Would A Sign Help ?

Today was the first day of our HOA Community Garage Sale.  We have been in our house three years now, but this is the first time that we've decided to actually participate in this theoretically busy weekend of selling our no-longer-wanted stuff to people who might actually want it now.

This is not, however, our first garage sale.

One thing that has always bothered me about garage sales is that people always ask "how much for this?"  So I had what I thought was a brilliant idea ... why not post a HUGE sign that tells everyone that everything is the same price?

$1

This will eliminate that question being asked an unnecessary amount of times, and actually may get people to stop, look at, and actually leave with some of our crap ... er, stuff.

So here's a picture of the 15 foot wide and 3 feet tall sign I spray painted for our garage sale.  It only took me about 15 minutes and I had plenty of leftover spray paint (from years of making pinewood derby cars) to use.

The verdict?  50/50 success rate.

According to my awesome wife, this big sign (coupled with about a dozen signs strategically placed all around high traffic areas in the HOA community) DID generate some serious traffic to our garage sale.  Our neighbor said it is the busiest she has ever seen anyone's house be for a garage sale.  You don't know her, but that's saying a lot!
But ... people still asked "How much?" almost every time they were considering a purchase.  I had even made a separate sign indicating the 5 things that were NOT for just $1 (couch, ping pong and foosball tables, etc.)

Overall ... we sold significantly more stuff than at any previous garage sale, which was my main goal because I do NOT like having to store stuff we no longer want.


Song Of The Day:
It's time to go back to the 80's and enjoy some Terence Trent D'arby with "Sign Your Name"  It sure seemed like he would have a long career in music but, unfortunately, this remains his one big hit.

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Can Angry Birds Make You Less Angry ?

I am a very impatient person much of the time.  Don't believe me?  Ask my wife or my kids.

I hate waiting.

I hate having 'nothing' to do.  Even when I'm supposed to be relaxing, I want to be involved in doing something.

A scene from Angry Birds Rio,
which has LOTS of added levels
and bonus challenges to complete

The other day, while sitting at a typically long stoplight, I pulled out my phone and played a round or two of Angry Birds on my iPhone.  No wifi needed.  No data used.  Just flinging birds against bricks, crates, and piggies.  A few minutes later the light changed and it was time to drive off.  I was actually more bothered at having to put the game away than I was troubled at how long I was stuck waiting at this stop light.

And since I almost always have my phone with me, I realized that I don't have to let short waiting periods bother me any more.  Not only can I play a mindless game to pass the time, but I can read scriptures, make notes and to do lists for the future, or look through photos in my gallery.

It's like a life-changing situation brought about by technology ... and I'm very grateful for it!


Song Of The Day:
Even better than regular a capella music, is a capella music that finds popularity on mainstream radio.  "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel was one of my first introductions into a capella music and it's success as a single led to much radio play when I was an easy-to-influence youth.  That song is another example of technology having a profound affect on my life forever after.  Without the radio and pop music, I doubt if I'd ever have found such love for a capella music.

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Which One Are You Going To Be Today ?

Any parent knows that their kids are going to bring them great joy ... and also LOTS of stressful situations.  There is a constant question in my mind, which I believe ALL parents ask themselves about each of their children from time to time: Which one of your personalities am I going to be seeing today?

Seven different kids, each with many different moods, leads to an infinite number of combinations of chaos in the Case Place.  On any given day, there will undoubtedly be a tired kid, an angry kid, a sad kid, an excited kid, a hungry kid, and several happy or content kids.  This doesn't even account for the variations of mommy or daddy moods.

So the other day when I saw the following set-up in the supermarket, I realized that it didn't just apply to my daughter Catalina, but was representative of ALL my kiddos ... although I think 'fat free' is a bit of a stretch for anyone!  :)

Song Of The Day:
Despite the stresses and shifting emotions each day, I'm so happy to have all of my kids and my awesome wife in my life.  Kelly Clarkson's song "My Life Would Suck Without You" is very accurate.  How boring would it be without a little dressing on our salad of life?  Love my kids!

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Are You In Time-Out ?

Our parking lot at work has been under a massive reconstruction process over the last month or so.  I've taken a few pictures here and there, just because I find it fascinating to watch the progress broken down into smaller steps.  It is also kind of cool to see the finished product while appreciating the work that went into it.


Old blacktop scraped away and patched

New blacktop laid and leveled and painted

Today, I saw this as I walked to my car ...

And my weird mind immediately turned this gigantic piece of earth-moving equipment into a living thing.  And I felt bad (not really) because it looks like he is in a 'time out' for misbehavior.  He even has his chin tucked in and 'head' bowed in shame as he thinks about what he has done.

In truth, the workers had just removed a large roundabout, including several traffic-directing concrete barriers around the area.  The day was over and there was no need to move this beast because it would be needed the next day to level the ground there.

But doesn't it look like his angry mechanical parents left him in time out ?!


Song Of The Day:
If this digger was actually a living thing, I am sure he would be thinking or singing "You Don't Know Me" by Ray Charles.  It's a hard life digging all day and then being left behind as everyone goes to their homes and families.  And here I have to sit surrounded by dirt questioning my decision to get into this business in the first place.  Sigh.

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Will It Fit ?

Several months ago my wife and I bought our BIG van (12-passenger) with the intent to transport our family of 9 on vacations, etc.  When we bought the van, our thoughts were NOT on where we would store the van when not in use.  That sort of reality doesn't sit in until after you use it for your trip and then realize ... we only have a two-CAR garage.

So amidst our de-cluttering efforts and pre-garage-sale organization, I took the liberty of clearing everything from my side of the garage so that I could 'test' the fit of our BIG van.

It was close ... but it looks like we can make it work.  I marked the "space" with sidewalk chalk because I will have to rearrange several things in the garage before we can park this BEAST in the garage regularly.  But that leads to the next BIG question ...

Who gets the OTHER parking space?  :)

Song Of The Day:
Pretty much everyone has heard "Drive" by The Cars, so it's an easy pick for the song today.  But I recently bought the groups' Greatest Hits CD and I had forgotten how many great songs they had.  You can check out the playlist at this link.  I think you'll be as surprised as I was at how many hits they had back in the day.

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Why Did I Take THAT Picture ?

Cell phones are pretty amazing.  Not only can you call and talk to a person literally anywhere else in the world, but you can do LOTS of other things in between those important phone calls.  Like ... taking pictures.

I didn't take very many pictures with my first two cell phones, mostly because the picture quality was not very good.  Enter smart phones and my iPhone ... and now I take pictures almost every day.  Even more once I realized how you can go straight to the camera from the lock screen.

Some pictures are specifically for future Blog Posts.  Some pictures are to remember a special moment.  Some pictures are because it is easier than writing a bunch of information down.

But some pictures ... well, some pictures I have no real idea why I have them in my phone.  I truly need to just delete them, but I feel this nagging sense that I will need them again at some future point ... which will only come to my mind the very moment AFTER I remove them from my phone memory.

Here are a few of those pictures and my attempt at explaining why I think I took the photo:

I think I thought the clouds
looked cool ... maybe?

This is from a while ago
because Myra hasn't had
bottles in over a year.

First time filling up the
new van was expensive!

I think this is where we hid
Easter Eggs for the kids in Alabama

It's potato soup ... but why
did I need a picture of it ?

Not a bird.  Spencer.
Not cool man, not cool!

I'm sure I planned a
blog post for this ...

Song Of The Day:
As you've seen, my motivation to take a picture often comes from a variety of sources and situations.  The Chicago song "You're The Inspiration" is my nod to those circumstances which inspire me to snap a picture.

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Who Are "They" ?

Have you ever been talking with someone and they say something like "They say you're supposed to avoid ... whatever" or "They say that's good for you." ?

Who are "they" ?!

Have you ever been reading an article online and see the phrase "according to a source" or "sources near the situation have confirmed" ?

Who are "sources" ?!

And perhaps the most important question ... how do I get THAT job?!
I'm good at telling people things.  I am fine being 'quoted' as a source.  I am just one person, but a group of myself and my peers would gladly be "they" if you needed me to be.

Song Of The Day:
I suppose if you were always a 'source' you'd probably get tired of always being the person who knows things.  In that vein, "Wish I Didn't Know Now" by Toby Keith is the song for this post.  It's a lost love song that I think 'they' would like.  Sources should have told Toby about his ex-girlfriend a while ago I guess.

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