in for the original injury, but it was still hurting two months later so I figured I’d better have it looked at)

Family physician: ring-worm infection from going potty in a bear cave;

Family physician: chicken pox . . . FIVE times (I kid you not);

And now,

Weekend clinic: tennis elbow due to large Northern Pike.

Since I try to avoid the doctor at all costs, my medical records are thin . . . but at least they are interesting.

But now I’m trying to adjust to wearing this stupid thing around my arm, and I’m not liking it at all. And I’m waiting to see what horrible disease I come down with: the Weekend clinic waiting room is the same as the emergency room’s waiting room, and there were half a dozen toddlers (with barking coughs and green ooze streaming) sitting in the waiting room. I went in with a weak arm and I’ll probably come out with Bubonic plague.

Yeah, it's been a while since I posted. But I've been too busy to rant about anything. Today, however . . .

What the F is wrong with this country? I saw a report on CNN today about Faith nights for baseball. I guess it's kind of like hat night at the stadium, but instead of getting a hat you get God. Along with the big game you get preaching, Christian music, fellowship, and . . . Biblical Bobblehead dolls. ??????? I kid you not! And the organization that's got the ball rolling on this wants to expand into other sports besides baseball, as if our culture isn't already over-saturated with Christianity.

Can you imagine if there was a Jewish night? I wonder how many people would say, "Oh, that's just silly!" Or what if there was a Islam night, or Pagan night? Think people would be outraged and try and shut it down? I bet they would. But Christian faith night, well, that's different of course.

So far these faith nights seem to only involve the Atlanta Braves and some team called the Diamondbacks, so who cares-- nobody likes them anyway (evil grin; yes, I'm trying to push your buttons now). Hopefully it will stay just with those teams. I'd be really pissed if the Yankees started doing something like this.

Oh, and one more thing that bothers me (besides the fact that one of the teams involved in this has an offensive name and therefore doesn't exactly have a track record of being sensitive to diversity, so this faith thing should really be no surprise): the manager of the Braves was on CNN talking about the large number of churches within an X mile radius of the stadium, and how attendance is up 10% on faith nights . . . so are they participating in this faith night thing because they are committed to religion, or because they are trying to get a "piece of the pie" of the Christian demographic? To me, that's the worst: it's one thing to label yourself "Christian friendly" because your business/organization shares the belief system; it's a low blow to use it as a marketing ploy to rake in more dough. No religion should be manipulated that way. I don't want to attend a pagan festival thrown by companies that *just* see my religion as dollar signs.

Forgot to post again. Time sure seems to be getting away from me a lot lately!

First things first: the puppy is back to her old self (in other words, underfoot and in to everything). She doesn't seem to be holding the whole "spaying thing" against me.

We had our first frost the other night. It's not surprising, but it ticked me off because of a difference of opinion hubby and I were having. While I was in Kentucky, two of my uncles dug up some honeysuckle for me to plant in my yard. By the time we arrived home, the honeysuckle was looking sickly. I planted it anyway, and tended to it with loving care. After three weeks went by, there was no sign of growth and the plants were brown and all the leaves had fallen off. Hubby told me to give it up, they were dead. I wouldn't give up. He weed-wacked one of them "on accident". And you know what? Two days before the frost, I was out talking to them and noticed they all (even the weed-wacked one) had new leaves sprouting. The little buggers lived!!! So I after doing a little "I told you so" dance for hubby, I was afraid the frost would get them. I covered them and, luckily, it was a pretty light frost and they survived.

Saturday I went fishing. It was better than the last trip. I caught one, and then about a half hour later got another bite. I got the second fish up to the shore and then he threw the hook and got away. About an hour later, I had a bite that nearly pulled my rod double. But when I yanked to set the hook, there was nothing there. Another hour goes by, and the third time was the charm: I set the hook and got him. So I ended up bringing home two fish. But the funny part is that when my dad gutted my second fish, he had two of my bait in his stomach-- so the other two times, the one I almost got to the shore and the one who just yanked my bait away, were the second fish! So it just took me three tries to catch him. Anyway, we've talked to a few people who fish out at the same lake we do, and it turns out the fishing is bad because the fish are all in deep water (not surprising, since pike like it chilly). So folks on boats are limiting out. That's fine, because I hate boats. Maybe I'll have to encourage my mom and dad to go fishing without me so they can go out on the boat and catch a bunch (I don't give a shit HOW good the fishing is, I'm not setting foot on a boat; unless it's a pontoon, of course).

Today I've been house-cleaning. It's amazing how quickly it all piles up when you aren't paying attention.

And I've been doing some "plant work." I've snipped bits of my morning glory and hops vines (both planted outdoors) and I'm trying to propagate them indoors for planting next spring. And I planted some of the blueberries from my blueberry plant to see if they'll sprout. If they do, I'll grow them indoors and then plant them out with the original bush in the spring. I also did some harvesting of my Whoopie Goldberg plants (Amaranthus, I think it's called, "Love-lies-bleeding"). I'm not sure if the seeds will grow, but I'm collecting a bunch just to give it a go. The weather is supposed to warm up, so if the honeysuckle vines keep growing I'll probably cut a sprig off of them to propagate indoors too, since I'm not sure if the vines will survive through the winter here.

Oh, and I've been seasoning a cast iron pot I picked up in Kentucky. I *LOVE* cooking with cast iron. I'm trying to gradually phase out all my other cookware and replace it with cast iron. For anyone out there who hasn't used cast iron, try it-- I bet you'll like it. When seasoned well, food won't stick, it cleans up much easier than any other cookware, and it makes the food taste better. I know it's hard to believe, but trust me: I can give someone a piece of frybread cooked in a deep fryer and a piece of the same frybread cooked in cast iron and them which is better, and *everyone* picks the one fried in cast iron. I don't know how it works, but cast iron just gives everything that home-cooked touch.

And that's pretty much it-- another exciting weekend for Windlistener, LOL!

My sweet baby finally went in for her spaying yesterday and it has really hit her hard. Normally, if I'm away from her for even fifteen minutes, she freaks out when we're together again (bouncing, yelping like she's being killed, piddling). After all day at the vet's, she greeted me with only a slight tail wag. Normally, the cats stay out of the family room because she's all over them the second they cross one of the gates. After her surgery, the cats actually came and laid down in the family room. Normally, she's eaten half her food before it even hits her bowl. After her surgery, her food sat in the dish until the cats started to eat it (and then I took it away).

Although it's nice to have her settled-down (she's usually pretty spazzy), I don't like the fact that her zen snuggliness is due to pain. It's too bad that they don't have painkillers for pets (or that the vets in our area don't dispense them).

I'm hoping she feels better today.

This first picture shows our group heading into a tunnel. Although it almost looks like a man-made tunnel, it has actually been carved by water.







Another chamber where the stalactites and stalagmites are growing together to form a wall.







A spiky rock waterfall. It looks kind of spooky in real life.







Our group descending into a lower chamber.







My cousin crawling into a tube. It looks easier than it is: the tube angles downward sharply, the floor is slick with mud, and even the rock sides are slippery with water. One false move and you'll find yourself at the bottom much quicker than you intended.







More stalactites and stalagmites.







This was my favorite formation. It looks so much like the mouth of one of the monsters from the Alien movies . . .







so I just had to stick my head in it and ham it up.

No cave pictures today. I want to say that our hearts go out to Terri, Bindi, and Bob. A hero has fallen. Even though Steve was just a "guy on TV" that we never met, we feel like we knew him personally. We watched with tears of joy when Bindi was born (and Terri told him where he could put that camera, LOL); we shed tears of sadness when he said goodbye to his best friend in the whole world, his dog. He was the only person our family has ever seen who loved animals and the natural world more than we do. All three of my girls had huge crushes on him, considered him a knight in shining armor, protecting all the wild things in the world. We feel like we've lost a friend.

Here's hubby trying to pick his way through some terraces. You can see that this part of the cave is "water-rich": it has terraces, pools, stalactites/stalagmites, and rock waterfalls.







Here are more rock waterfalls. The colors come from the different minerals deposited.







Most of the caves we go in have at least some resident bats. They *are* dangerous, but not in the way you might expect. They won't attack you on purpose, but they do get confused and fly into your face. And when you are shinnying along a ledge or climbing a wall, and something flies out of the darkness and hits you in the face unexpectedly, it can startle you and cause you to fall.







Here's an interesting looking tunnel.







And here's my dad going into the interesting looking tunnel.







And this is the roof of the interesting looking tunnel (that must be my uncle's hand and flashlight in the picture).







This is one of my favorite formations. It looks like teeth!








More to come!

Although it was a beautiful day for fishing and I had great time, the fishing itself sucked. My mom caught two, my dad caught two (or the same one twice; he threw it/them back because it/they were small), I got four or five bites (but never got one to shore), and hubby got jack squat-- not even a nibble. So we fished for six or seven hours and only came home with two fish. Maybe the water is still too warm for them (or maybe they had a feeding frenzy the day before, after the storms had gone through).

But it was still nice to be out there beside the lake, listening to the geese, watching the sunlight dance on the waves. And on the way home, the Northern Lights put on a show for us. So all in all, it was a good day (and a good weekend-- we went to the casino the night before).

Today was a chore day, trying to catch up on some housework and yard-work (some of which I'm still behind on from vacation). So I am wore out. Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll get some more of the cave pictures reformatted and posted.

I finally get to go fishing today. The trip was slightly delayed because I couldn't find my fishing license-- which just goes to show it's been TOO LONG!

Wish me fish!