Gone in 60 minutes
So after my dad, step mom and their dogs pulled out I kept myself busy. One of those busy items was listing my moms Rav4 for sale finally. I took a few pictures and then listed it both on Craigslist and the Collier County Online Yard Sale page on FB. I was surprised that my phone rang in less than 30 minutes, more surprising was the call was from the FB ad, not Craigslist.
The guy asked me a few questions about the vehicle and finished up with asking me what is the least I would take for it. I told him I preferred to not negotiate over the phone and would rather for him to look at the Rav4 and make sure he was interested before we talked numbers. He said that was fine and he and his wife would be leaving to come out shortly.
I hadn’t driven the Rav 4 in awhile so I figured I should take it for a quick spin. When I did I saw the gas gauge was creeping towards empty so I threw $30 of gas in it as well. I was out back tending the chickens when I saw the guy at the door. He and his wife had pulled up in a tiny Toyota Scion.
They told me they lived locally but were actually interested in the car for their grandson, who lives with their daughter in Kansas. The potential buyers also lived in Kansas for something like 30 years. They lived on a farm and had around 200 chickens at one time. Hmmm ok that’s a different scenario, but first we needed to see if they liked the car or not. I handed them the keys and let them take a drive solo, a risky act possibly in someone else’s eyes, but to me it demonstrated I had nothing to hide.
They took a short spin down the street and returned within 5 minutes. I asked them how it went. The guy said the engine sounded a little “rough” which I immediately took as him trying to build a case for price negotiation, which I of course expected. He said he looked up the vehicle worth online and came up with a number significantly lower than what I listed it for. He was correct, I had the Rav 4 listed slightly above the top end of private sale pricing I saw to give me some leeway. I told him I had checked Kelly Blue Book before setting the price.
There was a couple back and forth numbers thrown around but I agreed to a price $100 less than my last counter offer when he said he will pay with cash and take the vehicle off my hands immediately. Ok great, now came the sticky part. I called up one of my friends in the motor vehicle department and discussed the scenario and how it should be handled. The buyers basically plan to drive the car to Kansas to give to their grandson however they don’t plan to make that drive until early December. In order to make that drive they will need a temporary license plate, however a temp plate is only good for 30 days and can not be extended. So basically they had to take possession of the vehicle and just park it in their garage until they get a temp tag.
They had brought some cash with them but had to get the balance. While they ran to the bank I worked on getting a bill of sale prepared and double checked I was handling things in an ok manner with my contact at work. When they returned with the money I signed the title over to their daughter, who will be the official new owner of the Rav 4 who in turn will let the grandson drive it. To make this all happen a vehicle power of attorney form will also need to be obtained so the people that live here can get the temp tag on behalf of their Midwest residing daughter. Yes it is a bit complicated.
I offered to follow the couple back to their house with my mom’s plate on the Rav 4 to avoid potential harassment by police. They appreciated my offer but said they would just make the relatively short drive single file with the wife following the husband in the Rav 4. Ok fine. I counted out the money and then got out my socket set to pull mom’s plate.
As they pulled away with Mom’s car it was a bit of a sad moment. Having mom’s car in my driveway for the last two months in a weird way almost felt like she was still there, just parked for a visit. Now the Rav 4 will also be something that I will never see again, destined to live out it’s final days in Kansas. It just feels weird.
On the topic of mom, I got my my first of three checks that are the result of her bank accounts being liquidated. The check I received wasn’t enough to pay my cable bill but at least it meant that the process has started. I need to now initiate the same process for her IRA account.
Yesterday I did a dog/chicken experiment. I wanted to see how Sadie would act off leash with the chickens free ranging. We have had her face to face with the chickens on leash and she didn’t react aggressively at all. It seemed to me that Sadie understood from watching Cindy and I interact with the chickens that they are part of the extended family and are off limits. Plus Sadie is very mindful of me if I use my “loud voice” I was confident I could stop her dead in her tracks if need be.
So I opened the door to the coop and let the chickens loose. Sadie looked at them and took a couple non-menacing steps in their direction however I immediately called her over to me and she obeyed. Sadie was a complete angel. Multiple times the chickens were in her vicinity, including all three of them running between myself and Sadie on their way to the bird feeders and she was fine. Everytime she ignored the chickens I praised her, telling her how good she was. She loved the praise more than harassing the chickens evidently.
Nicki actually if anything was the harassing one. She is too slow to catch any chicken but that didn’t stop her from tailing them. For 15 minutes I watched her follow one chicken or another around the yard. Nicki would get within a few feet and the chicken would scurry away, she would just keep following them, seemingly loving this slower paced game of chase. It was quite entertaining to watch. Now of course I would never let Sadie out with the chickens unsupervised but I really think she understands the boundary line with them.
The rest of my day was back filled with more chores followed by attending another running club board meeting that contained more arguing than I would have preferred. I bypassed any post meeting drinking. After Saturday night’s roadside expulsion, drinking beer is not high on the priority list.