Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Selling on e-bay

Deutsch: Logo von Amazon.com
I still sell on e-bay, although I no longer hold dreams of making a living that way. My brief experience with being a Trading Assistant had me climbing around a dusty hot warehouse looking through old books. My take from the project was around $50, and the charity that provided the books received about the same. Still, it was a lot of work for not much $$$. (I probably spent $10 in gas to get to the charity's location, and make the different trips to the post office to mail the books once they were sold).

I have also experimented with selling used clothing, mostly from my daughters. Some of their dresses and outfits seemed to nice to hand over to Goodwill, so I sold them. Often they would fetch between $15 and $25 per outfit. I still do this, but mostly at the changing of seasons. And when I get around to it...... I still have two unopened pairs of long johns that I never got around to selling last winter! With all that money I'm sure to get a nice Amazon e gift card out of it all

Today I am off to the post office to mail a book. I love reading, and even sometimes buy books on impulse that I never get around to reading. Some books are quite quick reads and, if I don't have a need to include them in my permanent collection, I can sell them. This is one such book. Typically, I can sell a $20 book for $5 plus $5 shipping and handling. Postage costs around $3, and I have the empty boxes in my basement. But perhaps more than anything, it gives me a reason to go out on a beautiful spring afternoon like today!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Typical Monday Blues

"TUESDAY" production sign

Today is the first Monday in quite some time that I do not plan to see my therapist. Not only will I not see him today, but I don't have an appointment until June. I had been feeling that I was getting less and less benefit from weekly appointments, so I am taking a break. Of course, not having an appointment today makes me wonder what I will do this afternoon for companionship. And it also makes me think of all the things I would talk to my therapist about, if I had an appointment.

1. I continue to feel distant from my wife, at almost all times. I believe that my wife feels connected to me (even though I don't think she possibly can be) and we regularly exchange lots of "I Love You's" even though I am again not sure if I feel that way. But having already once tried the "I'm not saying it unless I am sure I really really mean it" approach, with very bad results, I'll just keep saying it.

2. My wife worked Saturday. My oldest daughter and I rearranged the furniture in her room, something she has wanted to do for quite some time. Like many (most?) girls, she regularly changes her mind about what color her walls should be. And I, like most parents, stall until she changes her mind again. This time we went ahead with rearranging the furniture, even though there were several elements of the proposed floor plan that I didn't like. I kept those thoughts to myself; hey! its her room, right? So we did it, and she loves it. And she loves me for helping her do it.

3. I was tougher with my youngest, and as a result, she accomplished some homework that, in prior weekends if not being tough, she had not done. She has gotten worse and worse about completing long-term assignments, so it was necessary for her to do some work this weekend. She wasn't happy about it, but we still found time for fun, and watching Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea on DVD.

4. I found time to practice my guitar this weekend. The past several weeks I have not played my guitars, and I'm really not sure why. Hmmmm, perhaps I'll think more about that, because the reason is usually revealing.

5. I am chaperoning a field trip for my oldest daughter next Tuesday. The trip leaves early in the morning, and gets back late. When I first heard about the trip, I thought it would be great fun and I told my daughter I would love to go. And I would. But it has raised all kinds of issues since then. First there was the pain of seeing my daughter try unsuccessfully to get any other student to join in our group. Then there is the whole issue of me finding someone to take my youngest to school in the morning, and pick her up in the afternoon. Because my wife will be working at both of those times. And so I deal with my own issues of being excluded from the at-home-Mom groups to try and find one day where someone will help me. Thankfully, my daughters are both considered sweet, low-effort, well-behaved children, so it makes finding someone to help easier than if they were terrors. Still, I started making my first call this morning, and left a message. Pray for me :-)

And so that would be how it goes.

UPDATE!! WOOHOO! The Mom just called me back and said she would be delighted to have my youngest over on Tuesday! She even offered to pick her up in the morning! Wow! Not necessary, but nice for her to have offered :-)