Two Days to Go. Poor Optics

Sigh.

It hasn't been a good week; whatever I was able to sell off pretty much allowed me to survive, covering some needed expenses and letting me feed myself from day to day, and that's it.

While at it, I, too, need to complain about the price of food: Holy crap has it become expensive to eat. And prices keep creeping up, everything rising by several cents every single week so that whatever one could count on being able to eat if armed with $5 or less, one needs a whole other strategy the following week, finding other products to rely on that one can convert into semi-fulfilling quasi-meals that can be stretched over a few days; tasty and satisfying single-meal stuff is far too big a luxury. 

Despite how long ago it now seems, I recall a very recent time when, feeling hungry and lazy or just too busy, I'd simply open up the DoorDash or Domino app and, based on whatever bargain was to be had or points I had available, I'd just order a Shish Taouk platter or a large green pepper, roasted red pepper, pineapple, baby spinach, and onion pizza without a thought. What grand days those were. What I would give to eat either of those right now...

But, back to my peanut-butter-dominated reality: Having to get rid of all your stuff is bad enough; having to leave it all behind, not even being able to generate enough bucks that can provide some peace of mind that allows me to set some direction, that's just plain awful a situation to be in. 

It's hard to qualify what I feel; a maelstrom of emotions ruled by shifting sentiments, none of which I'd categorize as "positive" albeit my efforts to convince myself otherwise. There's guilt, disappointment, regret, and the feeling that time constraints are forcing me to dump all and to miss out on many potential selling opportunities, for, surely, as past attempts to sell personal goods have demonstrated: there's always a "right" buyer willing to pay a worthwhile price; one just has to be patient. Every time I ended up selling something for much lower than what I had hoped to get for it, there came along someone willing to pay what I had in sight just a few days later. But the item was already gone.  

With two days to go, it looks like I'll be forced to face several heartbreaks. Most of these involve highly-personal goods without much value beyond the sentimental ones that are tied to these items. That's where "guilt" comes in, mostly. Or there's valuable stuff that's personal, too, like two Montblanc pens I had, which I was able to sell, but for roughly 15% of their full value. Ditto with some of my watches; I did have a pretty nice collection not too long ago... 

Then there's stuff like the Wedgwood dishes and WMF cutlery I use, which are worth well over $5000 combined, but, starting at $1,200 (dishes only) and lowering my price each day, it now at $180, hasn't generated even one bit of interest from anyone.

That wasn't the case a few years ago when I'd unloaded some "iced-tea spoons" I never used, putting them up for auction on eBay. Right away, two buyers for Replacements kept outbidding each other and I ended up making $320 for 10 spoons. Replacements is a store that buys back registered patterns by reputable makers, thus servicing the guarantee that comes with certain china and cutlery sales, promising buyers that a replacement piece will always be available, no matter how many years from the purchase date, should you break a plate or chip a cup, etc. Replacements doesn't buy from individuals; they only deal with intermediary expert buyers who get perks for finding and delivering the goods to Replacements. Hence, as I learned, it's not rare to see buyers fighting over the same pieces, these willing to go as high as the price offered to them by Replacements, so the perks must be worthwhile, is what I'm guessing.

The china pattern I have, which is bone white with a black band and a real titanium band, is one that Replacements backs, several pieces being available on their site, so I was really hoping to catch the attention of a buyer and negotiate a fairly interesting price... but no such luck. Zero interest. Zilch. I'll be forced to just leave the set behind, though I did consider breaking every piece just for the hell of it. But I can't do it. 

And so, technically, besides being in a bad place, metaphorically, I can't even leave Canada it seems, not having had enough to cover the $140 to $180 needed to acquire a new passport.

That said, I'm still undecided whether to leave on bike or by foot. Both offer pros and cons, and having a bike is always handy. Plus, I love my Cannondale—awesome frame—and I know I won't be able to sell it for a good price right now, anyway, though that'll be a different story once spring finally hits us. I also have a Trek road bike I've been trying to sell, and many have shown interest but still no buyers at $40, but I'm sure I could get $140 for it in May, very easily.

Frustration. That's also a big part of what I'm feeling. Never mind all the other sentiments that current events bring to the fore.

Strange times? 

No, we're past that, I think.

Sigh.