I could say, “My, how time flies, when you are:
(a) having fun
(b) too busy
(c) making money:
(d) all of the above
And the answer is D:ALL OF THE ABOVE.
My foray into eBay land, which started with the help of Mary’s dear friend, Debbie Hamilton, and an online class from http://lynda.com has been fruitful. Unfortunately, it is slowly liquidating Mary’s extensive collection of QVC jewelry, while fortunately recovering some of the money spent.
The good news is my many great friends that are there for me to keep an even keel. I have two “band family” friends that are having lunch and a beer with me on a weekly basis. You know who you are. Thank you. I’ve also gone to a couple or three TBGO practices to be with people I (we) traveled the with around many places on our Earth.
I also am so grateful for the Soto family, who have been good friends for 35+ years. They are finding good homes for Mary’s collections of craft items, which is starting to clean the room that will become my matting/framing room. To start seeing progress toward this dream is wonderful. Kathy is even making me a “Mary Quilt” with pictures from some of our many adventures in the quilt. I still taste the “salt of happiness” as I type this! Thank you to the Soto family.
I started the eBay business, thinking it would quickly help to offset some of the loss of dollars, but it is not quick. I’m working more than a regular work week, but to trust someone to buy it all “en mass” at a fair value is ludicrous. I’m starting to keep them in multiple boxes:
(1) Didn’t sell after 2-3 tries
(2) Have identifying item numbers, but can’t find the item, even with pictures
(3) No information available, which includes two or more large jewelry cases. The identification will rely internet searches by picture.
When the collections get to #s 1, 2 or 3 to above, I will sell the lot to an estate sales company. At that point I’ll sell the house and relocate to Eugene and sell greeting cards and “art” photographs, matted and framed, by a method I learned from another long time friend, Jack Smrekar, who learned the craft from his father-in-law. The father-in-law framed original Norman Rockwell’s in his business in Brooklyn, NY.
I have increase the number of items I auction on ebay each week. I offer 13 items on Sunday and Wednesday night. They are seven day actions. I schedule them to start every 15 minutes between 1700 (5:00 PM) and 2000 (8:00 PM). So as one item closes, it gets replaced by the next week’s item. I have managed to structure my time in a manner that allows me to do add addition travels to http://rossdickinson.com on Wednesday and Sunday mornings provided I complete all the work of getting the items scheduled the day before. It is working pretty well and serves as a “carrot” to keep this “donkey” on task.
Today is “work on my web” day, which actually started yesterday afternoon (with this blog) when I completed scheduling the thirteen items to start tonight. I have a whole day to do some happy, before the 1700 (5:00 PM) “wrap and pack” begins as last week’s thirteen close. It makes for a busy three hours, but is something I’ve been able to do.
