A Done Deal

It’s a Done Deal and it’s gone! It’s finally gone! We are so happy!

08 MARCH 2007 – That’s when I’d first posted that we had purchased a new dining table and six chairs from the thrift store. It was a step up from the vintage grandma set the Hubster had inherited. I didn’t particularly like it, but he liked it (a lot) so we came home with it. Once home it became apparent that the  chairs were way too heavy to be moved comfortably on carpet, especially for me and Mom. But, we didn’t use it except at Christmas when everyone came over and once in a while for a special occasion. So it was a rare use thing that I could live with.

A year ago January I moved my office from the separate building across the deck and took up residence in the former dining room. The reasons were sensible: the dining room real estate, a prime location in our home use vastly under-used, the deck was becoming more slippery when wet, and since Hub’s had retired he wasn’t usually up when I needed help crossing the deck in the early morning, especially during icy winters. (I dare not take a chance on falling with two replaced hips).
Since that time we have had both the dining table and six chairs plus our normal oak kitchen table with four chairs (and leaf now removed) crammed into our kitchen. It only served to enhance that “you are living in a warehouse” feeling. The clutter has made us both antsy… we tend to border on neatness and the feeling of calm it brings. So something had to give and the dining set was high on the “To Go” list.

This past week I finally got my nerve up to do a post on Craigslist. We’ve all seen the horror stories, so it was with a little trepidation that we jumped the broom and went for it. Bare in mind that I had already listed this thing on eBay and had been delighted to see it sold. But the devil is in the details. Although I had clearly posted in large words that it was a LOCAL PICKUP ONLY, the sad little misguided buyer quickly wrote that he had somehow missed that and could I ship it to NJ. Are you kidding me?! If I’d wanted to ship it anywhere I would have said so. Not just NO – HELL NO! The sale collapsed, the 2nd offer failed and I was again stuck with the set.
Local pickup? Hmmm…gotta give it a try on Craigslist. It’s local and if it fails there’s always the local trader paper but that would be without photos and would suck.
It didn’t come easy. I set up an account using one of my Live.com emails. So far so good. Then I thought maybe I should have used the hotmail account, which I NEVER use! So I log in and change the email; they are supposed to send me a confirming email at the new address. That’s when I discovered that my hotmail is not coming through. CRAP!!!! I write to them and wait a couple of days – no answer. Finally I think ok, I’ll just make another account and post. And so she did!
I posted on Wednesday after creating a special email through my ISP (so I could delete it in case it becomes a spam magnet). I used the anonymous email service that Craigslist offers; in reality the only ones who got my email was Craigslist and anyone I wrote back to.  Thursday morning I had several inquiry emails. I had Hubster call a couple back and I wrote to a couple. On Friday morning we loaded up the SUV of our happy buyer. I pocketed the money and waved goodbye!
All in all it was a great experience. We now walk into the kitchen and marvel at all the roominess. And I’ve been bitten by the Craigslist bug – I’m researching my next listing already! Guess what? It’s lawn mowers! Yep, Hubster got bitten too!