We just bid on our first bus.
Bus. We're bidding on a BUS.
There's an hour and 25 minutes left before the auction ends and we're currently the highest bidder at $1525. I doubt it will stay that way, so I keep refreshing the page and guarding myself against the inevitable disappointment that comes with being outbid when you're bidding your maximum.
I suppose the WHY behind us bidding on a bus is just as important as the bid itself, so I'll spend the time between repeatedly checking the auction to introduce ourselves, and explain why, exactly, we feel the need to own 20,000lbs of yellow magic.
It all started 33 years ago, on a dry April day in Nevada...... Kidding! But maybe there is some truth to that, now that I think about it. Who knows exactly when the wanderlust of this world hit me, but some of my first memories are of our trip between Arizona and South Carolina as we moved from the Air Force base my father was stationed at, to the spot he and my mom wanted to go for his post-retirement, Charleston, SC. Memories of a gas station made to look like an old saloon in Texas, our old dog at my feet as I sat in my booster seat in the UHaul, finally able to clearly see out the windows as we drove, and laying across the floorboards of our old Ford LTD (this was the 80's, hence the lax seat belt laws and laissez-faire parenting) trying to sleep on the giant exhaust hump because my older sister was sleeping in the seat. It's been 28 years and I'm still salty about it. But I also would have totally done the same thing to her if I were the older sibling, so I get it. Still salty.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Still the highest bidder. *exhale*
How did I, a 33 year old mother of 2, married to the peanut butter to my jelly, find myself obsessively checking a bid for a BUS? (Can you tell I have not completely accepted the reality of our choice yet? Holy balls, this is nuts.)
My husband, Ed, and I have been married 10 years, together for 12- and our kids are 11 and 8. We currently live in Wisconsin, and moved here almost 5 years ago for a better job opportunity for Ed. Prior to this, we were Ohio loyalists- having grown up in southern Ohio and then moved to the Cincinnati area for 6 years, chaos and change have been tenants of our marriage since day 1. Our marriage has survived his tour of duty in Iraq, multiple moves, a kitchen renovation, and starting a small farm. Nothing prepared me for how hard my husband would be hit from his first job loss.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Still the highest bidder. *exhale*
What should have been a small hiatus to another comparable job, turned into a 2 month ordeal with him finally settling for a job just to make ends meet (and by ends meet, I mean nothing but our basic bills covered, with zero left over to survive on.) Ed's always defined himself by his work ethic. He is an exceptionally hard worker, wickedly smart, and innately good at all thing engineering related. His brain works completely opposite of my own and it never fails to amaze me just how smart the man is... His confidence took a major hit and he stopped believing in his own worth and value. The layoff blindsided him (as it should have- turns out he was fired not due to his work abilities, but personality conflicts with his boss. Even finding that out didn't change his lack of belief in himself though) and ultimately, we sank beyond debt and back in bankruptcy territory. We've flailed and floundered since then, trying to stay afloat while also trying to keep our small farm from going under- to no avail.
A few months ago, Ed offhandedly mentioned "I'd just like to get a bus and take off- drive ourselves all over the country and be done with all of this crazy." I wrote him off as simply wishful thinking under duress, but as things continued to get worse, we were faced with making a choice: keep doing what we're doing and drown, or find a way to save ourselves before the tides got the best of us.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Fuuuuu... Outbid. *bids new max, maxing out full budget* $1800 now. Gaaaah.
On a long drive home from picking up feed for our pigs, I came to the realization that perhaps his wishful thinking didn't have to be so wishful after all. In a moment of clarity, I could see two paths in front of us: One where we continued to struggle to just survive, Ed continuing to work 60 hours a week and truly living to work, instead of working to live, and me taking on a minimum wage crap job just to keep us above water. Or.. orrr... we could change the narrative. We could buck the conventional thinking we've ingrained inside ourselves and do what was best for the 4 of us to not just survive, but- hopefully - really live.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Still the highest bidder. *thereisnoexhalebecausewehave10minutesleftohmygod*
So, after a LOT of going back and forth- "Are we really thinking about doing this? Are we crazy? Are you SURE you're on board with this?" and then working through all the various semantics of what it would take to get from where we are now, to where we want to be... I find myself, with baited breath, refreshing a bid on a bus, every few seconds.
*que the Jeopardy music* *holds breath.....*
WE GOT THE BUS!!!
$1800 via the PublicSurplus.com auction site, for a 78 passenger 2008 RE (rear engine) Thomas International T444E 7.3 liter with Allison transmission, with only 92,000 miles. None of that would have made a bit a sense to me before we started researching this. That's about 33' of interior length, and 7.5' interior width with a 6' head height. For those not wanting to math right now, that's just about 247.5sf of living space. We currently live in a 2500sf home with 10 acres of land.
Holy balls. We just bought a bus.
Bus. We're bidding on a BUS.
There's an hour and 25 minutes left before the auction ends and we're currently the highest bidder at $1525. I doubt it will stay that way, so I keep refreshing the page and guarding myself against the inevitable disappointment that comes with being outbid when you're bidding your maximum.
I suppose the WHY behind us bidding on a bus is just as important as the bid itself, so I'll spend the time between repeatedly checking the auction to introduce ourselves, and explain why, exactly, we feel the need to own 20,000lbs of yellow magic.
It all started 33 years ago, on a dry April day in Nevada...... Kidding! But maybe there is some truth to that, now that I think about it. Who knows exactly when the wanderlust of this world hit me, but some of my first memories are of our trip between Arizona and South Carolina as we moved from the Air Force base my father was stationed at, to the spot he and my mom wanted to go for his post-retirement, Charleston, SC. Memories of a gas station made to look like an old saloon in Texas, our old dog at my feet as I sat in my booster seat in the UHaul, finally able to clearly see out the windows as we drove, and laying across the floorboards of our old Ford LTD (this was the 80's, hence the lax seat belt laws and laissez-faire parenting) trying to sleep on the giant exhaust hump because my older sister was sleeping in the seat. It's been 28 years and I'm still salty about it. But I also would have totally done the same thing to her if I were the older sibling, so I get it. Still salty.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Still the highest bidder. *exhale*
How did I, a 33 year old mother of 2, married to the peanut butter to my jelly, find myself obsessively checking a bid for a BUS? (Can you tell I have not completely accepted the reality of our choice yet? Holy balls, this is nuts.)
My husband, Ed, and I have been married 10 years, together for 12- and our kids are 11 and 8. We currently live in Wisconsin, and moved here almost 5 years ago for a better job opportunity for Ed. Prior to this, we were Ohio loyalists- having grown up in southern Ohio and then moved to the Cincinnati area for 6 years, chaos and change have been tenants of our marriage since day 1. Our marriage has survived his tour of duty in Iraq, multiple moves, a kitchen renovation, and starting a small farm. Nothing prepared me for how hard my husband would be hit from his first job loss.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Still the highest bidder. *exhale*
What should have been a small hiatus to another comparable job, turned into a 2 month ordeal with him finally settling for a job just to make ends meet (and by ends meet, I mean nothing but our basic bills covered, with zero left over to survive on.) Ed's always defined himself by his work ethic. He is an exceptionally hard worker, wickedly smart, and innately good at all thing engineering related. His brain works completely opposite of my own and it never fails to amaze me just how smart the man is... His confidence took a major hit and he stopped believing in his own worth and value. The layoff blindsided him (as it should have- turns out he was fired not due to his work abilities, but personality conflicts with his boss. Even finding that out didn't change his lack of belief in himself though) and ultimately, we sank beyond debt and back in bankruptcy territory. We've flailed and floundered since then, trying to stay afloat while also trying to keep our small farm from going under- to no avail.
A few months ago, Ed offhandedly mentioned "I'd just like to get a bus and take off- drive ourselves all over the country and be done with all of this crazy." I wrote him off as simply wishful thinking under duress, but as things continued to get worse, we were faced with making a choice: keep doing what we're doing and drown, or find a way to save ourselves before the tides got the best of us.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Fuuuuu... Outbid. *bids new max, maxing out full budget* $1800 now. Gaaaah.
On a long drive home from picking up feed for our pigs, I came to the realization that perhaps his wishful thinking didn't have to be so wishful after all. In a moment of clarity, I could see two paths in front of us: One where we continued to struggle to just survive, Ed continuing to work 60 hours a week and truly living to work, instead of working to live, and me taking on a minimum wage crap job just to keep us above water. Or.. orrr... we could change the narrative. We could buck the conventional thinking we've ingrained inside ourselves and do what was best for the 4 of us to not just survive, but- hopefully - really live.
*holds breath* *refreshed auction* Still the highest bidder. *thereisnoexhalebecausewehave10minutesleftohmygod*
So, after a LOT of going back and forth- "Are we really thinking about doing this? Are we crazy? Are you SURE you're on board with this?" and then working through all the various semantics of what it would take to get from where we are now, to where we want to be... I find myself, with baited breath, refreshing a bid on a bus, every few seconds.
*que the Jeopardy music* *holds breath.....*
WE GOT THE BUS!!!
$1800 via the PublicSurplus.com auction site, for a 78 passenger 2008 RE (rear engine) Thomas International T444E 7.3 liter with Allison transmission, with only 92,000 miles. None of that would have made a bit a sense to me before we started researching this. That's about 33' of interior length, and 7.5' interior width with a 6' head height. For those not wanting to math right now, that's just about 247.5sf of living space. We currently live in a 2500sf home with 10 acres of land.
Holy balls. We just bought a bus.
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