Going Liquid

What a strange sensation it is to being going liquid at this stage of my life.Its not an easy thing to do. To sell most of your material goods in order to move half way around the world. Although I consider myself a 90% poker player I have also had a couple of businesses on the go over the past few years. This has provided me with a stable lifestyle so that I have been able to go out and play poker without worrying where the next months mortgage will come from.

I came back from travelling Australia and New Zealand in 1999. I had been away for 2 years and I had my rucksack on my back and a couple hundred pounds in my pocket. This was all that I owned in the world. Upon my return I made a few phonecalls and got offered a job as an assistant manager in a busy pub/restaurant in Essex.

After 18 months i got transfered into my own pub also in Essex. 6 months later the company who owned the pub sold up and I had the chance to take on a 10 year lease. I was offered the lease for free all I had to do was come up with the rent deposit and buy the stock. So 8 years later I have sold up. Made a good profit on the place. I actually made an increase in profit and turnover every year in what is a declining market. Im also glad to be out before the smoking ban ruins the trade.

The house is also ready to complete, just a few more i's to dot and t's to cross and we will be there. The strange part for me is all the little bits and pieces that I need to liquidate before the big move. The things that you dont think about but will need to be sold anyway as there is no point in taking them. As I stated in my original post timing is the key to everything in this move.

I have to sell my car. Its a good car in good condition and I want a good price for it so I dont want to just make it a last minute sale but on the other hand I want it avalible to me up until the day I leave. Same goes for my TV and computer. I bought a 46 inch top spec plasma screen which is the dog's. Although I have only had it for about 6 months I doubt I will get even a 1/4 of the price of what I paid for it. So al my electronic items have to go. The people who are buying my house have made offer on the white kitchen appliances and have made a terrible offer to me for them all. They are taking the piss with the offer and they know that they are but for the effort on my behalf to get them all moved to sell to someone else they know they are in a strong position. Saying that they are paying over the odds for the house so maybe I should cut them some slack.

Most of the stuff I guess I will have to give away. Its going to be a new life for us out there and although replacing a whole house worth will prove expensive I think it is the better way of doing it. My internation removals company is quoting my £5k to ship my stuff to vegas. As my visas are all in order yet though they are refusing to do it until all the papers are sorted. So what we are doing now is going with another firm and sending all to my parents in Virginia. From there it will be easier to get it all sent on to vegas.

Xmas and New Year have been very awkward for me this year. To be honest im not a great fan of either really but this year they have just got in the way.

I think my solicitor has taken two weeks over through the holidays so no news on the house completing.

My bad news of the holidays has been the closure of MaxJet. Maxjet was/is a budget business class airline that ran out of stanstead airport (some 15 minutes away for me). They did some great deals and provided an amazing service for flying direct to Vegas. So I guess its back to Virgin and Gatwick for me, what a pain that will be, im not a fan of Gatwick in the slightest.

We are planning a trip over in 2 weeks to meet with a couple of estate agents and to look into rental accomodation for when our house is sold. Also planning to visit other parts of Vegas than just the strip to discover the suburbs and to see if we can find the family home that we are looking for.

Well thats it for now I guess please feel free to post comments. This thing is easier to write if I feel people are out there reading. Im a bit of a technophob so I havent got the blog set up with a counter yet or linked to a blog rater.