One Down. One to Go.

Sold the one car today.

Well... technically. I have a deposit and a promise to return on Saturday to pick it up.

The guy came today. Took it for a test drive. And despite the issues the car has, made an offer. He seemed like a decent enough guy. Wore his mask. Practiced social distancing. We didn't talk a lot even about the car. That's fine. I'm happy with how things are turning out, but I won't be relieved until the money is in my hands and the car is out of my parking space.

The other listing is not doing quite so well. It's priced quite a bit higher than the one that sold, so that's probably part of it, though it's listed as OBO. I think once you get past a certain price point, the dynamics change. Plus it's an entirely different kind of car, which obviously, has an entirely different group of people potentially interested. It's definitely worth what we're asking, though it does need some work (which is why it's priced how it is). It's K4's old car and it was good to her, just like it was good to my niece before her. It was maintained very well and has a lot of new parts, and even parts in the box.

Anyway... It's been a stressful day. We had a ton of hits on the first car. Mostly people offering stupid amounts of money for it (Like super stupid) and asking questions that were already answered in the listing. I turned my phone on silent around 10pm last night right before we went to bed. At 6:30 this morning, I had a dozen new messages, including pings from people who felt I should have answered them sometime between the hours of midnight and five am. Really? Those questions continued throughout the day. Oy!

I also managed to get my Internet upgraded after about three weeks of hassle. Don't get me wrong, I like our provider. They aren't jerks. Except they have been the past few weeks. I do understand. The woman I spoke to today is working from home, too. And long-story-short, she fixed me up and I am happy and don't think they're jerks anymore.

It was also one of those days where everything hit at once. My boss was needing things, my project managers needed things, the salesmen, too. Voicemails were coming in one after another. My computer keeps dropping the Internet. At the same time my phone is blowing up, Messenger is blowing up, and the dog is barking at nothing.

It is Wednesday though. Tomorrow will be a better day.

That is all.

Behave!

Selling Cars

We have two cars we're trying to sell.

It's a huge pain in the behind.

I listed them both tonight.

Within a minute I had a guy interested in the one. He came and looked at it. Said he was going to buy it, and then sent me a message when he got home that his wife said no. Okay. That's fine. I've had several other messages on that one - mostly offering me hundreds below what it's listed for. The last guy offered a ridiculous amount and my response was a simple "negative".

Whatever. It's literally been up for less than two hours, so...

The other one has a person interested, but he won't be able to come and see it until Friday or Saturday. That's fine, too. I told him we couldn't hold it for him. Since there isn't a guarantee that he'll buy it, it's first come, first served.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

When I listed the camper it was insane. I had about a hundred messages, some of them repeating when I dared sleep and not answer them. But, the camper was gone within a day, so whatever.

I'm not expecting either car to sell that fast, but I hope they are out of here soon.

That's all I have for now...

Behave!

Venting Things....

I started this blog fourteen years ago and it's been of variable use to me. I still love it and am glad I have this forum to talk about ridiculous things and put things in writing that I might want to remember. It's my outlet and I have always have appreciated having it.

I had great hopes of it being one of the main ways to connect with readers, promote my books and events. Hence... Tall Tale Tuesday, and Two Truths and a Lie. Alas, times change and blogs seem to be going by the wayside in favor of other social media platforms. I hope it switches back to the old way, though I'm not delusional on that.

Which I hate. I'm not much for the main social media platform, as you already know. I'll post events, but I suck at interacting with people and keeping up. Heck, it will remind me that it's someone's birthday and I'll either text them or send them a private message because I don't want to show up on there.

Anyway... My point is, and I think it's one of the reasons I've been silent on here, is that I was talking with someone I considered to be a friend a few weeks ago. We were catching up and talking about this and that, and when I attempted to input about things going on in my life, I was cut off and told that they "knew" because they read this blog.

They proceeded to tell me that since they follow my blog, they feel like they know what's going on with me and that there's no reason for me to be repetitive and that I was a bad friend for not checking in with them more frequently since they already knew what was going on with me and I clearly didn't know what was going on with them. Really?

Repetitive as in how? My question was to the effect of do you really think I post everything going on to the blog? I hit the highlights. Some of them. Not nearly all. Never the lows. And I don't go into great detail. So how does that make you think that you know everything that's going on with me?

I was hurt. I still am hurt. Is that why we would only talk when it had been a few weeks between blog posts? Or what? Friendship is supposed to be a two way street. But the comment explains to me why I felt like I was the one listening and never had a chance to speak.

They thought this blog gave them a complete and total picture of my life.

Let me be clear in saying that it doesn't. It doesn't even come close. You can't say "oh, I read your blog" and believe you know everything that happened or is going on. You can't feel like you're connected to my life when you are getting the super-superficial.

I can't say I've completely parted ways with this friend. I've known them for a super long time and I do feel like the friendship is salvageable. I think I have effectively blocked them from accessing this blog. Which is for the point I'm trying to make. Are you really friends with me, or is it all about you? You only call me when I don't post. As evidenced by the call I received late last week. That I didn't answer.

The next time we talk, I want a give and take. A real conversation. Not an "yeah, I know. I read your blog". Because you don't know. You know the surface and nothing below.

Because I still love ya and I want the old relationship. (which means nothing since you can't see this)

I completely and utterly appreciate every single person who reads this blog. I know it's ridiculous and silly, but the fact that someone takes the times to read my bullshit and thoughts... well, that means a lot.

I guess my bottom line with this post is that... check in on your friends. The ones who post the crazy stuff on social media, the ones who don't post on social media, the ones that post pictures of their food and nothing else. Social media for most people my age is completely and utterly superficial. We still need read friends.

Thank you for listening to my venting!

And now we will return to our regular postings...

Behave!

Well...That Was Longer Than Intended...

You wouldn't think things would be that crazy...

They really kind of aren't. But kind of are, too. It's always something, I think.

What has been happening?

I have no idea. I can't remember half of it.

I'll do my best though...

1. The kid finally got her new wheels. After two horrible experiences. The last guy definitely had a conscience because he almost sold it while we were in transit to look at it. He told the guy that was there to give us an hour since we called first. So, she got to look and test drive. She fell in love and purchased it. She's got her own insurance and the vehicle is in her name only.

2. It's been hot! Damn hot! Air conditioners are running so we don't die.

3. The porch is still in process. The last trim color wasn't right, so we had to figure out what to do. That's on the list for tonight, so we'll see... Floor fixing & paint, shrubs, and some other trim work and we'll be done. It's going slow, but it's a huge job and there's limited time to be able to get stuff done due to the blazing sun.

4. Still working from home. No idea of a return to the office date yet. It's still going well, so there's that.

5. Our garden is producing tomatoes! Whoot!

6. Reservations being made for our September event.

7. Cool stuff on the writing front. I can't really share yet, but let's just say it was the boost I needed. The book isn't done yet, but there are some other things in the works. Just finished critiquing something for a friend, and then I'm taking care of a small project. After that, it's a much bigger project, and then another, and then I can finish the book. Sorry to be so cryptic, but I can't share anymore at this point.

8. Some book signing events coming back. Tentatively. I think at least four events were cancelled previously this year, so this one being on the calendar is awesome. I'm looking forward to it.

Other than that...

Yesterday was the anniversary of my Dad's death. I miss him. A lot. I wish he was here to talk over some things with. I could always count on him to listen and ask the right questions so that I would come to the conclusion I needed to. He rarely gave advice unless specifically asked. And if you did ask, and then didn't follow his advice, he never got upset. I wonder what he would think about everything going on in the world these days.

I'm trying to stay off of social media as much as possible. Except I had to list our old camper to get rid of. That was quite an experience. I had over 60 inquiries. A lot of people apparently don't read the description, or care when you tell them there's 40 people interested in front of them. They still ask for details that were clearly listed in the ad. Someone asked me if it had tires. There was a full picture of it with the tires showing. Also, we'd found a snake in it when we cleaned it out. I accidentally uploaded that picture and so many people commented on the snake... Some were downright funny and I appreciated it. Some were just weird. Luckily, the third guy that emailed me picked it up last night. He was appreciative and so were we. It's gone and having it stored at my sister's and in their way isn't hanging over our heads anymore.

Anyway - I'll refresh the social media page and immediately close out. Everything on my feed is ugly and I just can't do it. I am thinking about deleting my account and just keeping my author page...

That's all I have for now...

I'll try to get on here sooner than 10 days... Ha!

Behave!