I Was Up All Night Working and Missed Posting

 

I have been working so hard on the garage, house, and yard for months now. I had that yard sale a few months back and have been selling items that I pulled in after the sale knowing I could make more selling them online than at yard sale prices. 

I sold enough on eBay and on the local yard sale sites that I was able to pay most of the house taxes using those funds. I have been working so hard on the garage recently that I haven't been listing as much online or the local sites. I have had boxes of items that need to be listed and I have already taken photos of them but just haven't had the time to get them listed. 

With that, I was hoping to finish the garage so I could put all the boxes of things I was working on listing on the shelves. However, Princess Three informed us that she is bringing a guy home for Thanksgiving so that made my plans shift. 

I had shelves that I was going to purchase at Home Depot and when I went to pick them up so I could put all those boxes on the shelf, every shelf was sold and not one store withing 5 hours of me had more than a few shelves! There was only one store in the entire state that had the five shelves that I wanted. I spent about 8 hours trying to figure out how to get the shelves as there was no option to order them online as I guess the stores couldn't reorder them and when I contacted the store that had them, I was told they can't ship things store to store due to Covid and that they couldn't allow me to pay for them over the phone, and since I couldn't order them online, I was frustrated. 

I was happy however that they had the shelves and the store happens to be in the city where two of my girls live, and they were coming home anyway, So I figured she could just use the credit card she has of mine, but then I remembered that her new one is here and hers expired, so she can't use my card. She said she would pay for it but then if I need to return one or have any problems she would have the receipt. 

I finally was able to find someone who knew how to allow me to purchase the item but I ended up applying for their credit card so now I have a store care which I really don't think I will use but at least I was able to get the five shelving units that will make my garage so much more functional.   

So, I was going to share a quick post in the afternoon after being up all night. I took some photos and sat down to post and fell asleep for an hour. Here are some of the photos of the boxes I had stacked up for the past months while I was trying to make money for the house taxes. 

Here are those photos. Have a blessed day!

I Found a Treasure Today - Vintage Tandem Bike

I had one of the busiest and longest days in months. I only got a few hours sleep and was up after those few hours sleep. 

I ran errands and will share about some of the things I got done later, but I wanted to share a fun find I found today. 

I was shopping at a second hand store and went to the furthest back section which I don't often view. I saw a tandem bicycle. It was a 1960 sears bike with the vintage colors and seats. I love the back handlebar as it is high like the style at the time. 

I wasn't sure if I should get it as I don't have a car big enough to get it home. I paid for my other items and was going back to look at the bike to see if it was worth buying, when I left the front door to head around to the back, my sister just pulled up and was walking in. I showed her the bike and asked if she would be willing to take it to my house. 

She was willing, so I bought the bike after looking it up online. I think I can turn it around and sell it for a great profit. I could use the funds as I want to purchase shelving for my garage so I can have somewhere to store totes. I am so frustrated with the lack of storage and hope that I can keep working and get my yard and house how I would like them.

I have to say that I would like to get the bike in shape and let the girls take a ride on it while they are home for the holiday, so I may take a minute to get it fixed up in the next few days. 

Have a blessed day!

Still Working On The Garage One Section At A Time

I have been feeling so tired the past week. I have been working hard at my friends and at my home trying to get things in order for the girls to come home.

I feel more tired than usual but realized I have only taken my vitamins once or twice in the past week. I think things are catching up to me. I need to be more regular at taking them. 

I have been getting lots of things off my "lists" but they aren't all things at home but I have been trying to be able to check something off my list daily. 

I got the drywall / texture done in the garage and then the next night got the primer and paint on the wall! I had planned to get another section done today but I am exhausted and am going to bed in hopes I can get lots done tomorrow. It is a bit crazy that it has taken me 25 years to get to the garage! I should have done this years ago. 

I am now shopping for shelving in hopes that I can utilize the area that I have better and get to enjoy my garage instead of dreading it. Even just finishing the few walls that I have make me happier. 

I started finishing the walls in 2017 and then never got back to it. Here is a post about that. I pray that it doesn't take me another few years to finish the project! If I can feel better, I think I can do it this winter and maybe have less stress with having the garage and yard looking better and more organized. 

Have a blessed day!

It's Been a Long Time Coming - Working on the Garage

I have wanted for years to get to the back corner of the garage. It has been a dark spider dungeon since we moved in. My former spouse wanted the wood pile in the garage. 

The wood pile was put in the garage soon after we moved in. The pile never got smaller than about four feet in height since we rarely use the wood stove. It would just be a home for spiders.

We only had one single light bulb in the garage when we moved in other than the garage door light. It is a large garage. I put a two light fixture in a few years back but it is still dark in the garage and especially in that back corner where the wood has been stacked. About six months ago, I purchase two somewhat decorative florescent light fixtures at a second hand store. I bought them hoping to put up lights in the garage to give it more light. I put up one where the existing light had been and just that one light gave much more brightness in the garage but that corner was still rather dark.

Princess Four helped me move the wood pile to the back yard it opened that area up but it was still dark. My dear handy man came a few weeks back and put in some new wiring and put in that other light. 

I had three holes in the drywall and had to patch that, but I finally just decided to stay up and get the wall finished. I put the texturing on and am so excited to get even a little bit of the wall finished. 

Have a blessed day!

I had a Whale of a Party - 50th Anniversary of a Happy Event

I have shared some posts in the past about something that makes me laugh for years now. I share in this post about a video about an exploding whale that always brings me to a rolling laugh every time I think about it. Here is a link where I wrote a blog post about it. 

About a week ago, Princess Three told us on a video chat that this week it would be the 50th anniversary of the exploding whale news story! She said they were going to have a virtual party celebrating and sent me a link to the party! 

I got busy and forgot to look at the link. Today, I was working on a project and realized it was Thursday and remembered that it was the anniversary today! 

I looked it up online and found that they were having the virtual meeting / interviews at 7 p.m. pacific time. I asked to get a link to the party and was able to run to the store before hand and pick up some sushi.

As I was checking out at the supermarket, I laughed when I got the total for my groceries, yes it was $111 dollars! I posted yesterday about my 111 moments this week and I have had many of them this week and today, the total was 111, there was 11111 on my receipt, I found a penny on the street next to my garbage cans after the trash men came, there was a penny at the store when I got the $111 total. The sushi has 111 on it, and there were several more 111's today. My sister sent a text about 111's and we don't text all that often so it was just another "in God we trust" and 111 day. 

I ate sushi and blueberries while watching the original cameraman and newscaster talk about the event and how it has "blown up" over the years. 

My favorite part of the video meeting was when they talked about how the boss at the station hired a small four seat plane to fly them in and after the whale blew up, they were covered with smelly pink shiny bits of blood and blubber. They were in such a hurry to get back and weren't all that excited to get into a plane smelling like rotting whale to fly back home, that they left the sound clip for the video in the trunk of the rental car. 

They had to find someone driving towards them and meet them off the highway to pick up the sound clip so they could run the story the next day! 

Looking back, I think they wish they had purchased the rights to the video as they could have for $10,000. A week after they chose not to buy the clip, a news show paid $35,000 for a one time use of the video. Now, they could have sold merchandise etc. It is a world wide video and people stop him daily mentioning the video. 

He got paid $105 for the clip and the sound guy made $117. They have gotten a few trips to events over the years but the 50th reunion was canceled due to Covid. 

The Oregon historical Society have a section on this event and hosted the event. I guess the reporter Paul Linnman has never made any more money on this event. The reporter said one of his sons came home last week cursing the event as people recite the "blubbering" line to them. I can see how being famous for a silly story for 50 years when you are a serious reporter could be a bit annoying. He says he can't go a full day without someone mentioning something about the story.

He wrote a book about the event but said he couldn't just write about that, he said he put other stories within the book every other chapter. He said his agent tried to get publishers to publish the book on a large scale but they wanted him to take out the other "feels good" stories and only talk about the whale, but he felt he wanted to include something of substance. So, I think he self published with a local company. 

It is very amazing that this one story could last and grow in favoritism for 50 years. I just know it has brought me so much joy over the years. I am grateful for it as it has brought me many hours of laughing over the years. Just today, I have chuckled over it just thinking about it many times today. 

I think it was a great day! So glad Princess Three heard about the meeting so I could enjoy watching the new digitized 4K video! 

Have a blessed day!

11-11 1:11 God Is Good - In God We Trust Blessings Today

On Halloween, I was shopping at a second hand store and finished my shopping. As I was putting my purchases in my car, I noticed a quarter on the ground near the back of my car. 

 If you read my blog, you know that when I see coins on the ground, I feel like God is getting my attention and reminding me to trust him. It seems the larger the coin, the more I should pay attention. 

I had the feeling that I should go back to the store and look for something that I could sell for a large amount of money. I followed that "prompting" or "feeling", or "thought" and went back to the store before leaving. 

I walked around outside which I don't do as much since Covid, they haven't been putting things outside as much. I saw a treadmill and had the thought come to my mind that that was the item I needed to get. I asked the worker if they had tried it. He said he didn't know. I asked if they could get me a cord and we could see, and they did. 

It was a REALLY nice treadmill! It works with an online sport app that is programmed into the machine and has different levels of workout and the incline and speed change depending on the workout. 

The treadmill was $15. I called my sister asking if she and her husband could help me haul it home so I could try and sell it. They were wonderful to help and easily loaded and unloaded the treadmill as it folds up into a nice slim machine and has wheels to move it easily. 

I got it home and wiped the dust off it due to being outside. I took some pictures and then went ahead an listed it. It is an older machine as it didn't do Bluetooth, but it does work with the app plugged in the input jack. It is about a $1500 machine. 

I listed it locally for $400 but didn't get any hits or inquiries. I figured I needed to give it an aggressive price so I dropped it to $275 and had people contacting me all day. Maybe I should have gone to a middle ground but I need to get some bills paid and don't want to have to deal with it during the holiday as my kids are coming early to celebrate so I wanted to get these bills paid off. 

I was able to sell it to a friend of mine who tagged her daughter in the post and they came and tried it out and had it loaded up in minutes.

I laughed when I saw what time she responded telling me she for sure wanted it. I had others telling me that they wanted it but I wanted to sell it to my friends daughter over the others, so when she replied at 1:11 telling me she wanted the treadmill, I knew God was in the details!

I then realized that it was 11/11 today. So, God gave me a $260 profit on this treadmill that took me about an hour to dust and list. I am grateful that I listened to His little "nudge" to head back to the store and find what HE was telling me would make me the money I needed to help pay those bills. 

I have also been able to help my friend this past week, and I sold three older quilts I had for a few years for $120, and an old rotary phone for $30. I also had multiple buyers for the phone. It is funny how $10 can make the difference between having no buyers and lots of buyers. I had it listed for $40 a few different times but lowering it just that bit hooks many people. I had decided that sometimes it is worth lowering the price to move the item and clean out the house. Also, pay some bills!
Later, I had just sent my kids the pictures of the money I got for the treadmill and a picture of the text from my friends daughter at 1:11 and I no sooner sent it than the show I was watching while I ate dinner said, 111. I took a short video and sent them the video clip. It wasn't 20 seconds after I sent them the 111 info. It was just another reminder that God may not take away my struggles, but HE will always help me go through them! 

It was a Blessed day with found money (Click here to see a post explaining this) and some 111 reminders (click here to see a post on that) that God loves me and is aware of me, and all in the month of "thanksgiving!" 

Have a Blessed Day

Laundry Pods Can Cause Smells in Washing Machines

I had an issue with my washing machine this past six months or so. I have always used powder or liquid laundry detergent. I have never had a problem with gunk or smells in my upright washing machine. 

Six months ago or so, I started using laundry pods. I tried a few different types, and recently I noticed a horrible smell coming out of the laundry room. It smelled like a dead animal. I thought maybe the smells were coming up through the drain in the room. I poured drain cleaner down the drain. It didn't help. I poured cleaner down the drain hose for the washer with no results. 

I then ran a few hot water bleach loads through the washer. It still smelled horrible. Our laundry started to smell horrible. I didn't want to shower as the towels smelled so awful. Even getting dressed was terrible, as soon as I would put my clothes on, it didn't smell good. 

On the suggestion of my repair man, I purchased a washing machine cleaner at Walmart. The box gave instructions of using one and if the machine wasn't clean, do up to three times. I did three washes and it did get a little bit better as the smell wasn't going down the hall. The third time I ran the machine, I put two of the cleaning packets in the washer. It still smelled and was frustrating that after spending money on it, it hadn't gotten rid of the smell. 

I finally just had my repair man come and clean the washer. I wish I had taken pictures or video of him cleaning it out but there was almost like a glue in the washing machine that had collected all sorts of gunk and the stuff stuck to the "glue" started breaking down and caused the smell. The repair man said that fabric softener can build up in the washer like a glue, but I have never used fabric softener other than in the "pods" for the past six months. 

I then realized after talking to the repair man that the plastic coating on the pods wasn't breaking down completely but was becoming a sticky glue and it was confirmed a week later when my dishwasher had the same problem as I had started using the dishwasher pods. I had the repair man clean out my washer about a year ago when I purchased it used, so I know it was clean. 

In my 40 years of doing laundry, I have never had a problem with my washing machine smelling. Since he cleaned my washing machine and I cleaned out my dishwasher, I stopped using the "Pods" and everything has been smelling "rosie" and, I won't be going back to using my "pods" in fact, I got rid of them! 

Check out my video and blog post on the situation with my dishwasher having a problem while using the pods. Here is a link to that post.  

Have a blessed day!