T-Minus 4 Days and Counting...

Well, yesterday was crazy busy as a result of issues coming up at work on Monday. Yesterday... rather than preparing for my trip and making sure I am caught up when I leave the office... I was dropping everything to do what the President wanted me to do. So, I put in pretty much a 12 hour day yesterday with little to no thanks. All I can say is... 4 Days and Counting. Speaking of the countdown...

One of the things I am looking forward to while I am over there is bartering at the local markets. I love bartering. As a matter of fact... my ideal job would be to move to a heavy populated area and work as a purchasing agent. What I would do is hire my bartering skillZ (with a capital Z) out to anyone who hates to do this sort of thing. The only payment I would charge is 50% of whatever I saved you. So for example, if I saved you $300.00 on a Sofa/Chair combination at a furniture store... then you would pay me $150.00. I have so many stories of "dickering" people down that it isn't funny. A case in point was the first necklace I bought Sydney. It was a $890.00 heart shaped pendant with a diamond in the middle. It was Christmas time and I had $500.00 cash in my pocket... (I was rich back then... and no I did not spend this amount of money on every girl I dated... Sydney was special and I knew she was "thee one.") Anyway, I walking by a jewery store and I saw the necklace... so I stopped in to see what the price was. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Can I see that necklace?"

Lady behind the counter: "Sure."

Me: "$890.00 for that?"

Lady behind the counter: "What were you thinking the price would be?"

Me: "Not THAT. That's way out of my price range."

Me: "Still I really like it... and I know she would too... I tell you what, I'll give you $500 for it."

Lady behind the counter: "Are you kidding me? There is no way the owner would go for that."

Me: "Well, I have $500.00 in cash right now and that is all I can do."

Lady behind the counter: "Well, that's not going to be enough."

Me: "Umm. Ma'am?"

Lady behind the counter: "Yes?"

Me: "Are you the owner?"

Lady behind the counter: "No."

Me: "Is the owner here?"

Lady behind the counter: "Yes, he is in back."

Me: "COULD YOU ASK THE OWNER?"

Lady behind the counter: "Okay... but he is not going to go for it."

Me: "Well, the worst he can say is no. Right?"

Lady behind the counter: "You're right."

*Few minutes later*

LBTC: "Wow. He said, yes... but only if you will pay the tax on $500.00."

Me: "Um. I guess it's no deal then."

LBTC: "What??"

Me: "I told you all I have is $500.00 cash. That's it."

Me: "Can you tell him that?"

*Goes back to the owner... comes back a few minutes later.*

LBTC: "Well, today is your lucky day. He agreed to do it for $500.00 even."

Me: "Perfect. I'll take it."

*As I am walking out the door with my $900.00 necklace for $500.00*

Owner: "Merry Christmas!"


And that's just one of the many stories. I would have made $200.0o if I was making a purchase like that for somebody else. So, to make a long story short... I can't wait to barter with the local Indians. I live and breathe for getting the best deal possible. Okay... living and breathing is a stretch. But trust me when I tell you it will be one of the highlights to my trip.