I give up. I'm not going to pay any attention to the TV weathermen any more. They are nuts! We were supposed to get rain this afternoon and evening. It started snowing this afternoon, and there's a few inches out there now. So I watched the news tonight to find out how much we were going to get and when it will stop. The weathermen on all four network channels are still insisting that it's raining and/or sleeting here. No snow. Huh?
I went to the post office about 4 pm, and was surprised at how slippery it was. There are fender-benders all over the place, and sitting here now I hear almost constant sirens down on the highway.
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Another of my Chinese auction sellers has gone NARU. That makes four in the past ten days. This time, the auction hadn't ended yet, and now the item listing is gone. Totally disappeared from the system.
Another seller, in Texas, has refunded my money because the hat rack I bought from him is out of stock. It is a violation of the auction site's policy to sell items you don't have on hand, and according to this guy's feedback he does it all the time, but he's still registered....
I don't understand.
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A confession: For the past two years, I have been addicted to online auctions.
It all started when I decided I wanted to make a silk, velvet, and satin crazy quilt duvet cover. I went to the local fabric shops, and found that my choices in silk, satin, velvet, and lace were limited. I could find maybe three colors in each, and they didn't go together. And, plain medium weight silk was at least $12-15 per yard! Ouch!
Someone suggested that I try eBay. That was the start of the trouble.
I found that I could buy silk yardage, new or vintage, for $7 a yard or less, including shipping. Then I discovered saris. I could buy a 6 yard long, 45-48" wide, real silk sari with gold or silver edges, for $35 or less (usually less), including shipping from India. I found I loved wearing saris (although the opportunities are limited). I found that some were amazingly beautiful. I bought a LOT of saris, most just because they were so beautiful.
This caused an expansion into salwar kameez sets, and Indian jewelry, thence to other jewelry (Thai silver is gorgeous! and cheap!), alongside the fabric expansions into Tibetan and Thai silks and on to Chinese and Japanese silks, which led to the discovery of Japanese haori jackets and kimonos, with their beautiful hand-dyed and embroidered patterns, into Eastern carved ivory and bone, culminating in my purchase of a 200+ year old Chinese Marriage bed (which is still in boxes in the garage because I have to clear out the bedroom first).
Parallel in time, I discovered American Tribal belly dance. I love the costumes (check out Bal-Anat here (or here), or Domba here, or Fat Chance here). I looked at them and thought - I can make that! I would enjoy making that! (The birth of an eBay seller....) So I also started stocking Kutchi jewelry and medallions, trims, beads, yarns, feathers, chains, patterns, etc. I noticed that the prices were going up on all this stuff, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to buy as much as I could now, before it all topped out.
There were side excursions into other finds, like fox coats - who could resist a $1500 full pelt silver fox jacket for $125? Or two, or three of them, especially when each one is nicer than the previous? Or a fox hat, or two, or three, to match? At bargain prices?
And more. You wouldn't believe the stuff. All of it made me happy - I love almost everything - I love getting all these packages in the mail. A lot of it will end up getting resold, those instances where I bought one, then a better one, then a best ever one. I'll go through and pick out what I like best and then resell the others. A lot of this stuff is almost an investment.
But, right now, the house is full of stuff. I have to sort and pack and put away, but first I have to clear places to put it all. I literally have to turn sideways to walk through certain areas (well, almost everywhere). There's no place left to sit. It's impossible to vacuum.
A few nights ago I was sitting there staring at the screen, trying to think of something to search for and bid on. Sigh. It was pretty bad. There's nothing left I haven't bought. I got desperate.
I am now the proud owner of 10 large bright pink lawn flamingos.
That's when I realized this is an addiction.
I went to soak in the bathtub and consider the situation, to think about how full the house is, and that's when I realized that even though the house is full, it's empty. In all this buying,
what I have been trying to do
is
fill the empty spaces.
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