WANTED: AFLAC DUCK EGG SAVINGS BANK ON eBAY

AFLAC Duck Egg Savings Bank

Hawaiian Odysseus photo

Boredom can make one do some crazy things.

The other day, I rummaged through the freebies area just outside a thrift store.  I don't know...maybe I've been watching too many Storage Wars episodes on TV lately, or maybe what I was able to tolerate of the lackluster Seahawks offense did me in.  In any case, I was bored like a gourd, and I needed to do something.

So I...okay, I'll just say it...I dumpster-dived outside a thrift store.  Except it wasn't a dumpster.  It was more of a table with boxes and paper sacks and plastic bags filled with dusty, dirty stuff, making like Barry the antique aficionado hoping to unearth in all that debris a treasure of immense significance.  

My wife kept interrupting me, showing me some great stuff she'd found inside the thrift store.  It was beginning to annoy me just a little bit because I was feverishly employed in my intense battle with the donated knickknacks.  

You see, the more I get involved in this self-employed (and hopefully not self-delusional) gambit to sell novelty items along with my standard fly tying niche fare on eBay, the more I'm driven to prove a point...to myself more than anyone else...that on any given day, a very determined man can muster up every bit of his resourcefulness and sell another man's junk.  (Okay, this is the part in my daydream where the piped-in THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM music volume builds to a crescendo as Richard Kiley belts out "...To reach the unreachable star!")

Falling abruptly back to earth, and fast-reversing to about an hour ago, I took a half dozen photos and whipped up a quick description and posted the item.  (I am posting a link to the item, but it'll be gone after three months, so I'll just copy and paste the verbiage below as well.)

Have fun!  I did!  And I'm curious to see how the bidding goes on this one.

Ciao!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160672477795#ht_2205wt_952

LORDS OF THE FLY COLLECTIBLES

Presents

CONTEMPORARY COLLECTIBLE

AFLAC DUCK EGG SAVINGS BANK

The AFLAC duck is at it again.  This time, she played us pretty close to home.

It appears that she went dumpster diving outside a local College Place, Washington, thrift store. Since we've been tracking her whereabouts ever since she "dissed" Yogi Berra at the barber shop in that TV commercial, the owners of the thrift store called us to investigate.

We pulled out our forensic investigation tools--stuff we'd found on eBay--and went to work.

And we found enough evidence to indict her of vandalism and littering if she ever shows up in our conservative town again.

She had the nerve to lay an egg in the midst of all the donated merchandise from the locals.  We're now offering it up on auction, hoping some good citizen can make good use out of something she'd left as a poor joke on us.

The egg has a photo of this public enemy next to the AFLAC logo. It is approximately 4-1/2 inches tall with about a 3-inch diameter. The duck must have been eating a diet rich in PVC lately because the egg has a plastic composition.  It is cracked and can be disassembled and re-assembled quite easily. There is a handy slot at the top into which you or your youngster can insert coins.

There is a reward out for this duck, so please be on the lookout. In the meantime, bid heartily, and have a great time!

PayPal is the preferred method of payment.

We will ship to either USA or international destinations via USPS First Class Mail.

Thank you for participating in this eBay listing.  More importantly, thank you for vigilantly being on alert for this rascal little duck!

Why Collectibles? 

• To preserve Americana
• To understand our heritage
• To appreciate our social, cultural, political, and economic roots
• To enhance our grasp of history
• To compare and contrast the past with the present
• To own as antique or contemporary treasures
• To acknowledge the art and artists of yesteryear and contemporary times
• To frame and craft into attractive gifts
• To utilize as decorative household pieces
• To buy, sell, and trade
• To enjoy a good return on investment
• To keep tens of thousands of eBay sellers from becoming chronic couch potatoes

PayPal is the preferred method of payment.

We will utilize USPS Parcel Post to ship to USA destinations.  For international destinations, we will use USPS First Class Mail International.

Thank you for participating in this auction.  Be sure to check out our other items. Welcome back anytime!

EXPANDING MY BOUNDARIES ON EBAY

Collectible Vase with Lord's Prayer

(This and subsequent images are Hawaiian Odysseus photos.)

The Message's interpretation of Isaiah 54:2 couldn't make it clearer for me...

"Clear lots of ground for your tents!  Make your tents large.  Spread out!  Think big!"

I am taking God's promise to heart, humbling myself and adopting a teachable  self-image.

In my Hawaiian Odysseus life's journey, I have figuratively come to a place where I must no longer run. Rather, I am taking up roots, stretching out every possible square footage of my tents, and driving my stakes deep into the ground.  For God, for family, for self...

It's with this state of spiritual, mental, and physical mettle that I approached yesterday's activities with my wife. 

There used to be a time that the most exciting part of my autumn Sunday was to watch and cheer for the Seattle Seahawks.  While I was wasting three-plus hours being a couch potato, according to my wife, she would be working hard taking care of the chores and errands she didn't have time for during the busy work week.

But nowadays, intent on making a serious go of building our eBay business, taking it to the next level, what really turns my crank is to find hidden treasures in other people's junk.

So we went to an estate sale in one of the more affluent neighborhoods in Walla Walla.  

(The Seahawks' offense sucked yesterday, by the way.  They could barely muster three measly points against the Browns in a game where each team was trying its very best to lose.  In that ironic sense, the Seahawks came up victorious.)

There was literally only a half hour left, and so we hurriedly went through the various rooms of the large, beautiful home, looking for last minute bargains.

We found a few things.  The photographs and captions in this post will show you what I bought and have either listed or am in the process of listing for this week's auctions.

I spent a total of $8.50, and I'm looking forward with breathless anticipation as to how my investment turns out.


Along with the item in the photo above, I picked up the following eBay candidates at this estate sale:

Krinkles by Patience Brewster

Investment:  Freebie

Bridge Set (external view)

Bridge Set (internal view)

Investment:  $2.00

Set of 8 Cross Stitch Booklets

Investment:  $2.00

Cross Stitch Doll (pair) 

Investment:  $3.00

I never thought I'd be playing with dolls.  But I guess I'm feeling less pressured to save face and be macho the older I get.  Besides, the motivation of contributing to the Scholarship Fund gives me a great deal of freedom to explore, shall we say, my softer side.  

The time at the estate sale quickly came to an end, and with a bit of excitement, I shared with my wife the auction strategies I'd be attempting later in the evening.

By the way, even on football and World Series weekends, listing on Sunday night is a pretty good idea.  A lot of eBayers find that a great time to look for bargains online.

Me?  I am so unorthodox.  I list any old time I please, and I usually luck out.

Anyway, we had an hour left before the Sonbridge thrift store closed, so we hustled on back to College Place.

Sonbridge Community Center is owned and operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  It is located at 1200 SE 12th Street in College Place, WA. (If you're ever in southeast Washington, please check this shop out. It is literally bursting at the seams with treasures!  You'll feel like you're Johnny Depp playing Captain Jack Sparrow!)

Some of our best finds have been in this place.  Yesterday, for example, my wife picked up two great items. She found a complete VCR player for $2.50.  I'm looking forward to doing some minimal mechanical adjustments with it, cleaning it, and selling it on eBay.  

The other thing was a back massager, that sort of thing you put on a chair or car seat, lean back into it, and enjoy the good vibrations.  My better half got it for $1 because the adapter was missing.  No problem.  When we got home, she dug through a Tupperware full of cords and thingamajigs and found a compatible adapter. She attached it, plugged the device in, and voila! it worked like a charm.  I'm so proud of her.  We will most likely keep it, but something like that could sell easily on eBay for $40 or more.

Me?  Again, I found myself doing something I'd never done before.  I went dumpster-diving outside the store. Well, sorta.  They have a special area where a bunch of junk and doodads are kept in sacks, plastic bags, tubs, bins, and shelves.  It's right outside the store and has a sign that says:  FREE.

I like FREE.  It's my favorite four letter word that starts with F.

So the following pictures will show you what I found:

Jackson Brand Woman's Handbag or Clutch Purse

Investment:  FREE!

Madame Alexander Dolls--Hansel and Hansel

Investment:  FREE!

Madame Alexander Dolls--Three Mad Hatters
Investment:  FREE!

Ghirardelli Chocolate Collectible Tin

Investment:  FREE!

And so there you have it, faithful readers.  I'm having the adventure of a lifetime deep into the autumn of my life...and simply digging every second of it.

Be sure to check out our eBay store and auction offerings.  Here's a link below for your convenience in finding us.

Until next post, this is Hawaiian Odysseus highly suggesting that you support your local thrift stores.  They're working for a good cause, and you may just end up doing yourself a favor as well!

http://stores.ebay.com/Lords-of-the-Fly

Vintage Photo

Investment:  PRICELESS!

CAUSE CELEBRE AT WALLA WALLA'S COFFEE CONNECTION--SUCCESS WITH A NEW EBAY NICHE

Browsing eBay at the Coffee Connection Cafe

Main Street, Walla Walla

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

I am stoked!

True, the bottomless cup of Joe and the delicious mid-morning edibles are fantastic at the Coffee Connection Cafe in downtown Walla Walla.  The A-1 service I'm receiving from the waiter and waitress is superior to anything I've experienced thus far in southeast Washington.  And-oh!--the homemade biscuits are as big as bagels with a taste to absolutely die for!

What's amping up my excitement this very moment is that I sold something on eBay.  Something I paid a dime for and turned it around on the world's greatest online auction site for a 2,820% profit.  

(Bringing that staggering differential down to earth, in terms of dollars and cents, I made $2.82 for the magazine sale.)

Here's the breakdown.  

I found the magazine at St. Vincent de Paul, a noteworthy thrift store about a block west of the Valley Transit Center on Main Street.  It cost me a measly 10 cents, an absolute steal considering the near mint quality of the National Geographic issue.  

The Buy it Now fixed price listing fee on eBay was 20 cents.

After the issue sold, the final value fee was $1.29.

When the buyer made his payment, I was charged a PayPal fee of 59 cents.

Utilizing free USPS priority mail padded envelopes helps keep my shipping costs down.  Still, the service costs $4.95 per parcel.

Labor?  I work hard on my eBay business, but let's just say it's all a labor of love as I diligently attempt to make a living that is far more meaningful to me than slaving away on a graveyard shift baking 10,000 bagels a night for a boss who was just plain constipated about giving out well-deserved kudos, never mind a decent wage compensatory for the effort.  

But I digress.  Whew!  Did I have all that in me?

So, labor aside, my total overhead was $7.13.  

I charged my customer $9.95.

My profit, then, was $2.82, or--just as I mentioned earlier--a 2,820% net increase!

Do you think I'll keep looking for National Geographic (and other) magazines to sell?  

You bet I will!

You see, the thrill of it all was proving to myself that I could actually step out of my comfort zone and develop a new niche for my eBay business.  

For eleven years now, I've been selling fly tying materials and supplies.  With the cost of hooks rising, it was getting difficult to sustain a profit margin that made sense after all the numbers were crunched.  So, especially in the last three months when I moved back home to College Place from my sojourn in the Seattle area, I have been diligently trying to find new and maybe even multiple streams of income in an overall dry creek bed of an economy.

So every seemingly little move forward is, in my deeply appreciative soul, a HUGE accomplishment.

Any progress has been slow and clumsy.  In the spirit of open disclosure, as embarrassing as it is to me, I'd like to share with you the eBay item number so you can look it up and see for yourself just how clumsy.

Here, I'll make it easy for you.  Click on this link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160654483828?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D160654483828%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1#ht_1387wt_952

In the second paragraph, I completely forgot to include other articles that the magazine contained.

Ah, the foibles of an eBay entrepreneur!  But, you know, I'm thankful for the mistakes because I learn more from them than anything a hundred online mentors could ever teach me.

Today was a good day.  Today, I reaped the rewards of thinking outside the box.

And I am totally stoked!

Excellent Decor at the Coffee Connection Cafe

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

WALLA WALLA VALLEY TRANSIT--ANIMAL CRACKERS BOX ON WHEELS

Interior View of a Valley Transit Bus

(This and subsequent images are Hawaiian Odysseus photos.

I know my place.

It's in the back of a Valley Transit bus.

An interesting bus, at that. 

Externally, it looks like a streetcar from the early 1900s--a throwback to the San Francisco trolley, especially underscored by the colorful adornment of red and green paint.

Except it's actually a bus--a large rectangular Animal Crackers box on wheels rather than on a rail.

It adds to the increasingly quirky yet attractive (in a nouveau Bohemian way) atmosphere of Walla Walla.

The former cattle/wheat farm/penitentiary town has experienced a major transformation in the last couple of decades.  Mostly as a result of the rural sprawl, as it were, of vineyards and wineries, Walla Walla has re-created itself into a major cosmopolitan hub in southeast Washington, a significant thoroughfare for visitors from the two most prominent ports in the Pacific Northwest--Seattle and Portland.

Recently transplanted into Walla Walla's suburban sibling three miles to the west--College Place--from the metropolitan frenzy of Seattle and its own primary suburbs-turned-independent cities--Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond--I am used to riding in buses.  Now, with much of my life involved in the passionate pursuit of blogging, I find it very convenient to conduct my first impression observations of the Walla Walla Valley from the backseat of a bus.

The Valley Transit routes effectively cover the 10.8 square miles of Walla Walla and the 2.4 square miles of College Place.  On any given weekday, you'll see a wide range of riders comprised of high school and college students; senior citizens who no longer wish to or are unable to drive;  handicapped individuals; the socially disenfranchised (transients; ex-felons; recovering addicts, and others); mothers with babies or young children in tow; and oddball passengers like yours truly.  


On several of my recent rides, the bus drivers have made it a point to ask the passengers if anyone needed to transfer to another route.  If so, the drivers would then call ahead and notify the respective bus(es) to wait a few minutes longer at the downtown Walla Walla transit center.  Although the buses run the routes every half hour, this courtesy service is an added plus for the riders.

One other seemingly trivial yet very much appreciated feature of the Valley Transit's service is the bus driver's willingness to make unscheduled stops for the customers' convenience.  The only requisite is that the client give ample notice to facilitate the necessary driving maneuvers involved.


In contrast to the bizarre occurrences that I have personally witnessed or heard about on the buses serving Seattle and vicinity, I've observed nothing but good, old-fashioned country courtesies on the Valley Transit.  Visualize, if you will, the ambience of Opie's Mayberry on wheels, and you've effectively captured the essence of these bus rides.

In the coming months, I hope to bring you a host of stories either directly about or inspired by the picturesque Walla Walla Valley, its neighboring regions, its history, and its people.   

One interesting tidbit that you'll be be privy to after reading this post is my principal mode of transportation to the various points of interest.


Like I said...


I know my place.


It's in the back of a Valley Transit bus.

Architectural Statue at the Walla Walla Market Station

Integrated Transit Center and Farmers Market

(due east of the Transit Center)

 Memorial to the brave firemen who died at the scene of a Main Street fire.

(due east of the Transit Center)

GOD DOESN'T MAKE MISTAKES

Weeds?  Or misunderstood vegetation?

(This and subsequent images are Hawaiian Odysseus photos.)

As some theologians might reason, weeds are the result of original sin.  The premise of their argument would be that ugly things weren't part of God's masterful design.

I'm not so sure.

Every now and then, I am compelled for the sake of good health to get up from my desk where I have been wrestling with the labor pains of writing and go for a leisurely stroll.  On this particular midsummer's day, with the temperature already in the 90's at 10:00 AM, I walked towards the Walmart Supercenter and Meadowbrook Plaza located in the southern portion of College Place.  


Located three miles west of Walla Walla in southeastern Washington state, College Place is a small bedroom community comprised mainly of retired seniors and students, faculty, administration, and support services personnel of Walla Walla University.  A good portion of the residents of this low-key, easy living community are Seventh-Day Adventists.  The rest of the town are Three Hundred Sixty-Five Days Good Ole' Boys and Gals.

As I ambled along, I imagined myself to be a contemporary Henry David Thoreau in need of a respite from urban trappings, politics, and a harried lifestyle.  As much as I was somewhat in awe of how much development had occurred in this particular area of town--once nothing but overgrown grassland and pasture--I found myself, oddly enough, paying closer attention to the dense shrubbery along the sidewalk.


I walk my mind like other people walk their dogs.


Ever notice how dogs are actually walking their owners and not the other way around?  It's like that when I go walking my mind.  


My mind will choose where it wants to go.  My body is just along for the ride...er, walk.  


Weary from the severe energy expenditure of writing (and don't kid yourselves, it does take a lot of energy--at least, it does for me--to harness my severely attention-deficited mind), I put my body on automatic pilot and let my mind lead me.  Helium-filled with the exhilaration of going outside and wandering aimlessly, my mind (again, picture a little yapping chihuahua or a great big St. Bernard, whatever tickles your fancy, but make sure you add to your fantasy the fact that the dog just ingested some hamburger laced with meth) frivolously and feverishly frolics (sorry, just needed to get my daily supplement of alliteration) through the residential neighborhood en route to the aforementioned Walmart area.


Whew!  


Where was I?  Oh, yes...


So on this one particular day, my mind/dog wasn't so much focused on getting to Walmart and vicinity as much as it wanted to explore the overgrown weeds along the major sidewalks in the general area.  Every now and then, my mind/dog would figuratively mark a spot.  If memory serves me right, it even relieved itself on a clump of dandelions.  I regretted having forgotten my plastic waste bag at home.  Looking up and down the street and acting nonchalant as a couple of cars slowly passed by, I finally came to the conclusion that, at the very least, my mind/dog had done its thing in the bushes.  Everything's good; we're still doing our environmentally GREEN civic duty here.


Okay, time to get serious again.

At the intersection of Larch Avenue and Lamperti Street
College Place, WA

 

And so I found myself at the intersection of Larch and Lamperti.  As alluded to earlier, it was a beautiful day, the sun reveling in a cloudless azure bath, and all clouds hibernating until autumn's arrival.  

An occasional butterfly would flutter in and out among the bushes, not unlike a contemporary passenger airline pilot whose autopilot had just turned off, leaving our protagonist scrambling to try to remember what it was like to actually fly a plane manually.

I paused to watch a bee circumnavigate a flower quickly drying in the August heat. 

It was then that I paid closer attention to the overgrowth of weeds.

Overgrowth?  

Wait a second.  It was actually a natural growth...

I challenged myself to change my mindset.  Events in my own life had led me a long time ago to a place where I deeply resented how we easily tend to label other human beings.  To an even greater degree, perhaps, we are at fault for doing the same with other living things, fauna and flora alike.

The ancestral roots of these weeds were here a long time before the first human being ever set foot in this area.  

We are the newcomers.  We tore up the land, planted our crops--vegetation that was probably foreign to this terrain--built our homes, and developed our towns.  The weeds were pushed to the wayside.

It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Today, the Departments of Agriculture in all fifty states label unwanted plants in any given acreage as noxious weeds.  

Was that God's plan?  And are we modern day armchair theologists blaming the devil for creating weeds?

When Adam and Eve fell from grace, God allowed the weeds and thorns to be a consequence.  Man would have to live by the sweat of his brow, toiling laboriously to cultivate the land.  

God never called the weeds noxious or evil.  God doesn't create ugly.

God doesn't make mistakes.

With all these thoughts germinating within me, I began to take on a different perspective.

These weeds are actually quite beautiful, I thought.

I looked to the southwest at the picturesque splendor of the Blue Mountains.  There's a good chance these same weeds, or at least close cousins, adorn the foothills, gently rising slopes, and summits of that wonderful mountain range that we take for granted.  No one calls them noxious or nuisances up there.

Like pixels in a lovely photograph, each weed has its rightful place and meaning and value no matter where it's at.

How often do we treat our fellow men and women--especially those on the fringe of society--as undesirable, untouchable, and thus lowly.  Do we assess them in the same category as weeds?

If so, here's a challenge to all of us to remedy our low-minded ways.  We need to take inventory of and eradicate our own darkness in order that we might have a more godly perspective.

Simply put, we need to weed our own gardens.

And, if so, what to do with the weeds?  Well, we go green.  We recycle the weeds as compost.

God isn't involved with condemnation.  

God is into the business of redemption.

God has a purpose for everyone and everything.  

Even weeds.

Homeward bound, southwest on Lamperti,

a little bit wiser and more appreciative

FELINE MENTORSHIP

PRESS RELEASE:

College Place, Washington, a bedroom community just west of the burgeoning wine town of Walla Walla, was recently indelibly penned into regional southeast Washington maps when one of its very own hometown personalities brilliantly attained some major career milestones.

KONA aka KONES or KONESY (this last nickname reserved only for those intimately tied to this famous feline), a graduate of GCU (Garrison Creek University), was appointed today to be the new CEO of Birch Avenue Cats Alliance, a non-profit organization whose sole mission is to spread the good news that you can be vegetarian and neutered and still be a TOMMISH cat.

The dapper, well-groomed gray and black cat reveals his unique strategy in the accompanying photos as to how he moved rapidly up the corporate scale.  "The reason why I've been promoted to Plant Manager,"  meowed Kona, "is because I showed my employers from the early going how well I could plant and manage myself in any kind of chair, but especially the challenging and cushy office chairs."

KONA

(Hawaiian Odysseus photos)

We present this special post with tongue in cheek, of course.  Still, there's something to be gained by mimicking Kona's style of working smarter, not harder.

You, too, can be your own boss and make a decent income even as you relax unabashedly on your favorite CEO chair.

Kona has the residual income process down pat.

How about you?  Are you game for it?

Click Here!