Book Board Chat

June I still get a lot of my boxes at the grocery store. Whenever we go shopping I check out the employees that are stocking the shelves. If I see any boxes that will work for me I ask and they are happy to let me take them.

Hello to all from Belleville, Illinois where it has been an overcast day.

The man who took care of the frozen section at our local Shop 'n Save grocery store used to save boxes for me. Even though I haven't sold on eBay for quite some time, I still have a bunch of boxes on hand ... and when I see a nice sized box at a store now, I am still tempted to bring it home with me. If nothing else, my cats love playing in those cardboard boxes.

Diane Don't take it personally that nobody mentioned your absence from the Board. We've gotten used to people "disappearing" for a while and just assume they are dealing with other things in their lives.

Still have a room ful of boxxes. Every so often I try to het rid of some of them.
Sticking to my ewmoval of myself - since the election I haven't posted on any personal media sites. It's a little disappointing that no one has missed me.

Jim, never did dumpster diving but curb shopping(junk picking) back in the day, yeah,,,best find were two nice ornate antique frames, and a forties mesh vintage dress. Here we have "Hippie Christmas" with student move-out/ move in day. Couches, tvs all kinds of stuff out on the curb for junk pickup. Lots of students and other young folks can get what they need for their apartments. oh! just remembered, I did throw my keys with some trash into a dumpster at work one time, wasn't easy getting in and out.

Jim LOL

Hello my fellow former dumpster divers. As time goes by and ages go up I imagine we are less inclined to climb into dumpsters to retrieve boxes to use to pack up eBay sold items. I had a chance to revisit those good old days. My wife pack up some clothing in a kitchen white plastic bag for me to take to the cleaners. I went outside and quickly place it into the trash chute. Only as it dropped out of sight did I realize my error. Those trash dumpsters seem to have much higher sides than I remember from the old days. Anyway, I managed to get in and retrieve my clothing bag without getting any trash dumped down upon me while I was crawling around in there. Ah, sweet memories of the good old days.

Belated Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope everyone's day was a good one. We visited DH's family at his sister's , lots of food and fun, and caught up on the news. We will be have our dinner get together with my brothers tomorrow.
We are very thankful for our health and that of family members though two have had issues but are coming through them ok.
Hi Diane and Jim, sounds like you had a good time with your celebrations.

June--what a mess! hope your luck gets better and things go smoothly from now on.

Enjoyed my mince meat pie. Not a holiday without it. Quiet day, but very pleasant. The cooking all went accoding to schedule. Turned chilly overnight, heat came on this am.

There was a small tourist train not far from where I lived. The big selling point on its front entry sign was "Ride seven miles through cranberry bogs". We local residents were not impressed by that.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

My son does all the Thanksgiving cooking - big turkey etc. and a whole bunch of boiled shrimp appetizer It is always great. I am one of those who prefers canned cranberry sauce to uncanned. That is the way that I had it as a child even though we lived about ten miles away from the "Ocean Spray" company. We were in the heart of cranberry country in MIddleboro, MA with cranberry bogs all around.

Pie and cornbread made. That's all for today.

We'll be alone for TG as well so I won't be cooking (yea!). We're going to a local restaurant which has an enormous buffet which is really good.

Have fun in Spokane Jim!.

June Glad everything is fixed now on your house. Nothing ever goes smoothly, does it.

Just DS and I for Thanksgiving. There's a shortage on minced meat, but we managed to have one jar shipped in, do there will be pie.

June, That sounds like you had a rough few days. I'm glad all is back to normal for you.

I am in Spokane to spend Thanksgiving with my grandkids. It should be fun.

Hello to all from Belleville, Illinois where it is a cool overcast day.

It's been a rough week here. Earlier this year my house suffered hail damage from a bad storm. Well, last week workers were here installing new siding on the house. During the installation somehow the electrical box on my house was damaged and I was without power for two days. I'd forgotten how miserable that can be! It was a mess figuring out who was responsible for the damage, then waiting for someone to come fix it, get it inspected, and finally have the power company come out an hook me back up again.

LOL

Diane,Congratulations. You are a true Plugger.

https://www.gocomics.com/pluggers/2024/11/22
.

I've kept pliers in the silverware drawer for years, for bottle caps, etc. And I have a larger thingy for jars, etc.

I frequently read a comic strip called "Pluggers." It shows how old people just keep plugging away in life. Yesterday I was having a hard time twisting open a tight jar cap from a bottle. I thought I should keep a pair of pliers in the kitchen to take care of that. In today's "Plugger" the cartoon read, "If you keep pliers in the kitchen drawer to open tight container caps you are a plugger". I guess I will just keep plugging away.

Apparently you're not alone -- 2 weeks without posts. I'll be thinking of al of you and wishing you all the best.

I;ve been so down about the election and the state of our country that I haven't been posting anywhere and prolly am goingto sonctinue to take a break. Other than mentally I'm fine, just have to find a way to live through these next 4 years. Holiday wishes to everyone, and a happy and prosperopus New Year.

A bit of history - there was a recession in this country from July 1990 – March 1991. Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992 saying "It's the economy, stupid" and "I want to get us out of this terrible recession that we are in" while at the same time financial papers were saying, "Since the end of the recession last year..." That lie he told helped to get Mr. Clinton elected. I suppose to this day he still chuckles about that.

Good Morning everyone................we have a lovely fall-ish day, cool this AM but warming....so glad to be off DST.
I mailed my vote and got confirmation it was received and counted..............will also be very glad when all the calls, texts, ads, info, etc. is over............OVERLOAD is not a big enough word.

Teddy and Fred came through Gainesville for booksale once, and spent the night with me....lovely couple. Went all over in their camper...... seems so many of our ebay group have passed on....................I feel blessed at 85 to still be around.
I wish ebay had not changed and gotten so hard and expensive...................got lots of stuff I could sell, but it is just too much of a hassle with all the new rules, and the price of postage etc.

Got my flu and covid boosters the past 2 weeks, so hoping to stay well over the winter months. I am looking forward to walking in comfy weather..............just was way too hot over the summer, I can always add clothes, hats, mittens, scarfs..but hot weather is another story,and I will not walk in the dark.

FOL book sale was last week.....didn't work it, all we "oldies" kinda been put out to pasture, it has gotten so big and hectic.
I so far have not heard how much they made..............gonna make a phone call and find out.

When my wife and I voted we were second in line and there were two check in desks. About six voters were at the voting booths. I am surprised to see dozens of people standing in lines to vote now.
I get about a dozen text messages every day asking for political contributions, even the day before the elections. I block each number but the senders must have hundreds of numbers that they can use.
If marijuana is made legal in Florida that means people will be able to legally smoke marijuana in restaurants, warns one ad. Since tobacco is legal I guess people can smoke tobacco cigarettes in restaurants and everywhere also.

Unfortunately Jim, with the dropping of the national IQ, many of the voters do fall into the stupid category.

I am just tired of all the "creative editing" of opponents comments. Do politicians or their staff really believe that voters are stupid? I suspect that they do.

Ditto on NO MORE ADS! We live in Wisconsin but are in the Minnesota TV coverage area so we get all their ads and we can't even vote for any of them. Argh!

Beth I have the same problem here. I am in the St. Louis market for my local TV stations. There are several races and ballot propositions in Missouri that are highly contested and running ads almost constantly. I, too, will be glad when the election is over.

I will be so happy when Tuesday is over and the election ads disappear. Most positions in Vermont are only nominally contested. Our current officeholders are all very popular and will win handily, thus few ads and few yard signs. But we are in the NH market for our local stations and there is a political ad every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day! Once Wednesday arrives, it will just be the constant Medicare ads until December 7.

Our gas prices have finally dropped below $3.00, well not everywhere but at least at the station in our town.

Also met Teddi anmd Fred, her husband. Nice people. FRed died and Teddi remarried shortly before she also died. So many are gone.

Diane, that sounds like fun! We still have the ebony chickens next door--and sometimes they visit our back yard.

Curt

Devonia , Devonia died in 2017, she was the one who painted beautiful flowers on furniture.
aquiltmaven, Karen a lovely person
tedfred, Teddi Neveel, she knew a lot about antiques, I met her once at a BB get together

Good morning to all from Belleville, Illinois where it is a crisp, cool morning.

A few weeks ago we had a storm come through that caused hail damage on the roof and siding at both my house and sis's house next door. The roofers came yesterday and put a new roof on sis's house and they are back today doing my roof. I had forgotten how noisy this process can be!

Making up beds from my "Storm" guests. All my sheets are old, and mismatched. Mattresses are deeper now, and I had to buy bottom sheets to go with the good top sheets I already had. Have managed to clear out a few things, sold a couple, and more to go. After 2 weeks finally opened my home owners insurance statement. Thank goodness it didn't go up. Everyone I know has been complainging about how much theirs has gone up. Doubled, etc. Can't believe I worried about it 2 whole weeks. The four little dogs that moved in next door are very entertaining. They dash up and down, but don't get in the pool. Their yips are very small also. Getting things done, buyt slowly, feeling pretty good after all those months of not being in good shape. :Life is good.

Bob died some years ago.
Finished my ebay listings for the next couple weeks. Sure I can find more stuff, probably even some books.
Weather is very nice. New neighbors next door with 4 small dogs.

I think that was the Bob that had a bull head logo. He provided a link to a site that would store photos for people. Many people put their photos there. Bob was devastated when the person who ran the site just closed it down and people lost all of their photos.

June I think that was it, he posted here a few times from memory.

Another of the people from the old book board who died was named Bob. I believe his eBay name was something like "Lookwhatbobfound". He lived in Florida and had been very involved with the Salvation Army.

Hello Everyone. So sorry to hear about JoAnne. I will work on adding her to the In Memoriam list. Are there any others that are missing and need to be added. Just let me know. Thank You, Curt

We've had wonderful late summer/ extended fall weather here, many beautiful sunny temperate days. Long blooming flowers and colorful trees and shrubs.

Jane so sorry about your mother, may she rest in peace and light.
Sorry to hear about JoAnne, she led a full life. I admired the way she kept on going through the ups and downs of her life.Rest in Peace.

Maynard Newville (mnewville) passed away in his sleep on July 15, 2024. I saw him a bit on Facebook for awhile, but he was getting older and losing his sight. He lived in Minnesota, and we figured out that DH and I had unknowingly been at the same auction at the same time once.

Voted by mail this week.

My wife and I voted early. No crowd at all which was good. I will be glad when this election is over.

Weather is so beautiful here for mid October. Of course it is expected to get cold again Thursday, but my flowers are still blooming. Once the frost gets them, I will bring out the bird feeders

Hello to all from Belleville, Illinois where it is a sunny day. This time of year it's hard to know how to dress. It's pretty cool in the morning, but warms up quite a bit by the afternoon.

Beth Thank you for posting JoAnne's obituary. I had not heard that she died.

Afternoon everyone, got my fence rebuilt, front porch ceiling back in place. Neighborhoods still full of stacks of downed trees, brush, trash from storm. It's getting very dry and dangerous...hope they get more picked up soon, but ours is not as bad as some nearby. Becoming fire hazards.

This coming weekend is the Fall Book Sale...................I am not working it - my legs/back just don't last long enough anymore for hours on that concrete floor..............hoping they will have good clear weather for it.........looks that way so far. Starts Saturday through next Wednesday............

Early voting going on nearby, so traffic and parking might be a problem..........hope not. VOTE first, then come buy a bunch of great books!

I have a new great grandson.............born in October. #7 th great grandchild. Sadly, 3 of them I have not met or held...only see pics or videos....but that is better than nothing.

Sister and I not doing any cruising this fall or winter... the ship part is fine but the getting there to sail and then back home has become a PITA..............whatever.

Sorry, I didn't know JoAnn had passed. Should keep in touch more.. sorry.

I turned 85 in September..............only 2 aunts on my dad's side of the family have made it longer.. I hope to keep on keeping on to 90 or above..... will take all I can get. I am doing PT 2 x a week to stay strong.............oops...time to go there now..................cya later

I sent a message to webmaster,
'

I would imagine the webmaster is the only one to make changes.

Does anyone know how to add JoAnne to the "In Memoriam" section of this group?

Lynne,

Bobby's death was likely a relief for JoAnne. I know she wondered what would happen to him after she was gone. Not likely son in Florida would fly up to see him in a nursing home.

Sorry to hear Jane, I hope it was easy for her. Also sorry to hear about JoAnne and her family; I see her second son has retired to Florida. Sort of glad her elder son died before her, not for her but for him.

Thanks for that Beth., Good to know her story.

I remembered and did a search. I found an obituary for JoAnne. She apparently passed away last December. https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/obituaries/pnys0748353

I have forgotten JoAnne's last name. I know it begins with an H.

Jane, I am so sorry to hear about your mother passing. I know she lived a long life and it was not unexpected, but still an emotional blow when one loses their mother.

Jane, sorry to hear about your mother. She had a long life.
Beth, glad to see you.
Anyibe know what happened to JoAnne. She got worried about being hacked.

Hi <Beth. Welcome back.

I've been MIA for a while also because of my mother's health. She had a stroke and finally passed away a week ago on her 98th birthday. She made it by 13 minutes! I think that was her goal. Meanwhile we have been very busy and still are settling everything.

Will try to get back here by the end of the week.

Jim,

Vermont, New York and many other States have done away with Columbus Day and replaced it with Indigenous People's Day. State and Federal offices and banks all closed, but most schools are open and dedicate the day's lessons to learning about the Native Americans in their area. I know many Abenaki tribe meembers visti schools in Vermont and tell the kids about their history and traditions.

Sorry it ahs been so long since I visited here, but just really busy. Now that the weather is getting colder, I will spend more time indoors and on the computer.

Cleaning out stuff - tool pics and going to list silver native am. jewelry the I no longer wear.

Ah, I forget how now things are moved to make for long weekends.

Officially now a Monday assigned Holiday. "Post offices will be closed on Monday, Oct. 14, and the Postal Service will not deliver regular mail or packages on that date."

Yesterday was Columbus Day but I saw no mention of it on the TV or newspaper. I suppose in cities or towns with large Italian populations there was some celebrating but nothing here in south east Florida. Anyway, Buon Giorno di Colombo

Glad to see Jim and Diane are ok, Virginia Rose left for her daughter's home and is ok and Patsy is ok.

My daughter and her crew are going to stay until Mon. As a RM she wants to clean everything. I've had to leave the room several times, and may have to leave the house. They are planning to visit NAS today or tomorrow, so that will be 1/2 day respite.

Glad to hear iot Jim.

The hurricane passed north of us. There was little wind and today it is very calm with the sun shining.

It looks like the hurricane will pass north of us. There should be some wind gusts and a little rain but little damage. I am a few miles north of Miami.

I am out of the path, but it looks like Jim will get some weather. And Patsy again.

Several people on this board live in Florida. Keep you heads down.

My daughter, her son and dog are on their way here to avoid Storm Milton. Her home in port Charlotte is right in the path. I haven't seen her son in 20 years and don't really know or like him, so I expect the next week will be frought with times I retr4eat to the patio or my bedroom. Hoping I can keep my mouth shut, but there's nothing I can do about my face.
We should not even get a drop of rain here.

It can be hit and miss on seeing people's posts on FB--the "algorhythm" does not show every post of every friend to me. Sometime I visit someone's page and find I missed quite a bit. There's not time to check every one all the time.

Hi all, or maybe should say Hi Y'all! I made a post about the old BB on the Ex ebayBBers facebook page, and I heard from Kathleen (ludwig) Kathy (casinokat), Jan (shibadiva) and Sue (bookworm) Bev (not sure vangoes?) judy (jude51) Sam (treasuremoms?)Jean Hale (Hale ???)and David Holloway?) they all have fond memories of the BB.

Beg pardon if I misspell or mis- identify someone.

I also have some family and non-BB friends on there, though I've kept the number fairly low . and I follow some specific topic pages that I really like. Wild Birds of Wisc (photos) Wisc. wildlife photos) Gothic Home and Garden, Teslacon, Janis Ian etc) It's easy to find pretty pictures there to re-post and I don't have to upload to a host or use html. For book talk I have the Louise Penney Book Club page, and sometimes visit other authors' pages (latest J A Jance.)

I see posts from Patsy, Diane, and Sally (salmegal) and Chris (zuni) I also sometimes hear from Virginia Rose (memories of yesteryear?) Melissa (nonamgoddess) , Karen Carruba (not sure) Michelle Schubert (unsure of ID she had the Bergamasco dogs and Babydoll sheep , I think, I know I got her wrong before, she knits the most beautiful complicated sweaters from her home grown and spun wool) Ilene (baltimoreandmore ) Connie Sabo (???) Carol Trains Meagher (?)
I saw Maynard Newville on my list (mnewville) and had not heard anything from him for quite a while--his page said he passed away in his sleep July 15 2024. May he rest in peace.

Diane, My mother was legally blind. She had a large TV monitor on her desk connected to a TV camera. She could put her mail or other paper work under the TV camera and read everything on the large TV screen.

I joined eBay in 1998. I had been looking for a certain book in book stores and couldn't find it. I found that book on eBay, one copy listed, and got it after a bidding war for $23.00. Now I see dozens of that book listed for as little as $3.00 and free shipping. I did buy and did some selling after that to accumulate 126 feedback points. I didn't realize that I was that active. Now I haven't bought or sold anything on eBay in about 18 years. I stopped when it was required to sign up for and use Paypal for eBay purchases. Almost all of my on line buying is through Amazon.

One of the things I did at my bookstore was help people find missing books for their collections: from Zane Grey, and other western writers to Sci Fi, etc. As i accepted trades I got all the books I wanted to read free, and finished out my own collections. It was fun, excellent conversations with customers, easy except for the filing of books. Now, because of my failing eyesight I had to give up reading over a year ago. Really should sell some of these books I have, as I won't be rereading them again.

Hello to all from Belleville, Illinois where the sun is shining and it should be a nice day.

DH and I registered on eBay in late 1997. It never occurred to us that we would be selling anything on-line. At the time, we thought it might be a good place to find some of the books DH wanted that weren't readily available in our area. That proved to be true.

Over the years, DH had accumulated quite a few books that turned out to be duplicates or just weren't what he wanted. Eventually we decided to try selling some these "extras" on eBay. We sold our first book on eBay in February 1998 ... and the rest, as they say, is history!

That's about the time I joined the BB. I had a used book store in Texas, ordered books for my customers and sold on ebay. Sold the bookstore in 2003 when I moved to Texas. Have sold on ebay off and on, but not on a business basis. I still have a lot of stuff I "intend" to sell.

I joined Ebay in 1998, and joined the BB a year or two later. Still selling a little on ebay but etsy works better for me.

Some of the old BB members do post on FB and I see their posts. After all these years, it's hard for me to remember which of my FB friends were bookies. And Jim, many of the old members have left the building.
Been feeling a little better the last couple of days - not a grave improvement, but at this point I'll take tiny increments.
Grey and rainy here this am.

I wonder of all the regular members of the Book Board Chat belong to the same FB and post there instead of here.

This cruise of mine ends tomorrow. The was not much hurricane on my eastern side of Florida. People where I live say the was just a few strong winds (not hurricane force) and some rain.I am glad I am not going back to face a lot of damage and repairs needed. Our final cruise port of call was cancelled "because of the weather" but the sea looked calm and it was sunny most of the time. Maybe there were some rough seas in the port. I wasn't going to go ashore anyway.

Patsy, Glad you made it through with little damage. That gas powered generator sounds like a great investment, well worth the money.

Morning, came through storm with a bit of minor porch damage and a very long length of leaning over fence. We were lucky and power here has been restored in our neighborhood.
Best money I have ever spent was for the natural gas powered generator, it kept power on all the time and blessed air conditioning. Giving thanks for the blessings, so many not as well off!

Thanks for the Birthday wishes, had a quiet day, prepping for whatever this Hurricane is bringing us..........
Glad to still be here, 85 isn't so bad, and I am shooting for 90 or + ahead.............life is good.

#7 great grandchild came last week, a sweet, chubby 8lb.4oz baby boy...........mom, dad and he are all fine.

My PT for tomorrow was cancelled, storm affecting lots all over Florida..............PT twice a week and walking daily when weather permits is keeping me going, so doctor says he will write Rx for PT as long as they can stand having me......keeping me moving............ am blessed.

I had a neighbor volunteer to help me move large flower pots, lawn furniture, etc.... was very thoughtful and helpful.
I am dreading the next 24=36 hours, lots of bad memories of Andrew = hoping this one behaves a bit better.

Am tired, time to hit the shower and pile up and READ to sleepy time...............night all... cya tomorrow!

We/re still experienceing Leap Year syndrome on this site.
Storm a little east of Pensacola, 100 miiles or so.

According to FB, her birthday is tomorrow.

Have a great day and a great year Patsy

My wife and I are on a two week cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. All is well. My two young grandkids have gotten a new puppy and are delighted with it. Their mother now does all the work with the puppy that the kids swore up and down that they would do. So what did one expect?

Patsy, Happy Birthday. Have a great day.

Cool, just checking.

Damn., Just typed a long, long post and lost it. I'm fine, just no energy or ambition. Will try to do better. My son is great at taking care of things. He's keeping the kitchen cleaner than I do. It's annoying. LOL

Diane was just on FB 15 minutes ago. Didn't post, but she was there.

DianeHey there, you okay? Bit worried after your last post vanished.

I used to show people how to use even lighting and plain backgrounds to take a very good photo. Then one day a woman said that she preferred the photo of the hand bag taken on an unmade bed rather than the well done photo. She knew that the person had the unmade bed hand bag, and that is what it actually looked like, while the good photo looked like it might have been taken from a sales brochure.

Back in the days of the old eBay book board there was a lot more discussion because more people would stop in with questions. "Why does this checkered dress pattern look so funny?" (Moiré effect). And we had the Yellow, Blue and Red posts for people to look up and get information. There is no reason for strangers to come here with any questions. Cell phone digital cameras make taking photos almost fool proof.

Many, many of the old BB have passed on.
Nothing wrong with FB if you are careful and don't share too much. It's the easiest way to keep in touch with family and friends.
Just getting up. Think I slept well.

Wow Patsy -- 7 greats! That's a lot of descendants 🙂 I miss the BB as well but nothing would make me use FB I'm afraid.

I lived in a different state but I would visit my mother for a few weeks twice a year. I mostly took care of here finances. She had some financial stock that she didn't understand so I had her cash that in and put it into her checking account. She then didn't have to worry about writing bad checks. She never used credit cards, she just wrote checks. That made her estate easy to settle.

My father refused to pay for cable TV. He had a "perfectly good" TV antenna up on the roof. When we visited my brother or I would have to climb up on the roof and try to adjust it. I finally had cable installed and it was charged to my credit card. I think my father still thought it was the antenna that was getting him such a good picture and all those channels.

My mother had a TV monitor connected to a TV camera on her desk. If she wanted to read or write something she would put it under the camera and read the blow up on the TV screen. When she passed away I had it donated to the federation for the blind.

No, still around... but haven't gotten any response the last few times I posted, so I just have been reading.
I miss my FOL............shut down for the Covid crap pandemic, many people left, lots of new and we OLD FARTS have kind of been put out to pasture. Younger crowd has taken over............and have BIG ideas on changing stuff. Whatever keeps the Bookhouse Semi Annual sales bringing in the $$$$$$ is fine with me.

I have been having health problems too..............but talking about them doesn't help so just keep on keeping on. I will be 85 this month, and guess slowing down is to be expected.

Am anxiously awaiting news of birth of my expected 7th Great Grandchild.. due tomorrow. Hope I get to see/hold/love on him before I am gone. They don't live here.

Many of the old BB group are on my Facebook list and I see and hear from them there.

Well, time to shower and prop up with my book for the night............................. love to all of you..............I too miss the old board................ stay well everyone.

Hello to all from Belleville, Illinois where it is a lovely day. The sun is shining, the temperature in in the upper 70s, and the humidity is low.

My mother also suffered severe vision problems. That's why the last few years of her life I took care of her finances. She could not see well enough to write out a check. I was always careful to let her know what had been paid. If she had a CD that was maturing, I would do the research to see what rates and terms were available at local banks and tell her the information so she could decide where she wanted to invest.

My mother was legally blind in her old age. She would get audio books for the blind. We would turn down the lights and listen to them at night. By 10 o'clock we would both fall asleep. The trick the next day would be to find the section of the book where we had fallen asleep. Then we were all set until we fell asleep again.

Can no longer read, even lg print, because of my deteriorating eye sight. Miss my books. Good day, bad day. just got up and having coffee.

Hello to all from Belleville, Illinois where we had thunderstorms overnight. Hopefully the rain will bring the temperature down a bit as it has been very hot here the last few days.

Jim There are still bookies here. I like to think we are all busy reading books.

I don't know if there was a problem with this site, or with my computer, but I have been unable to call up the site. The problem seems to come and go. So far all seems to be working OK today.