Update on the New Chapter of Life

It is now October 17th, 2019. Things are slowly moving ahead. The plumber is here, and has jack-hammered out a section of the concrete floor to rough in the plumbing for my new washroom...at great expense. About $2300 of expense, actually. That is a chunk of my budget, but I guess it is a necessary chunk.

The carpenters, meanwhile, are at a stand still because they are at the point they need to do some more drywall. The electrician didn't finish up the electrical that is needed to be done, so the drywall can't be finished in the living space. A week later I finally had to call to see what the holdup was, and now the guy at their office is checking their schedule to get him back here to finish up. I was also told the worker came by on Friday (when there was storm warnings stating travel wasn't advised & I had a lawyer's appointment in a city nearby at 1:30) and on the morning of which I didn't even receive a call saying he was there needing access.  I guess I was supposed to somehow use my ESP to know he was going to be there....

Communication doesn't seem to be their strong suit.

Anyways, I am hoping/assuming their work is better than their communication skills. They were recently bought out by another firm, so perhaps it is growing pains?

All in all, the progress is slow, and my budget is being eaten away quickly....concerned I will still be left with renovation bills to pay and no money to pay them immediately.  As for sales, it is tough to sell stuff when it is all packed, and you can't open the doors to the public. Online sales via ETSY are slow, maybe 1 - 3 sales a week, and they are usually not significant dollar amounts.

Was really hoping to have some funds left to tide me over the winter, but it is definitely not looking that it will turn out that way. 

So, it is a matter of "sell, sell, sell" again...But, at least my expenses will be lower (assuming my heat bills are not outrageous and nothing pops up that I am not expecting), without a mortgage to pay, lower heat bills, and generally lower monthly expenses.

That's about it for today. As I mentioned before, you can follow the ups and downs of the daily progress by watching my videos on YouTube here. 

Safe picking!

A Fall Post

So, been a busy summer, but not much to blog about....well, actually, there has been lots going on. 

The biggest news is that the property has been sold, and I am no longer the owner of it as of September 30th. 

So, where am I now?

The new property is at 230 Cameron St (AKA North Railway St) in Oak Lake, MB. It is just 5 minutes east down the highway of where I was.  

The building is about 3500 square feet, and I am putting in a living quarters at the back of the building, taking up about 1/5th or so of the building. It is a tiny space, but it will do. As a result of my living quarters being so small, my display space is limited...as a result, I have to divest myself of some of my personal collections. So, that will mean some cool items being put into inventory in the shop!

I also had to let go/abandon approx. $200,000 retail worth of inventory at the property. That consisted all of the outdoor inventory, and a fair bit of what was in the basement; internet inventory, "future" stuff, lamp parts, a pinball machine, a 1890s counter top, a 1960s bar that had soda fountain stools on it (which I had planned to use as my kitchen eating area), among other things that I hated to let go, but really had no choice. The time frame for moving the entire 12 years worth of accumulation was 6 weeks, so I simply did not have the time. I technically didn't have 6 weeks to move stuff, as I had to pack, and find a place to re-establish.  I was lucky to acquire the building I did, despite the amount of reno I have to do to get it up to usable condition. 

If you wish to follow/see the progress from "start" to "now", check out the YouTube videos on my channel, under the heading "New Chapter In Life". You will want to start at Update 1, and go from there.  To keep abreast of new videos, click on the SUBSCRIBE button under teh bottom right corner of the videos.

The videos should update you on what has gone on over the past 7 weeks.....or longer, depending on when you are reading this.

Happy picking!