* WELCOME TO PHRANK’S GREAT ESCAPES! *

I live in the small city of Las Vegas, New Mexico. I am currently working on my fourteenth year as a secondary math teacher at West Las Vegas High School, home of the DONS and LADY DONS!

So what exactly is a "Don?" A Don is a noble title of Spanish origin given to a man of high prestige and utmost respect, as in "Don Juan." Very few other schools have the "Don" mascot, but the best-known is the University of San Francisco, a two-time NCAA champion in basketball and the alma-mater of NBA Hall-Of-Fame member Bill Russell. Their school colors are exactly like ours; green and gold!

I coach and sponsor our Chess Club, plus I'm the music mixer and announcer for our school's athletic events. I am also an active co-sponsor for our class of 2010.

JUST EXACTLY WHERE IS THE "OTHER" LAS VEGAS?

The name "Las Vegas" is Spanish for "the meadows." Now, my hometown does not have any casinos or fancy entertainment venues like its more famous namesake in Nevada. True to its name, Las Vegas, New Mexico (population ~16,000, elevation ~6,500 ft.) rests in the meadows at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, where the Great Plains and the southern Rocky Mountains meet. The surrounding scenery includes the uniquely-shaped Hermit's Peak (elevation ~10,000+ ft.), Johnson Mesa (~9,000+ ft.), and Elk Mountain (elevation ~11,000+ ft.). Four miles north is Storrie Lake State Park, an ideal recreational area for camping, picnicking, fishing, boating, and even windsailing. Located four miles southeast is the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge; I lived right next to the refuge during my childhood years.

Education dominates our community. The Armand Hammer United World College of the American West is in Montezuma (just five miles northwest); its beautiful campus includes the historical building known as the Montezuma Castle. We are also home to two four-year post-secondary schools: New Mexico Highlands University and Luna Community College. Finally, there are two public school districts--the West Las Vegas Schools and the Las Vegas City Schools. I know of no other small city with two school districts, so some explanation is needed here: Las Vegas was once two separate towns (East Las Vegas and West Las Vegas), divided by the Gallinas River until 1968, when both towns united as one small city. However, the school districts remain separate to this day, but some citizens have recently spoken out in favor of uniting the districts.

The city of Las Vegas and its surrounding area were used as sites for the filming of some well-known movies. The most significant was Red Dawn, which was shot in and around Las Vegas; some of the props are still present in the city (most notably the Calumet Cowgirl), and Red Dawn actor Patrick Swayze owns a home near Johnson Mesa. Other movies filmed in and around Las Vegas include Easy Rider, Convoy, Wyatt Earp, Speechless, The Evil (the Montezuma Castle was the movie's centerpiece), John Carpenter's Vampires, All The Pretty Horses, Blind Horizon, and the Academy Award-winning No Country For Old Men. And shooting for another film (tentatively titled Run For Your Life) just recently wrapped up over here.

MY HISTORY AND BACKGROUND AS AN E-BAYER

My eBay ID is a double reference to the legendary Frank Sinatra (whose music I actually enjoy listening to) and Zinatra, a late 80's Dutch melodic rock group whose only two full-length CD releases are essentials for any AOR/melodic rock fan! My store name also refers to the title of Zinatra's second release, The Great Escape.

Though my main preference is AOR/melodic rock, I am open to most other kinds of music and have favorite artists in other genres. Recently, I've been collecting electronic/dance music CD’s and 12" singles. As mentioned before, I play the warm-up music for our school’s sports teams, mixing popular genres (rock, R&B, oldies, hip-hop) with electronic subgenres such as Eurodance, stadium house, breakbeats, bubblegum dance, hard trance, and hardstyle. The music selection I use depends on the sporting event (for example, I play classic/modern hard rock for football, high energy house/trance for volleyball, and a mix of hip hop and oldies for basketball). I also have a large comedy LP collection, including some recordings that are very rare and collectible. Finally, I'm also involved with the music database Discogs, where I have an account under the name DeOlJuanTwo.

I've been a music listener and collector for the majority of my life, and most of my auctioned items come from a huge personal media collection accumulated for over 20 years. When I auction or sell an item, I give as much background information on the item and describe it to the best of my knowledge. Potential items include but are not restricted to:

• RECORDED MEDIA: CD's, LP's, cassette tapes, and VHS videos
• PRINTED MEDIA: Books, magazines, catalogs
• VIDEO GAMES: NES, SNES, Atari 2600 and 5200

U.S. BUYERS: I ship items via Media or Priority Mail; for other options, please contact me first. Insurance is optional for most items, but it is mandatory for vinyl LP's due to their fragile nature (insurance is automatically added to the total shipping cost). I highly recommend insurance for all domestic U.S. transactions!

BIDDERS AND BUYERS OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. are welcome, too! I've dealt with buyers from Canada, Mexico, Australia, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece, Israel, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and South Korea. International shipping costs will be adjusted according to the USPS calculator, and items won by international buyers will be sent by USPS International First Class Mail. For other options such as expedited or insured mail, please contact me first.

TO ALL BUYERS:

Shipping will likely take place 1-2 business days after I receive payment. If I anticipate delays on my part (due to illness or other personal matters), I will notify you. Winning bids and purchases may be combined to save on shipping costs; I only charge an additional $0.75 per item. For single or combined winning bids totaling $50.00 or more, I will cover all shipping (and U.S. insurance) costs!

I only accept PayPal; eBay no longer allows checks or money orders as forms of payment. Though I have my reservations about this policy, I have to adhere to it.

(P.S. I do ship CD's in jewel cases. Please notify me in advance if you do not want them shipped with the cases, especially if you're an international buyer.)

QUICK PAYMENT AND COMMUNICATION is a must for any successful eBay transaction.

For auctioned items, I send invoices within a day or two after auction's end; if you send your payment by PayPal before I send the invoice, that's perfectly fine with me! :o) However, if you win or buy multiple items from me and if the cost has to be adjusted (such as for totals of $50.00 or more), I STRONGLY prefer if you wait for my invoice.

Payment on all purchases and auctions must be made within 7 days; this is more than fair and adequate time. If you do anticipate sending payment later than 7 days, I can work out an arrangement with you as long as you keep in touch with me and agree to the terms I set. As standard procedure, I will send two payment reminders within 4-8 days if no payment has been received (unless you have made prior arrangements with me). Buyers not honoring their part of the deal risk being reported to eBay, and any future disputes will be opened after ten days of no contact or payment. Any buyer who cannot answer a dispute satisfactorily will be blocked from any further bidding or buying from me, and the item will either be re-listed or be proposed as a second chance offering to the next highest bidder. In addition, the buyer risks having an unpaid item strike on his or her account.

I reserve the right to change my terms if buyers began taking unfair advantage of my terms. Should my terms be a problem and if you are not willing to adequately communicate with me, please do not bother bidding or purchasing my items! I am NOT a full-time e-Bayer as already noted and will not waste precious time to track down deadbeats who do not communicate or do not pay for my items.

To conclude on a positive note: after payment is made and your item is shipped, I leave positive feedback. My only other wish is that you do the same for me if you are happy with your item. If there is a problem with your item, contact me first before leaving less than positive feedback. My goal is to ensure that each of my buyers are satisfied with their purchases or auctions.

My motto is "be your best and do your best." As a bidder and buyer, I honor my bids and follow through transactions as I expect my own bidders and buyers to do. As a seller, my items are described to the best of my knowledge, successful bids are followed through, and I make amends for errors on my part. I'm proud of my eBay record from both of my accounts (1800+ positive feedbacks in nine years without a negative).

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.

1. Rare, hard-to-find, collectible, and classic comedy records from the 50's to the 80's
2. Rare, out-of-print, and hard-to-find pop, AOR, rock, and metal CD's (generally from 1975-1992)
3. Rare AOR/melodic rock/hard rock albums/cassettes unavailable or nearly impossible to find on CD
4. Classic and hard-to-find video games & accessories (Atari 2600 & 5200, Nintendo, Super Nintendo)

1. LIONHEART - Unearthed: Raiders Of The Lost Archives (2 CD set; HIGH PRIORITY; Japanese import on the PonyCanyon label)


2. SMILES & MORE - Jet Set Life (4-track CD single; bubblegum dance similar to AQUA; VERY HIGH PRIORITY! I've bid on this item TWICE before without success.)