We are a mixed household. I use a cast off Mac and a cast off desktop PC. I have recipes on both computers, but the MAC lives in my kitchen. I have a Recipe Zaar membership and transfer recipes from GW to my private cookbook. The online availability is nice for any computer I use and won't get lost in a hard drive crash. I like being able to access recipes from my parents kitchen, too. Looking at the demo page on the Yummy Soup website there is an online library. Would that work for both computers or is it just MAC?

Good explanation, backsweat. I generally snipe and I will tell you why. Because you can lose an auction by pennies and if I want the item, I don't want to put in my top bid, let's say, $50, and then, find at the last moment that Backsweat bid $50.50 and I lost my special find. It's not that I don't have a top dollar in mind as I bid, it's just that I'm not willing to lose something for a dollar's difference. You see? And if Backsweat hadn't planned to really go over $48 for her bid, then, she might just decide to forego her Starbucks Black Tazo iced tea this week and bid an extra $3.50 when she sees that Red is going to win the fabulous antique lamp for just a few dollars more than HER top bid. So........... That being explained.....let me tell you a funny (to me!!) story about a Drexel entertainment armoire that I really really wanted to win a few years back. The piece probably cost a few thousand dollars new and it was just sitting there on Ebay with the opening bid set at $99. It was just 2 1/2 hours away and was 'pick up only'. I had been looking for months and was breathless at the thought of getting it. But knowing how auctions grab people's attention when they start getting bids, and how people sometimes shy away from something just sitting there bidless for days, I left it well alone. On Saturday morning, just about an hour from the End time, I stayed home from errands to bid on 'my' armoire. About 20 minutes before the end, someone (I will call her "Betty") puts in a bid. So, the armoire is now officially at $99 but Who Knows how much Betty put in as her top bid??? (Financial note: While I may recognize the value at a furniture store, it does not mean I have that much money to spend or want to. Also, you really do not know just how great the item is in person, till you go to get it. Many photos help, but I am still cautious, and was hoping to win this auction at maybe less than $350) So, now I have a conundrum. How much did Betty spend? Is she like me and wants a smokin' deal so didn't go too high? Could I steal at the last second for maybe $150? Or should I put in my top top tippy-top bid of $300 at the last moment just to be sure I get it? Now, just to skip ahead to the finish line...Had Betty not done what she did next, my cheapness would have probably led me to my $150 bid and she would have walked away with this nice armoire (it was 7' tall and 5' wide) for $151.00. But Betty could not sit there and watch this auction without getting itchy fingers. Suddenly, to my intense surprise, when I 'refreshed' the screen, there were 2 bids.....both Betty of course. About 3 minutes later, there were 3 bids. Betty again. Another minute passed and there were 5 bids. Betty, Betty, Betty, Betty, Betty. Yikes. What is the woman thinking??? I hope she doesn't play poker 'cause she couldn't win against first graders. Now, this auction looks hot and heavy to anyone poking their nose in to Ebay. How there came to be no one else bidding, I will never know. By the time the last 30 seconds rolled around, and I was thinking how high I really wanted to go over something that I couldn't check out in person, Betty had bumped her own bid 7 times. So I bit the bullet and put in $450. I was mad at me as I did it, because that's more than I wanted to pay for something like that and my budget was really tight that month. Well, Betty won for just under $500. I hope she was happy. But I will tell you one thing for sure. She never intended to pay close to $500 for that armoire. How do I know that?? Because her incremental bids started at $151.00 and only went up by $50 or so in the beginning. Once the auction had played out you could see how much she bumped it. And she wasn't that happy with it either, since her feedback to the Seller indicated that. I guess I should send her a thank you card. I might not have been happy either, hmmm?? Red

Since I retired I took up photography as a hobby. I have bought nearly all of my photo equipment on Ebay or the Goodwill Industries auction (www.shopgoodwill.com). When I am looking for a specific lens or accessory I look for an older camera that is listed with extra lenses and accessories. If the group contains any of the items I need I buy the set, keep what I need then sell the rest on Ebay as individual items. I am not gonna say that I have made a lot of money, but I have saved a pile of money getting the things I want in this manner. Fortunately all the products I am selling will fit in the USPS Priority mail boxes so I know ahead of time exactly what the shipping charges will be, and if you pay the postage online the postoffice will pick the item up at your house. That makes it very easy. I would offer one word of caution. If you are going to do business online open a separate checking account just for your business and list it with PayPal. With PayPal the customer never gets your bank info. They pay PayPal, which in turn deposits in your account and you can confirm receipt of the payment even before you ship the item. By having the separate account, even if a hacker were to hack into the account, the most they could get is your hobby money, not your household budget money in your primary account.

You got that it's a scam from that one email? To me it looks like someone who wants to put money directly into your account via a wire transfer. I give my account number out all the time and if someone manages to take what little money out of it, then the bank isn't doing their job. I hear Germany can be quite pricey, so even with the shipping she's probably getting a bargain. And how she gets her things shipped to LA, I get mine shipped to NY (I'm out of country). And I have an unverified address with PayPal and it's never stopped the seller from sending me the items, even when they state it. Guess I've been lucky with the sellers, which I'll treasure from now on. Hope the original buyer still wants them. Good luck.