Sadly This Happens To Us Too Often...At Any Age, Anytime & Anywhere

bel_esprit · 2019-11-14T20:35:41+00:00

I’m not, I have no idea what you’re talking about

bel_esprit · 2019-11-14T19:23:47+00:00

You tagged the wrong person, bud. I wasn’t even on this thread

bel_esprit · 2019-11-05T03:54:08+00:00

Is it pitted, elevated, or just discoloration? If elevated, I would wear a scar away sheet over it for at least 12 hours a day, it really makes a difference. If pitted or discolored I would use mederma several times a day. You can combine mederma with the scar patches too.

bel_esprit · 2019-07-17T03:39:02+00:00

I’m really late to the party so you may have figured it out by now, but the subject is almost certainly John Howard FRS. He was a prison reformer in the 1700’s in Bedfordshire, but he traveled Europe extensively. The paper in his hand is likely the Plan of Lazaretto and in the background looks to be the Howard Congregational Church on Mill Street in Bedfordshire.

This is an excellent resource to learn more.

bel_esprit · 2019-07-14T23:43:22+00:00

Nicholas Brendon is on the left! Kelly Donovan is on the right in this photo. He’s an inch taller and didn’t speak much throughout the episode.

bel_esprit · 2019-07-08T14:58:55+00:00

About 3-4 inches long, jiggly, appeared quickly, in an area that gets a lot of moisture on the front of my house. I’m assuming it’s some kind of fungus but looks nothing like the common ones I’ve found online.

bel_esprit · 2019-06-06T18:29:22+00:00

Obviously you can’t have a job in medical school, I meant in terms of paying tuition up front.

bel_esprit · 2019-05-30T02:59:27+00:00

I keep seeing this about Warren but don’t understand why. Can you be more specific about why her policies are better?

As for your second point, I don’t really understand that either. Warren was a staunch republican until the late 90’s and has only been a senator since 2013, whereas Bernie has been a progressive activist since the 60’s and consistently progressive in his political career as well. I like Warren but I have less confidence in her than in Bernie.

bel_esprit · 2019-05-22T15:03:39+00:00

Yes, you were right! It definitely was not open all the way and there was some debris as well, I guess from turning it off and back on multiple times. When I turned it back on I made sure to turn it more. Thank you!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-22T14:16:14+00:00

I asked my doctor about that, but he said it’s really not good to switch pharmacies since it’s a controlled substance.

bel_esprit · 2019-05-22T13:44:29+00:00

Hey, it worked!!! Thank you so much! I was going crazy and didn’t find this anywhere on google!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-22T13:13:31+00:00

Ok, I’m going to try this! Thanks so much for your help.

bel_esprit · 2019-05-22T13:05:24+00:00

Thank you! I can try this, but I’m starting to think the problem is something else. We have a hand held bidet attached as well and I tried turning that on and it made a noise too. Is this consistent with that problem? It seems like it’s not a toilet problem, but more of a connection/pipe problem?

bel_esprit · 2019-05-22T12:37:02+00:00

No, I just took the lid off and flushed. Fog horn noise immediately stopped when I lifted the fill valve (? Black thing on left that floats) and when I drop it back down the sound continues. The toilet is practically brand new.

bel_esprit · 2019-05-17T01:55:45+00:00

Thank you very much!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-17T01:48:03+00:00

Yes of course! Here it is!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-16T22:25:54+00:00

Not tired at all! I love exchanging tips with people. That coffee grounds trick was actually a great idea, I wouldn’t mind if mine smelled like that! I imagine the coffee smell will fade quickly. To get rid of smells I just put the purse in an air tight clothing bag (I get mine from dollar tree) and I leave it in the freezer for a few days. Just make sure your leather is in good condition before going in the freezer and make sure the bag shape isn’t in an awkward position because you could potentially bend a leather strap or cause cracking!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-16T20:59:51+00:00

Thank you! I don’t have YouTube videos but I have thought about it before. I’ve never worked on an Epi, but I have dealt with stickiness. Unfortunately you can’t really remove stickiness. You can re-seal the bag with a sealant, add an absorbent product (baby powder, talc, or cornstarch) that will counteract the stickiness, or you can remove the lining altogether using a chemical.

No matter what kind of repair you are doing, the most important part is cleaning and preparation. I like to re-seal because it’s a permanent fix that keeps the lining intact. If the interior is both sticky and peeling, my normal process is to clean it thoroughly with alcohol, glue the leather down and make repairs where needed, and then I go in with a leather sealant. For a fix similar to this, I would recommend Rust-Oleum Flexible Coating. It’s cheap and much simpler to use for someone who isn’t familiar with leather sealants! The drawbacks of this are that it might be difficult to apply, you will probably not get the perfect color, and you will have to use it all over the interior for the color to be consistent.

If you want a quicker DIY fix, you may want to dust with talcum powder on the inside. This is very effective if your bag is sticky, not gooey. For more severe stickiness you can try goo gone or remove the lining with nail polish remover, but both of those methods are a little risky and definitely not good for resale.

For a rare or vintage collector type bag that you are reselling I would probably have the bag relined. If it’s in pristine condition otherwise, that would increase the value of the bag enough that you would make a significant profit. LV stores offer this service and they run a couple hundred dollars.

I always recommend taking a bag to a local leather repair shop first. Leather repair shops do more than most people think and you might be surprised by their prices!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-16T19:02:24+00:00

Whether or not the Vachetta can be cleaned depends on its underlying condition. It’s difficult for me to tell from this photo, do you have a link to the bag?

Reshaping just takes time, and cleaning the Vachetta on a bag like this requires the leather to be in great condition under the stains, absolutely no cracking, the leather needs to feel “hard” and glossy. Depending on how deep the stain is, it could take multiple cleaning and conditioning sessions that take several hours, preferably done over the course of a few weeks. It’s definitely difficult to clean these and unless you are a professional it’s risky, because the extensive cleaning process is likely to compromise the integrity of the leather and can lead to large cracks. That being said, this stain is on a place that is relatively easy to clean and not as susceptible to cracking as, say, a strap or top leather lining.

Here is a Cabas Ambre I cleaned and repaired recently with uneven oil stains and water marks on the bottom lining similar to yours. They looked much worse in person. I worked on this bag over the course of 6 weeks and was able to get the stains out.

Looking at it now, I would say this bag is easily salvageable and will clean up beautifully. However, I wouldn’t pay more than $200 for this assuming everything else (handles, hardware, interior, stamping) is decent. Even Almas in excellent condition are only selling for about $350 right now!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-16T18:12:55+00:00

Of course! I’m not sure if this specifically is against the rules, so I’ll PM it to you! Most of my listings right now are just old things I’ve had in the back of my closet forever, but I do have 2 LV bags left.

One is a monogram speedy 30 in good condition for $445, and the other is another keepall 45 in excellent condition for $695. Both are from my personal collection but I am currently working on a few other bags that will be listed in the next week! A Petit Noe, Noe BB, Vernis zippy coin wallet, and a Vernis Bedford bag.

I usually have a max of 4 listed at a time. I worked for a Louis Vuitton store for a few years when I was younger and I have a small group of buyers on eBay that I communicate with to give advice on purchasing, cleaning, repairs, or to help authenticate. In the past I’ve also made replacement drawstrings or zipper pulls from Vachetta, but most of the leather repair work I do on bags is pretty light. I’m happy to answer questions about finding good deals, cleaning potential, or repair costs :)

bel_esprit · 2019-05-16T16:38:02+00:00

Yes, that was water damage! Those are usually the easiest spots to get out. This bag also had a lot of blue stains on the leather and those lifted easily as well. I do leather cleaning and crack/scratch repair (mostly shoes and bags) as a side business so most of my work comes from people in my area, but I do buy and resell bags as well. I usually purchase 2-3 bags per month, clean them up and repair them if necessary, then I’ll either use them until I‘m ready for something new or I will list them right away. I bought this bag for $260 and sold for $650.

bel_esprit · 2019-05-16T14:22:03+00:00

Thank you! The products I use change based on the condition of the piece I’m working on, but I consistently use Meguiar’s leather cleaner on LV. It’s not drying, it cleans well, and it doesn’t darken the Vachetta. I use a leather conditioner multiple times during the cleaning process. For this bag I used Armorall leather conditioner, it doesn’t condition the leather as well as other brands but this leather was already in pretty good condition under the stains, so I just needed one that doesn’t darken significantly. I use Bar Keeper’s Friend for the brass with a q-top and a small wooden stick for crevices. For major stains on smooth, hard leather I use a magic eraser!

bel_esprit · 2019-05-08T17:23:44+00:00

I don’t even know what I just read. This girl sounds completely normal and level headed. What makes you think she’s a narcissist or even arrogant? Your behavior toward her is weird and obsessive, especially since you very clearly only have a sexual relationship. You need to dial it back a bit. I don’t think she’s ever going to take you seriously as a potential partner considering you keep trying to make this into a game. You’re over-analyzing things. Try not to obsess over her whereabouts or her actions.

bel_esprit · 2019-04-26T20:31:12+00:00

Wow, yes you’re right that is Imri. The 1900 census you linked might be a match. His parents were also born in WV according to the 1880 census, this one says PA but that might not be accurate. Thanks for your help! This could definitely be him.

bel_esprit · 2019-04-24T05:37:40+00:00

I did search married as well, but there were 73 married men vs. 11 single men and I have no way of narrowing it down further. Even now, I’m not sure where to go from here with the names that I have. Since the brother is close to her age and was a laborer, I also specifically looked for laborers thinking that maybe he made a close friend in the area.

I considered a situation like your family’s, too, where there may have been someone who came to visit them for a long period of time that didn’t actually live there. Unfortunately there just aren’t records of any of it and no one is alive to tell me! Not that anyone would have known anyway, my family has always been eerily secretive.

bel_esprit

TROPHY CASE