Taking one for the team

The Redding Air Show has come and gone. Not without a lot of noise. Both by the kids and the planes in the show. Other people, of course, made noise as well. I went, I saw, I baked in the shade of my large umbrella/parasol, I witnessed countless fashion violations, I ate and drank expensive Air Show fare, I breathed in the essence that is the Redding Air Show.

The first test of the day was just getting there. We live about 3 1/2 miles from the airport. We made it within about a mile and that is when the pace slowed to a crawl. The next 75 minutes was spent going the last mile. I jokingly raced a couple that had just parked. They decided they would walk. They were out of sight in about 10 minutes. I never saw them again. I think that they won the race, such as it was.

Test the second; find a relatively cool place to "park it" for the duration. I figured, rather than have a tired cranky dad following you around day, why not have a happy centrally located dad that you could just check in with every now and then. I took my chair. I took my parasol. I took my good intentions. I took a very large bottle of water in with me.

The third test is the lucky one, right? Find a booth that every one agrees on to get food. I don't know why I wanted to do it that way, it just seemed, the not so easy thing to do. Well, 2 out of 3 can't be all bad. Fox, as he is now known, did not want to eat anything. Just water, cold water. So, 2 burgers, 2 sodas and 3 waters later we were ready to begin enjoying the show.

From my centrally located personage, I was able see the show, hear the announcer and, more or less, keep tabs on the kids. I saw a few friends, as did the kids.

The 4Th challenge came when I started to bring up leaving. I started by reminding the kids how long it took us to get here. Then I told them that more people had shown up since we had arrived. Then I told them that if we waited for the very last second to leave, we would be behind even more people on the way out. They understood where I was directing this conversation. I had made my point. We just needed a few good pictures of the Blue Angels and we were outta there!

Next test; Getting souvenirs on the way out. Remember, we were leaving before all the other people. Well, getting souvenirs was not as quickly done as one might think. With a 5 minute limit the hunting for the souvenir began. 10 minutes later... I was getting impatient. People were seeing our exit strategy and following suit, ahead of us. We got it!

Sweet, sweet exit is in sight!

Dad! Dad! There is another booth that I want to get a souvenir from. You have got to be kidding! Look how far we are behind now! Come on! Lets get out of here!

DAAADDDDDD! Just 1 more minute! O.K, 2 minutes. MOVE, MOVE MOVE!!

Well 2 minutes turned into 5, then 7. Still no closer to a choice.

Next challenge; Actually leaving. We managed to leave and follow droves of people to the truck. I thought that I was a genius for using the airport parking lot and saving a whole lot of walking in the dirt.

Getting home took about 25 minutes total.

Then the next round of tests. Who had the cameras?

I'll spare you the details, but I left both cameras at the air show. Andrea and I made our way back, retraced our steps and luckily found them.

That's how I took one for the team, kind of.

Cleaning the unit.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Well here it is just about 3 years from the time that I stopped "doing" eBay I am back.

Apparently, there is not much call for certain vintage British/European car and motorcycle parts in Redding. Well not enough for me to get rid of 1/100 of the parts that I have acquired, in my or my great great great grandchildren's lifetime. Well at least not in Redding. There just is not enough demand.

Sure, Craigslist is a boon to mankind. Kind of the way that eBay was, in that it rids you of excess "stuff" in your life. Some have even made a living/starving on them. I know that I have had my share of success on both. They are some of the greatest electronic enablers of our time.


I am sure that there will be a better, faster, cheaper, and easier to use system someday. I don't know what, where or when that will happen, but until it does, I will just have to put up with Craigslist and eBay to get rid of my junk/garbage/gems/other man's treasures.

So, anyway.... We emptied out one of my storage units earlier in the month. I have had this storage for over 4 years. Holding a bunch of "stuff". Stuff that I just could not bring myself to get rid of. So with work in the Bay Area slowing, and my children's appetite growing, I did the unthinkable.

I renewed my love/hate affair with eBay. Mistress of all that is saleable/shippable. Sure I am home more, but I am also on the computer more. Well when I say I am on the computer more, I should also say that I am "productively" on the computer more, in that I am now more productive when I am on the computer. Rather than looking at youtube to see what the Chad Vader is doing today. Did he finally get his store under control?

There is a lot of research that goes into selling descriptions. I need to make sure that I encompass all the applications of an item to make sure that I engage the largest crowd possible to fight over the right of winning the prize. The prize being a part that I can no longer look at. A part that I have since said my fond farewell. A part that I may have to pay the city to take care of for me, instead of someone paying me for the joy of taking off of my hands.

Yes; I have renewed this affair, if you will. I think that now we have both grown and maybe this time it will work out. Maybe this time we can live together. Maybe this time it will be different. Maybe this time I will finally empty my garage and the last storage unit.

Like I said, desperate times call for desperate measures. I am desperate to quit paying rent on a storage unit full of my "treasures/trash". But I just can't bring myself to toss the stuff. It must be useful to someone.

I just need to find that someone, and have them pay me for my junk....er stuff.

Another Million Dollar Idea

It hit me when I least expected it.

BAM!

What?

POW!

What the..?

SPLOINK!

Sploink?

Yeah, sploink. Wanna make something of it?

Make something of it? Was I arguing with myself? Probably.

Since I was sitting alone. No one else could have done that to me. So it had to be me.

But what was I thinking/arguing about? Oh that was it, my million dollar idea wafting in and out of my head.

I was sitting at an eating establishment, by myself, on a high stool, at a tall table. Well they also brew beer there, so I had that going for me. The beer, not so much the high table or the other stuff.

I was looking at the bar and listening, not eavesdropping, to the table that was behind me. It seems that there were problems. I just listened, I wanted to chime in, but common decency and false privacy prohibited me from sharing my opinion.

That is when it hit me.

Have a psychiatrist run the bar. It has long been said that if you want to know about a person, ask their bartender or letter carrier. The letter carrier can only tell you so much, but the bartender gets more and more information as the night goes on, sometimes without provocation.

You could have Psychologists wait the tables. The Psychoanalysts could work as hosts and cooks. I guess that the life therapists/coaches could clean up the mess that was left behind.

Of course there would be records kept and everyone would have to confer with everyone else.

The trouble that I have is, do I charge by the drink/plate or just have an hourly charge? Do I charge more for sitting at the bar? Will there be a bathroom attendant, probably an intern?

Well I guess that I need to flesh this idea out a little more, but it just may fly and be another one of my unrealised Million Dollar Ideas!