Patience

Oi va voi ................ (my Jewish friends excuse me if I have got that wrong) seems the most perfect expression at the moment. At the best of times I hate advertising things to sell. I have a very old Kenwood mixer (still in excellent condition) selling for a very low price and I was asked for a picture and if it chopped vegetables. No it is not a food processor and no for the price it is take or leave it. Then I have a juicer/veggie thing and one enquirer told me that these are now selling for over R1000. As mine is selling for the princely sum of R185 being asked for a picture made me see red. I quite honestly do not have time to take pretty pictures, download and edit them, not for the prices I am selling these items for.
OK now that is off my chest I must relate my experiences in getting quotes for moving the Chamberlain 'antiques and collectibles' across the ocean. The first gentleman assured me that it would all fit into a small container as did the second, who by the way came as a result of cold canvassing and took over a week to come back with a quote. The third was quite honest enough to say that there was no way it would all fit into a small container and his quote was not too bad. The fourth walked around the house measuring every item of furniture whilst I was anxiously wishing he would leave as I had bears to complete for Megan's London show this coming weekend. In my wisdom I decided to try one more, well this one quoted an astronomical figure which would not leave much change from R100 000. Oh how I wish this had all happened a year ago when the Rand was more stable and prices were a little down. One of my neighbours informed me very seriously that he was involved with the organisation that helps to set the prices for this sort of thing and that in February it was set at US$800 for a container and that I must be careful that I was not being ripped off. When I pointed out that with the current rate of exchange that was about right he look embarrassed and said oh yes! Men!!!
The next saga was going to the Attorneys to sign the documents for the transfer. My bond had been paid up for some years but I have never bothered to cancel it, should have but sort of put it at the back of my mind. My sharp eyes picked up that there was an amount of some R160 still owing. I knew that I had a small credit balance so on checking the figures discovered that Standard Bank was proposing to charge my insurance premiums until the end of February in a lump sum. The Attorney warned me that this small amount could cost me an extra R300-400 as the bank's attorneys would be handling finance so to speak. No wonder banks in this country are so sound they rob us blind............. So I then went to the bank to deposit the small sum of R160 which would save me R300-400 and at the same time closed my bank account with Standard Bank which I no longer need to operate. This exercise took well over half an hour, get home check my e-mail and there is a message to say that how am I going to pay for my internet banking fee as the account is no longer operational!!! Guess what I wrote back!
All in all an interesting week I suppose and I must learn patience. Haha I am beginning to understand why some people just leave the country with a suitcase and nothing else

~It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. ­ Lena Horne~