#218: Rich!

Remember that mysterious box of jewellery I inherited ten years ago, and recently rediscovered?

https://shootingthrough.net/2010/08/23/187-whats-in-the-box-part-1/

https://shootingthrough.net/2010/08/24/186-whats-in-the-box-part-2-the-father-in-law/

Remember, too, my pathetic financial state?

A quote from yours truly a few days ago: “CJ and I have lofty savings goals for this year. We have just (barely) made it to halfway (and it’s October. Late October). We can still make it – but that means anything other than rent, bills, petrol, and food (in that order) is a no-no.”

I think that was just after my cat Ana was hit by a car (she’s fine, but that cost a lot), and our car broke (also now fixed, but our collective purse is not looking good). At present I have no credit on my phone, and I’m rationing my internet and contact lense use (I have glasses, but they give me headaches) in order to put off the next payments for as long as possible. My phone costs $30 to recharge, the internet costs $50 a month, and contact lenses cost $150 for three months’ worth. (Yes, $30 makes a difference.)

So we had the jewellery valued (which cost another $250), hoping to scrape together a few hundred dollars – maybe even up to a thousand, if we did REALLY well on ebay.

It’s worth $11,500.

We checked and double-checked and confirmed the decimal point about half a dozen times before either of us actually believed it.

. . . I may have mentioned maniacal giggling. . . 

This is roughly equivalent to my entire annual income.

Oh. Squee. Oh. SQUEEEE!!

We’re rich, I tell you! Rich!

Well, anyway. Here’s some pics you’ve seen before. You can probably tell which pile went to the jeweller’s and which was left at home.

Among the plastic there were sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, jade, and gold – but plenty of mystery, too.

The way that valuers work is that they tell you the total amount, then later send certificates with the details. (I actually can’t even take new photos myself at present, because CJ took it all straight to a friend’s house and locked it in his safe). We should have the details in the next week or two – and proper photos.

15 of the 18 valuable items are represented above (the stone is fake, the jade bracelet is only worth $50, I’m wearing my own wedding ring, and I’d already sold the yellow-gold wedding ring online). The unphotographed valuable items are a silver bracelet, a hideously ugly amber necklace, and an engagement ring (which the first jeweller we went to thought was fake, but I wanted a second opinion just in case). CJ and I have utterly no idea how the $11,500 is spread among the various pieces. We sincerely hope that it’s not one single item worth $11,000, because that would probably be difficult to sell. Especially if it’s that amber necklace. It looks like big chunky plastic orange beads. I look forward to showing you a proper picture of it.

So what do we do with our newfound wealth?

Well, obviously – nothing. I’m not even buying phone credit. Not until we actually sell things – which could take a very long time thanks to the vagaries of ebay. We certainly won’t be getting $11,500. But half of that would do all kinds of wonderful things.

We have a list of priorities, starting with savings (which may end up taking everything – and that’s okay, because it could make a difference between eventually buying a two-bedroom or a three-bedroom house). I basically wrote down on paper the list I already had in my head – savings first (that’s several thousand dollars just to make our initial goal), a big service for the car, paying off our debts (several thousand, again), booking our second honeymoon (which we’ve always planned for January 2011 – we figure it’s our last hurrah as a childless and thus relatively wealthy couple), and paying for the balloon ride of awesomeness I’ve had planned for March (ish) 2011 since I started the Quest of Daily Awesomeness. We slotted in a few instant-gratification items – the hardcover “Behemoth” by Scott Westerfeld; a better internet system for our home (something I promised CJ when he was promoted, but have been putting off); and a nice date (probably ice skating or some other form of exercise).

My head is still spinning, and I’m super proud of how calm and sensible we’re being. I just hope ebay smiles on us – but I’m pretty confident it’ll at least give us a quick grin. I’ll let you know! And I’ll post the financial breakdown plus photos as soon as we have them.

And here’s an especially intriguing steampunk sculpture moment sent in by you-know-who-you-are: