Trade Mobile 1.0

It is what it is

Let me rewind a little bit and take you back in time to a land far far away. It all started in Arizona in an unknown city (unknown because I can't remember the name) with a guy who really loved his daughter. 

This gentleman had it all going for him. He had a business worth one million dollars and because of some tough times he lost it all. 

Close your eyes and envision this van in it's pearly white years. Now open them.

Wow, those are some bright colors! 

His daughters birthday was coming up and he had nothing to give her. He wanted to throw her a birthday party, but how could he afford it? He thought, "what if I throw her a party and let her and her friends paint the van?"

As you can see that is what he did. His daughter and a bunch of 11 year old girls went at it and had the time of their lives. I imagine this little girl will never forget the party her daddy threw her. 

The guy on the right got the van from the guy I was telling you about

This is Bill Martin

He's the guy that started FreshStart Fellowship, FreshStart Broadcasting, and of course Bill Martin Ministries (the guy I traded my guitar to). Bill and his wife left everything and moved from Arizona to Chelsea, Oklahoma  to start new FreshStart Fellowship. 

They bought the crazy colored van I told you about and then loaded up their essentials and made the 1,100 mile journey. Bill listed the van on Craigslist and it wasn't long until someone offered him top dollar for it. 

He could have very easily taken the money which would have aided in his ministry, but something held him back. I'd seen the van as well on Craigslist and immediately knew it was Bills van because of all stories I heard about it. 

I wanted that thing. It just felt right. 

I ran it by the wife and i'm sure you can guess what her reaction was. I wanted that van and I was going to get it no matter what she said. Mistake #1 

I emailed Bill and told him I would trade him the Saturn for the van. Mistake # 2: Make sure your wife actually knows all the details, and don't agree to anything until she does! If momma ain't happy, nobodies happy.

I know what you all are thinking, "how is that a fair trade?" It did not matter to me. I wanted that van and I wanted to help out if I could. Mistake #3: Don't make decisions on emotions.

I figured it might be a little easier to trade the Saturn than the van. To my shock, Bill emailed me back breaking the news; He had a buyer. Let down. 

Long story short, he passed them up and traded me the van to help the project out. 

Surprisingly the van and the Saturn's value were not much different. 

Moral of the story: 

Don't trade a decent running car for a multi-colored van. And most importantly, don't go against your baby mommas will. She is normally right. I will leave it at that.

And now for something a little off subject.....

Remember Dirty Tyson?  He's TMOOD's number one Traveler. He goes everywhere a trade goes, even if he has to be a carry-on.

The chickens gotta get his 5 minutes of fame. You can read all about him here. For every official trade that is made there will be a contest. How it works is for every trade that is made, there will be an official picture that is taken. DT likes to be a part of those, but he doesn't like to take all the attention. Sometimes he will hide in whatever picture he wants.

He likes to hide, but the thing is you have to find him. Sometimes in  Kind of like "Where's Waldo?" Contest details will be explained more in a later post, sometime before the next trade takes place, which is soon I am hoping! 

Back to the van: Even though I laid the line down telling my wife I was going to get the van no matter what she said, she laid her cooking pans down and said no more cooking till you paint that thing. I hardly know how to cook anything besides Ramen. I could not risk it. I broke and said I would paint it.

What are the plans? The plan I have told her is that I am going to repaint it a nice solid color that does not stick out, but little does she know I have other plans...hehehe.  Trust me it will still get a lot of attention when I am done with it.

The van is in decent shape, but is solid as a rock. It has a few a lot of issues here and there. No more Mr. Incredible name calling from my sisters (they called me that because I was way too big for the Saturn). Pretty much, I made a bad move and I'm paying for it. That's a whole other story for another time. 

I'm out, 

Matt