UsedEverywhere.com

What, exactly, am I paying for?

Hey! Did you ever notice the Ad Upgrade options when you Place an Ad? They look like this:

Did you ever wonder quietly to yourself, “what is this and why on Earth would I pay money for it?”? We’ll I’m going to break it down for you; not because I am encouraging you to buy them, but because knowledge is power and an Ad Upgrade might be very useful to you and you don’t even know it!

1. Top Ad. In simple terms, a Top Ad is an ad that will show up at the top of all of the ads in its ad category and on the first page of its parent categories (but just below Featured Ads). They look like this:

There are a lot of Top Ads, so only three show on a category page at a time. The ads cycle though randomly, so if you don’t see your ad right away, clicking “Refresh” should help. You can also select “Show all top ads” to view the Top Ads that are not currently visible. For more information on top ads, click here.

2. Latest Ads Gallery. This is the scrolling gallery of picture ads that you see on the “Latest Ads Page”. It looks like this:

Gallery ads only show up in the Latest Ads section. The order that the ads float by in the gallery is random; the gallery is updated every 10 minutes. To learn more about the Gallery Ad upgrade, click here.

3. Premium Ad. This upgrade is like a highlighter! Instead of getting completely lost in the shuffle as new ads are continually added, pushing yours down the list, the premium ad upgrade gives your ad increased visibility by making it stand out on a yellow background. Premium ads look like this:

Isn’t that neat? To learn more about Premium Ads, click here. Ad upgrades give ads greater visibility and can be super helpful when trying to sell your stuff!

Under the (Snowy) Weather

I’ve been out of the office for a couple days with an ailment that I’ve been susceptible to all my life – the dreaded ear infection. I came down with this particular doozie on the very same day that Victoria received a giant dumping of snow.

I’m lucky enough to have fantastic people as roommates, and they took good care of me while I was one of the most miserable people in the city. Andrew drove me to the doctor’s office (in the snow! Good thing he’s from Calgary), Sam brought me some lovely chamomile tea and Derek made me what I’m now referring to as the best grilled cheese sandwich I’ve ever had, along with that Lipton’s Chicken Noodle Soup that cures everything.

I was surprised and delighted that the guys knew exactly what I needed to make me feel better, especially since I was floating in a cloud of antibiotics and painkillers and wasn’t able to do a great job of taking care of myself. It got me thinking about getting sick as a kid, and how parents seem to just have that instinct as to what to do to make it all better.

creative commons image courtesy of Auntie K

Dad always brought me toast, Popsicles, Gatorade and that very same Lipton’s Chicken Noodle. Mom brought lots of tea, lemon and hot water, bananas, chicken and rice soup and saltines with butter. Plus as many chick flicks as she could get her hands on.

Even though the memories of being sick as a kid are inevitably sucky ones, it’s always great to be reminded of the little things that made you feel so much better.

Did your parents do anything special to help you on the road to recovery as a kid? If you’re a parent now, is there anything you do for your kids to make being sick suck a little less?

Holy Snowballs, Batman!

The view outside my apartment this morning.

This morning I woke up and did the usual, had a shower, got dressed, started making coffee. That is when I noticed it looked more white than grey outside my window. Which led me to investigate by opening my window. And BAM! Snow! Tons and tons of snow! “Whhhaaaattttt?” I proclaimed while a slow smile creeped across my face.

I moved to Victoria from Toronto (and before that Montreal), so I have had my fair share of snowy days. But since moving to Victoria my winters have been snowless, and I thought I liked it that way… until this morning. Immediate joy. I have missed you, snow. Thanks for the crazy weather in Victoria today, global climate change, and reminding me how much I love the snow.

Because of the wacky weather, we also get to work from home today! Thanks again, snow! I think it is a rule put in place to avoid THIS. Bye guys, I’m going sledding.

Five reasons why I love being a mom: a reminder

Friday was a PD Day and Monday was Family Day. The kids were feverish going into the long weekend and when they DID feel better it was a little bit too cold to go out and truly enjoy the winter.

That’s why I’m writing this today. I needed a little reminder of why I like being a mom. Let’s just say I’m feeling a bit worn out today.

5. Having kids provides a great excuse to play.
As long as kids are on the scene, no one looks askance if I’m skipping along the sidewalk, making choo-choo sounds while riding across the parking lot on the grocery cart, swinging on the swings, playing hopscotch etc. I am free to be me. Sometimes its fun to play with their toys too. When my eldest got a remote control car we brought it up to the park to try it out. My husband (kind of) took over and EVERY OTHER DAD was green with envy.

4. Having kids gives me the opportunity to learn. Why is the sky blue? Is there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? How do birds fly? Suddenly I need to know the answers to all of these questions. And it’s great.

3. Having kids has made me a better person.
I watch what I eat. I am much more environmentally aware. I am probably healthier than I’ve ever been in my life. And I’m not just a better person, I’m a different person. For example, I don’t know if I ever would have gone camping without kids, it wasn’t something my family did very much of when I was growing up. But I love it and can’t imagine a summer without it.

2. I love watching them grow and become independent little people.
Parenthood is the ultimate science experiment. You start with a blank slate and add whatever you like! Genetics gets in the way sometimes, but hey, so what if you’re a shy bookworm with hockey-loving boys? It might be good for you.

1. It’s a buffet of love. I get hugs and kisses every day. There’s laughter at bedtime, a warm embrace in the morning… there’s nothing better than that.

Got anything to add? I’d love to hear it.

Not Again!

Another week, another scam. For shame, scammers! For shame!

This particular scam features the individuals behind it sending our emails and posing as the UsedEverywhere.com team. Sigh. When will they learn??

The fake email

There are some key issues in this email that identify it as being a fake:

1) We don’t play favourites with our sellers.

2) We don’t ever call ourselves a “firm” (how stuffy is that?!).

3) We don’t get involved in transactions. It was a conscious decision that we’re the broker between the buyer and seller. Once you get a hold of each other, we step back and let you work out the details between the two of you.

The ads associated with this particular scam have been removed and the users have been blocked. Having said that, watch out for this scam or other similar scams, and as always, if you see anything that looks suspicious, please report it and and let us know!

In case you missed Katie’s blog post on staying safe online, here it is again!

Top 10 Things to Make the Most of Family Day!

Today is Family Day in Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan! So in honour of this recently-invented and province-biased holiday, I have come up with a list of new and exciting ways you can improve your Family Day and include UsedEverywhere.com in some of your family’s adventures! (Oh, and Happy Islander Day, PEI!)

1. Puppies. Nothing will improve your Family Day like adding a new, adorable member to it. Or better yet head over to your local SPCA and give some of the puppies there some much needed affection, and maybe a new forever home!

2. Punta Cana. Why spend Family Day in freezing Canada when you can extend it into Family Week and go to the Caribbean? Why, indeed. Nothing cries “vacation” like Ontario in February.

3. WWF Hardy Boys Boxset. If puppies and the Dominican Republic are just not in the cards today, nothing quite brings the family together like forced participation in a mock wrestling championship hosted in your living room. I speak from experience.

4. Reading. Always an excellent and educational way to bring the family together – storytime!

5. XBOX! You know the kids want to sit and play it all day anyway, so why not embrace it?

6. These Sweet Rides. Fun for the whole family.

7. Karaoke Machine. Since I live in BC now, I’ll never have the opportunity to hear my Mom do her best Agnetha while my brothers fill in for Bjorn, Frida and Benny. Take advantage of the opportunity presented to you today Ontarians, Saskatchewanians, Albertans!

8. Ski poles! Cross Country Skiing! I’m not entirely sure! Is cross-country skiing fun? Entirely possible! Family Day: Day of Opportunity and Discovery.

9. Tarot Cards. Why not get the kids involved in a new hobby? Have them learn the ways of the tarot and then tell you your future while you put #10 to good use.

10. Wine glasses. Reuse any day!

Random Acts of Kindness Week

I bet you didn’t know that February 14-20 is Random Acts of Kindness Week. I’m reasonably confident about this, because I didn’t know either until about 12 minutes before I began writing this post (when Katie let me know).

Is it just me or is it kind of sad that we even need to designate a week to be nice to people? Sure, we’re all busy and a lot of us live in big cities that have made us a little jaded, but when did we stop being kind for no reason? Or maybe we haven’t, maybe we just don’t hear about it anymore because it’s not that interesting. I’m not sure; I’m very curious to hear your take on the situation.

creative commons image courtesy of foilman

For the UsedEverywhere team, this is something we work hard to keep at the heart of the company. A lot of people talk about giving and kindness over the holidays, but what about an idle day in February? March? July? We’re lucky to have an awesome team that loves to give back; our Community Angels, like Dan here in Victoria, work tirelessly to help families out in the community. We love to say “Thanks!” and help out whenever we can.

It doesn’t have to be a huge gesture in order to make someone’s day. The website has a list of Kindness Ideas – everything from bringing some treats into the office for your co-workers to making blankets for the homeless.

Something to think about: Have you been kind today?

UsedEverywhere – A Resource for Historical Research?

Captain William Grant. Image from The Times Colonist Obituaries (Sunday, May 21, 1916)

I came across an unusual ad on UsedVictoria.com the other day. It was a wanted ad seeking information on a couple of “true Canadian heroes”, as it’s poster, Art Bickerton, has described them. I met with Art to find out more about his search; more specifically Captain William Grant and Helen Mary Smith, the couple he is seeking information on.

Art felt a strange feeling of compassion while visiting the Grant’s property on Bay Street in Victoria, and soon discovered that he was standing on the very site where 55 men, women, and children lost their lives in 1896. This was what is known as the Point Ellice Bridge disaster. On May 26, an overloaded streetcar broke through the Point Ellice Bridge resulting in one of the worst disasters in BC’s history. The disaster was visible from Captain William Grant’s home on the banks of the Gorge Waterway. The Grant’s house was immediately opened up as a receiving hospital for the injured, and for this Art considers the Captain and his wife Helen Mary Smith true, if unsung, heroes.

Art continued his research behind Grant and Smith using the resources available to him, such as the archives of the Nova Scotia Historical Society and old newspaper articles. He found out that Grant was born in Grantville, Cape Breton – a town with his family’s namesake – in 1835; Grant died in Victoria at the age of 81. Born into a wealthy family, Grant took the seas at a young age and was captain of many ships, including the Oliver Jordan, Louisa Hatch, and the Thomas E. Kenney. He was met with many unfortunate circumstances at sea – such as stormy and treacherous weather. Also through his involvement in the American Civil War and the War of the Triple Alliance (also known as the Paraguayan War between Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina) his ships each seemed to meet their own tragic end – and he managed to survive all of them. Art relayed many of the situations Captain Grant found himself in when I spoke with him and it was hard to not be intrigued by these tales of adventure.

Mary Helen Smith. Image from "As Wise as Serpents: Five Women and an Organization That Changed British Columbia, 1883-1939" by Lyn Gough (1988, p. 50)

Mary Helen Smith also had her own tales of adventure, many of which where alongside Captain Grant. She was born in Maitland, Nova Scotia in 1853 and died in Victoria in 1943. She was a school teacher and part of the Suffragette Movement in Victoria later on in her life.

Art continues to look for more information on Captain William Grant and Helen Mary Smith. He has posted several ads on UsedVictoria.com and other classifieds in an attempt to reach anyone who might know more about these two and their family. Art is in search of primary resources containing information on the lives of Captain Grant and Helen Mary Smith, such as official documents, journals, and diaries. If you have any information of this sort please contact Art through his ad on UsedVictoria.com.

Thanks for sharing Art, and good luck with your research!

A DIY for the DIY Challenged

I have a confession: I’m a huge klutz. I had a party at my place over the weekend for a handful of friends and the only thing that got broken was something I broke myself: my very favourite cherry blossom lamp.

I thought I would try to do a DIY post about what to do if you should find yourself with a broken cherry blossom lamp, but the internet didn’t provide anything useful. I guess normal people don’t break their own lamps at their own parties. Sigh. Plus it was probably a little overly ambitious of me to try and work with broken glass on my first DIY adventure.

What I did find however, is this fun, easy and cheap (read: FREE) do-it-yourself project that is particularly awesome if you have little girls that need to be entertained. I wish I had stumbled upon this little gem while my mom still required my babysitting services for my kid sister.

All you need are bobby pins, scissors and drinking straws (seriously!). I got mine at McDonald’s and Jugo Juice, but any straws will do (except for “bendy” straws – those will make your life difficult during this project). I chose these two because of the pretty colours (Starbucks would also be good – bright green). Here we go!

Note: My pictures skip a few steps, so if you get confused, follow the instructions (or the video!) at Instructables!

1. Flatten out your straws. I did this by running the straws back and forth along the edge of my dresser drawer (the side of a table, a book, or a heavy object over top will also work).

My straws; notice that the middle two have been flattened

2. The folding is the tricky part (and, as it happens, the bulk of the project!). I took these instructions direct from the site so as to avoid confusing you!

We’re going to call the white straw #1 and the purple straw #2.

1)Fold straw #1 in half and angle it to form a “V” then slide straw #2 into the bottom of the “V” shape.
2)Fold the right end of straw #2 up in FRONT the right side of straw #1 so that it is parallel with the left end of straw #1.
3)Fold the right end of straw #1 around the FRONT of the right end of straw #2 and tuck it BEHIND the left end of straw#1.
4)Take the right end of straw #2 and fold it over the FRONT of straw #1 and tuck it BEHIND the left end of straw #2.
5)Take the right end of straw #1 and fold it BEHIND the left end of straw #1, then bring it in FRONT of the right end of straw #2. (It should now be parallel with the left end of straw #2.)
6)Fold the right end of straw #1 BEHIND the right end of straw #2 and tuck it in FRONT of the left end of straw #2.
7)Fold the right end of straw #2 in FRONT of straw #1 and tuck it BEHIND the left end of straw #2. Then fold the right end of straw #1 over the FRONT of both ends of straw #2 and BEHIND the left end of straw #1.
8)Bend both sides of straw #2 down so that the longer end will lie down flat over the middle of the heart.
9)Tuck this longer end under the cross section of straw #2 that runs straight through the middle of the heart.
10)Pull this end through the cross section tightly.

Commence folding!

Almost there...

3. Before your “heart” looks like the one in the picture below, you’re going to have to trim a couple of the ends so that they’re flush with the edges of the shape. Trim a little V into the top to give it a distinct heart shape.

It's a heart!

4. Shimmy the bobbypin into the back of the heart (the backside will be the one with visible ends). Be careful when doing this, you don’t want to rip apart all of your hard work!

Insert bobbypin

And now you have a really cute and unique hair accessory! Personalize with different coloured straws. Awesome idea for rainy days, stocking stuffers, birthday party goodie bags, or just for fun.

Ta daa! So fancy!

I have officially made it through my first DIY! Now what am I going to do about that lamp…

Birthday blues

I am turning to the interwebs for gift-giving advice today. Help!

My daughter received an email birthday party invitation, in which the host parents kindly requested that guests should bring a handmade or a second-hand gift.

This actually isn’t the first invitation we’ve received of this kind. Parents directing the gifting isn’t new. We’ve also been asked not to bring gifts at all. I have to admit, it makes me feel awkward to walk into a party empty handed, but overall I think it’s a pretty good idea. (Although some kids may disagree. Ha.)

Seriously, I do understand where the “no gifts please” parents are coming from. My family doesn’t need 10 new toys coming into the house. We are bursting at the seams as it is, and when you combine it with gifts from family, well, it the occasion quickly morphs into the Second Coming of Christmas.

Putting the “handmade” or “secondhand” qualifier on the invitation is an interesting twist, but I am struggling to find a good idea that a 9-year old can make AND won’t end up gathering dust under the recipient’s bed.

The last time we had to bring a handmade birthday gift we made pretty beaded hair decorations. (Instructions are here in case you find yourself in a similar jam.) I was thinking it might be a neat idea to make a no-sew fleece scarf this time around, or sew up some beanbags. What do you think? What else can we make that’s easy and unique?

If we can’t come up with a DIY project (or run out of time, which is more likely to happen), then we’re left with the secondhand option. Other than secondhand books (which I think might actually be a nice gift to give) I’m coming up empty. Since when did birthday party gifting become so complicated?

*sigh*

What about you? What would you do if you were in our shoes?