Collectibles may not be worth much
A few years ago, I went to an estate sale that was dominated by the presence of about twelve display cases filled with figurines.
According to the salesperson there were at least 2,000 little statues that the owner had collected over the years.
I don’t recall what the asking prices were but I’m sure that it was minimal. And when I came back the next day I really didn’t notice that any of them had been sold.
“How are you going to get rid of them?” I asked the man in charge. He shrugged his shoulders and answered: “I don’t know.”
It seemed to me that he would have sell the whole lot to someone who could part them out at a swap meet. And that person would probably not pay more than fifty cents each which proves that, with a few exceptions, all those Precious Moments, Hummel, Lladro, and other figurines are worth very little.
There are many people who bought them went they were issued, sometimes with the expectation that over the years they would increase in value. Especially the ‘limited edition’ ones were considered to be a good investment.
Then comes the point when, for one reason or another, they want to sell them. I can imagine the disappointment when they find out that the value is only a fraction of what they paid for it.
Lack of appreciation or just being cheapskates?
Just now I watched a YouTube video of a woodworker who creates small products and sells those locally.
Honestly, I’m a bit jealous now. Not because of his skills or the nice tools he uses, I’m jealous because he can sell his products for a reasonable price, and I can’t.
I live in an area where most people do not appreciate quality and craftmanship.
Some years ago, I managed to buy a load of solid pine shelves and I turned those into step stools and pet steps in an attempt to generate some extra income. True, I was able to sell them but only because I kept the price very low, too low actually.
Considering the cost of the materials, wear and tear on the tools and my labor I was working for a few dollars an hour.
And despite the low prices some people were asking for upgrades to the standard product and not wanting to pay extra.
I offered them unfinished, light stains or dark stains. And some wanted to have them painted in a specific color. They were surprised when I told them that it would double the price. After all, I would have to go to the store and get a quart of paint and depending on the color, put 2 or 3 coats on. Just for my trip to the store, paint not included, I would have to charge $20 for my time.
Then I suggested they could paint it themselves, but nobody wanted to do so.
Someone gave me a piece of carpet, so I offered the steps carpeted as well. And sure enough, some wanted a different color than the standard beige.
No appreciation from the church
About twenty five years ago I started going to one of the local churches. Not because I’m a deeply religious person but the true reason was that I needed some supportive people in my life.
My marriage was not a success, to put it mildly, and I was living under pressure with no one to talk to.
I met some very friendly people who made me feel welcome and the services provided the warmth and inspiration that I was looking for.
After a while I felt that I should contribute to this community, and I went to see one of the pastors. I offered to make a web site that could be not only a source of information for members but also could help spread the word and attract people who were unfamiliar with the church.
The pastor agreed that it was a great idea and he promised to help me get all the necessary information.
I went to work and got the domain name and the hosting, for which I paid out of my own pocket. Then came the time where the actual content had to be added.
Every Friday a bulletin was printed regarding the services and activities for the coming week. I asked to have the bulletin faxed to me so I could add it to the site. The first week I received it on time, the second week I had to call and remind them to send it to me. The third week I had to call a few times, etc.
I also asked for biographies and photos of the pastors. Despite repeated promises I never got them.
The church also failed to promote the site. I was hoping it would be mentioned in the services, and at least it should have been give some attention in the printed weekly bulletins. It didn’t happen, there was no co-operation whatsoever.
At some point I told the pastor that if I could not get obtain the material that I needed I would have to take the site down. His answer was disappointing, to say the least: “Just take it down.”
The site was removed that same day and apparently no one ever noticed. I was not upset about the time I had spent on it; I did feel that I hadn’t been taken seriously. And my attempt to make a worthwhile contribution had failed, and not of my own doing.
Don’t expect customer support to help you!
If a police officer pulls you over and says that he is going to give you a ticket you have the right to know what he is giving you the ticket for.
A generic answer like: ‘Because you did something wrong’ is unacceptable.
Sales platform OfferUp does exactly that. I used it for several years, going by the rules and amassing 862 five-star reviews.
Then one day my account was disabled without prior warning. I could still post items, but they would not show up in the general feed and the search results.
For a few months I tried to sort this out with their support team, but to no effect.
All I got from them were generic responses, most of them totally unrated to the problem. A few times someone promised to look into it and three times I was told the problem had been fixed.
I came up with the idea of deleting my account and opening a new one. No such luck, it is impossible to delete it. I’m done with OfferUp, and I still have no idea why they basically banned me.
Please do some research on their customer support and you will find that there is none. I understand that they cannot go thought great lengths to help people with free account but just giving them the boot is unacceptable.
I did some research and found there are so many users who had the same problem. No wonder their rating at places like Trustindex.com is exceptionally low.
Another problem is that they facilitate scammers to post to their hearts content. And ads do not expire. Often I when I did a search for something items that were posted six years ago show up.
I just stick with good old Craigslist, never had a problem with them.
It happened again.
It happened last night, of course it did. Around 1 AM I woke up from a dream that played with my mind afterwards.
As long as I can remember this has happened, every single night.
Maybe it wouldn’t bother so much if those dreams were pleasant, but they never are. I cannot recall a single time when I woke up and felt disappointed that the dream had come to an end already.
Sometimes they are scary, and usually weird. And they always show scenes from the past, usually from 20 to 30 years ago.
Last week my dad (who died in 1995) and I were making our way through a forest. Suddenly we came to a swamp that we could not cross of course. Before we could decide what to do next, a huge alligator appeared and approached us.
We ran away as fast as we could but the animal still gained on us.
Then I realized that the only option was to fight it. I turned around and hit it repeatedly on the nose with a plastic fly swatter that I happened to carry with me.
It slowed him down for a little while and I kept swatting as fast as I could while dad watched from a distance.
Then a goat showed up out of nowhere and the alligator went after it, probably deciding it was easier to get. Suddenly and without warning we were safe again.
The dream was clear and even after a week I still remember it in detail.
I have had dreams that were so realistic that afterwards I couldn’t tell if it actually was a fictional dream or something that had happened in real life.
Lately it hasn’t occurred but there have been times when I had the same dream multiple times. And the weirdest thing was that while still dreaming I realized I had gone through that one before.
Tonight, it will happen again, I’m sure of it. Maybe even more than once.
I know dreams can be interpreted but I have never tried to find out what they mean. Maybe I’m better off not knowing anyway.