Winding Up Appointments For Now

by Brigid McAlpin September 27, 2026

The week basically started off with more Scottsdale appointments, so we headed back down the mountain on Monday. Kuochun was originally planning to stay in Prescott but our internet, phone and TV provider changed from Cox to Spectrum and he could no longer access his MLB account. I suggested that he come back with me so we could go to the customer service center in person as he spent most of the weekend on the phone trying to get things resolved without success. We went there after our drive back and unfortunately they were not able to resolve the issue but I had the bright idea to upgrade my phone. I have been using Mother's iPhone 16, I was kind of forced to turn in my previous phone and pay her phone off at the time. Otherwise I would have had to continue paying for her phone while it was not in use, and if I wanted a new phone I would be paying for that too. After about two years iPhones do not keep a charge and watching Whatnot shows while doing jewelry work was really draining the battery. I was going to get the 18 Pro but they were out of stock except for the light blue color. The issue I had with Mother's phone was that it was a teal color and this made it difficult to match phone cases with it. I ended up with the 18 Pro Max and I chose black so it will basically go with any case. However the data transfer between phones did not go smoothly. It took the better part of two days, working around my Tuesday dental appointment but it had to be a priority since I was not receiving any calls or texts. Thankfully a technician at the Apple Store was able to get the data transferred and then it was back to Spectrum to turn in Mother's phone. It has been a while since I have had a Max size phone but I am glad I got it. The screen is larger for viewing Whatnot shows!

My dental appointment was pretty rough. It was the first time I've ever had any work done on a lower tooth since I had my wisdom teeth pulled in my early 20s. But unfortunately those darn metal fillings dentists used to use back in the day are not good for teeth. They are unforgiving and cause teeth to crack over time. I was supposed to take care of this particular tooth a year ago but it was impossible because we were in the throes of moving. On my last visit, I was told that I really should get a crown because the tooth was cracked from top to bottom. It was not bothering me in the least but I was told if it broke I would be in for worse problems. It took three tries to numb the area (lower left) and I do believe even at that I felt more pain than I should have. I am still on soft foods as I am experiencing soreness, especially when eating. It is also taking some getting used to as I believe the crown is larger than my previous tooth. But it could be that my original tooth was too small and the crown is the right size.

Wednesday the Whatnot seller came over and she found lots of items to take with her to sell, including the entire collection I had put together for Melinda to sell at local estate sales. It is still the slower season as we are on an opposite schedule than Illinois due to weather. Saturday's show was kind of challenging as it brought out a lot of bargain hunters. One person asked for the seller to start sterling silver "Navajo pearl" beaded necklaces for $1. I never would have done it but the seller was a good sport and ran one starting at $1. I did not see the person who asked ever bid. In spite of the challenges, she sold nearly 40 pieces between my items, Mother's and a few for the Geneva estate. Plus her mom is a good customer and chose a couple of items and every week a piece or two is selling from her website. It has been a wonderful blessing! After our meeting I had to head to my medi pedi appointment.

We were supposed to head back to Prescott Thursday for another round of plumbing work Friday morning but ended up going on Friday morning. Two different plumbers were assigned to do the work than the ones I had before and it was good news! Instead of $2,200 this go-around it ended up being only $562. The head plumber was a seasoned veteran and after doing some testing, realized that nothing needed to be changed with the exhaust pipe which exits through the roof. It is PVC pipe painted black, not cast iron! The only thing that needed to be adjusted was the water pressure level coming in from the city. It was set to 90 and the plumber adjusted it to 50! It was a big relief to learn that the house was indeed safe in this area and thank goodness I do not have any appointments for a while!

Since there was no Bears game Sunday Kuochun wanted to go for brunch. It was a heavy week of paperwork with four estate sale packages to complete and after watching the marathon Whatnot show Saturday I did not want to take too much time away from work. We ended up walking down the street to Theodore's Fine Foods, where they serve bagel sandwiches and pastries. Kuochun totally loved his lox with onions and huge capers on an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese. The cashier suggested this combination. I ended up with a pepperoni pizza bagel, which was crusted with hot pepper flakes and fennel on the bottom. As a result, the bottom half was pretty spicy and the top half was not spicy at all. Eating is still a challenge but I thought it was good.

With such a hectic week, once again posting new items is falling by the wayside. I was able to start on the items for which I took photos about a month ago. I posted three items which came from the personal collection of Federico Jimenez but were not his creations. First off was this beautiful multi-stone cuff bracelet by Anglo artist Don Lucas, this pretty multi-stone petit point cluster pin or pendant by Zuni artist Lorraine Waatsa and this super cool pair of earrings which are a marriage between 1940s Fred Harvey Era turquoise earrings and a set of turquoise jaclas to form dramatic dangles. The plan is to post the rest of the Federico collection pieces next week.

As far as sales are concerned, I accepted a Poshmark offer on this Federico abalone cuff bracelet. This was the smallest scale of the abalone cuffs I have in my inventory, the remaining two sizes are still available. I also had a sale for a Rosella Paxton ring on Mercari but unfortunately I cannot find it. I checked with the Whatnot seller and she does not have it. Possibly it was put in the wrong bag while she was looking at everything so I will need to go through it all with a fine tooth comb. I sure hope it turns up because I really hate to disappoint any customers.

Next week and the week after I only have one estate sale package to complete each week so that will free up some time to get back to posting new pieces for the holiday season. There are plenty of items that I can post which do not fit the niche of the Whatnot seller. I had hoped for the pop-up sale to take place next week but there have just been too many delays with the remodeling. I did not realize that Tina was working with the tile company at the same time and she had put together an order for me to purchase. The solution was for me to buy enough 4" wide pieces in solid white to go all the way around the room because the alternative would have been for the contractor to cut the patterned tile all the way around and there would have been tremendous waste. The tile is scheduled to arrive next Wednesday. I sure wish this would have been figured out before the initial order was placed because I ended up having to pay $319 in additional shipping cost in addition to the delays.

I spent time in the pop-up shop on Saturday while listening to the Whatnot show, continuing to unpack non-jewelry items which will be for sale. There is a lot of rain forecasted for the beginning of next week but hopefully I will be able to get out there and get the first phase of the setup completed by the end of next week.

Until next time!