My Sunday: Fried Pickles and Cleaning

After church today, I went out to eat with my parents. I eat out with my dad pretty much every night because it "relaxes" him, so no big deal. Well, it was, because I really liked the place we ate for once! You see, my dad enjoys eating at old school, junky southern restaurants that are called "meat and three's." Basically, you get a meat, three vegetables, and a roll or corn bread. Sounds cool if you're old, maybe. Well, these restaurants are inexpensive (cheap), and it doesn't seem like they can afford basic maintenance. But my Dad loves them, and will drive an hour to eat at a new one. I guess it reminds him of growing up in Mississippi.

Today was different though. The food was good. The atmosphere was decent. To be honest, I haven't found any restaurants down here that match the atmosphere of restaurants in the Twin Cities.

What I want to talk about though, is an interesting food I had: fried pickles. They were only ok, but I have to let everyone know that Scotland apparently controls the south. That's right, Scotland isn't the only place that will deep fry everything (including Mars Bars), the dirty south will.

Nasty.

I was unable to get hold of my partner after lunch, so I didn't finish the Cressida today. Instead, I detailed the interior of Dad's Audi the best I could before dark and then washed the exterior at a Carwash. It was dirty, and he doesn't seem like he really even cared I did it. Oh well. I'm learning how to get cars really clean, which will help me as I buy and sell :)

God is Good

You know ultimately God takes us through unexpected places, all for our good. When Utah didn't work out, I was discouraged, but now I am understanding that God brought me to Memphis for a reason. Yes, it is frustrating being in with the 'rents again, yes it is frustrating making less money at my "full time" job. But let me tell you, I bought a car tonight that I can flip real quick... and I got it for way less than anyone would think possible. I'll get 5x what I put in the vehicle, and I'll pocket 2.5x what I have in it. That helps, and it's God providing.

Some funny things from the week

This week a few funny things have come accross me as I've dealt with international customers seeking engines:

The first was from a Belgian man who sent me a very long email, asking many detailed questions for his 1999 Ford Pony. I think he meant Mustang...

The second is dealing with the agent of a guy in Russia who bought a 2005 Infiniti QX56 engine from me.

The phone convo went something like:
Me: "lowmileage engines..."
Him" "I buy engine for Victor."
Me: "You're his broker?"
Him: "Is that what I am? Broker?" (laughs evilly)
Me: "OK. What's your ebay member name?"
Him: "Ballzbuster"

No joke, I think his client is in the Russian mob. I mean, who in Russia can afford new infinitis besides the mob? AND WHO HAS THAT KIND OF EBAY NAME?

The F-250

Today, I bought an F-250 that needs an engine. I bought it dirt cheap. I have been praying "God, help me to buy cars cheap and sell them for a good profit."

Well, he sure helped me buy it cheap. The lot I bought it from told me, "I've never taken this big of a loss on a vehicle." I then talked him down several hundred. I'm talking I paid hundreds for a vehicle worth close to $10,000, private party. Favor of God, I believe. He's helpin' me.

If you're wondering, this is the truck. The hood is off because the mechanic that worked on it sucked. It is in good condition. The body is in beautiful shape. It is a great truck. The guy had just ordered two wrong engines for it. Two wrong engines. Guess who knows how to get the right engine for it? :)

But, without the mechanic I'm partnering with, I definately couldn't do it. He's a great guy, and a great mechanic. Hopefully we can help each other make some cash!

Slow Day

You know, today must have been national "Do not buy an engine day." I had several customers that I thought I had sold yesterday call me today and let me know that they were going to pay me tomorrow. Ebay hits dropped off the charts, trending about 65% lower than this day last year (though our hits have been significantly higher other days this week than their 1 week, 4 week, and 52 week trends), and the phones just stopped wringing.

Oh well, we'll knock 'em out tomorrow.

In the meantime, be praying for a close friend of my dad's that I'm getting into some business with. He's going through a tough divorce. His wife cheated on him, so it's not one of those work it out things. It's chronic, and it ain't going away. I don't believe my friend knows the Lord, and he sure could use God's comfort right now. I'm praying for him a lot, 'believing for' him, and want to see God bring this guy into the fold and help him. If I never do any business with this guy, I want to see him whole.

Please, be Dishonest

I hate dishonest people. They waste me a lot of time.

My current job is at the family business. The one I helped my dad start four years ago. I'm now a hireling though, not a partner. Way to dip out too early Matthew. Anyways, we are able to make a living because we sell honest engines at good prices. Simple. Well, not really.

You see, a lot of my suppliers today lied about mileage on engines I was getting quotes on, and I caught them in our paperwork process. Then I had to find new engines for my customer. It pisses me off when I fall 10 phonecalls behind because billy joe in Kentucky is a worthless liar.

Good god, FTC. So, I hate dishonesty.

But here's the other end of the stick. I sold an engine on Monday, on ebay, at way too low of a price. The customer hasn't contacted us yet (they made an offer on the engine), and I'm glad. I don't want to get paid - I want the customer to break their contract - because if they do, I lose a lot of cash. So, please don't pay.

Other things: Sorry if I'm not getting back with everyone, and that I'm not keeping this updated that much. I am very busy! I rise at about 5:50 a.m. every day, anwer ebay emails, get ready for work, am at the office between 7 and 8 am (closer to 7), and leave around 6:00 p.m. I then eat, and answer ebay emails until I go to sleep! I am going to have to get a gym membership, or I'm going to go crazy here.

The fun thing for me though, so far, has been working car deals on the side. I've got a nice little audi in the driveway I'm about to flip - book value is about 3x what I have in it. I'm about to flip an '06 trailblazer with 2000 miles on it be bought wrecked and fixed up. Should make some cash on that.

Finally, I'm about to pick up a buick century tomorrow night that needs a new engine (which I can get cheeep!) and flip that. I'm working with a great mechanic (if you're in Memphis and need one, let me know. This guy is does great work at great prices. Probably the best mechanic we know of - and we know a lot, all over the country, with all the engines we sell.) and this is a money car.

I need to flip my six money cars by the end of the year and then flip the 24 my family is legally allowed to flip next year, and get some cash.

It's a lot more fun than oil. You just work longer hours, and don't get a week off :)

A Sweet Little A4

We sell engines. (Oh yeah, long non-blogged story. Summary: I'm in Memphis, selling engines at lowmileageengines.com, the family business). We also are starting to sell cars, and we got an Audi on the cheap from a dealership the other day. Reason? Bad transmission. And no one in Memphis works on Audi's except the Audi dealership, and own it the Audi dealership did not. Well, no one except Christ. We ordered a replacement transmission, Chris popped it in the Audi while it was sitting in the alley behind the office... and I drove that thing last night, and it drove nice. I love leaving people in the dust at lights and such (you have to test the car... right?).

Anyways, I'm a bit miffed at my dad on this - he wants to just barely double money on it when book value is triple what we have in it! But I see where he's coming from... we haven't sold many cars and the name of the game is "turning" them. I'd love to sell cars though, have bout twenty of 'em on hand.

Tool Concert

Thanks to my friend Ben for taking me to the Tool concert on the 16th. Here is a funny clip: Tool brought out this ripped guy in a tootoo and a mexican wrestling mask... and he danced by bobbing his head. To me this was funny because the concert was just super high quality - hundreds of thousands spent on lighting and videos and the best job of synching them into things I've seen in a while.... and here the thing you remember most is a guy dancing in a tootoo on the stage. Funny.