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My (pretty limited) understanding of GSP is that it’s based on a package weight of up to 15 kilos (~35 pounds), also customs charges seem to be imposed on stuff that shouldn’t be charged. A customer in Canada complained that he was going to be charged 20 GBP by GSP for a pamphlet, whereas a customer in Spain was charged 15 GBP (no customs duty) for a heavy lump of electronic equipment, by airmail.
Seems to me that if the above is true, exporting cheap heavy stuff is the way to go. Maybe lumps of Washita stone to Russians (seems to be a demand for woodworking gear there).
I was consigning some pottery at the auctioneer’s yesterday. As I went to sign the form the pen skittered across the table. The staff member said “The pen’s alive!” I replied “It’s the only thing around here that is!”
Five microseconds later, message from conscious part of brain to unconscious part “Shut up! You’re being rude!” Brain instructs mouth to apologise. Mouth says “Sorry”. Brain then realises that habitual mumbling on mouth’s part meant that staff member did not hear the smartass remark.
I used to use an Olympus Pen with a couple of studio flashes. The Pen started playing up, so I traded in some dvds for store credit at CEX, and bought a small Olympus something-or-other 14 megapixel camera for £28. I use a phone charger to charge the battery via usb. Quality is good enough that I can just use the built-in flash. A cheap tripod is useful- you could maybe use a tripod with a ‘phone as a steady.
Thing to watch out for is that (in my experience) the only way to get photos off an Android ‘phone onto a Mac is to email them.
37. Carburettor cleaning spray
38. Benzaldehyde (gets rid of bees before they go sticking honey on your things)
39. Tetrachloroethylene (dry cleaning fluid- nasty!)
40. HG Tough Job Sticker Remover. This stinks, but according to the data sheet it only contains petrol and propanol.I had to look him up- if his last name is Romanovsky I don’t think he would’ve been in the trenches. More likely a cellar in Ekaterinburg.
If you can view the BBC version of “Antiques Roadshow” the resident glass expert Andy McConnell is worth watching. Skip the bits with the presenter Fiona Bruce unless you enjoy (quote) “self-satisfied, complacent smugness”!
Sorry- lampwork is when glass is melted using a heat source like a blowtorch and then manipulated with tongs to make figures. They look Mexican to me (sombreros). I’ve got some animals which were made and sold by someone working in the street in the Polish seaside resort of Sopot. A friend brought them back- you told him what you wanted and he made it on the spot
The “streets” in Venice (where Murano glass comes from) are canals. So you’d need to breathe through a snorkel if you wanted to stand in the street!
Looks to me like lampwork by a street vendor- typically they make animals, like giraffes, using a blowtorch.
The Venetians have just fined a German couple 700 dollars for making coffee in the street, so I don’t think they allow street vendors! Even ones with snorkels.
Just tell ’em “It’ll look super-duper on you!” Your ass (Polish ‘dupa’) will look great, the rest of you not so much.
I had complaints about bringing old books into the house from my friend’s mother (elderly Polish lady). I suppose once you open a book and see a mess of bookworms wriggling about it would tend to turn you off old books.
I reported a buyer who lives up a tree in Lapland, for not claiming a refund from eBay (item lost in GSP). Sent him the relevant T&C translated into Finnish and he messaged back asking me to write in English as “Google translate does not work on Finnish”. Perkele!
@Amatino- if you follow the rabbit hole that starts with tailor’s scissors, at some point you’ll come across the lady that makes scissors in a converted public lavatory in Sheffield. Very impressive!
The black finish on the sewing machine might be japanning-it’s used on tailor’s scissors. Might react with solvents.
I had a hundred-dollar silk scarf that someone had fixed to a board with masking tape, leaving that solid yellow gunk. The residue is supposedly rubber.
I just looked on a UK Volvo forum from 2009, and someone was providing the codes from either the VIN or the UK reg, so long as the radio was original to the car. I suppose the VIN is marked elsewhere on the car?
Some Ford radios display the serial number after (I think) the 1 and 6 buttons are pressed. Mine doesn’t 🙁 Where I live there are several independent car audio workshops which should be able to sort it (I’m too cheap and my passengers hate my musical choices anyway) Might be worth seeking out one of those where you live.
I’ve got some Finnish geezer on my case; he hasn’t received his Stanley plane sent via GSP and wants a refund. I clicked on the link to ask eBay to “step in” and I ended up going round and round in circles, so I “reported” him instead. Seemed to be the only way to actually contact eBay about his problem.
I’m thinking now that next time I get some non-urgent problem and I need to contact eBay I’m going to sit right down and write them a letter. In green crayon. “Sorry, they don’t allow things with sharp points on this ward”.
