Posts

Rant - Cell Phone Woes - My Verizon Experience

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Let me start off and just say that this is a flat out RANT. I have had such a terrible initial experience with Verizon, and just had to get it off my chest. In November of 2021, we decided that we were tired of the poor coverage in our area provided by Sprint (now part of T-Mobile). Our phones were in need of replacement (we have 3 lines, all iPhones) and we also wanted to see if we can get a more competitive price plan which included mobile hot spots. Heck, Andy, my neighbor works for Verizon and I trust him (he works with network security side and not the phone side)…what could go wrong? We selected Verizon and I will say that the coverage is the only good thing we have experienced so far, but I’ll take it. It all start off when I went to our local Verizon store in a new shopping center (11710 Retail Dr., Wake Forest, NC 27587 for those taking notes) and informed them that I was interested in moving our 3 lines and also a phone upgrade in the process. I was told: There was a rebate (

Estate Sale and Auction Picks: Auction of Raleigh, JMS Estate Sales and Artz Estate Sales

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We had a small debate as to go to an Artz estate sale or to a JMS and decided the JMS would have more item to our profile (small, Asian, pictures, books, etc). I think we made the right call and ended up some some awesome finds and a Koto Digital Rice Cooker/Steamer for ourselves (actually, quite a bit more items for ourselves, but that’s another story). John as usual drove a hard negotiation and easily resolved, albeit mostly I think in my favor, but he knows his business and knows he will get more back in future dividends - Zabrina had us swing by Foster’s and pick up some Whopper’s cookies for the JMS crew. The calligraphy set was especially nice and the 2 Stetson hats were a pleasant surprise. This should keep me posting listings well into next week and maybe some of it can translate into the 1st of the month peak I normally see. Zabrina already has 7 bells on magic carpets, so not sure how much of this sale will translate into SecondMoonshot dividends, we will see. The leather “ma

DIY Project - What I did today - Cheese Box Side Tables

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Had some time to kill today (not a good thing), so Zabrina found a couple wooden round cheese boxes and bought some hair pin legs on Amazon. Put a fresh bottom on the box for leg stability from some 1/4” plywood I had sitting around and put a light coat of spray on varnish to preserve. Was going to sand it down, but decided to keep the rough look. One will go in my office next to the couch and the other will go in Zabrina’s office where she works and does her daily journaling.  John

SecondMoonshot Storage/Warehouse Update #3

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What a day. We got snow last night and was scheduled to move to the new 400sq ft climate controlled storage unit. We stuck with the plan and moved about half of the unit and will maybe finish tomorrow.  Size is good and love all the space. Spent about $500 on 8 more shelving units. Zabrina threw in some plants behind my back, I’ll talk to her later. Did a healthy dose of insecticide spray as well and will continue to do so monthly. Every item is wrapped in stretch wrap just in case, with the exception of some cast iron and china sets.   Every item gets the listing updated with a shelving unit and shelf location when brought to the warehouse…shelving units ge from A to Z and shelves from 1 to 5. So A5, etc. I just put it at end of the listing description.  Update: 1/23/22: Ok, the move is now complete. There was a lot of ice at the old unit and a slope so grateful I didn’t break any bones. Only damage was the knees of a resin Buddha, so removed that listing and Zabrina decided it would

Moon Photos - Wolf Moon (Waining) - January 22, 2022 - Snow Day!

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Some great shots of a waining Wolf Moon this morning after we got a winter storm. “Storm” is relative as we are in central NC, so when we get snow it’s an event and also happens to shut the city of Raleigh and town of Wake Forest down, we got about 2”. Most of the articles in the picture are “keepers” that we found at estate sales that fit the yard decor. Sydney of course Our backyard and shared pond Got this at a Steve Minor estate sale down the street, Zabrina has been asking me to find one. Down the street The setup to prep for the moon pics, simple setup, but does the job The Buddha also a Blue Moon estate sale (Mr. Moon’s house specifically) pick we decided to keep. The globe was purchased at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creekmore NC. John