Good Morning gentle reader,

I'm wondering how many of you are like me, up much too early trying to purchase one of those "harder to get than a golden ticket" PS3 game things??  Yes, like many of my fellow Americans, and mainly eBayers, I am hoping that my early bird gets the worm tactics of being online at the Costco website since 4 AM PST will allow me to purchase one of these black, sleek, gorgeous graphics spewing machines.  My friend and I have been stratigizing for about 5 days now on how to get a PS3.  Such plans we had, my friends let me tell you.  At first, I thought, "this will be like getting concert tickets". Cool!  Yeah, until I realized that I am no longer 23 years old and hey, sleeping on the sidewalk doesn't sound like something that a mom of an almost 8 month old should be doing.  So uhh mental personal bummer, I'm no longer the adventuress that I once was and that mother of all guilt havers, responsibility, has crept into my life, like a theif in the night, and has stolen my spontenaety.  Rat Bastard!! 

So good, now I'm a respectable adult who won't sleep in front of the Wal-Mart.  Do not be fooled however that I had given up hope, oh no, it was the shift into overdrive time...we went all over the planet, via internet, for locations, time zone variations, called web sites, stores at every mall we could think of and made instant friends with department managers at Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, you get the idea.  We were about ready to go into complete suck up mode and make goodies for our new "friends" to devour, any angle to try to have an edge on the buying public.  So finally when buying my staples at my local Costco I thought about asking the checker casually as if I was the last person on the planet to grasp the frenzy that was sweeping the nation..."So, do you think that Costco is actually going to have any of those new game machines?"  To my evil little capitalistic bones she replied conspiratorially, "Well, uhh, yeah, hold on..."  HOLD ON!!  Does this poor soul know the tourture she is putting me through?  There was no one else in line and she looked me over like she was the world's most pro dealer of illegal materials. If an I Spy coat and hat came down from the sky at that moment I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised.  "So here's the deal, the website is selling them on Friday at 8 AM, this time zone, I don't think that we are getting any at the wherehouse, but you never know"  The Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah is playing in my head!!  Costco? Costco?  Land of pork products, batteries and tires?  COSTCO!! 

So, armed with fresh knowledge, I immediately take up a position of in the know and contact the 800 number to find out all I can about the release.  My friend meanwhile is still on the "let's try an out of the way Wal-Mart" mode and is making arrangements to have her kids taken care of by her mom.  Her mother, like mine, is less than thrilled about participating in this mishagosh and is balking at the babysitting.  So we have many, many phone calls about who's going to which location with whom, she's a mother of 3 and is reminding me that I need to take off my jewlery and how am I gonna pee if I go alone scenarios.  Gotta love girlfriends! 

How excited are we about the prospect of bilking the moronic out of hard earned Christmas dollars?  Estatic, thrilled, giddy almost if you must know!  It's better than the lottery!  There's an actual chance that our scheming, investigating and plotting could pay for Christmas, a vacation, some bills, the list is endless...and like lottery fever...the money is spent in our pea brains and we've got a nothing in one hand and a wish in the other.  I can't stand it.  And just as my husband has predicted should I ever win lotto, I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut and everyone on the planet would be my friend.  Hot off one of the many calls from my co-conspirator, I start with the A's in my cell phone book and dial everyone I know who has access to a T1 line to tell them about the opportunity in front of them.  First and foremost, my eBay loving girlfriends.  The only downside, one has to be at work at 8 AM.  Well it's Friday people and my posse doesn't roll like that..we roll out when we are darn good and ready to go.  We've got jobs that require intelligence, decision making abilities and the kind of bosses who know better than to think that being on time equals a good employee.  Why?  Because we work through lunch and will show up bleeding from orafices rather than call in sick ok?  So, I rallied a few of them, which was peppered by more questions and a reworking of all of the ground work that my CO and I had done days before.  Did I mention I have 7 month old?  Yeah, so naps this week have been sketchy at best.  My little one got her naps in but they were interrupted by the jangle of the celly. 

I digress, calling the troops...the most excited one of the bunch was my cousin, a faithful eBay goddess who was spending some quality time with her mom and sisters in upstate NY.  She lives in CO and was immediately hot on the idea of standing out in front of the Wal-Mart, her logic, "I'm in the middle of nowhere, there are 8,000 people who live in this town and it's going to snow, who'd be willing to do this?"  After one phone call to the Norwich Wal-Mart, she found out. Apparently there were 20 people in line and they were only expecting to get 15 machines.  So, she too hopped on the Express to Costco.com idea.   Am I getting through to you yet?  Seriously I called about 30 people to let them know to get their tockases up and online, preferably with a fast connection, first thing Friday AM. 

"Why" was my husband's cry as I kept calling people and returning calls.  "Isn't that more people who will be competition and jam the server tomorrow AM?"  He had a point, but I pointed out, "If just one of my friends or family get in on this, it will be all worth it"  He just shook his head...and then promptly got online to make sure that all of our shipping and credit card information was accurate at Costco.com.  He loves me.

"A few more hours is all the time I've got, a few more hours until we tie the knot...I'm gettin' a PlayStation in the mornin', ding dong the bells are gonna chime"...yeah, that's the song in my head at the moment.. T minus 1 hour and 33 minutes to go.  I've been all over that Costco.com website, and believe me, there are some amazing things for purchase...in my cart currently??  A 12 pack of Jack Nicklaus golf gloves (Dad Christmas) a 26 inch fresh pine wreath (Uncle Bob Christmas) and a spa basket (Mom Christmas) all in the attempt to "fool the server" and not kick me offline at 7:59 AM.   Will it work?  Time will tell!  In the meantime, I'm off to kill a few more minutes by checking out the recent closing auctions for the PS3 and looking for some Christmas goodies too...

Thank you for letting me share my latests eBay adventure with you and I'll let you know how things work out this AM!  Hopefully, I'll be having an auction shortly for a big, beautiful, black P$3!!

 

 

Finally, I've finally listed all the crazy plaid pants from Groovy Uncle's Closet and now I can't stop thinking of the Steve Martin SNL skit for the life of me.  Plaid pants, Good Lord, is there anything I won't list???  I thought I had taste, well, I guess it is a taste, just not one that my pallette appreciates I guess.  So, with that next to final listing of lovely golf apparel, I bid you good night and happy eBaying on your Friday night!

 

Well gentle reader, it is once again the midnight hour and I'm pondering my options as an eBay seller.  The question before me is whether to list a lot of an item or to list it individually.  Having never done a lot listing, I'm apprehensive.  However, faced with quite a large amount of time I would be forced to spend to list singlely, I'm leaning toward getting out of my comfort zone and doing a lot listing. 

What wonderful goodies might I have to list as a lot you ask...well, I'll keep you on tenderhooks no further, it would be a collection of laserdiscs.  And what a vast and varied collection it is.  Imagine if you will, large DVD's about the size of an old LP record, excellent technology but like the dodoo bird, extinct..or almost so.  I have in this collection everything from Cinderella to Hellraiser.  Actually if Disney retold that story of Ella the Ash Girl I think they'd sell more in today's society if she had a little more 'tude.  So maybe the two aren't as far apart as it would seem at first glance. 

Anyway I digress.  The thought of having to list each title, some brand new, some previously viewed, list and sell them is overwhelming.  On the other hand, the thought of getting rid of all the titles for way less money than they are worth is tipping the scales toward listing singlely.  I am open to suggestions and thoughts my fellow eBayers...and thank you ahead of time!

Ahh, the midnight hour, the bane of Cinderella and de-cluttering fairies (AKA the granddaughter, daughter and niece of packrats!). So the first items of "Groovy Uncle's Closet" are listed. How does one accurately describe the fabulous unnatural fibers of the seventies? Perfectly pristine polyester? How about "you too can be spontaneously combustible in these walking velour barcolounger pants"?? I'm thankful it's near Halloween and maybe there are a few Austin Powers wannabes or some SuperFly Pimp Daddys who are feelin' the love of the courdoroy. It's amazing to me that one, my uncle has held onto clothing that is as old as I am and two, that it is in such amazingly good shape. I have stuff in my closet that is four years old with moth holes...on the other hand, maybe the moths have the good sense not to eat polyester...well, Morpheous is calling happy eBayers. Thanks for the encouragement, I will keep on truckin' with the peace, love and happiness that is the decluttering!

Ok, so I realize that the generation that lived through the depression were hardy people who had reason to fear that they would never again have the joy of non-necessary items, however, this fear has spawned a new fear for the next generation....cleaning out the 38 pound ball of foil and the lovely collection of pig geegaws hanging around in the attic.  The amazing thing is that the "fear" obviously is genetic in nature as evidenced by my mother, a daughter of the hardy soul who lived through the depression, and was the recipient of the post war boom that bought into the "need more stuff" of Madison Avenue. 

So, what does this mean for a Gen Xer who has her own storage locker that could use some cleaning out?  A three generational eBay fest!  My grandmother is afraid, deathly afraid, of technology.  Doesn't own a microwave because the damn thing will give you cancer.  Obviously we are going to have a challenge on our hands trying to get her to take digital photos of her possessions and then "beam them into outer space" so that strangers can bid on her stuff.   But I will perservier!  Why you ask?  Because if Mom and I don't get a handle on Granny's goodies now, while she can give us a memory to go with her fabulous sifter that hasn't seen flour since 1963, it will end up in the proverbial dump.  Not only that, I'm sure that someone in the universe would love to get their hands on a grade A antique sifter.

Might I also mention that the "fear" crosses the gender line in our family?  Yes, my uncle suffers, and how, from the "fear" as well.  Lovely collections of books and all formats of movies, not to mention clothes that he hasn't worn since 1973...and it is my new mission to declutter these charming people's lives, so that they can find some comfort in knowing that the items they've held onto all these years are wanted by others and that they are being good stewards of the earth by recycling in their own way.

So, gentle reader, join with me in my quest to clean up my family's foible known as the Goodies of Granny, Mom's Many Memories and Uncle's Uniquies...