Two Government Employees

~~~

Every day, I go to the Post Office, at least once. I've gotten to know a lot of the employees. Some are great, others not. Consider these two:

Employee A:

He finishes weighing my pre-paid packages, preparing to scan them in and give me a receipt. "Uh-oh, this one is an ounce over! You need 11 cents more on the package."

I've already waited 10 minutes in line and am standing there with only my cell phone and my keys. I say, half joking, "Have you got 11 cents in your pocket? I'll give you a quarter next time I see you!"

He smiles, slaps an 11-cent stamp on the package, and waves me on.



Employee B:

She finishes weighing my pre-paid packages, preparing to scan them in and give me a receipt. "Uh-oh, this one is one/hundredth of an ounce over! You need 11 cents more on the package."

I've already waited 10 minutes in line and am standing there with only my cell phone and my keys. I say, "One/hundredth of an ounce over?!?! You're kidding me! You mean .01 of an OUNCE?!"

She plants her feet squarely on her little rubber mat, looks me in the eye and says, "11 cents please! Next time, don't lean so heavily on your pen when you write!"

"I don't have my wallet with me. Are you really going to insist on the next rate for one/hundredth of an ounce?" I ask incredulously.

She slides the package back to me, and just glowers. This is a day I will definitely be making two trips to the Post Office.

My Funny Hunny

Now that we're working 40-50 hours a week selling on ebay and at our antique co-op in Marin, I haven't done a lot of cooking or dishes. Rick has never complained; in fact he frequently runs out for tacos, sandwiches or salad while I take a nap! He does a good job of digging socks out of the laundry basket and overlooking dusty blinds and unswept floors. And, he's picked up a whole lot of new household chores- voluntarily. (Yeah, he's quite a guy!)

Since I've had my new MacBook Pro, I've been enjoying working on the laptop online in the kitchen where it is light and open. It gets me out of the crowded office in the back of the house.


Today, I was working at the kitchen table, and Rick walked by and remarked, "Sweetie, if anyone asks, tell them you've been spending lots of time in the kitchen! I won't tell them what you're doing!"

You MIGHT Be a Powerseller on Ebay if...

You order shipping bubblewrap for your ebay store...and then you can't fit it in through the door, and your kitchen looks like the local Post Office.

New Digs!

We labored all day yesterday at our co-op, Antiques Legacy of San Anslemo*. The 10,000 sq. ft. store has about 40 dealers, each with their own piece of "real estate" to display their offerings. The natural walking pattern is in a counter-clockwise path inside the building.

We started out there last Fall with a tiny counter top near the front of the store to display Rick's Art Lamps, then moved to a cramped space of our own. It was tucked away on the end of the second half of the store layout, where most people have become eye-wearied with all the fabulous treasures by the time they arrive! It was a small space, chock-full of things we've added for sale, as well as Art Lamps. Nevertheless, we've done pretty well, always exceeding our monthly rent.

Recently, a vendor decided to leave the co-op, making his cherry spot available -and the store owner offered it to us. We jumped at the chance!

Location, Location, Location! they say in real estate. This spot is on the first half of the traffic pattern, right where you make the turn to go to the back portion and then second half. As you turn, your eye naturally notices our new booth.

Here are some photos of the new location. We have some tweaking to do, having run out of time yesterday. As you might notice, we have no neighbors, just the dividing wall on one side, the back wall on another, and two open sides. Across from us (on the right, but unseen) is a vendor who does quite well in her spot. We are looking forward to developing a good working relationship with her.

We are very excited about the new prospects! We never guessed we'd be selling in an antiques mecca, as San Anselmo has been called. We're loving it.



*if you visit Antiques Legacy's website and our own, you might notice they look similar. That's because the store owner hired me to do a website for him! And I figured, "Why re-invent the wheel?"

It Pays to Purchase AppleCare!

We purchased a 20" iMac in September of 2006 (seen in previous post). Fortunately, I purchased AppleCare soon after.

Somehow, I got a lemon. (There aren't many of them in Apple World.)

I won't bore you with the whole history, but after tolerating the annoying glitches for well over a year, it took a sudden turn for the worst in March. It became apparent it was about to become lemon-ADE*!

After jumping through a few easy hoops, Apple sent me a brand-new UPGRADED iMac today.

I can't wait to plug it in and take it for a spin.

*ADE= a dead electronic

God Provides!

Little by little, our ebay business has grown. Currently we are nicely supplementing Rick's pension, and are nearly at Level Two as Power Sellers! We're starting to realize we have a "real" business going.

I've been needing a new computer desk for some time now. I kinda knew what I wanted, but just haven't even had time to go looking for one. Besides! As official Garage Salers, we decided we'd just keep our eyes open for one when we are out "shopping" for resale products.

Yesterday, our neighbor asked for our help. She is newly moved back into the area from San Jose, and needed a strong man (that would be MY guy!) to unpack her PODS. Beth said that, after taking a few personal things out, the rest would be going to Salvation Army. She said we were welcome to take anything we thought we could use or sell.

The long and the short of it... not only did she have a computer desk that was exactly what I was looking for, but there were also two very nice metal file cabinets -complete with hundreds of hanging file folders- (tall black one at the left, half size one at the right), and an INDUSTRIAL paper shredder! We spent the day rearranging our home office, and sprucing things up. Rick took this photo of his very delighted business partner when I first sat down for a test drive at my new desk! We're ready for our business to really soar now.

Sidebar: we also placed a VERY NICE almost-new king-size Serta mattress set with a needy couple. They were all smiles, too!

Thank you Beth, and thank You God!