HOW DO I DO WHAT I DO

           Over this last Saturday I was contacted by my new adopted Little brother Jeremy from the blogging world of Topps Cards that Never Were. He had props for me cause he wondered how do I fit working 2 jobs as well find time to hit shops,shows or any freetime on my Cards. So I responded I'm not sure how I do it either but stay tuned to my Blog for a future post about it. Well.....here's the answer that you are reading in how I do what I do & to me I still amazed myself at times. 

            A typical week starts on Monday for me as I get up around 10 A.M. EST I live in Michigan for those who didn't know where this crazy THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY fan lives. It takes me 15 mins to get dressed then its off to my school job before 11:30.  I arrive at the elementary school at 11:30 as an Instructional Assistant (Tutor) for kids that are in Kindergarden to the 3rd Grade this is my first full year at this building since in the past I was dealing with kids that were a bit older until I had to transfer to another building or be subjected to being fired & I wouldn't been able to do a blog if I were fired last year. I work at the school until roughly 1:00 PM pending there aren't any issues or troubles of kids misbehaving where I have to go to the Principals office to tell him what happened & such. I then head home for about 1 hr  before going to my 2nd job at Dollar General that's pretty much when I eat my first meal of the day cause I am not much of a morning person & rarely find time in the morning to eat try to get a 15 minute cat nap in cause Ill be on my feet more than I was earlier when I was at school. Around 3:00 PM I then have a short drive across the street to Dollar General yes I can already hear some of you wouldn't be easier just to walk there oh......keep reading.
               I grab the previous days deposit from the safe then drive to the bank for change or just get the deposit dropped off then drive back home park in my driveway walk across street with the change for the change fund as well deposit slips then count my till for the night then do my shift. My shift when I am not running the register is stock shelves when I am not dealing with customers as well & help answering any questions a customer might have or need my height to reach the higher stuff on the shelves. Since I live across the street & pending which co-worker I am working with I sometimes if needed a bathroom break I usually tell my co-worker Ill be right back heading to my house use my own bathroom then walk back to resume work until my 30 min break there is times where I can't leave the store for that reason so I have to find time when customers aren't using it or my co-workers. Speaking of my break I generally like taking it around 7pm 3 hours before we close & 3 hours into my shift so I can eat a larger meal afterwards if I don't pack a large snack.  This routine has changed much pending on when I was scheduled to work at Dollar General in the past but slowly my store manager is trying to get us all on a fixed schedule so its routine. There are some nights I have to help unload the truck which is usually every other day. Then on pay day Fridays I usually after school will head to my credit union to get my paychecks cashed so I can have some spending $$$$$ for the upcoming week until the next paycheck. Recently I have been blessed to have Thursdays not having to work at DG except maybe a bank run only but I still have to clock in and out to get paid for doing that at least even though my store manager should be doing that not me on my days off from there & if I still have any $$$$$ left from my bills I pay then I might sneak off to the LCS to see what I can find for for myself or others there's a few times I might drive a distance to a card shop either near Grand Rapids on the west side of the state or near the Detroit area which is on the east side of me. If somehow where Thursdays aren't able to get away I try on Fridays as well

             I usually prepare myself in having internet access on my phone so I have my lists with me in order to find things easier instead of going to a place & trying to get things by recalling what might be on my lists. I also take others lists with me just by some odd chance I am not able to locate something for myself but I can recall what someone else might be needing example this last Month I stopped at 1 my usual shops where you'll see I picked up these monster boxes for a great way of finding some treasures for others as well myself cause I am not afraid to go through stuff especially when I know that I will be glad to get closer in completing my set or I find that 1 card that someone might be needed like I mentioned last month I stumbled upon an unopened box of the 1990 Pacific Baseball Legends where a certain blogger by the name of Night Owl had posted about his mailday & that he felt like it would take forever to complete the missing pieces I told him to send me the missing pieces in an email & then I  went to work on the hunt for him later on I mailed them now I sit back waiting for him to return to me even though it's not an important thing but he's mention that I will get a 2000 Keeblers Arizona Diamondbacks team set for completing his set.

      I've enclosed 2 pictures of the boxes I bought to help search for people in the 1st pic is all the basketball cards from early 90s to some mid 2000s that I can help out with not sorted but I am trying to sorting them when not at either job or at shop or show usually I do this around 12:30 AM  before I go to bed at 2 AM. The 2nd picture is all football same as the basketball in the years I might find 1 or 2 stars but it's the commons mainly that others can't seem to locate. I recall helping Tom aka Angels in Order blogger locating some of his missing Patriots that he needed so Tom now ya know what i went through in finding them. I know Dime Box Nick would love to go through these boxes so Nick if ya ever come to Michigan lmk I let ya go through them.

           Nick can have fun in my boxes anytime if he is willing to make the trip to Michigan for a visit.

                      24 boxes of football yes I snack on gummy worms to get through the boxes.

              Now you know what I go through on a typical week yes it can be exhausting trying to find the time to spend with my family as well especially after what events had taken course in these first 4 months of this year. I didn't mention what I do during the weekends I pretty much am at DG from Noon until closing time doing all the forementioned things as well handing duties of being the boss. Usually on the weekends I miss out on a lot of the Saturday shows I could attend either setting up as a seller or go with lists in hand finding missing stuff. I have a coworker that is my equal whom I work with on Sundays sometimes I try to get him to switch times with me usually on the 2nd Sunday of the month so I can help my friend Pat out in setting up at a show that I have mentioned before in the past in the town called Livonia which is a suburb of Detroit but I usually leave for the 90 min (3 hour round trip) way before the show starts at 9 AM. Reason I sometimes help her in setting up as well assisting other dealers is to get some maybe good deals before anyone else can get them before I head back to work at DG later that day so I can wait to look through my treasures afterwards. Sometimes I feel rushed cause I cant look very closely at everything at the show but I do my best with my limited time period but overall I still can find something either new to put away or help out with others. As I type this line it's going on 1 AM & I am debating if I want to tinker with sorting out 1 more football box or not cause I will be setting up at show next Saturday on May 3rd for the only show I set up as a dealer since the last time I set up at this particular show I picked up the 1977 Topps Cloth Sticker set minus the American League & National League Checklists puzzles (I still lack the American League puzzle) as well the 1998 Fleer Tradition Football set & started my 1964 Topps Giants set by picking up the Sandy Koufax SP card for all 3 items for a fair price of $110 when the Koufax usually sells around $50 the complete 1977 Cloth Sticker set around $200 & the 1998 Fleer Tradition football set around $45 so I think I did pretty well. I am hoping to locate at least maybe some of the 2024 Topps Heritage High Number base & SPs as well inserts I need or knock out 4 sets completely in finding a bunch of singles so I guess you'll have to stay tuned to my blog to see what I picked up at the show & if you see me at the show say hi & let me know what you think I should feature in an upcoming post. Until then I am off to bed now & I am reminded what Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs for little kids "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign an Autograph for a little kid ain't An American, he's a Communist."