PayPal Review

PayPal Review

For me using PayPal has been a pain and comes close to a scam operation.  I made past purchases using PayPal but for some reason some charge(s) gets shifted over to their credit unit.  I always pay off all my purchases immediately using my credit card.  I never carry a balance.  I see no reason PayPal credit unit should get involved.  When that department does get involved they charge huge late fees for any small amount.  I got so pissed off at this practice that I asked to have my complete PayPal accounts closed Feb 1, 2017.  The person I talked to was instructed to pay any balance and close the account.    May 21, 2017 I found that I had a $3.39 balance outstanding which now had risen to $19.39 because of late fees.  I talked to a very nice woman and authorized payment, got the late fees taken away.  I asked to have my account closed out, for a second time, with the admonition that I never want to do business with this company again.

When I contact any company and want to close out my account, I do NOT want to hear from them again!  If I get any more notices of still owing money, I will contact state and federal regulatory agencies as well as Internet product review web sites to report this alleged criminal activity.  Not recommended!

See also Consumer Affairs rating for Pay Pal (1 out of 5): https://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/paypal_02.html

Updated: April 7, 2018

LA Times: The Problem with President Donald Trump.

LA Times: The Problem with President Donald Trump.

Finally, the 4th estate exhibits it’s responsibility to the people of this nation and the world  to work for the greater good with this series of sharply critical but true articles about President Donald Trump.

A series of Times editorials:

This post was first placed on our news page, May 12, 2017.
Revised: April 7, 2018

Family Room – Items Used – Part 8

Family Room – Items Used – Part 8

Here is a list of some of the items that I used to complete this project.  This is only a partial list.  It may be updated to include more items.

TV wall mount: Sanus SLF9 (excellent to the point of being perfect).  Vendor: COSTCO.

Smart TV:  LG 65UH615A.  This is a 65 inch diagonal flat screen smart TV.  It has 4 HDMI connectors, 1 optical audio, 1 Ethernet port, 1 USB port.  The image quality is very good.  This particular model was chosen mainly because the mounting screw holes are centered below half the vertical height.  This means that the TV can easily be mounted higher than your typical TV.  Most flat screen TV sets have their mounting screw holes centered.  We needed to have our TV clear the mantel and allow some space for the center surround speaker to shoot its audio just under the TV.  Vendor: COSTCO.

Mantel over the fireplace:  Stoll, Carolina Mantel, Aspire Rustic is a standard finish.  Size: 60” x 8” x 4”.  Cost $659.  Vendor: West Coast FirePlace, Santa Fe Springs, Calif.  Easy installation if you know where the studs are.  I had to use photographs of the fireplace rocks and the bare studs to confirm where the studs were located.  The texture coat wall made it difficult to get a stud finder reading some times.

Conduit pipe used to make HDMI and optical audio runs:  1 and 1/8 inch I.D. PVC thin wall.  I then used 1 and 1/2 inch thin wall cut into 1/2 inch segments to be used to glue and lock the conduit runs into the plastic (blue) boxes.  I had to use wire lubricant and a rubber mallet to get the pipe to run through my pre-drilled stud holes.

Rear wall speaker mounts: Panavise Stud Speaker Mount, Model 105108 (black).  Vendor: Orvac Electronics, Fullerton, Calif.  For the life of me, I could not remove the stock wall mount.  My intention was to remove the stud mount and attach the mount to a steel electrical box plate out of which ran the speaker wires.  I may call Panavise and get some advice as to how to unattach the wall mount portion of this mount.

Ceiling light wall (switch) dimmers:  Lutron, C L digital dimmer, model MACL-153MH-WH. (very good)  Vendor: Home Depot.  I love these dimmers.  You can preset the light level you want and simply turn the light switch on to that level.  You can easily override the preset to turn any of these dimmers on full.

TV bias light:  PPA Int’l OLS Home Accent Kit.  (does not provide a good white light).  I may replace this with a true white light source.

Fireplace Mortar:  I had to shoot caulking under the steel Stoll mantel to fill in the space between that metal shelf and the fireplace rocks.  Rutland, Fireplace Mortar, gray, 10.3 oz, interior use only.  It withstands 2,000 degrees F.  I paid $9.

HDMI cable from wall connector to TV:  Vanco, Ultra Slim HDMI High Speed Cable with Ethernet, SSHD03.  Vendor: Orvac Electronics, Fullerton, Calif.

Family Room Completion – Part 7

Family Room Completion – Part 7

The family room has 3 sets of two lights across the ceiling.  Each set of lights can be dimmed.  The two lights close to the TV set are gimbals so they can be aimed to either side of the TV set.  The room also has one half wall outlet devoted to a floor lamp and controlled by a wall switch.

The audio surround sound sub woofer can be seen on the left side of the fireplace, shown as a black box.  The small black boxes on either side of the fireplace up upon the walls are left and right surround sound speakers.  Two more speakers are at the back of the room, wall mounted near the ceiling.  The center speaker is just below the TV set.

The little dot just to the right of the fireplace is the gas valve for the fireplace.

The blue glow behind and above the TV set is a bias light that can be remotely controlled as to color and turned off and on.

Next Part >

 

Family Room – Near Finish – Part 6

Family Room – Near Finish – Part 6

In this image you can see the following completions:

  • Surround sound, left, right and center speakers are shown.
  • The TV had been mounted.
  • The metal mantle on top of the stone fireplace has been mounted.
  • A bias light has been mounted behind the TV and can be remotely controlled.
  • The TV set can be swung left or right and tilted up or down.  It can also be pulled out from the wall to make rear TV connections easy.

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