No Strings Attached... Well, It's Only Missing One Anyways.

What I love about this process is that it is set up for success. As long as I continue toward my goal and keep at it, I WILL eventually get to my bass boat! Before we dive into my trade, I want to share some really exciting progressions in my story! I got an amazing email from one Tyler Reed who is the social media editor and the BASS Federation Editor for B.A.S.S. inc. He informed me that he had spoken to Trisha, the Texas sales rep for BASS that I told you all about, and they were quite interested in my project! He had visited my blog and decided that it was worth pursuing! They let me know that when I get closer to my bass boat that they would like to do a story on my journey! How Exciting!! We discussed what it might mean to be "close" and I decided to set a $$ amount to shoot for. That amount is now officially $10,000. So, what that means for BASS is when I get to about the $8,000 mark, they will be in touch with me to do a write-up. As if that wasn't incredible enough, they offered to share my story on their twitter page! Needless to say my ratings and views jumped like crazy! Here is a link so you can check it out! I also got in touch with Skeeter Boats. I spoke with a woman for about half an hour on the possibilities of working with them. She was pumped up about the potential for a story that she had me write something up that she could send off to the people who are over advertising to see if they might want to do anything about it! I'll let you know if anything develops on that front.

As most of you know, I have just opened up the spectrum of my trading audience to the whole state of Texas! And because of that, there are going to be many of you who are visiting my blog for the first time, so I'm going to do a quick recap of what we're doing here.

On January 9th, I began a journey to obtain my goal and realize my dream of owning a bass boat! I started with a broken water-pistol and traded up and up with that end goal in mind. In just 5 trades, I obtained a serger sewing machine ranging in the neighborhood of $500-800! In my next couple of trades, I really hope to bust into that four digit realm! AND You can help me get there!!

This trade took a while. In fact, I was sitting on my serger for something like 3 weeks! The longest I had gone before was about a week so this felt like an ETERNITY! All that said, it was expected as I explained it in my blog entry, Here's Where it Gets Interesting. However, it was not for lack of response. I had several offers for my serger, but they just weren't the right ones... until... I got that precious email from one Kim Marr of the Austin, TX area! She's not really as small as she looks... I am a giant! my 6'7", 300lb self makes most normal people look tiny. I had posted in several Craigslist cities that I was going to be in the Abilene, TX area last week and for Kim, that meant a win-win for her. She had some friends who lived in Brownwood, TX that she was dying to see and she had something she was dying to trade me for my awesome serger! So it worked out perfectly! It just so happened that one of the few storms that have hit Texas in the last year decided to try to rain on my parade! But, I wasn't going to let that stop me. I weathered the storm and drove the short one and a half hour drive to Brownwood so that we could make a trade!

 

Previously, Kim had informed me that she had the perfect item to trade me! She had a 1998 A.R. Seidel German made, 15" viola. I know what you are thinking... Did he mistype viloin...? And if not, what the heck is a viola?! Well, it is the much unappreciated, lesser known cousin of the violin. It is known for its smoother, fuller sound compared to the sometimes shrill nature of the violin. It's the alto version, if you will. From what I have been told, there are about 10 violins in the world for every viola. So, what that means to me is that they are harder to get a hold of, thus, in higher demand. Fortunately for me, I happen to know about 7 or 8 violists who hopefully can help me get hooked up with that next trade! Right now is the perfect time to try to trade it because UIL competition is getting ready to be underway and some people are going to be looking for a viola for their kiddos! 

Anyhow, after a little research, I came to the conclusion that this was going to be a good trade. It retailed new for over $1,700 according to this document that I found on Google. And that's just for the viola itself! This one comes with a hard case, bow, music stand and all the necessary stuff for maintenance and upkeep. Altogether, in the condition that it's in (which is immaculate), and given its age, it is priced at around the $800-900 range. It was not a big price jump for me, but what it provided me with is something that I can hopefully trade up quickly and for something awesome! It is missing a string which I will get replaced soon. In my next post, I will hopefully have a few more pictures and a video or two of someone playing it so you all can hear how beautiful it sounds!

Here's a little history on this beautiful viola. Kim purchased it in 2000. She was a double major in music and theater and needed to learn a stringed instrument. She claimed it was the perfect instrument for her because she has small hands and it wasn't a strain to try to reach what she needed to in order to make beautiful melodies! She enjoyed it so much that she bought it after her class ended so that she could keep learning. As many of us understand, when life gets crazy, some things get re-prioritized. For Kim, that meant that her dreams of being a professional violist had to be put aside for now. So it has not been played for quite a while and is in DIRE need of someone to put it to some good use. For sure, I am not the one to do that so I need to trade it away to someone who can as soon as possible. :) 

I have a couple of questions. Do you think a YouTube channel would be helpful? I was thinking about starting one so that I can show everyone exactly what all of my trades can do; how my viola sounds... how the serger would have worked... show you all how good the picture on the flatscreen will be... and how well the awesome giant pick up will sound when you crank it up... and finally, how my awesome bass boat runs! Let me know what you think in the comment box! 

So, now I leave it to you! All I ask is that someone out there will trade me something a little bit better than my viola! The options are wide open! If you have something you might want to trade me, feel free to email me at cag04f@acu.edu. You are also welcome to call or text at a decent hour. My number is 432-twoeighteight-four7zero6!

Thank you all for making this so exciting. To date, my page has received over 2500 hits from 10 different countries including Canada (maybe that's Kyle MacDonald of oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com coming to check out my progress)! Before you close out this page, I encourage you to subscribe to this page so we can keep in touch! Thank you again so very much! I'll keep you posted on all the excitement to come! Until next time... 

-Something Bigger Something Better

Sergers, B.A.S.S., and SO much more!

Let's keep things rolling! I have some really exciting news! BUT! If you want to read about the exciting next chapter, you will have to stay tuned to the end! I have been into some pretty big deals lately! If this is brand new to you, I began my journey about a month ago with a dream of owning my very own bass boat! I started with a small broken water pistol, traded that for a small page of stickers. The stickers went for an awesome wicker fish, that in turn went for some beautiful Asian decorations, which then went for what might have been the sturdiest rocking chair I ever sat in and.... as of now, I traded for and still own a VERY nice Savant serger (and accessories). I mean, honestly, a month ago, I would have never guessed that I would have gotten so far so fast! I mean, it took paper-clip-man an entire year to get his house and more trades to get to the level of value that I am at! GOOD GRIEF!

You think that's exciting?! Well, it absolutely is, but I want to tell you about some really exciting developments in the B.A.S.S. realm. About 2 weeks ago, I called into the bassmaster.com's advertising/sales department where you can purchase ad space in Bass Master Magazine and so much more. I spoke to a very sweet woman and told her my story. I explained how we could be mutually beneficial. It would be good for them because they could advertise on my page and because of how much traffic my page is getting (thanks to all of you), they would get some solid notoriety and promotion. I LOVE the thought of getting to be a part of getting Bass Master's name out there more and helping to enhance and progress the sport of bass fishing by any means possible. And on the flip side, they would help me get some spotlight so others could see my story and maaaayyyybbbeeee... just maybe, they could help me get that final trade for the bass boat of my dreams. Well, the sweet lady at Bass Masters said how exciting my story was and that she loved the vision, however, it was over her head. But, she was so inspired that she felt compelled to give me the number of someone who might be able to help. (I wish I could remember your name Bass Master sales lady! You are awesome!) So, she gave me the number of another wonderful woman named Trisha who just happens to be the Texas sales/advertising rep for Bass Master! How cool is that! I was about to pitch my story to the stinkin rep of Texas! So, again, I told her my story and she was so inspired and compelled to help me that she left the conversation with these words that I will never, ever, EVER forget... She said that this whole thing was technically over her head. Then she followed up with the fact that she was going to headquarters in Indiana the very next day and was willing to pitch my story to the people there who could do something about it! Even the part about them potentially helping me get that last trade!! HOW AWESOME! She said that she would let me know when she heard something. So, I waited... one day... two days... and by day three, I HAD to call and see what she found out. She informed me that she had passed on all my info and that if Bass Master wanted to do a story on my journey, that they would be in touch. So, I am waiting as patiently as I can and I'm so excited to see what might happen! I feel like there are a lot of exclamation marks in this post! Can you tell I'm excited?! To make things even more exciting, I am going to call Triton Boats, Skeeter Boats, Tracker Boats, Champion Boats, and anyone else I can think of and pitch them my story as well! I also plan on getting in touch with the local paper and seeing if they have any interest in helping me get the word out to the local West Texas area.

In the meantime, I have got to keep doing what I'm doing and get some more trades coming my way! I have even had one person say that if I can get somewhere near the $40,000 range that they would trade me a piece of property that they own! Maybe that should be my mark... it seems so unattainable, but so did a $800 piece of sewing equipment a month ago... So here's my exciting news! I have decided that in order to have a better chance of completing this journey, I am opening up my horizons. My wife has graciously agreed to let me advertise that if you are ANYWHERE in Texas, we can make a deal. I know that it will take some time, money, and effort, but it is TOTALLY worth it, even if I have to drive 10 hours in a day to make it happen! I will post similar ads in the Dallas area, in the Houston area, the San Antonio area and the Austin area in hopes that I might be able to find the right people for the trades! I am so very excited to see where this train will take me. Like I said earlier, it took my man Kyle MacDonald an entire year to get his appx. $50,000 house in Canada. Let's show him how we do it here in Texas! If you are out there anywhere in Texas and have the vision to see vision, or just really, really want my serger, I encourage you to email me at cag04f@acu.edu. Remember, all I want is something that is at least a little bit better than what I have. You can also call or text me during decent hours at 432-twoeighteight-four7zero6. Please leave me a voicemail if you don't get ahold of me. I can't wait to get the next offer!

I have a challenge for you. I searched and searched the net for information on this specific serger but to no avail. I would very much appreciate it if someone out there could find a link online for information on this serger. It is a Savant serger model number st600L. It would be very helpful in allowing people to understand its value. Please leave links in the comment box below. ALSO and more importantly, if you had anything in the world, not saying that you have to commit to anything,  but if you were able, what are some things you might think are comparable trades for my serger? I ask this so that people can get ideas of what might be something they could consider trading. Leave any thoughts in the comment box as well!

Thank you all again for making this so exciting. It would not be nearly as fun if I knew that I was the only one reading these. But, to date, my page has received nearly 1700 hits from 9 different countries. Way to go guys! And now that the word is getting out to the rest of Texas, I expect to see some serious increases in page views! Before you close out this page, I encourage you to subscribe to this page so we can keep in touch! Thank you again so very much! I'll keep you posted.


-SBSB