...how can anyone of us ride on moral aspects supplying Micro in the first place? think about it.

I don't have a moral problem with selling cheap images.  There are people that don't have $200 to spend on one photo for their blog.  I think if they didn't use microstock, they would use free sites.  I do think the sites could charge more for some uses but that's something I can tolerate.  I do have a problem when sites want to take more than 80% of the sales price and claim their business is unsustainable when clearly it isn't.

@ Difydave - I'm in the UK too.  Strange isn't it?  Every time we get bad weather here, it's as though no-one ever experienced it before.  So different in the States, where they're so well-prepared for it (I have a brother over there and was amazed to see how well-prepared they are for all weather threats).

But I don't think the UK's issues caused my drop in SS last week.  Most of my sales there seem to be from France, Italy and Germany.  Perhaps they had bad weather then?  Anyway... it's picked up again today.. so whatever the reason for the drop, I hope it's over!  

Stay warm! 

Well, things have perked up a bit today, helped by 4 UK winter dls. As usual, old ones, not the ones I took last winter.

@ Lisa - At that time, he lived in New York State, and they had really bad winters - so he had snow tyres and chains and snow-spades and all sorts in the garage.  In the summer they used to bring out mesh panels they inserted outside the windows to keep the insects at bay while still allowing the windows to open... inwards.  I was stunned by the brilliance of that.  AFAIK, all windows in the UK (apart from sash windows) open outwards, so that's not even an option.  Of course he had air conditioning for the summer too.  I've yet to meet anyone in the UK who has air conditioning at home.

He took me to one of the US's huge outdoor wear shops, and everything seemed so incredibly practical and strong.  Not at all fashionable or stylish, just entirely practical - which is what you need in severe weather.  I wonder if we're a bit too style and fashion-conscious in this part of the world... and maybe practicality suffers as a result.  Having said that, there's more functional clothing available here now than then (in the early 90's), but I still think the US is better equipped.

I'm surprised to hear what you've said - but that's just because I forget how vastly different the climate is across the various States.  The UK is so small in comparison, it's easy to forget how large the North American land mass actually is.  LOL @ heaters when it's 60(F)  

@ Shady Sue - so glad to hear your sales have picked up too!  

@ Lisa - At that time, he lived in New York State, and they had really bad winters - so he had snow tyres and chains and snow-spades and all sorts in the garage.  In the summer they used to bring out mesh panels they inserted outside the windows to keep the insects at bay while still allowing the windows to open... inwards.  I was stunned by the brilliance of that.  AFAIK, all windows in the UK (apart from sash windows) open outwards, so that's not even an option.  Of course he had air conditioning for the summer too.  I've yet to meet anyone in the UK who has air conditioning at home.

He took me to one of the US's huge outdoor wear shops, and everything seemed so incredibly practical and strong.  Not at all fashionable or stylish, just entirely practical - which is what you need in severe weather.  I wonder if we're a bit too style and fashion-conscious in this part of the world... and maybe practicality suffers as a result.  Having said that, there's more functional clothing available here now than then (in the early 90's), but I still think the US is better equipped.

I'm surprised to hear what you've said - but that's just because I forget how vastly different the climate is across the various States.  The UK is so small in comparison, it's easy to forget how large the North American land mass actually is.  LOL @ heaters when it's 60(F)  

@ Shady Sue - so glad to hear your sales have picked up too!  

I've lived in upstate New York my whole  life. Winters can be brutal here, especially with the volume of snow that accumulates. It's especially bad for us because we live near Lake Ontario, so we get tons of lake effect snow. I've had to shovel off the garage roof a few times, to keep it from collapsing under the weight of the snow. You keep shoveling and shoveling, then it reaches the point where there's just no place to put the %$#! snow! Winter lasts 5 months up here, and it gets very cold, too - lows can go down in the single digits (Fahrenheit). I've even seen it below 0, but that's rare.
Summer can be pretty extreme, too. Humidity gets very high sometimes, and we can get temperatures in the high 80's and 90's (Fahrenheit) during heat waves. Combine that with the high humidity and you feel like you're in the tropics. We have central air conditioning, a good furnace, a winter emergency kit in the car, storm windows, snow blower, ect, ect... Oh yeah and the highest property taxes in the US, too. Lucky us ;-)

Quote from: rubyroo on November 29, 2010, 19:14

I'm surprised to hear what you've said - but that's just because I forget how vastly different the climate is across the various States.  The UK is so small in comparison, it's easy to forget how large the North American land mass actually is.  LOL @ heaters when it's 60(F)   

I have to admire those resilient folks from the colder states.  I think the good climate in Florida has made us weak and lazy

I am sure most of the UK population is quite rugged by comparison to us Floridians

 My daughter is going to be going to college in Burlington, VT, where on the school tour one of the students explained that , because they are by the lake, when it snows a lot in the rest of Vermont, they only get a "dusting" of a foot or so. No school closings for these guys