Busy, busy!
In years past I would not still be working on my art work at this point in December, but with the economy the way it is, I can't say "no" to an order.
I just finished and shipped a buffalo to Canada, and still have a unicorn to get done in the next few days. It is not a Christmas order. It is for a December 28th birthday, so it should get to Texas on time if I can ship it on Monday.
I did have to say "no" to one order this week. A former customer wanted to get her husband a polar bear for Christmas, but I told her it was too late. We settled on a February delivery because he has a birthday then. I gave her a nice discount.
It's a good thing I've had a little business this season. We have been going kinda crazy with buying things. In addition to all the Christmas gifts, we have been buying necessities, and not-so-necessities for the Alfa. Things like the 50 foot air hose to fill the tires from the onboard compressor, and the new air filter Craig will be installing this weekend. Little things like the telescoping brush to wash the roof someday, and the fiberglass renewing kit to use after. Also the surge protector and the driving lessons, both necessary in my eye.
We did splurge on one not-so-necessary item: a new flat-screen TV for the bedroom. We don't have a satellite service yet, but we should be able to pick up some stations with the antenna in the LA area. This was something Craig wanted to do from the day we bought the Alfa. I thought the old one was OK.
Craig was given a nice gift at the Christmas party today. Special recognition was given to a number of people for the work they did on projects this year, and Craig was one of them. He was given an iPad. He says I can have it because he doesn't feel his fingers are nimble enough, but I think we will both use it a bit. I played with it some this evening, and at first touch, I have to say I like my laptop a lot better. It took me a while to get used to the track pad, but now it is very comfortable.
But I will give the iPad a fair trial period. People seem to really like them.
I was very excited to see the traffic on the maps. I was looking at the L.A. area at about the time of night we will be going thru there next week.
We have also been talking about getting a smart phone. Verizon is promoting all their 4G phones that if you buy one by the end of the month you would get double the bandwidth for the life of the phone. It really seems like a great deal. A decision to make in the next few days.
It would be a forward looking purchase. We don't need it here at the house, but it would be necessary once we were on the road. Craig is talking about getting rid of the two land lines we have. But then I would have to get a "wedge" that would attach to the phone so I could continue to process credit card orders for my art sales. Right now I have a transaction processor that is attached to the house phone line. Not very portable!
So the decision is not whether to get a smart phone or not. It is whether to get it now or wait until we are actually free of the house.
The double bandwidth is very tempting!
Oh, and before I forget, Welcome Russ. My 100th follower. It just occurred to me, I'm being followed by a Duck!
Craig and Merikay at Avenue of the Giants, California
I know what you mean about buying things for the motor home. We've been getting lots of stuff for ours too. I hope it's about over!
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that we love our smart phone. I have a Droid X. I like it because the screen is larger than most. That's okay because I usually carry it.
We depend on it especially when traveling but even around Tampa, we still use it a lot to find places we're looking for. I love it's gps navigation feature, and use it more than our regular gps.
Mine was acting up yesterday and we were concerned. We can't be without it! It was better once I reset it by removing the battery. If you got to Verizon, I noticed they have a Droid X2 for only $98 as opposed to some of the others that are $199 and $249. That's probably what I'll get once I replace mine.
I can't wait to hear about your big trip next week.
Check out www.squareup.com for your credit cards.
ReplyDeleteWe are also buying things for our 5th wheel and seems like there's no end in site.
I bought the Motorolla Droix X. But now the Razor is out and looks good. I can process charges on my Droid. Many of the places offer the cube or square and they swipe the cards. Really neat! We got rid of our land lines and just use our Droids now and it is so convenient.
ReplyDeleteWe really use our smart phones a lot. Not sure if we will be able to afford them on the road or not..still mulling that over.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of using paypal instead of having the other unit?
I'm afraid I don't know anything about i-pads or Droids. I'm a dumb phone person. :)
ReplyDeletePaypal sounds like it would work great for you! They would pay your paypal account and then you would just go online and move the money from there to your checking, or whatever you'll be using to live once you get out on the road!
ReplyDeleteI have a droid charge w/ Verizon. It sucks here at home, but was awesome out on the road for our trip! I used all kinds of apps for different things ~ but I'm pretty sure there are many more I could have used if I only knew about them!!!
Have a wonderful Christmas and don't forget to take pictures next week!!!!!
The maps app on the iPad is outstanding; I use it all the time. Keyboarding on it: unpleasant. I could never blog or do email on it, unless it was an emergency. You know, like an urgent blog post. :D
ReplyDeleteI was thinking you might be able to use paypal as well. Do you plan to continue to do your animal heads when you travel? Some of the phones can be used to tether your computer for Internet service too. It's a good idea to be thinking ahead and converting how you do things before you are ready to full time in the RV. Otherwise, it will be a mad rush to do it all at the last minute. I would get rid of our house phone in a minute as we get nothing on it but solicitors but hubby thinks we have to have it.
ReplyDeletehttp://travelinglongdogs.blogspot.com/
Yup, Merikay, followed by a Duck! You can run, but you can't hide. Ask Craig if he wants to make any side bets on the game. If Oregon wins, Craig eats smoked badger. If Wisconsin wins, I have to eat smoked duck! (Or maybe we'll have to settle on Teriyaki jerky ... loser buys!)
ReplyDeleteHey Merikay, my sis and her hubby left today for a round-about trip south, ending up at the Rose Bowl game. They'll be the ones wearing Green and Yellow!!
ReplyDeleteInteresting info about the 4G phone. We don't need one yet either but I think we may check that out. It's tempting...
congrats on the new ipad!..and as for the never ending list?..eventually you won't need anything..have fun shopping!!
ReplyDeleteLucky you, winning an iPad! You'll have some fun with that.
ReplyDeleteMy only thought on the smartphone is that I wish I had bought one earlier!