The Excellent Adventure: Day 5

It was pretty darn cold last night.  I slept good from 10:00 to about 4 AM when I woke up shivering.  I just balled up into the fetal position and got another hour and a half before I rose at 5:30.  Being cold is actually very good motivation for getting up and out of bed. I believe I dressed in record time!  I made some coffee, oatmeal and used the Coleman stove to warm my hands too.  Then I was off for another adventure. Today was a field trip day!

We drove over to Villa Rica, GA today for a wholesale auction. Those cats don't play. We went through a little over 400 lots in about 4 hours. That is moving! I have learned that there are many different types of auctions. The whole purpose of this auction was to get rid of merchandise as quickly as possible.  Most everything was on pallets and it was sold by the pallet.  Of course they wanted to get as much money as they could, but if they had milked it we would have been there for 10 hours.  It was interesting to take note of the clerking process, how the clerk interacted with the auctioneer and how the check-in/check-out process went from a behind-the-scenes perspective.

I don't think that running wholesale auctions are what I want to do.  Never say never, but I don't think it's a fit for me.  But.....would I be a gun for hire and call one of those auctions? Absolutely!  I'm still trying to figure out what my niche will be.  I have some ideas, but my niche might find me.  Who knows.

In an earlier entry I mentioned that I was excited to hear one of our teacher's chant. I finally got a chance to hear Charlie Gay call an auction today.  Just as I thought, he was like a tobacco auctioneer of old.  His cadence and chant are much different than most auctioneers that I hear these days.  It's kind of hard to explain but he sounds more seasoned. I guess 45 years in the business will get you seasoned!  It's going to be hard but that is the sound that I want.  I think it lends more credibility. It's almost as if he was singing.  If I didn't have my work cut out for me before I certainly do now. But I'm up for a challenge!

I have one more cold night ahead of me.  We're supposed to dip back down to around 30 tonight.  I think these two nights will be the worst.  Before I left, I joked that I might end up in the Days Inn by mid-week.  It would hardly be an Excellent Adventure if I journaled from a hotel room.  Tomorrow will be the halfway point.  Aside from some more rain in the forecast for Thursday, things look pretty good.  I think I can finish this thing out here along the banks of the Coosa River.

Y'all take it easy,

Alex