Work and sales, business updates, revelations

Well, the day is finally here. I will be out of the office all next week. Away from the farm. Away from Mama. I am not looking forward to it, but it is unavoidable. I will not be alone. There will be four of my office mates at the workshop with me. They will all be serving in various roles, but I will be doing the teaching. For me, it means hectic mornings. Monday and Wednesday especially. Tuesday and Thursday I am not teaching a class and on Thursday afternoon all the crew from EWN will be heading home. I will stay through Friday for one more class. I will fly home Saturday afternoon, have Sunday to recuperate and fly into the next week – which includes Mama’s surgery. Meanwhile, Victoria advertised our trailers on Facebook last night and got some immediate responses. One individual is desperate to get the stock trailer and another individual will be coming by to look at the flatbed trailer – possible this weekend. We will not count our dollars until they are in our hands, but it would be nice to change some stuff into cash. Again, we do not have to sell the trailers, but it would be good to be able to apply the asset value – in money – to other areas of our little operation.

Mama and I have done very little in our business lately. With the lack of opportunity to attend the final few auctions we are tracking, we have slowed down. With Mama’s surgeries and my work commitments it has been difficult to squeeze out the time required to travel this summer. This lull will be a normal occurrence year by year since the auctions typically happen between May and September throughout the continental United States. We are currently waiting on these auctions to conclude so we can sift through the left-overs. That has not been very profitable for us so far, but we keep looking just in case. One ongoing type of auction is in the area of foreclosures. Those happen on a regular basis throughout the year. We are particularly focused on one geographic area for those. That is the one reason we have moved our savings around. So we can use it to invest in those properties – which require significantly higher capital resources to compete. Mama and I did go over one list pretty thoroughly. That auction was on the 5^th. Obviously, we did not have access to the cash to make that one, but we should be ready for the next one; in about three weeks. We’ll see if that works out health wise and work wise, but we are hopeful.

Mama was recently rejected for another MRI. It is amazing how much control insurance companies exercise over the practice of medicine. The doctor requested the test to confirm his diagnosis on her right knee. If they insist the test be completed, Mama and I will have to pay for it out of pocket. If he is willing to go on his most recent diagnosis, based on x-rays takin in his office, Mama will have a far less invasive surgery. And thereby, a much quicker recovery. Unfortunately, we do not know which will happen. We area preparing for either but hoping for the repair. Since very little of the $20,000 already spent has been applied to our deductible, it makes little difference as far as the amount insurance will cover. We are only concerned that Mama be ready to travel at Thanksgiving.

As I talked with my young boss this morning, I finally got the answer to the question that has plagued me since I hired into this company. I will not express that thought in words because I am not sure who could read this posting, but it was a moment of relief in many ways. Just understanding this one nuance will help me steer clear of issues where I could be misled into false expectations. But I have begun a countdown to giving notice. The timer is set for November 1. Whether or not I make that deadline remains to be seen. Many things will have to happen to enable me to achieve that goal, but God is able should our prayers be in line with His goals for me and Mama.

If not, we will adjust and move forward.