DrJB

I reported an apparent eBay issue and everyone is 'lecturing' me this is 'normal' ... fair enough, I've done eBay for many years .. and never seen this. Yes, I do know about manual/automatic ... but it seems everyone is missing the point. I'll stop here. No, there is NOTHING wrong with my computer.

All of this makes sense if the person with automatic bids was there BEFORE I bid. Picture this situation: 1. There are 5 bids so far (from 5 different persons), and latest bid amount is $100. 2. I place a bid for $110 3. I get an immediate reply that I was outbid by an automatic ... and eBay suggest I increase my max bid. 4. I do not increase my bid, I simply check the latest bidder. 5. He is bidder number 7, with a higher bid tha mine, and he is not one of the early 5 bidders. My question is: How come he outbid me if he did not submit an initial bid earlier? Was he hidden? Does eBay allow this? eBay lets you do automatic bids ONLY if you've placed an initial bid (that initial bid SHOULD be visible). Makes sense now?

You're right on. This was followed by another mishap at an AuntieAnn Pretzel store in the same building. Rude/Obnoxious people customer service. I tend to make the same mistake every time I'm in Chicago (I keep on assuming they'd be nice), but really .... those people do not belong there, I would drive insane dealing with them daily if I lived downtown. I found the Schaumburg Mall store much friendlier (and less crowded).

No, from her looks, demeanor, and attitude ... she just wanted to show me she's in charge. She won't even let me explain my position, with a very condescending tone: Sir, let me finish my sentence, this is strict store policy. My young (innocent) son could not help: ..... Dad, why such (@#$%) employees are always rude?

I don't even know what the polybag was ... it looked like some sort of small bluish airplane or copter. Rather than letting them open the large sets, I have the kids assemble the polybags in the car, for the long ride home.

Thank you for bringing back wonderful memories ... I lived in Charlotte for a couple of years ... Loved it! Now in cold/miserable/expensive Cihcago :(

Not quite, I understand how Automatic Bidding works. In such situation, the person with that automatic bid has his/her first bid VISIBLE (not hidden). In my specific situation, the person came out of nowhere ... Does ebay have invisible bidders? 1. Defies any logic 2. Does not make sense 3. Unfair to other bidders.

I took the kids out to enjoy the day in Chicago ... A stop by the lego store is a must. I picked three sets, with a total value exceeding $600. During check out, I asked for 3 separate transactions so the kids get a free polybag each. The cashier (a young adorable girl) was all smiles and willing to do this, until an obnoxious (sorry) fugly manager stepped in (with a loud voice) "No, only one polybag per household". I objected, explaining that I could send my wife and son and have them make the purchases separately. She stood her ground and won't let me say a word ... What a loser!!! I walked away, drove to the next Lego store (45 mins away) and got the same sets + 3 polybags. My logic? you get 1 free polybag for any purchase over $75 .... if I'm spending $600, that's worth EIGHT polybags ... I only asked for 3 (or else the kids would fight if I get only one). What the heck is wrong with holier-than-the-pope/minimum-wage employees? Sorry for the rant ... but something at TLG level must be done about this.

I'm aware that eBay does not show real names ... but you can 'guess' based on the number of transactions that the eBay-er had ... and this guy came out of nowhere. Still, does not sound right. Few times I've been outbid by a 'buyer' with zero purchase history ... but that it is clear the seller is trying to up the bids. The situation in my first bid is very different ... and not sure there is a simple explanation to it. Read-up! ... I said I realized this was the wrong section. If you don't like it, move on, as your post contributes zilch!

soemthing is really strange ... I'm thinking of reporting this to eBay ... it does not sound right.

Just remembered that this should be in the general section ... but the item I was after was an 8285 truck ...

But seriously, I have been watching an item for few days and decided to start bidding on it. 1. I enter my bid, I get an answer that I've been outbid by a previous bidder 2. I increased my bid few times, but to no avail, he still beat me. Then the auction ended and he won ... I went and checked the history of bids, and such bidder was never there before me ???? I though the only way you can put a 'max bid' was if you bid first and either you win or lose .... but how can you bid against someone who was not there to begin with? I'm totally confused as to how this works, and how eBay allows this. Oh yeah ... and the winning bidder had only a one transaction history ... fishy you think? That's a big red herring!!!

What I know about the Torsen differential is something very different than that presented here... unless there are many flavors. See link below: http://gillcad3d.blogspot.com/2012/08/torsen-differential.html The one I know of uses 45 degrees helical gears as main components (attached to left/right axles). Then, around such gears, are pairs of 2 worm gears + 4 spurs , at 2-3 locations min. Because of the 45 degrees helical gears requirement, I'm not sure a true Torsen is feasible in Lego. I'll do an LXF to illustrate. Edit: I see what you've done: You've combined the set of outer gears: instead of a helical worm gear and 2 spurs at each end, you've used a single spur, and simplified the construction dramatically. I wonder how the kinematics / torque differentil (left to right) get affected, by NOT using helical gears. The obe thing about such gears is that they're 'reversible' .... the one-tooth-worm from Lego is not ...

The question is for who?

Consistently throughout my printed instructions for the 42009 ... the beams (liftarms) are NOT drawn correctly. The voids between the pin holes are not there. You can also see that in the PDF on-line instructions at http://cache.lego.com/bigdownloads/buildinginstructions/6070925.pdf Is this an attempt to make the pics less busy? ... or a simple oversight/disconnect?

did not get the 32L axle either, but 2 extra 8T gears (red+gray) + like previous post.

Agree ... instructions/LXFs would be nice

I don't do much with mindstorms lately .... but my son does. I've moved on to the Lego Control Interface with 16 ports total ... 8 sensors and 8 outputs ... real nice.

I remember that tractor ... it was my first lego set ... and I had just started high school back then. No idea what a good substitute is ... as long as it can be cleaned easily after the demonstration.... maybe rice grains?

Well ... I'm thinking a more robust construction with shorter beams, only 2 pairs of 8T gears, and the small turntable. Started doing that on LDD, seems feasible. Your design has 4 pairs of meshing gears around the circumference. This is done primarily to better distribute the load. You can however use only 2 pairs of meshing 8T gears, and these will be supported from both sides (hence my comment about sturdier construction).

Very nice .... Planning any field testing ... ?

At issue is the WIDE ribbon like cable. SUch cables do not take bending too well. Would have been easier to make a round cable ... but cost would have been higher as well. Those wide/flat cables make it very easy to assemble and produce those motors in mass quantities ...

Wouldn't the construction be more compact/clean if you used only 4x 8t gears ?

Beautiful machine. I operated one few years ago and was curious to replicate the track/drive system. Though, the one I operated was made by AGCO, and used a CAT engine. Not sure CAT have their own model ... as CAT does very little agricultural machines, they're primarily into construction/mining. Beautiful work.

An axle going all the way across is your best option ... for rigidity and minimum gap under load.