It's FUN to be an Auctioneer!

Thank God the weekend is over!!! Now I can rest in the cool!! Two days, two auctions.... Saturday's was intense. We auctioned 57 cars and trucks, mostly trucks, chevy 1500's, 2500's, and 3500's, 4WD and not.... And a bunch of Chevy impala's too. Did it all in 1 hr 15 mins!!! We were really rolling them thru there.... It was only 97* and there was a breeze so not too bad....the prep work on these (fleet reduction auction for Westar Energy) is intense, time consuming and exacting....the company demands a huge paper trail on each vehicle, which makes check in and check out at the actual auction some kinda Hell...we get to the lot at 7 AM and it's GO from the minute we get there til 5 hours later when we can pack up and go home.... They do two a year and people call us all year long wanting to know when the next one is... We have dealers, general public, employees, and on line bidders... We run the auction live on line.....we sold two trucks to a dealer in Sandusky , OH...and a couple in Indiana, I believe.
There were 87 registered bidders for the on-line live auction and about 200 people at the auction site as well..I clerk the auction and cashier and do the bookwork afterwards....

Sunday's auction almost killed us!!!It was a household goods auction and the house and 10 acres was up for auction also....it was 80* at 8:30 when Miche and I got there...the guys had been there since 7AM....they were soaked in sweat already and it got really hot after that...there was SO MUCH junque there!! And they just kept bringing more out!!! No matter where we went, the shade had just moved over...so the guys were in the sun all day....I was frantic, clerking, watching for signs of heat stress, keeping up with the guys, and trying to get through their "I'm OK, I'm tough and I can handle it" attitudes!!! The first one to go down was the youngest....that scared me..
Our concessionaires are wonderful...they were out every hour and a half replacing hot water with cold....and in the afternoon, when the heat index was 114 plus (actual temp 105) they kept coming around with mop rags soaked in ice water for our necks...Miche had brought gatorade for us and had a friend of hers bring more....that saved most of us...We survived the day....which is a tribute to Old Age!!! Our set up guy is 80 years old and he was there, working all day...Darrell and I are 65, we made it, none the worse for the wear; Darrell's brother, Terry, is almost 70, and he made it til about 3:00....before the heat got him....Miche mAde it, in the trailer (stinkin' HOT in there for sure), cashiering, with two fans to blow the hot air around.... She's AARP material, like the rest of us!! The two Eastman brothers, B J and Craig got through too....B J had a couple of issues with overheating ....but when I finally convinced him to take off his hat and look sweaty like the rest of us, he got thru that too....what a day!!!
It's just a barrel of laughs to be auctioneers.....
The seller got thru the day too.....he sat in the shade , nippin' all day on a bottle he found in his camper and by 6 PM, when we were done, he wAs SOOO gone he couldn't even stand up, let alone talk!!! Darrell took him home to his other house after the sale .....had to literally put him into the truck and walk him into his house.....guess he had a good day!!

What's New????

Tiny's back to being an "only cat" again....Ungrateful Alfred has gone back to the Barn ...After being gone for 2 1/2 months and returning 10 pounds lighter on the 22nd of November, he ate and slept and cuddled for a month and a half, gained back almost 8 pounds, got his groove back on,  and on the 8th of January, vanished off the deck. He has not been back since.... We've had -4* weather, wind chill factors of -24*, 10 inches of snow and winds of 25 mph sustained during that time....What are you betting???? Will Tiny and I see him again? Tiny says, "MEN!!!" as she snuggles on my lap, every chance she gets!!!
We're Knitting and Scrabbooking and pretending we don't care.... but we do......

Happy 2011....

 I am AMAZED at how fast the year has gone!!! It  just flew by..This New Year, I think I'll not make resolutions as such...I think I'll just try to improve on some "problem areas".

One of my favorite things to do is "make"....That includes all sorts of possibilities..Sewing, Knitting, Cross Stitching, arranging Floral Designs, Scrapbooking, Gardening Veggies and Flowers, adding new landscaped "features" to the Hill .. See where we're going here???  I'm Eclectic in all things...The particular "problem area" with this is I have at least 5 or 6 different projects going at any given time, and none of them get quite all the way done!!! Sooooo..this year, I shall really try to complete, start to finish a project at a time... I got the purses for Oklahoma finished and boxed and mailed off yesterday. That has freed me up to finish the present for my dear friend from Boston, who is coming in January for a visit (YAY). It's half done....and progressing nicely... Once that is accomplished, I have 6 "Pot Pinchers" cut out, ready to sew...These are so cute. I can hardly wait to work on them. I also have a Tablecloth with cross stitchable roosters in the corners, which I started in September while we were in California, for Miche's birthday or Christmas 2010...one Rooster is done...3 more to go...Valentine's Day present??? I've got a reallt handsome guy type scarf started too...but that got put down because I don't know any guys who wear scarves anymore...Do You??? Let me know so  I can wrap that one up too!!!! 

My only other TEENY little "problem area" is how to keep up with
the bookwork for Darrell, keep the cat and Marilyn hair down to a non-flying- around level, and make sure that there's a good meal on the table when Darrell comes home...which does NOT include a "Meal in a Bowl"!!!! 

I sure wish I knew how these other "Makers" keep it all balanced!!!!!! Later, Gaters