Marty Has Left The Building

Marty has left the building. He has gone to pastures new and I'm at peace with that. 'Prom' had been his last engagement so it went out on a high note.

OK, I'm on a time budget here as it has been one of 'those' days, bringing to a close (maybe) a hectic ten days or so. 'Marty', if you didn't know was my 1994 XJ40 Jaguar. I saved him from the pneumatic 'squasher' a couple of years ago and since then I have 'played' with him a little bit. No need to go into the details, let's just say, he was not one for the purists. Still, in my eyes, it was far better that I had my wicked way with him than leave him to rot and then go to the scrapyard.

Ten days ago, a very nice man drove for two and a half hours to see Marty and promptly

decided he wanted to drive him home. Sold to the man with the long beard. He actually left his own car with me for a week until he could get back and pick it up. Everyone was smiling.

Now, the money from the sale went into the 'slush' fund. Over the last three years I have been buying, renovating and selling 'unloved' Jaguars. A hobby and a passion which my good lady had suggested I took seriously and ran as a business, which I did. It was never going to be a retirement plan but it was self-sufficient and never had to rely on the 'family' bank accounts.

January came and I decided to make a change, although I enjoyed the challenge of resurrecting the cars, I didn't particularly enjoy either buying or selling them. Exit stage left. Ran round the back of the stage and entered from the right onto the set of Wealthy Affiliate. Yay me, a lucky and serendipitous find for sure. Well, for me anyway.

Anyhow, for the first time in many years, I was 'car less', we still had the trusty VW Golf 1.9Tdi with 222 thousand miles on the clock. He is old and saggy but Emily loves him. My thoughts were to just wait and see what turns up and not purposefully go out looking. Of late I am most definitely following the path of least resistance. I know success and with it financial abundance will come. Remember the 'Belief' post ?

My wife has wanted a second car that she could use for the dogs. They're Huskys and are rescue dogs. Never to be let off lead (they were too old to learn proper recall and their 'prey drive' is still strong and they're daft) However, there are a number of enclosed venues within a fifty-mile radius that can be pre-booked for off lead sessions. It hadn't been asked for or suggested but It seemed to be the best use for the cash from the sale of Marty. Welcome, Mr. Land Rover Discovery 2. Technically 'free' (Still not a Jag though, sigh) Sometimes you just have to do the right thing. So again, all smiling.

Looks like I'll have to start saving up for the next 'project' and I'm good with that. Today looked like it was going to be the start of that fund. I was down at my local garage (patient friendly mechanic friends) when Carl 'The Boss' offered me a Mazda MX5 for a ridiculously low price. I bought it. The intention would be that they would do the necessary work (I don't do welding) to make it roadworthy. Win win as they get paid for doing the work and I can sell it and make a decent profit. I drove it home under the proviso that at some point we would arrange a time for it to go back to the garage and be 'cured'

The car had probably been on the drive for fifteen minutes when there was a knock at the door. It was Jack, a friend of my sons. Turns out he already knew of the car and had phoned up the garage during the day to buy the Mazda, only to find it had gone (to me) Why did he want it ? Well, he had been on the lookout for this model for quite a while as it was his girlfriends 'dream' car, as it were. He wanted to buy one 'in secret' and surprise her. What's a man to do ?

I sold it to him, it was the right thing to do. We agreed a nominal 'finders fee' enough to put diesel in the 'Landy' and I was back to square one. Still smiling because I knew he and his girlfreind's day had been made. The money side is inconsequential as at this point it's all 'virtual' If, then, possible maybe's.

Can we draw any parallels or take any profound insights from any of the previous ? For me, I've been keeping plenty of the 'good stuff' at the forefront of my mind recently. Doing the 'right' thing isn't always going to bring the biggest pay day, not right now, but it will. Call it whatever you want but the feeling you get from being able to bring joy to someone else's life is right up there. Doing it with no 'conditions', 'caveats' or the possibility of getting something in return just makes it even better and is the truest from of altruism.

The other area I think this relates to is the 'training' that other members put out. Some of it is

extraordinary. This isn't a ten minute 'How to'. They provide an in depth program that is the result of studies and analysis. If you went in search of this out there in internet land, the chances are you'd have to pay for it, the added bonus is that it's made by someone who is travelling along the same road as you, they might be further ahead but they're still leaving you a paper trail to make sure you stay on the right path.

I also have to give thanks to author of a blog I read recently, I just can't remember who wrote it,sorry. For some reason I am unable to remember who that was, hopefully they will read this one and make the connection, that may put an unexpected smile on their face. In it there was a 'tip' about organising you time in regard to 'work' that needs doing. Rather than just getting stuck in and staying on task for as long as it takes, to the detriment of other work that needs attending to. The idea was to work in 'slots'. Give your self a time limit.

I took this on board yesterday and gave myself an hour in the garden, which, as you might expect is getting neglected at the moment. So many other things to do. I started with the back yard as that is an area I know my wife enjoys spending time in during the sunny times. At present, it's a mess and all the block paving has stuff growing up through the gaps and there's car parts scattered around. You get the picture. It's amazing how productive you can be when you set yourself a time frame. One hour done and visible results, so thank you 'unknown' member, very much appreciated.

Sorry this is a long one but I needed to 'clear the books' as it were. More to come I'm sure but this gets me somewhere near up to date.

Have a wonderful day.