random thoughts of course

this is my first ramble so it may seem a bit all over the place. actually thats me in a nut shell . i want to get this one thing out of my head and at the same time pass on a warning to possibally save anyone from making the same mistake i made. as i said in my bio i have been selling things i make at craft shows for 36 years and i learned a long time ago what to look for when choosing a craft show to sell at. it seems even a seasoned crafter like myself can be duped my someone you know and trust. here is the situation without giving last names for obvious reasons. this person was selling at my local beach show in encinitas when he told several crafters he had some spaces open in quartzsite az. at a rv show on the midway in a pet/crafts tent in january. this is a very slow time of year and an opportunity to sell at a show that reportedly draws a hundred thousand a day gives you a greater chance to make some real money--right? wrong, we all were told that everyone did well, but when i arrived to set up the day before the show opened and saw that there were only 2 returning sellers out of a possibility of 20 spaces, i was sick. sure enough none of us made anywhere our real money expections and as a matter of fact most of us took a loss. i seem to have taken the worst of it and at this point i have lost my checking account ,all of my credit cards are late by at least 2 months, my loans are both in default and i have missed a mortgage payment. i have managed to bring 2 accounts current and i am looking for a grant that will possible help me get current with the mortgage and larger loans. i've been trying to sell my home for a little over a year and this coupled with the market slump and i now also need a grant for the down payment and closing costs on a new place in northern arizona. i've been looking at double wide mobil homes on two and a half acres just north of prescut. now that i have had the chance to write this all down i hope i can get it out of my mind. the whiplash of the cash problems that this situation has caused will go on for some time--i need a miracal i guess. i don't want to boohoo about it but if anyone is considering doing this show, don't - go across the street to tyson w. and even though others have told me, that show is not doing as well as it used to it's still way better than what i just went through. oh yea and of course after i got back to my local show two other sellers told me that they had the same situation the year before.