The Great Disney Art-Swap! °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

You may have read in previous postings about me that I consider myself an artist. I would like one day to have some of my work showing, or selling in one of the Disney galleries either off-site or in the parks themselves. My favorite medium is pen and ink, with which I do pointillism. This is something few artists do because it is tedious and time consuming, but I have always found the process hypnotizing and therapeutic, and I found myself getting quite good at it.  I truly love images that include a multitude of Disney characters from different movies which is something you never see in pointillism, but I also love the architecture of the parks and that style was made for architecture.  Here is a shot of my first attempt at a Disney building, The Emporium on Main Street (from Disneyland).

 (click to enlarge)

Lately, I have been trying to branch out from drawing exclusively dots.  I love them, but I love variety, too.  Some time ago, I sat down with a large sheet of drawing paper and composed an ink drawing that I titled “Doodle”, for lack of a better word. That’s all it is really… just on a larger scale, and organized better than most doodles. I have heard that it reminds people of an underwater scene, or bubbles. 

(click to enlarge)

I love this style and I have drawn other versions, playing with the “swirly” aspect, and noticing that it lends itself to a Christmassy, or magic-y look.  Here is what I mean.

(click to enlarge)

Well, for a few years I played around with the design incorporating it here or there, but always unhappy that I could not envision a way to make the design more than a fancy squiggle. Now I have names for the specific styles and a few months ago finally conceived of a way to USE the design as a focal point… 

...but before I share that drawing with you...   let me digress back to the title of this blog posting:  "The Great Disney Art-Swap!"... 

I have a friend who is also a (working!) artist, and she ran a photo captioning contest in which her prize was a credit towards a commissioned art piece (with limitations on size/design). Because she is a good friend of mine, this led me to think, what a GREAT idea it is to commemorate friendships with other artist friends I have. 

Enter my friend, Mouseketeer Sandy! 

(Sandy and Ken at my 40th birthday party)

I met Sandy working for a company that provided services to the Deaf and hard of hearing community. We became work-buddies, starting a daily morning ritual of catching up on Entertainment news and theorizing on how celebrities seem to die in groups of three (a belief I heartily subscribe to). We went our own separate ways, career-wise around 2004/2005 but always remained email and Facebook buddies… continuing our celebrity death-watch (sorry to sound so morbid, but I really do follow celebrity deaths and I will always hold a special place in my heart especially for our classic actors when we lose them).

Well, after our paths separated, Sandy went and found herself a small taste of success with her newly found talent of collage painting.  I followed her milestones over the last couple of years with her Las Vegas art gallery showing at the Wynn and watching her grow along the way. Reading her updates was surreal because I would read about her next commission and think, “wow, I KNOW her, and she is doing what I want to do”.

See her blog and online gallery here: http://www.sandypieper.com/

Then a few months ago, Sandy started posting comments that she her and her family was planning a relocation from the Phoenix area to Colorado, just because she was flat out tired of Phoenix. I immediately realized that she and I were on mirrored paths, about to experience the same bumps and pitfalls and exciting challenges.  The only difference was the destination.  That’s when I knew I had to ask her to create a piece of work for me to commemorate our friendship.

Here are some examples of her orginal work:

I asked her if she would be willing to create a piece for me, in her style that incorporated something Disney related.  I put no other limitations on it. She wrote back right away, saying she loved the idea but instead of charging me, she wrote back that she propose we each do a piece of art for each other.  Since her work is collage oriented, she asked me to mail her a package of bits and pieces that I wanted incorporated, so I sent her an old Disneyland admission ticket, a couple of fast passes, and a map of the park. From there, she worked her magic and we both finished our offerings and we met up at the end to May to unveil and trade the works that we both created with friendship in heart (and a little pixie dust in mind.)

I’m so honored to be able to own a bit of Sandy’s talent, for all the reasons I’ve mentioned above, and will always think of my friend when I stop to look at this beautiful piece of art. Here is the finished product, with a few close-up shots so that my Disney fans out there can appreciate the little hidden gems. Disney magic truly IS in the details.

As usual, please click on the image if you want to enlarge.

Sandy Pieper's version of "Living a Disney Life"

Below are several detail shots.

(Close-up Detail) 

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(Close-up Detail) 

Oh, and because you are still here, reading all the way to the end of the post, here is my artwork that I traded with Sandy. The piece is better in person than in photograph, because it is three dimensional.  The colorful background is watercolor, then the pieces of the Mickey head were cut out of art stock with an exacto knife, and assembled with a piece of balsa wood under each piece to give them dimension. It was all mounted in a shadow box. The finished piece is about 11" x 14". Sorry for the glare.:

(click to enlarge)

And here is the date of the trade:

Thank you Mouseketeer Sandy, we LOVE the new addition to our home and we proudly display it. Here's to BOTH of our families for Living the (Disney) Life, and having the courage to follow our dreams!  I love you.

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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A Very Merry “Un” Un-birthday to Me! °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

Today I turn 45. I woke up feeling great, which is a good thing, of course. How many of us hold on to the old feelings that come with realizing you still have to go to work on your birthday?  Well, I have a great bunch of co-workers, so it’s not so bad, and Mark and I will be celebrating all weekend with dinner out, cake, going to the movies (Superman!), brunch at my favorite new restaurant (Windsor) on Sunday morning, and PRESENTS.

Unfortunately, I will be spending the evening alone because Mark is in his finals week in school which will keep him out until 10pm, but I’m not sad… I have a lot to look forward to this weekend, and a lot to be thankful for…

I was driving to work, listening to one of my favorite songs “Light and Day” by The Polyphonic Spree, which always makes my spirits soar because of the crescendo of the score, the lyrics, and the abandon with which they sing, and all of these thoughts started popping into my head…

Where will I be on my next birthday?  My life will be completely different by the time my next birthday rolls around. If everything goes according to plan, we will be settled in a new state, a new home, and (hopefully) equally employed (I say “equally” because I got a nice raise at work this month, which makes it even more bittersweet to be leaving in 4-6 months).  However, I will be able to visit the Happiest Place on Earth for my birthday next year…  and any time I want!

Where was I on my last birthday?  I was just starting out on this blog, having been just a few months after Mark and I made the decision to move to be close to Disney World. However, we had no money in savings, so we were (and still ARE) cutting back on all spending to save the funds to make that possible. Now, we have the funds for the move. That’s a huge accomplishment to be made in just one year.

Where was I six years ago on my birthday?  I was 39, one year from the dreaded 40, depressed and working in a position in a theater that I thought was a dream job that had gone from great to bad to worse; I was actually let go (downsized from the company because of the declining economy) on my birthday.

Where was I fifteen years ago on my birthday?  I was 30. It was 1998. I was working at a non-profit organization that benefited the Deaf and hard of hearing. I had wanted to be a Sign Language Interpreter, but that wasn’t in the cards for me, so I worked there in an administrative role.  I was driving a tiny blue Ford Festiva that we used to call The Blueberry because it was so small. My partner (at the time) and I were saving all of our money to buy the house that I continue to live in to this day... the same house that will be put up for sale approximately 3 months from now.

I feel far more “wise” at 45 than I did at 30. I’m lucky in many, many ways. I may have a body that creaks and aches like it is 45 (or older!), but my mind is still young and I still marvel at things the way I did when I was 10.  I’m also especially lucky that people still don’t believe that I am out of my late 20’s yet!  Maybe it’s my child-like fascination with all things Disney.

Speaking of 10...  The year I turned 10 was 1978.  I had been to Disney World on family trips a couple of times, but by this age I have solid memories of the parks, like Adventures Thru Inner Space, The People Mover, Mission to Mars and getting vertigo in the America the Beautiful (Circle-Vision 360°) attraction. When I was 10, Space Invaders was released; Happy Days was #1 on TV and I used to watch The Wonderful World of Disney on my parent’s black and white television while they watched Three’s Company on the color set. There were no Disney animated releases that year, but there was “Return from Witch Mountain”, “The Cat from Outer Space” and “Hot Lead and Cold Feet”. I believe I saw them all in the theater.

I may as well go back to the year I was born, just for fun.  Gas was .34 cents per gallon, Disneyland turned 13, Walt had passed from lung cancer two years before, and Disney World was only three years away from opening day. A child’s admission to Disneyland was $3.50.  The Disney animated film “The Jungle Book” was released just eight months before I was born and “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” was in theaters six months after I was born. They also released “The Love Bug” in 1968.  I don’t even WANT to go into the fashions of that year. Things have much improved since then.

Just for fun here are some pictures of Disneyland taken the year I was born. Credit goes to www.davelandweb.com and www.disneydreamer.com; thanks for making them available.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Now, fast forward from 1968 to today… 45 years later, gas is running $3.50 per gallon, Annette Funicello (The Mickey Mouse Club) sadly passed this year from complications due to MS at the age of 70, and admission to Disney is just over $100 a day.  This is the year that “Oz the Great and Powerful” and “Monsters University” is released, along with other BIG upcoming Disney films like “The Lone Ranger”, “Saving Mr. Banks”, and “Frozen”.  Oh, and technically it was last year, but it’s still big news that Disney now owns the tiny Star Wars franchise!

Big things are coming, not just for the Disney Company, but also for Ken and Mark.  Big BIG things. Life Changing Events that are probably so far out of my scope of imagination that I can only give myself over to the universe and wait for what will be in store for us. I may be 45, middle-aged and past my prime, but I know for a fact that 45 and up will be even better than 45 and back!

Oh, one more picture for you... Ken at 25, trapped in the body of a 45 year old (please DON'T click on this to enlarge it :) 

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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REPOST - Living a Facebook Life °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

I wanted to repost this for my new readers, to invite all of you to find me and Mark on Facebook and "like" our blogging/social media connection there.  We are still trying to extend our reach so that when we get to Orlando we can transition to a more informative, localized Disney "news" blog...

Did you know that we have a Facebook page that is dedicated to this blog and to the smaller details that relate to Living a Disney Life-the blog (as well as living a Disney life)?

1. Do you already live in the Central Florida area and are interested in quality friends?
2. Do you dream of relocating to the area in order to be near Disney?
3. Are you just an über-Disney fan that loves to talk Disney even though you don't have plans to relocate?
4. Are you a GLBT Disney fan (or GLBT friendly), and also fit into category 1, 2 or 3?

Then we wanna be friends with you!

Please come over to Facebook and "like" our page. We want to join and build a community of like-minded friends. The link is below:

http://www.facebook.com/LivingADisneyLife


Hugs to all of our MouseketeerFriends,


MouseketeerKen and MouseketeerMark

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Milestone Markers °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

I recently realized that the time between now and the date of our upcoming move to Central Florida can be very easily marked with the passage of a series of milestones that are fairy evenly spaced out:

• Our first milestone is my birthday, which is only 14 days away (June 13th). Those 2 weeks will probably pass the fastest, and will feel like the blink of an eye.

 

• Next will be the 4th of July weekend, which is only 3 weeks after my birthday. It's hard to believe that summer is already here, and in 5 weeks, we will be deep into the heat of it.

• Next milestone will be Mark's birthday, on July 21, just 2 1/2 weeks after Independence day. We love our birthday celebrations in this family, so those 2 1/2 weeks will also zip past very quickly.

•  The longest period of time will begin right after Mark's birthday and will last all the way through the month of August. Although my job will really start to ramp up during these weeks because the flu shot season begins...

• September 10th... the next milestone. This may be the longest time between milestones (7 weeks), but when work is busy I frequently tend to blink my eye and find that 8 hours have passed.

• Mark is on track to graduate from culinary school just 1 week later, so not only will my hours increase from 40 a week to 60+, we will also be celebrating his success at meeting a life-changing goal, as well as preparing to pack him up for our planned "Phase 1"; moving Mark to Orlando right after graduation.

• From there, we have to decide exactly when to put the house on the real estate market. My instinct is to list the house as soon as Mark finishes school because we don't know how long it will take to sell, but it might smart to be more conservative and wait until Mark receives a job offer in Florida.

As you may have read in previous blog postings, as soon as the house sells, I put in my notice at work, rent a truck, and then I am on my way to meet up with Mark in Orlando for good! 

Holy cow, when you lay the timeline out that way, it really highlights how LITTLE time we have to prepare!

 

 

 

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

 

Living a Disney Life - Extreme Bathroom Edition! °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

Hello again Mouseketeers,

There has been a lot of movement on the homefront with regards to prepping the house for listing in September/October.  What does a bathroom have to do with the journey to moving to Orlando??  A lot, when you consider the challenges we already face when it comes to selling a small home.

Every little upgrade that is NOT done sticks out like a sore thumb to prospective buyers, so we are picking and choosing the ones we can do affordably, and the ones that will make the biggest impact.  Up next was to relace that ugly, barely-flushing commode. 

Captions are BELOW each photo, and if you care to see them supersized, you can always click on the pic!

Here is a BEFORE photo... please note, the bowl was thoroughly scrubbed before the plumber arrived. What you are seeing is 20-30 years worth of calcium and hard-water deposit. NOTHING ELSE!  I thought I would wait until the plumber had finished his job before installing the baseboards and scrubbing the calcium deposits off the tile as well.  That will not take long once he is done.

 

 

Oh, by the way, you will notice that this is the smallest bathroom on the planet. It definately took some getting used to when we first moved in.  Here's the space without the toilet.

 

 

... and here's a random shot of the 20-30 year old toilet sitting in the front yard.  Just needs a bushel of flowers to spruce it up, right?

Step two; the replacement patiently waiting to be installed.

 

Ten minutes later, the job is done, and the plumber leaves $80 richer, and I am still faced with the clean up.

 

 

Bam!  Everything's all scrubbed and polished up! (well, except for the baseboards, which still need to be cut and installed). 

 

A slight pan to the right so you can see the rest.

 

Whoops..  It looks like Pongo is waiting to use the "facilities".  Better let him have his privacy!

And that brings us one more baby step closer to getting the house in sale condition.  Next up; plumber is coming back next week to run a water line through the attic to the refrigerator/freezer so that we can actually use the ice maker and water dispenser. That will be nice for our last summer in the desert!  Don't worry; there are no plans to blog about THAT upgrade!

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken and Mouseketeer Mark

 

Some days just call for an off-topic, poor T-Mobile customer service rant.

In November of 2012, Mark and I went to a T-Mobile brick and mortar location to purchase the new Galaxy III, which was offered with a rebate of $300, making the phone free.  We were adding Mark to my existing account, and the salesman gave us the phone, called in to add him to the account and get him a new phone, handed us the rebate paperwork and sent us on our merry way.

We filled out the paperwork and sent it in the next day. Two months later (January of 2013), Mark receives a notice in the mail saying the rebate had been denied.  I called T-Mobile for him and they said “oh, we can submit again, no problem”.  So, I had her do so.

Four weeks later (February), we receive another notice in the mail saying the rebate has again been denied, this time offering a reason; it’s because the rebate could only be honored if we changed the plan to a specific QUALIFYING one, and it had to have been changed at the time of service, or no deal.

I called T-Mobile again, ready to plead my case. How could this have happened when the phone was purchased directly at a T-Mobile outlet store? It’s not like we bought it at a Walmart or Best Buy!  After no less than THREE calls, all of which ended with the T-Mobile employee HANGING UP ON ME (most likely because they didn't want to deal with my drama), the 4th representative told me that she could get special permission to allow the rebate to go through, if I agreed to change my plan on the phone right there. She further said that once I have received the rebate payment, I could call back and change the plan BACK to what it was originally, with no penalty.

I agreed to the change, and had to agree to another two year commitment beginning that day. She assured me that it was indeed “pushed through”, and I should see the rebate in 4 to 6 weeks.

It finally arrived in late March. Good news, right?

I got around to calling T-Mobile back in mid-April in order to change my plan back to the original billing. I spoke to a very bright young man who first said “yes, I can do that right now for you” and put me on hold.  A few moments later, he came back on the line to say that the plan I was originally on, is no longer offered. In my head I am thinking; Oh jeez… c’mon….  are you serious?   He put me on hold, then came back a few moments later saying “good news, since you have been with the company for so many years, we CAN honor the change back.  I will do that now, and you will be good to go. He went so far as to say that my future bills will be $189.00, which is what I was expecting.

Fast forward to May 1^st, when I receive a text message from the T-Mobile Billing Notification department. “Ken Kahle has authorized a recurring or scheduled payment of $389.40”

?! WHAT !?

I called them instantly, and another bright young man tells me that the plan I was changed to did not include unlimited texting and the $389 was the charge for the overages on texting. I had to review the entire story with the new guy from beginning to end, and he told me “I understand what a shock it can be when customers receive such a high bill.  I will make the change to your plan so that you have the unlimited texting that you were expecting, and if you will let me put you on hold, I will get Manager Approval to get your bill adjusted. A few minutes later, he came back on the line to say that his Manager approved the refund.  Before I hung up, I begged him to promise me that my plan was changed, and my refund would be made, and he said “I assure you, Mr. Kahle that your will receive this refund, and the changes have been made. You can log on to your account on our website four hours from now, and you will see the adjustments reflected there.”

Four hours later, I went to my account on the T-Mobile website. I see that there is a financial adjustment there in the amount of $218.64, but it says “credit” not “refund”.  So on Friday, May 3^rd, I called them again. This time, the representative was on the not-so-helpful side. He quickly cut me off saying “T-Mobile does not automatically distribute refunds, they have to be requested.” I told him I am requesting it now. I was then required to give him my bank routing and account numbers and he said I would see the refund in 2-3 business days.

Three business days later, on Tuesday May 7^th, I see no activity in my bank account, nor on the T-Mobile web page, so I called them again.  This time, I spoke to a man who took a full 13 minutes just to read through the memos and notes and account information associated with my phone.  Finally, he comes back on the line and says “your refund request has been denied”. 

?! WHAT !?

He further explains it is a T-Mobile policy that payments made by checking or debit accounts cannot be refunded until 10 days have passed.  My next step is to call back in 10 days (which will be May 10^th), request the refund again, and then it should be received 2 to 3 business days later. Oh, guess what... ?  The rep then hung up on me.

This is unbelievable to me.

                They withdraw a sum of money that is MORE THAN double what my payment should be.

                I have had to call THREE times to request it back, but I still have to call a FOURTH time, and will be required to wait 2 weeks to get MY money back?

What kind of company IS this? I used to give glowing reviews of my experience with this company whenever friends or co-workers asked me about it. I've never been late with a payment, and I have to wait two weeks? My mortgage payment is due BEFORE the 10 day, plus 3 day waiting period.  Why doesn't anyone at this company think that their customers live off of the money that they withdrew, according to their own admitted error?

This is shameful customer service, and shameful treatment.  As a professional, who works in the field of customer service excellence, I am appalled at their behavior, at every step of this journey. This has been going on since November of 2012, and I still have no guarantee that it will be met with a resolution by Wednesday May 15^th (according to their timeline).  Tell me, what working American can afford to have more than $200 suddenly tied up, and held from their use?

Shame on you T-Mobile.


UPDATE:

5/14/13    Phase 2 in the T-Mobile chronicle…

I called on the morning of Monday, 5/13 to make the official 2^nd refund request of the balance of $218.64 since 10 business days had passed, and a very friendly “Brittany” said to me; “Thank you, Mr. Kahle, I have processed your request and you should see the refund in 2 to 6 business days.”

The very next day, Tuesday, 5/14 (yes, today), I went to check my T-Mobile account on the T-Mobile website, and the credit balance shows -56.84!  Unbelievable, that ONE day later this company issues my invoice for my next bill, and the day after I request my full refund, they apply my credit to pay their bill, a FULL TWO WEEKS before it is due.

I called T-Mobile Customer Care again, and this time I ask to speak to a Supervisor. He explains to me exactly what I have already determined. It seems it is their procedure to apply any account credit to a bill immediately when the invoices are created.  So, my questions is this; if they have a POLICY that requires a 10-day waiting period before credit refunds can even be made, plus a 2-6 “processing” time period, but they also have a POLICY that takes the credit away for the next bill 14 days early, where would my refund ever actually fit in there?  Effectively, this company has taken payment in full for 2 ½ months of service, and I receive no recompense for their multiple errors.  I have made NO error with this entire string of transaction, but it has cost me money out of pocket, far earlier than agreed upon, that is frankly needed elsewhere.

The call was wrapped up with another “promise” and another “guarantee” (yes, the word “guarantee” was spoken to me); the Supervisor told me that he had conferred with his colleagues, and they have agreed that I WILL be refunded the full $218.64 (in the next few days), and that my regular monthly bill of $160 will be due on June 1^st.

I will believe it when I see it. 


UPDATE:

5/15/13 Phase 3, final phase in the T-Mobile chronicle…

This time the Supervisor was telling the truth, as my full refund was deposited back into my checking account this morning. 

Although I am happy that I have MY money back, I still think there are several people who work there that still deserve a spanking.

5/28/13  12:41pm

Wow... who knew there would be ANOTHER problem directly connected to this same problem:

On 5/28, just less than 2 weeks after being refunded the $218.64 credit, I was surprised to receive a text from T-Mobile that reads "Your bill is past due. Act now to avoid service interruption and $20 restore fee per line..."

I call immediately and speak to a young lady who says "Mr. Kahle, it looks like your account is 25 days past due.  Let me transfer you to a special account department and they can help you".

I was connected to Jennifer who took some time to research the account all the way back to December. She said everything looks exactly the way you described it, but there is one unusual entry, and that is dated May 15th, 2013. I don't understand what it means, so I am going to have my supervisor research the account and give you a call back.  I hope we can resolve this for you, Mr. Kahle."

Now, I am waiting for a call back, and for the NEXT domino to tumble over and reveal ANOTHER surprise that this company never bothered to inform me of.

I am paid in full as of May 1st, and my next payment is due on June 1st.  Because of yet another T-Mobile error, I am suffering the effects of more bad customer service.

I may have gotten a refund on my credit that should never have been taken in the first place, but this matter is NOT resolved...

I suppose I'll be back with another update...........

Ken Kahle

.... and now we return to our regularly scheduled program.....

Have a DISNEY day! 

Living a Namesake °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

I have a coworker/friend who posted this on my Facebook timeline recently. I thought I would share it on the blog because it is something that really helps to define the term and namesake of this blog "Living a Disney Life"...

(Click on photo to enlarge)

This is a part of what it means to live a Disney life, and Sheri is not the first person to tell me what she said above; "All things Disney make me think of you". It doesn't mean I am any less touched by the sentiment, however. In fact, it makes my week whenever someone associates me with Disney, the thing I am most passionate about.  It also helps to reinforce the idea that this path of moving to Orlando, FL to be close to Disney World is indeed my way of "Following My Bliss" (something I wrote about on this blog almost exactly one year ago: Follow Your Bliss blog entry - April 25th, 2012)

At least once a month, and sometimes more often than that, a friend will ask me how to maximize their one-day vacation to Disneyland, or where to eat while on a Disney trip, or how to make their trip as economical as possible. One friend even asked me to email her suggestions on what attractions her family should go to, in order, keeping in mind that they had both adults and small children going.

I don't spend all of my free time watching Disney cartoons and wearing Mickey ears. In fact, one friend came to my home recently and commented that they expected to see much more "Disney" around the house. To me, Disney is nostalgia, it's history. It's entertainment, true, but it's interactive, even outside of the parks. Disney is worth studying and applying to life actions. Have you read Be Our Guest or any other book that details Disney's unique practice of customer service? I have, and I apply those philosophies every day at work (a big part of my job is customer service related).  Oh, and yes, I relish even the books that are anti-Disney as well. There is quite a lot we can learn even from our harshest critics, wouldn't you agree?

I have had countless friends tell me that they don't just want to go to the Disney parks, but they specifically want me to go with them, further explaining that they imagine I have a different perspective and view of the parks and they want to appreciate and see them the way that I do. How much higher praise could a Disney fan get than that? 

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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To Sell or Not to Sell... °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

... That is the Question.

The rummage sale occurred this last Easter Saturday. There have been a LOT of events going on in March and April, and this was the only weekend that we were otherwise NOT committed out, but would still be early enough in the year to avoid a scorching day. As you may have read in my previous posts, Mark and I have spent quite literally four months of Saturdays cleaning, pricing, and organizing our junk (treasure!) in preparation for the sale, only to be followed up by me dragging out more and more bins to add to the pile. It got so bad that I had to call in reinforcements to help manage the booty!

Thanks to the help and dedication of three of our "work" friends, Mouseketeer Trish, Mouseketeer Sheri and Mouseketeer Jen, we pulled it off and pocketed a sweet $500 profit! Just for fun, I took a few photos at different stages in the day:

(Click to enlarge photo)

This close-up of just one table is to illustrate how our buyer's shopping habits were that day. We had  a few items that I consider high dollar figure items (such as 3 pairs of vintage metal roller skates, an accordion, an antique wood carved Asian table, a large propane BBQ, and a stationary bike with a broken pedal), but for the most part we were selling items between $1 and $4. 

(Click to enlarge photo)

The morning started off overcast, even though the forecast was for a bright sunny day, with a high expected to hit 91 degrees (!). Turns out that for the most part of the sale time, it remained breezy and perfect. It wasn't until 1 or 2pm that we felt the full heat of the day. We were very thankful.

The shot above shows most everything pulled out and displayed by about 7am, although we still had several bins of items needing to be priced. Mark is wearing the skeleton shirt in this photo.

                                                               (Click to enlarge photo)

Look at the camera and smile Mouseketeer Mark!

(Click to enlarge photo)

Oh, Mousekteer Trish is back there, too! Thanks for all your help, Trish..  you, with the dusty butt! (from sitting on the grass, cleaning and sorting CDs and DVDs).

(Click to enlarge photo)

We decided to use the neighbor's driveway for our truck bed to display the 50 or 60 puzzles we were selling. The house has been vacant for 10 years, so we knew the owner would not show up. There were another 30 board games that we displayed on the ground here, and 9 banker's boxes full of books of all types (there were approximately 250 books). Books, puzzle and games are the staple of my Amazon bookstore at Amazon.com and these were ones I had tried to sell for a few years, but they never moved for one reason or another. Nobody bought the 1980's vintage Maniac game! WHAT???!!!!

We had a few kooks show up (I guess this is the kind of event that draws them). One guy sat on the driveway and scanned the UPC bar code on every single book, obviously trying to find those with value on some resale website. I could have told him that they were the books with no resale value, but I was enjoying watching him far too much.

Several friends showed up from our Facebook blasts. It was nice to see Frank and Patti and their daughter, my actress friend Darcy, and several members of Mark's family. I think his Mom, brother and cousins left with more than anyone else that came to the sale!  They even bought the BBQ, one of our highest priced sales of the day at $40!

My initial goal was $1000 (and had we sold the Asian table, the roller skates and a few other key items, we would have met that), but I am NOT complaining.

In context of our Move to Disney Budget, that $500 from the rummage sale fully covers the cost of one Florida Resident Premium Annual Pass to Disney World!

If you don't count the Annual Pass charge in the moving budget, $500 covers the full cost of lodging and food for the four-night drive from Phoenix to Orlando.

(Click to enlarge photo)

(Click to enlarge photo)

At 4:45, one of the shoppers from earlier in the day drove up as we were breaking down the tables and asked if we would sell the stationary bike for $10 (we were asking $20).  Considering I was going to drag it to the driveway and leave a "FREE" sign on it, I jumped at his offer!  That last ten-spot brought our profit to that $500 total.

Except for a couple of larger items, the two photos above show what everything boiled down to at the end of the day. Just imagine two or three times this amount of stuff filling your garage and closets. What a relief it is all done.

At 5:30, I had closed up the bed of the truck with the puzzles and filled it to the brim with the remaining board games and dropped them off at Goodwill.

An hour later, I was loading up the book boxes and we drove them over to the Lawn Gnome Bookstore, an independently owned bookstore in a converted historic house in the downtown Phoenix arts district. http://lawngnomepublishing.com/  I discovered the bookstore a few months ago, had met the owner Aaron and mentioned that I was looking for a place to donate my books. He was very appreciative of even the thought of it.

Now, we are left with the items in the photos above, which will be picked up by the Valley Big Brother/Big Sister organization on Wednesday morning. I used to volunteer as a Big Brother 15 years ago so I am happy to support them further with the donation of the rest of our junk (treasures!)

One more shout out to our friends Trish, Sheri and Jen. I hope we thanked you enough for your help!

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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HUGE Rummage sale to raise money for the move

Months in the planning, and the day is fast arriving! The mother rummage sale of them all will occur on Saturday, March 30th from 7am to 3pm. I have listed our rummage sale on several sites.
Here are 2 of my favorites sites, featuring our add.  

Thanks to our friends Trish, Jen and Sheri for rising to the occasion and helping a couple of Disney fans out! Those are true friends.

www.gsalr.com

and another favorite site is yardsalesearch.com. Here is our listing.

www.yardsalesearch.com

7am to 3pm.

We have so much stuff for sale that it took four people two weeks to price it all. 

• Disney items sprinkled throughout most categories
• Small home décor items
• Small picture frames
• 2 (non-matching) bar stools
• More board games and puzzles than you can shake a stick at! (all are complete, most in very-good to mint condition.
• 1970’s or 1980’s French Provincial style princess phone (push button keys).
• 2 pairs of vintage 1950’s metal roller skates, $25 a pair
• 3 non-matching wooden crates, perfect for home décor, $20 each
• Carved wood Asian table (very ornate, vintage) $300
• Tiffany style (Art Deco) reproduction table top lamp
• Enough books to stock a small library, priced to move.
• Battery operated, working megaphone
• 2 matching Metal CD stands
• Small stereo, great for garage or back porch listening (plays CDs and cassettes, includes speakers)
• Tons of CDs
• Christmas
• Halloween
• Stuffed animals
• Entire library of Disney VHS animated films (and other animated films)
• 40-50 DVDs ranging from B movies to horror. Some are still shrink wrapped from the factory - $1 each
• Unused 50 qt. Igloo cooler (sky blue), $30
• Accordion (circa 1970s or 80s?) that works but has no shoulder strap
• James Dean collectible/limited edition pewter belt buckle
• Vacuum cleaner that just needs a good cleaning to optimize
• Sequined cowgirl hats (pink and powder blue)
• Portable wood burning fire pit (showing age, but has several years of use left)
• Propane portable BBQ (showing age, but has several years of use left)
• Soooooo much more that I’m running out of room to list them. Things like planters, a color printer, drinking glasses, several Disney children’s bed sheets, glass punch bowl, rhinestone tiara, unused feather pillow, gently used clothing, lots of men’s ties…….. holy cow my fingers are tired from typing it all! 

If you are in the Phoenix Area, Mouseketeers, make sure you drop by!

Ken and Mark

…and Now the Spending Begins… °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

It seems like money is just flying out the window right now, and everything is costing $200 or more! 

The kitchen sink suddenly backed up last week with no warning and no home remedy would work = $280 bucks. 

The truck’s front breaks suddenly start grinding LOUDLY = $225

At least we have a planned expense coming up, that will help with increasing the value of our home; a full replacement of our Central Air Conditioning unit = $3000!

Below are the before and after pictures of the job they did. It’s nice to know that we will have a final summer in the desert with a fully functioning, energy efficient A/C unit that we can brag is BRAND new the year we are selling the home.

(This is the BEFORE. You can see that we stopped painting the exterior of the house just where the evap coolor started because we knew we would be replacing it. The evap cooler stopped working back in 2001. The A/C unit is the bigger one on the right.)

(This is the AFTER shot and the new A/C unit which is about the same size but has a larger capacity for the size of the house.  It also comes with a smart looking digital thermostat and a ten year warranty).

Unless there are further unforeseen expenses, The A/C will be the biggest out-of-pocket expense that we have to plan for. From here on out, I am expecting routine purchases like paint, spackle, or gas for the lawn mower. I have a short laundry list of small projects to get done around the house, but they are all easily manageable (knock on wood).

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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BLOG milestone - 2000 views today.

Congratulations "Living a Disney Life'. With only 3 actual subscribers, we still hit 2000 pageviews today.

The next milestone in my mind will be 5000 and 10 subscribers!

Thanks to all of you "hit and readers" out there. Keep coming back, we appreciate it. Don't forget, we are still hoping to find Florida locals to Dis-Friend!

Mouseketeer Ken and Mouseketeer Mark.

Sometimes You Need a Hand °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

Every weekend we have been working on the rummage sale.  This is the BIG one, folks. There is so much stuff on the back porch and in the two car garage, that it is just overwhelming. This is years of hoarding, items that were once for sale in my Ebay store, and just things I had collected that I thought I would use at one time. I have been fairly ruthless about moving things out so that we won't have to move quite so much on moving week.

I have been hounding Mark to help me with it nearly every weekend, but there always seems to be something else that has to be done instead. With Spring quickly approaching, that means summer is only a few short weeks away and rummage sales in summer in Arizona are just not a good idea. We are quickly losing our window of opportunity to hold the sale.

The biggest problem is that we have to wipe everything down, before it can be priced. Arizona is a desert, and dust gathers very quickly. This is going to be quite a large yard sale, so I am counting on bringing in several hundred dollars and that just won't happen with filthy, dirty, dusty items for sale. After spending another two hours on Sunday afternoon with Mark, I finally had a mini-mental breakdown. There is FAR TOO MUCH for only two people to handle.

Let me illustrate with pictures.  This photo is everything that we have cleaned, priced, and organized:

 (click to view it larger)

Nice and neat, ready to be carried out to tables in the front yard, right?


Oh.. except for this:

 

Yeah. that's at least TWICE as much still to be cleaned up and priced.

 

So it was finally time to call in reinforcements... Now we have yet another Saturday afternoon planned, this time with friends coming over ready to dig in deep and get the project off it's feet. This has been such an ordeal that I feel like progress is being held up simply because of the mountain of junk (treasure) that has been in the way. 

 

More updates coming soon. Phase One begins on Saturday at 2pm. Then I'm hoping the sale can occur on the 16th or the 23rd of March.

 

MouseketeerKen and MouseketeerMark

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

 

Living a Facebook Life °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

Did you know that we have a Facebook page that is dedicated to this blog and to the smaller details that relate to Living a Disney Life-the blog (as well as living a Disney life)?

1. Do you already live in the Central Florida area and are interested in quality friends?
2. Do you dream of relocating to the area in order to be near Disney?
3. Are you just an über-Disney fan that loves to talk Disney even though you don't have plans to relocate?
4. Are you a GLBT Disney fan (or GLBT friendly), and also fit into category 1, 2 or 3?

Then we wanna be friends with you!

Please come over to Facebook and "like" our page. We want to built a community of like-minded friends. The link is below:

http://www.facebook.com/LivingADisneyLife


Hugs to all of our MouseketeerFriends,


MouseketeerKen and MouseketeerMark

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

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Disney Summit Meeting, Spring 2013 °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

We are at a period along the relocation timeline where we find it is time for serious discussion now about putting plans into action. This weekend Mark and I sat down to discuss options for how we will make this move, logistically.

One of the scenarios and the one that I happen to like best is that Mark graduates on June 30^th, and within a week or two, we relocate him to Orlando.  I can take a few days off of work, and the both of us will fly out and spend 4 or 5 days looking for a residence and setting him up with everything he needs to settle in. If we are able to schedule a few interviews during this time period, we will at least have a rental car for the week to get him to the interview.  We bide our time until he gets a job offer, and once that comes in, the house in Phoenix goes up for sale.  When the house sells, and it’s time to pack up the dog and the furniture, Mark will fly back to Phoenix so that he can help me load a U-Haul truck and make the drive across country to Florida. Done.

The second scenario is identical to the first, except that Mark does not relocate to Orlando UNTIL he secures a job. Once that happens, we move him there, and the house goes on the market, it sells, and then we coordinate the moving truck and the cross country drive.

I like option one because it means that Mark will be able to establish residency right away, and he will be more likely to interview well in a face-to-face meeting.  From some web research I have done, I have learned that many employers will not even consider you for a position unless you are already a resident and have a local address. Mark will also be working in the culinary field, which is an industry that has high turnover.  Considering Orlando is already on the record as having the most hotels in the country after Las Vegas, we have a good feeling that Mark can land a job within a couple of months, if not sooner.

This gives us the following time line:

June 30^th – Mark graduates

July 15^th (or sooner) - Mark moves to Orlando

September 1^st (or sooner) – Mark is employed

September 2^nd (or sooner) – Phoenix home goes on the market

*** unknown factor: the house sell date (current average is 69 days, depending on what website you are reading), which means I could be moving by mid-November.

Another adjustment to the scenario is that we put the house up for sale upon Mark’s graduation and before he receives a job offer.  Considering the time it takes for a home to actually sell, we may want to take advantage of the summer time when most homes sell, so that we would have a potential move date of mid-August to mid-September.

So many factors to consider and worry about! Forget Space Mountain, THIS is the real roller coaster ride!

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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