Miles of Alaska
The basic concept is, I want you to be happy and will do what I can within reason to see that happens. At the same time I don't want to be a sucker or get scammed. I try to be an honest person and I'll assume you are the same. With that in mind... if you receive something from me and are not happy for any reason- I will refund your money no questions. I realize with one of a kind items it is hard to know what it is like till it is in your hands- so do not feel 'stuck' with anything. Even with shops who buy from me- if they have inventory at the end of the season that has not sold, I exchange it. I'm proud of my workmanship and have been in business over 30 years. I know what I am doing. If you don't want it, someone else will- not a problem. If something you get from me 'fails' in any way- get hold of me. I have no time limit. If you have an honest problem that shouldn't have happened I'll make it right. With regular customers I can trust-- it is common for me to simply send items- they look it over, buy what they want, and return the rest. This is how I prefer to do business- mostly a matter of knowing if I can trust you to do me right in return.
Following words on warranties and guarantee- needs a word beginning 'However!' . Keep in mind animal products are made by Nature- and Nature may or may not care about how it's material holds up as a necklace. Teeth enjoy cracking. It is what they like to do. Stopping them from cracking can be a challenge. Few animal materials wish to be subjected to water- fast drastic temperature humidity changes- and most susceptible will be ivory and teeth- maybe opals. If you take one of my necklaces and make a key fob out of it- please do not blame me if it gets scratched. If you buy raw ivory from me and try to cut it with a wet saw- I 'guarantee' it will crack. In otherworld you need to know at least a little about the material and if in doubt ask, or look over my advice and how to pages. . It is one reason I encourage an Email from a customer so I can get a feel for what you know- what you are getting into and kind of making sure this product is really what will be right for you even if you think so. I may decide no - it is not - and not sell it to you. Many situations need special attention. I have items illegal to sell I give away to the right people. Or items I can trade but not sell. Or I'll take a chance in the grey area if we sing from the same sheet of music. Items that may not get put in the invoice and I never heard of you if asked. I just want some things to be in good hands .I'm just now getting into and understanding offering a shopping cart. Try to be patient and understanding.
Ordering art from Miles Martin Nenana Alaska selling raw materials custom knives all hand crafted unique gifts
Miles at Miles of Alaska
box 363
Nenana Alaska
99760
1-907-832-5442 miles@milesofalska.net
I do not want money up front 'because' - Ok well maybe
I value my freedom and once I have your money you are my boss. The heck with that. If I have a problem with the order, or I suddenly freak out and need a break, or suddenly the fish are biting. I must be able to walk away. If I do not have your money so what? You are upset but no loss. If I have your money I get sued. Few customers understand the process of how their piece is made and the technical aspect. How much do they even want to know or how much should they know? Not much I do is like how anyone else does things anyhow. That is why my work is unique. But unique has a downside! About every single item I make is one of a kind and thus an experiment. Some experiments fail, or change as they develop. I need freedom to move the project in the direction it is happy with. I might mean well but the special stone I selected breaks, and I can't replace it, or I was sure I had it and seem to have misplaced it. If it's mine? I laugh "Oh well!" and substitute and who ever knows? Or cares? But if it's your project? I have to contact you discuss bla bla is the shit in the fan now? For sure it is going to cost me more to do it your way.
I want you to be happy with the work. I assume you will be fair to me and I will be fair to you. I assume you made a commitment and are serious and if I do a good job you will pay me and not yank my chain. You can assume I will do my best job and be fair with my prices. The proof of that is you see it before you pay. I consider that fair and a gentleman's agreement based on handshake, not a contract. More like we are friends who think alike with a connection of some kind. You get my work, you have a piece of my soul. I care where my soul goes. Sometimes reality sets in. Far to often I receive a go ahead on a special order and the customer blows me off with replies like "I decided I cant afford it, I need to pay my rent" After I carved their name in something. Or even - we define 'fair' based on facts we have and maybe a customer simply does not understand waste they are asking for. "Oh can you remove the wolf and try a bear instead' Might entail starting all over from scratch and 10 hours of work. (for example) It is also common for people to change their minds, say "I hope it's not a problem' after I put in many hours already. So yes sometimes I ask for a down payment, especially if the request is something I think would be hard to sell of you do not buy it. Likewise my freedom is not just an ego thing. I'm getting older, this 'sitting at the computer' life dealing with customers is killing me. I've gained weft have out of control blood pressure and for health reasons I 'must' not have stress and need to minimize the time I sit. Reserving the right to reject orders, and to accept special orders on my terms is part of my survival.
Use the site map to the left to find answers to your questions. It's worth reviewing 'because'. I am trying to offer items not commonly offered, in ways not normally done. In most cases if you are using the shopping cart you can skip all the rest, click and order. Except read the shop cart shipping
I have divided and subdivided and cross referenced to get you in the right section
Think of my web site like a physical store. Items in the shop cart are items on the shelf, priced, labeled and ready to sell.
Items not in the shop cart, with a picture but no price, are items under the shelf, or in the warehouse, or already sold. Also such pictures are like a resume of what I have done and can do. I might have one like it . See separate section for 'no price' Think of pictures with no price as ideas for special orders. Expect to pay more for a special order. See special orders. See 'business 101' on my 'questions and answer' page. Think of this. It takes 5 minutes to upload a pile of pictures and walk away. It takes 15 minutes per item to list it for sale. I can post the picture with no price and leave it there for 5 years -- like trolling. If I put a price I have to keep track of it. I have 9 warehouses full of stuff. I have at any given time 500 finished art items. We do this quick and dirty. Slap er up there and see if we get any bites. Hopefully the rich and famous.
Ordering off the cart is how to get the best price, and see good pictures with descriptions. This is like shopping off the shelf in the store. If you contact me about an item in a picture not on the cart then I have to go look, take a picture for you, describe material just for you. The situation this creates 'depends'
Why pictures with no prices???
Several reason. It is like a portfolio or resume. Some reasons are 'personal' such as this is like fishing. The intention is not to catch every fish. 90% of my buienss comes from 5% of my customers. These customers expect to see 'stuff' lots of work I do - to know I can produce. Likewise 56 pages and 1,000 pictures gets #1 listing in search engines. 10 items for sale and that is all there is to see is not going to get anyone excited. I put it out there, and suddenly I'm the Man. Anotgher reason- this entie sitre was built with a $35 prograqm, an outdated computer and slwo speed dial up internet. It takes 24 hours to upload the entire site. How often can I add and remove items and keep it updated? Got high speed now - will try to do better. Even so I still spend up to 10 hours a day on the computr answering emails. It's wearing.
Do I have it?
I might have it but I might politely say it is not here. To show you the right thing I need information. If you are on that knife materials page I do not know that. If you ask “Need ivory what you got?” I am clueless if you are seeking a $1 shard for show and tell, a carver, a scrim man, or need a set of scales of my best blue, Fish and Game trying to bust me, someone seeking a finished art necklace, or a collector looking for a $15,000 mammoth tusk. I need a reference point. This is good reason to cut and paste a picture of what you see on my site that catches your eye. See cut and past instructions if you need to. (topic on the left index)
To inquire about an item with no shop cart icon
and you want a good price
Many customers are busy! They would appreciate it if I got everything out that I have that might possibly interest them. Maybe they are to busy to go through my web site and look more, or read how it works. . They want me to organize these items, weigh, describe, and price, so they have as many choices as possible. This in short is the same as putting items in the public shopping cart, only they want a personal made to order shopping cart, tailor made for their needs. Keep in mind that before they contacted me I was working in the shop, at shop time of $60 an hour. I stopped what I was doing to read their request, and now they are my boss. They have hired me to find things. No other business can get done while I serve this customer. I'm a one man business. The shop is closed, doors are locked. The customer has my full attention. The chart below is what is free, that has been calculated already into my prices, as 'average'
$10 sale equals 2 minutes
example one email one question no personal picture
#1 give me your name
I create files using a first name - so be sure at each contact to use the same first name. If a wife emails next time, or you use a nick name or initials I must spend time finding your file or may not be able to. If a pay pal payment arrives with another name then 'Raven' I may not know what you paid for.
#2 cut and paste a picture of what you are looking at -
Do not overload me with lots of pictures, lots of interests, on a first time contact. It could take me 20 minutes to deal with each item, and there is no obligation on your part to buy. I can only donate so much time without knowing if you are planning on paying for that time. I have a note under 'my time' to look at as an indicator of what is free
#3 Clue me in.
If you only write “Do you have this? How much? ” I'm most likely to reply 'no'. Because this indicates someone unwilling to give any time, but expects me to spend the time to go look. This is to me not a yes or no question.. I might have something very similar. I do not know what it is about this you like. The size, the cap, the color, the shape or?
Tell me what is relevant I need to know. It might make a difference if you are 10 years old or 90. It might matter that you are a woman or a man if it's art. Or if it is a gift. Or if you are an artist yourself. If you know this material well. Where you live. (legal and shipping issues even cultural issues). It might be good to say you want my best product or my best price. Are you in a hurry? Would you consider I make one for you? If you run a store or this is personal. I like my art and material to 'connect' to people, it's my heart and soul. Who are you? Only some of the above might be relevant, mostly what do you care about
.
In many cases this will end up being a special order, see below
, $100 equals 10 minutes,
example a personal description, a photo on file , 2-3 email exchanges
$1,000 equals an hour.
Example several personal pictures of item several descriptions several emails
$10,000 equals several hours.
Example lots of pictures lots of emails phone calls references personal shipping inquiry and or talking to others to find best deals
$100,000 Lets get together in person.
My place or yours? Mine? Bring your fishing pole.
So review the above and see where you fit in. More time then the above is $60 an hour shop time , or a dollar a minute. You have no obligation to buy or pay for my time, but when I review your request I'm asking myself how much time are we talking about, and what are the chances this will result in a sale. What indicators do I have that you understand the situation.
It might be good to review the above 'items without prices'; if in doubt. If you are sure you want a special order skip to next paragraph 'procedure'
In truth if you are not inquiring about something in the shopping cart you are engaged in a special order. There are various levels of special orders. If my expected time involved is within the parameters set up, it's 'free'. No extra charge. Keep in mind I may not be able to help you out. I am used to doing things my way how I want when I want and not good at following directions. Personally if ana artist whose work I like has 5 finished pieces I'll choose one of them. I usually have 500 finished items on hand at any given time. Is my customer being hard to please and is this order going to be a problem? I also see my business as a sellers market, not a buyers market. I spent a lot of time in my life making sure of that. A special order is more a favor to you then it is to me. I usually do not make as much money on special orders. It takes 3 times as long but I do not get paid 3 times as much. I do however enjoy pleasing people, and sometimes special orders are interesting.
Procedure.
You see something on my web site I have made already . You cut and paste this to me in an email so we both know what you are looking at. If I do not have it I will email back and ask if I can find something close to it or if you want me to make something similar as a special order. I'll try to give a estimate, but may need to ask more questions. If you give me a go ahead I give a time frame and price and keep you posted as the project proceeds. I may require a down payment - read below. At least in theory this is all how it is supposed to work. 'However' Something else seems to happen. I can only guess why. I do notice not many web sites encourage personal contact. I usually have to hunt and at the bottom of a last page in fine print is a 'contact us' but first you have to go through the gauntlet of 'frequently asked questions'. Finally after "are you sure you need to contact' there is that chance, and the reply is standard cut and paste usually. So- maybe buyers are all over me with questions and thrilled with the chance to actually contact a real person. In their enthusiasm maybe forget they are one in 30 people a day who ask for my personal attention on the net. Sometimes I feel like a guy in a scene in a movie I saw. He's in India and wants to help a poor child, so hands the child a penny. Just trying to be a nice guy. Children come out of the woodwork with hands out demanding pennies , by the dozens then the hundreds and he is swamped, his clothes are ripped off and he is left with nothing- totally drained. His friend tells him what a fool he is. Later he has a WC Fields outlook "Get away from me kid, ya bother me" I feel like this because? Well it is common for customer to reach my site, see a email box and see one item and call me on the phone, maybe 3am in the morning to ask me if I sell ivory. Well DAh! They spend 10 seconds and want in return I spend half an hour to look for something when they could go look on my web site. Then 99.9% of the time they want a discount on an order under $50. Obviously 'personal service' means different things to different people. Because of this I allow everyone in and it is up to each customer to establish where in line they will stand. Everybody has the equal opportunity to have 10 seconds of my time for free. Within the first 10 seconds I am making decisions. The front of the line, the back of the line. No, you don't get served in the order you arrived. I move in the direction of the good profits, or deals I understand, that are fun or easy, or deals where I am going to be appreciated, or deals where I can be of genuine meaningful service to someone. Scammers spammers those looking for something for nothing, the rude the discourteous move to the back of the line - possibly on hold forever. But also keep in mind I am just getting older, forgetful and I may have had good intentions and just forgot. I may need a reminder. I don't necessarily need special orders. It's more a favor to the customer then to me. In general I hope people find something I have they like. I have usually 500 finished items in stock at any given time. If a customer cant find something they like out of 500 pieces are they overly picky and going to be a problem? Hard to please? What then will satisfy them? Do they really like my work or do they want to be my boss? So considering all the various situations I deal with I have no real procedure to follow. I play it by ear. But for sure cut and paste me a picture. For sure look my web site over to verify I do not have what you want in site. Understand you cant contact me requesting help- personal service advice, and expect a discount! Expect to pay more then the customer who finds it in the shop cart and buys it and never contacts me. My attitude is, why should that customer be punished and pay and subsidize customers who occupy my time and cost me money? Let those who need help pay for it, doesn't that make sense?
Lots pictures! No shop cart! No understand! Want buy! Uhhuh. You are interested! If you understand skip down to 'procedure' to inquire
Why pictures with no prices???
Several reasons. These pictures are samples to cut and paste and say “I need this!” I can indeed make it happen. I am like Indiana Jones. I can get the holy Grail, for enough money. I have contacts all over the world, in high places, in low places. I do not do this for $100 orders however. Those not in the game can look and dream, and buy off the cart. Or inquire, I may have it, or something like it. Review my free time chart. My asking prices have these times calculated into the price. More t then this and I'm loosing money, so must charge for my time. It could take half an hour to find out if I have it or not.
$10 sale equals 2 minutes
example one email one question no personal picture
, $100 equals 10 minutes,
example a personal description, photo, 2-3 email exchanges
$1,000 equals an hour.
Example several pictures several descriptions several emails
$10,000 equals several hours.
Example lots of pictures lots of emails phone calls references personal shipping inquiry and or talking to others to find best deals
And yup, the shop cart is just the tip of the iceberg. I have probably got 1,000 times as much as in the cart. Oh yes many customers just need to see it all to make a choice! A private showing for shopping cart prices! Many do not care if I spend an hour or more showing them items for their $10 order. Or after spending an hour say “Thanks, just looking have a nice day” Thus the policy. Pay per view. Keep in mind I was working in the shop getting $60 an hour at the time I stopped to look for your item. I loose money helping you out without charging. Sorry! If you wonder why I do not just put it all in the shop cart.. I have 50 pounds of turquoise with cabs numbering in the hundreds. I just bought 80 pounds of local mammoth ivory and most customers want to buy it half a pound at a time. It takes 20 minutes per listing, times 160 pieces of ivory to list . Get your fingers out to count and see how many hours that is.Keep in mind my big business is my art work. Selling my personal stash of good stuff is not a priority. Your want is not my need. If it does not sell I am not between a rock and a hard place, I just use it myself. I just sit on it till a big buyer shows up at my house and drives off with a truckload. I do not make my money selling half pound of mammoth ivory or one tooth at a time. It helps you more them me. I do it, but it's at the bottom of the list of things to do today. No price because reason number 101.... this web site was built and maintained by me, with a $30 web program, slow speed dial up Internet and an 8 year outdated computer. It takes 24 hours to upload the entire site which is 56 pages, about 30 separate web sites linked together. Some pages I have not revisited in 5 years. How can I quote prices that can be 5 years outdated, or list anything in a cart and not remove it once it sells for 5 years? Reason 102.... all those pages all those pictures gets me high up in the search engines. I can decide hwo to deal with the customers I get once I get them. Sort them out at my leisure. Pick and choose - improve the quality of my life by having choices. Reason 2,000 I feel I have turned things around and made my business a sellers market rather then a buyers market. Consider that customers pick and choose where to shop. Maybe shop here may be there, ho hum, treat me nice and maybe it will be you I buy from. Uhhuh. Next! How about the seller picks and chooses who to sell to? What goes around comes around, what's good for the goose should work for the gander. I wait on customers I choose to wait on. I have good product at good prices. I'm not going to push it on anyone, argue about it, discuss it a lot. I'm not between a rock and a hard place. Thus I don't have to lie or harass anyone or be pushy or talk anyone into any deal. Almost the opposite. You have to really want what I have for me to sell it to you, and you might have to work at it to get it. Possibly I wont sell to you. It's not all for sale. Think of it as a museum and you get to look but can't touch. Just because someone has money, does that give them automatic rights to buy whatever they want? What about what I want? How can I run a business like that?! Watch, and behold. I am OZ. The great, the powerful. Do not pay attention to that man behind the curtain! Possibly- even probably a humbug. But a gifted one. And a happy one. And- well- if you don't like it pack your marbles up and go play someplace else. If you like my stuff my work, my lifestyle my outlook. My hand is out with a smile- "Welcome to Miles world"
Keep in mind money is not my God. I value much more, happiness, peace, respect, my health, and time. Money can be replaced, my good name and my time, my health can not. However paying me what I'm worth is a good way to show respect. Getting ripped off makes me a fool. Fools have no peace, are not happy, run out of time, and loose respect, are rarely healthy-- as good food, time for rest, checks ups etc cost money. And to quote one of my heroes, “Please don't rip me off, I'd hate to have ta kill you”
Pay Pal This is most common and works best for me and where the shop cart takes you. It cost me 3% but gives you insurance if I do not deliver or scam you. I like my customer to know that. It's a way of saying with deeds, I'm looking out for your interest. It's good for me- fast easy
Check I'll take a business or personal check.
Some people do not have, or are uncomfortable with Pay Pal. I wait for the check to arrive before sending the product out. My address is at the bottom of all my emails and on all my web pages
Miles of Alaska
Box 363
Nenana Alaska
99760
COD In the US I can ship out COD
where you pick it up at the post office and pay when the item arrives. It has a added post office fee I think $4.50 and you have to go to the post office.
Money Order From a post office works instead of a check
Bank Draft This works well from outside the US.
Any bank in the world can issue a bank draft to be paid in US dollars, like a bank money order
Bank transfer No
Overseas customers often ask me to accept a bank transfer, a direct deposit from their bank to mine. I'm told in Europe this is common. My bank and friends say “No way! Do not do this!” The transfer numbers requested, that allow access to my account for deposit, are the same numbers used to take my money out.
Western Union Maybe
This is a last resort for overseas sales. The nearest western union to me is 50 miles away and I do not drive. This requires a I get a ride and cost me a days time for the 100 miles round trip on a two lane twisting road. I could go there and the money is not there yet or a problem waits me. I've never used it, but in theory it is possible. The bank draft is better if not set up with Pay Pal
Charge card No
I'm not set up for charge cards. One reason is that in my own life I do not have or use one. I do not believe in spending money I do not have and do not want to encourage it. I could make more money using it, I do not care. I also do not want to be responsible for your card numbers. If you end up with a problem, identity theft, unauthorized withdrawals , I do not even want you to wonder if it happened here. That's too spooky. Credit cards scare me. I'm a subsistence wilderness person. I personally pay cash for everything. If it is naive of me to feel we all should, so be it. I feel one of the secrets to peace and happiness is being debt free. I feel strongly about this. I'm responsible for what I sell, and what we all do effects others. If you can not afford what I have, I do not want you to buy it on credit. I wish my work and material to be part of good things, doing good deeds. I can not control what you do with it once you own it, but I can care how you acquire it.
Trade!
I smile, What you got?
I'm open to suggestions. I've traded in the past for dry apricots, gem stones, fossils, amber, outdoor equipment. Just look at my site and lifestyle and ask yourself what do you have in your area that might interest me that you are at the source of and can get cheap. It could also be an alternative to customs issues overseas, a gift exchange.
Overseas
See Pay Pal , Bank draft, trade, and Western union above. One issue is that many items I sell have shipping restrictions. If it is an animal product and not a fossil, you might need to inquire.
Shipping
US air priority with delivery confirmation
is my usual method that is a good price, reliable and works here. It takes 4-5 days normally to anywhere in the US. 2nd day takes 3 days and cost 4 times as much and saves one day (as in big deal). If you got that much extra money to save a day, give some of it to me. Delivery confirmation is only 65 cents more and allows us to find out where it is or where it went and proves to you I sent it and protects me if a customer says to me they did not get it, when they really did. I try to weed out and not sell to customers like that, but now and then one slips through,
US flat rate priority
This works well. There are two choices an envelope for I think $4.50 and a box for $8.50. Whatever fits in goes at this price. I once got 30 pounds of rocks in a flat rate box. It's a good way to send heavier items. It makes knowing what to charge you easy. Add the 65 cents delivery confirmation.
1st class
Works well. This is for smaller items in a padded envelope and cost less but goes the same way as priority. Great for a flat strong item, small finished necklace or a claw for example
Parcel post
works This is good for heavy stuff and time is not a big factor. Supposedly it takes up to 6 weeks, but often it is 5-6 days.
UPS or Fedex. No Sorry we sometimes get items in this way but not out. This is a small remote community of 400 people with no house numbers and few road signs. Even stuff coming in sometimes ends up at the local store, the library, a neighbors house and I have to figure out who has it. Going out is a joke, forget it. They'll screw it up. Do not listen to some joker in an office outside Alaska.
Try to keep in mind I am in Alaska in a village of 400 people. We have a one room post office we have to go to in order get mail in or out. Mail is trucked 50 miles to the next community Fairbanks of 70,000 where it is transferred to air. Weather can be an issue. At 50 below I may not be able to get to the post office. I go by snow machine. Now and then the mail truck can not get through. We do not measure 'time' the same as civilized people do. We call it "Indian time" A day one way or the other is no big deal here. 'Checking emails often' is once a day. But sometimes Internet goes down or electric again no big deal to us. I know how to love off the land without power. Much of Nenanas is dirt roads with no names. "If you don't know where you are, you don't belong here" Most customers love that I get to hear wolves howl from my home, without thinking what the downside is. Keep your cool. Do not holler at me if a shipment appears to be a day later then expected. I'm not looking for the stress of your world. I live here for a reason. I can give you a tracking number if there is concern. Excuse me for not getting excited. I spent 25 years of my life getting supplies- mail- letters- once a year. I still tend to order things weeks or months ahead of time. It seems absurd to me to run out before ordering.
Overseas Priority mail works, and we have Global express but extremely high price - but fast. Parcel post works for heavy and slow and can take 6 weeks but best price on heavy items It is better to contact me because many items are restricted or can be sent but as a gift or traded or with special permits we need to discuss. Also there may be ways to make customs payment easier on you
Overseas cost
All I want from you is the exact cost of what postage will be to get items to you. Obviously it will cost more than sending the item within my own country. My usual shipping method is us postal flat rate shipping. This is a box with a fixed cost that covers anything put in it, a simple and workable shipping method. The flat rate the post office charges me varies from one country to the next. For many smaller- light in weight items it is not worth using even the smallest box! Often a small tooth or claw for example can go over seas or to Mexico or Canada for $3. The smallest flat rate can be $20 to Europe, but can hold as much as 4 pounds. If you are familiar with these flat rate sizes and costs simply locate the cost on the shipping chart and click on it and it is handled as an item in your order. This item you buy is called �shipping�. Or if you order things often and have some idea of the cost just use the chart and send me what you think shipping will be. If you are close and honest I�ll probably call it good. If you are way way wrong or I think you are taking advantage of me on purpose I will contact you for more shipping cost, or refund your money if you are not happy. Example. You buy a cave bear fang for $100, a wolf claw for $15, and shipping for $6. Total of items bought $112 including shipping.
Method 2
You can email me and ask. Honesty not the best method as I may be busy and not get back to you soon. Also see my �free time� chart. If discussion goes back and forth and it occupies my time you can be charged more for my time. A quick simple easy to understand issue is not charged for. It may require you cut and paste me pictures of what you want so I understand.
Method 3
It is possible to leave my web site, go to your pay pal account. On the toolbar at the top of the page will be �pay someone� open this and type or cut and paste my email address and fill in the amount of the goods wanted, add the estimated shipping you think it will cost, and send that to me. I can pay pal a refund if you are way over, or ask for more if way not enough. If you do not have pay pal, review my other options as ways to pay.
Best times.
During the year there are what might be considered 'block out dates' when I am not home. Only two are predictable, two shows I do annually. I'm gone 10 days starting about the 1st of August - August 10th to do our local Tanana fair. I'm gone for almost a month for the biggest show on earth in Tucson Arizona about Jan 25th till Feb 14th. I can often check emails, but am not home to conduct business. Sometimes in summer I am off on a wilderness survey trip 3-4 days at a time or off looking for fossils and I often do not give out the dates, it's a bit hush hush. I'm just 'gone'.
Time of day
main thing is to remember I am on Alaska standard time. It might be 4 hours earlier then East coast. Try not to call me at 3am my time. But I do get up early and 6am is not a bad time, but might be on the phone shared computer line. If so between 4pm and 8pm works. I'm rarely on line and usually home. I can be in bed by 9 pm though.
Email is best. It's fast and free. I have a record of our conversation to put in a file and can refer to. I can email pictures. I am comfortable with writing because I lived in the wilds, and writing was my only social life. My only means of communication. With email we do not concern ourselves with the time difference or if I will be disturbed.
Phone me
see 'Culture' I accept calls but tend not to make or return calls. I do not even have long distance on my phone. I use a phone card. It's going to cost me $3 to return a call to the lower states. We do not have the cool phone deals the civilized world has. I understand many people feel more comfortable talking to someone in person. And we get along and become friends and I understand and we sing from the same sheet of music. They remember and I forget. They call again “You are who?” At least 20,000 people feel connected to me. I feel connected to, well you could count them on one hand or less. If you are in my computer you are my good buddy. I know because the proof is in the file. It can take me 5 years to remember a name, and 20 years to be called a friend. I'm friendly to everyone. So please, do not assume I know you, or will remember what we talked about.
Fax is same as my phone number, rarely used these days it seems but I have it
How Pay Pal works www.paypal.com/
You have to have an account with Pay Pal. (web address above) Anyone who has a Pay Pal account can give money to anyone else who has an account. Our email address is our Pay Pal ID. So to pay me you can open your pay pal account and click on the tool bar on the top of the page either 'send money' or 'request money' In this case you want to send money to me so click that. When asked 'who?” you put in my email address (usually at the bottom of my emails but it is
miles@milesofalaska.net
) You can just copy and paste it in where it asks. You fill in the amount and leave a note if you want to and the instruction on Pay Pal are pretty straight forward. I get a confirmation in my email that money has been put in my account -how much and has your address so I know where to send to unless I get an email from you for another address. I think there is a 3% charge ( the seller , me, pays the 3% not the buyer) and part of that 3% is for insurance . so if you do not get the product or I in some way scammed you -you have recourse and Pay Pal gets your money back. I am somewhat protected because before I send something I know you have put money in my account.
How to Cut and paste a picture
You are on my web site and see a picture of something you wish to ask about. You need to get that picture in an email to me so I know what item you are talking about. See 'One man show' under 'issues' if needed. Summed up. I Have a lot going on and 1,000 pictures on my site and I may not have a clue what you are talking about unless I see a picture!
Put the cursor on the picture.
Double
Right click the mouse. A menu pops up. Choose 'save as' or 'email picture'. Left click and follow the directions. You can save the picture in your own computer to refer to in a file of your choice so you can find it and email from that fine. But easier to just choose 'email picture'. Left click and you might get asked to resize the picture so it is acceptable for an email - choose to do that. Then your email opens up - you put my email address in there
miles@milesofalaska.net
It is not easy to order from me.
An odd thing to say. The reasons are many. Try reading about my lifestyle. Try reading the order page, stuff like 'cultural issues'. Keep in mind I'm a one man show. Keep in mind I spent 25 years alone in the wilderness seeing no one for months. What do you think sitting in front of a computer is doing to me? I'm not superman. Sometimes the river of humanity that arrives at my home through the internet each day is depressing and overwhelming. I need to say “Halt enough!” and stumble out the door for fresh air. Consider what it means to meet a human being at the end of your click. Greetings to the plus and minus of being human, behold a personality. Greetings from Nenana Alaska with slow speed unreliable dial up, a monopoly server and no one in 100 miles who knows the internet any better then I do.
Raw stuff
-- So I wanted, and am good at running a huge flea market. Garage sale antique store. I am a collector. I like to sell and deal. Buy sell trade. But I do not like keeping track of stuff. So. So if you were 'here' you'd see 9 buildings filled with boxes of 'stuff'. (the raw materials). Like a yard filled by the tons of truckloads of things under tarps. You want to know about what? Ha ha and ha again! Dream on! You go find it. Have fun! Tell me if you find it! Filled with lost treasures and nooks and crannies like a treasure map. Stuff I have not seen since the 70's. Stuff with the prices still marked I paid in the 70's. No you got to pay more then that! But how much more? I have to think. I might pull a number out of the hat. See how it fits. I do not even own a suit and tie. Nothing is under bright lights with a sticker on it on a shelf. Yulk! You have arrived. You are not at an ordinary store. You are at the source , where 'raw' is defined as bloody and still twitching . Or still wet covered in mud. You have met the guy who might have drug it in screaming by the hind leg and ate it. You have arrived at some place related to Star trek. You have met Indiana Jones. The man who can make it happen. For a price, I can find even the holy grail. You just have to make it worth my while. See 'problem' below
Art !
You like to look at the art? To me it is all self evident and needs no explanation, but so few 'understand' I need to spell it out. First money is not my God. I'm not between a rock and a hard place and never will be. Happiness and lack of stress is important. I could be busy fishing today. I'm the only one who does this kind of art. It sells. If you do not get it, someone else will, and no one else offers it. . I want it in the right hands. Next. I look at today and tomorrow. I do not turn around and study my past. Once finished I loose interest in the item. I forget. I make a new one. I quit counting 15 years ago when I got to 9,999 (one of a kind items) I have made more claw necklaces then anyone else in the world. Where the item is I made yesterday I do not care. I have a good 500 finished items on hand at any given time. Sort of organized, but it might be in a box for shows, or in the tray it belongs in, or on consignment at a shop, or in for repair, or maybe I forgot, sold it, or gave it away. Rats. Some items are easier to locate . Some items sell so well I do not need to spend an hour looking for it because it will sell to the first person who sees it. Like big wolf teeth. Or blue ivory.
Problem !
So the problem is this is a garage sale and antique store. Nothing is marked and it's in any one of 9 buildings. Not a problem if you find it and bring it to me and I look up and make up a number, and you are happy. But guess what! You find the picture, not the item itself and show me the picture or give me a description and want me to go find it! Ha! Under what tarp? Which building? What shelf in what building in what box? Guess what! If I ignore you I can work in the shop for $65 an hour. If I stop to go look for something for you, my income comes to a grinding halt because the customer is not paying no $65 an hour to chat and have me go look for stuff. As in “That's $10 plus the $65 lost time it took for me to go find it” Tell me all you want about how I need to be organized. Bla bla you are in the peanut gallery, in the bleachers, while I am in the ring with the bull. Step into the ring and I might listen. Even if you are in your own ring with your own bull and are my equal, it's a state of mind. It's not about inequality. Each snow flake is unique and irreplaceable and can not be duplicated. The universe parts for each flake as it falls and closes again behind it forever changed. Some focus on that, and some focus on the storm comprised of all the flakes working together. Meanwhile yup I probably have what you want. That means squat if I cant find it. Worse, some customers talk me into looking, then say “Thanks , not what I'm looking for have a nice day” What's wrong with this picture?
Solution!
So I have no real rules, no minimum order etc. We'll see. Depends. If I'm busy, feel like it, like you, what the weather is like, and my opinion on if this is worth my time or not. All those cool pictures not in the shop cart? Teasers? Oh no not really. It's my resume, my portfolio, my references. Due to the volume of 'stuff;' going on I get to do repairs for museums, art collection value estimates for insurance companies, sometimes special orders for the rich and famous. It gives people ideas for a special order. It gives me credibility that I know what I'm doing. It's not talk, behold it is before you to see for yourself. Big buyers see my work and know I can turn it out, and some fly here to Nenana to see me and buy it by the truckload. One customer comes up from Japan once a year. We do not price it or mess around, we make a pile and I look at the pile and I make up a number. I just want it 'gone' so I have room for new cool stuff. But gone to my kind of people. He knows my prices are fair and we do not argue. I got 50 pounds of turquoise, you think I want to measure photo weigh each dinky piece? The decimal point has to get moved twice for that. On my art I have shops who say “Send me stuff” I accept returns. It all sells. I'm reasonable, fair. My prices are good, even if I make up a price at the spur of the moment my highest quote is half the completion's. Why argue? I can make a new one faster and easier then I can keep track of the last one. So in the big picture I make a living. I'm not rich, but it's my way, by my rules, when and how I want. Maybe I'm stuck up? An ego thing? Yea maybe (hmmm) But it's also a symptom of social problems that has to do with why a guy raised in the city would tune in and drop out to live in poverty listening to wolves. Why do we have to think value is in numbers or why cant we just look at something without having to own it? Maybe you are in a museum. Stop, stare, look, pause and smile. Why are customers irritated? So hey cut and paste me a picture if it's not in the cart! Who knows? Lets talk. If your only question is “Is it for sale!” in an irritated tone, well go shop on ebay and have a nice day. This is not your kind of place. Not everything is for sale just cause you want it, or because you see it. I get to choose my customers. Cool huh! Is that nuts? I can't say, but at least I'm honest. Customers are not used to seeing something they cant have? Well la de da. My soul is in my work and my materials. I either find or hand select every single item. There is less then 1% I order by mail. Every single art item I made, totally made, down to the carving, and making the mold, and casting of the cap. I had cut most of the rocks, eat many of the critters whose bones get used, find many of the fossils. There is a story behind every item. I care where my soul goes , and who gets a piece of it. The solution is all my art eventually is out there in the world being worn, and all my material one way or other is seen and used. What else matters? I own my world. What more do I need? One snowflake, that in falling, parts the universe, changing it forever. Money is not my God.
click here to go to my site directory with links to all my pages. Art - raw materials for sale- book- advice- tips-ordering- info- home page etc
I just capped a wolverine claw for someone else but this is what they look like so would one similar to this work for the necklace? This one is $45. On the subject of the other project to carry and for the desk. Kind of like the otter one-well the time and cost is an issue. I do not have a wolverine mould. Meaning I carved the otter long ago and made a rubber mold to make wax copies from to then cast in metal. I can make 100 of them. I have a few hundred molds- but none of a wolverine. My lifestyle has changed and I don't carve originals anymore. Partly I am getting older. Cant see as good- hands not as coordinated- and there is no money in it . Few can afford to pay me $65 an hour while I spend 5 hours making an original. I could when the economy was better or more specifically I was in Alaska during the pipeline in the 8o's when folks were getting the equivalent of $100 an hour. Good years- good customer base back then. But I'm just not set up for that anymore. Different sets of tools. One option is to have it carved in a 3rd world country like the rest of the world does and thus someone someplace made it for $1- with all the mark ups on it between that poor smuck starving in the jungle and me and you. I have such a connection, but they probably will not make 'one thing' and it takes 'months' to make contact come to an agreement- deal with customs etc etc. It's not really very effective in this sort of situation. I personally consider it a bummer it cost so much to live in the US of A. Trained help from a teenager where I live is minimum $20 an hour. Got kids out of high school getting $30 an hour. It's insane. But I'm not going to change the world---- totally of the subject but moving on----
Many customers can pay me $65 an hour while I cast 50 of something in that same 5 hours. (thus I can offer castings from my molds at one 50th the cost). If I have a mold. Or even a small toy or casting I can make a rubber mold from-- so I don't have to carve it. Wolverines are not popular toys-- like wolves bears eagles. Hmmmm. And these days I am so busy I don't have lots of time to think of solutions and possibilities, when basically I'm only bidding on the job at this point. I have more work then I know what to do with. Perhaps lucky, or in the enviable position of picking and choosing the jobs that are easy, or fun, or that will pay me the most. To buy time with- the most important thing we have. Time to work on my books, to do the kind of art I want to do the way I want, and time to live the lifestyle I advertize- subsistence- growing a garden, getting my own fish and moose meat, working on my own 'stuff' snow machine boat etc. It's all pretty time consuming (as I head into my retirement years) . Not to give you a song and dance-- just explaining. The real skull idea was very do-able because I have a skull and can fill it with lead and it's a half hour project- I do not have to recreate anything from scratch. If you can come up with a little plastic toy of a wolverine for me to make a mold from that would work. (?) Anyhow-gotta go. Miles
How you contact me, what you ask and tell me when you inquire can have a big effect on getting what you want. Give me a name and email that you expect to continue to use . Because I create files on customers using a first name filed by the month. I get about 30 inquires a day with 90% being a first time inquiry or inquiry that does not result in a sale or customers who buy once a year or less. Only after have a dozen or so sales do I create a permenant file on a customer. This is an advantage in being a repeat customer and getting more personal service as I then have a record of what you like - got last time asked about in the past etc. Till then- not to hurt your feelings- but you are one on 10,000 customers a year- a drop of water in a rivgfer going by. I can give an example of issues that come up. A customer calls herself 'Raven' so this is the file name I use. I get a pay pal payment with no note from 'Karen'. From who for what? Or a guy inquires 'Dave' and the next contact he has his wife email me 'Sue' they may assume I recognize the email address. Maybe some companies file by email?: I do 'name' because I can scan a list of 100 names and spot 'Dave'; in alphabetical order faster then I can spot 'hotmail.com' It also helps me remember the customer better, to call them by and find them by name. Anyhow.
Cut and paste me a picture off my web site of what it is you see that you like. 'Because' I am a one man show running a 56 page web site that is really 30 separate web sites linked together. I may not have a clue what page you are on. I also used to number my art pieces and stopped at 9,999 and that was 15 years ago. I have on hand at any given time 500 finished art pieces I made. Do I remember that cute little duck I made for $30 on my web site ? If I made it yesterday I may not remember it. Some pages on my web site I have not revisited in 5 years. Well- doing better now that I got high speed Internet! But with slow speed dial up it took 24 hours to upload the whole site. Neither can I possibly take time to go cruise around looking for what you are talking about with shop time worth $65 an hour. Trust me- it just goes a lot smoother if you show me!
Personal service . In order to give personal service I need information. It does not waste my time for you to explain. I can scan your words and pick out what I need to know in a few seconds. Wasting my time is not telling me anything so I have to email and ask. If the inquiry involves a raw material tell me what you use it for. "Do you have scrap ivory" for example involves ivory from $10 a pound on up to $200 a pound. I sell to children, to schools, to scientists, artists, knife makers, who all mean something different when they say 'scrap'. Tell me "scrap mammoth ivory for scrim pendants" for example. If art- tell me something- for a girl a boy give me an age a price range something I can go on. (but is also why a picture is worth a thousand words)
Regular customers. Let me know you bought from me before and clue me isn't might effect how much time I give you and what order you are in line. You are now not a stranger or tire kicker. Possibly I can create a file on you instead of file by the month along with the masses. With your own file you get better service because I save pictures I forwarded, or you showed me, and I know what you bought before and what your comments might be. I might have saved your own web site if you have one, with the possibility I might create a link to it on my page if you are in business. Do not assume we are friends! Even my mother has to remind me who she is. There are probably 100,000 people who know me by name, and half consider us good friends. I might remember 500 maybe. Remember I lived 25 years of my life alone as a hermit in the wilds (read my book). If we had a long meaningful conversation, that is not unique to me, and happens about once a day. I have the gift of gab. My mood can also change today I may not have the time I did yesterday. Or I feel stressed out. Or yesterday I needed a refreshing break and today I want to make up for it with work and I have no time to chat. Try to to take offense business is feast and famine. Lots of work followed by some slower times. That.s small village life. It's also 'how it is' where I live to wave and smile at every single person who drives by. Strangers are welcome to visit and have free coffee. But it might take 20 years to be 'one of us' a friend a regular, but it begins someplace with a reminder each visit. Eventually you might end up with a coffee cup on the wall with your name on it for the next time you stop by, and someone who remembers how much cream you like. My business is a little like that. I have a customer who flies to Nenana Alaska from Japan once a year to buy from me. I have a few customers who have a box with their name on it and I toss 'stuff' in it during the year and now and then contact em "Hey- got a box for ya" To get that service you need to earn it.That begins with letting me know you been here before. "Hey I'm Dave- the guy who got the knife scales back in June" I can then look up Dave in June... "Hey! My buddy Dave! Hows it hanging bro?" Eventually it might not be bullshit, I might actually begin to remember my buddy Dave. Like that.
Shipping page
My shipping methods and policy varies across the web site so is confusing. Some new items have the pay pal link that includes fixed shipping. Some items require you have to come here to my order page to pay shipping. Some items have shipping included. Many items have no way to include extra shipping if you are overseas, or reduce shipping if you buy multiple items. Much if these issues can be understood or straighten out and overcome if you find the issue and read below.
Look at the subject headings to the left and click on what the topic of your concern is.
I will offer a brief ‘why’ here. I’m a one man show. A guy who spent 25 years alone as a mountain man subsistence person in the wilds of Alaska.(See my bio page or my books) I have no formal education running a business or web site. I spent many years with a used slow computer, a $100 web program, and dial up internet, and no help. With this, I built a web business ranked #1 in the world on some items I offer. That’s the plus side. There are however some glitches. It was hard to deal with pay pal with slow dial up for example. (my village for years did not offer high speed internet- not till 2009) So at first I offered shipping like you are buying an item. You buy shipping. I thought it was simple and clever. Customers are not looking for clever. Most seek ‘normal, do it by rote, nothing that requires thinking or understanding’. There still is no perfect way to deal with shipping that is fair, and works in every situation. For those in a hurry who do not want to be bothered, my web site works, and I will be glad to take your money like everyone else does. Make a little or a lot of extra profit on shipping, which we all seem to accept. But this is not my intention. For those who can figure out how to pay me the exact shipping owed, there can be a huge cost savings. It might take a little effort to work with me on this. For example…. If you see a small item and I added $4 shipping, that does not mean you have to pay $40 shipping for 10 of these items. Possibly all 10 can be shipped for the same $4 as one, and you can save $35. If time is more important to you then money and you can’t be bothered, thanks for the extra $35. I appreciate it. One thing I want to stop from happening is for customers to place orders and ‘forget’ shipping and I get stuck absorbing the shipping cost (as has been happening a lot in my effort to save customers money and be nice). I want to reverse that. If a customer is not interested in figuring out shipping, I am not going to get stuck with the bill. Such customers can pay extra.
Multiple items
Method #1 do not click on the items. Email me - cut and paste me a picture of what you want. Or properly describe if it is easy to understand. Remember I have 46 pages and over 1,000 items. I can give you a shipping cost. Not the best method. I might be busy and not get back to you fast. In general anything that occupies my time is going to cost more. (refer to my ‘free time’ chart). Method #2. Guesstemate which size flat rate priority mail shipping box or envelope all your items should fit in. If my items for sale do not have shipping included - buy shipping like an item, on this page, to cover shipping based on the chart provided. Method #3. If items have no shipping included buy them off my site without shipping included. Pay for shipping at pay pal by using the ‘pay someone’ on the toolbar on top of the page put in my email and send me a separate shipping fee. Make sure you include in a note who you are and this is shipping on a separate order arriving through pay pal. (so that I make the proper connection between the two payments). If my items for sale include shipping then do not click on the items. If what I am asking for shipping is known, add up your goods and guesstamate what actual shipping will be and include that in a total and pay pal it direct to me. Make sure I know what it is you are buying. An order # if it is included with the item, or cut and paste me pictures. If you are close it is a done deal. If you are way off or I think you are scamming me I may ask for extra shipping, or deduct shipping off the quality of your product ordered. If you pay me way over, I will pay pal you a refund or offer credit. The bottom line is, between the two of us surely we can figure out how to be fair about this. I’m not out to screw you, please do not try to figure out how to screw me. I assume customers are honest unless proven otherwise. As I hope you believe I too am trying to be honest.
Items with no shipping included
I ship flat rate priority mail. Look at the choices of shipping options below. Choose what fits your product, same price anywhere in the US. Outside US see ‘over seas shipping’. You are buying shipping as if it were an item. Example: You want a cave bear fang I say is $100. You want it shipped well wrapped in a box so choose $6 flat rate box for $6. Listed as two items - cave bear fang for $100 , shipping $6 total $106 including shipping. Keep in mind a $15 wolf claw, even 20 of them- could go in the same box at the same $6 flat rate shipping cost. Even ‘some rocks’. You are not paying shipping by weight, but by size. The same cave bear fang alone can also be shipped for the $2 shipping choice, in a envelope, if you think it will not break. It is perhaps unusual for a seller to ask a customer to think and make choices. My purpose is not to confuse you and make you nervous. If you are one of the sheep and expect to be told what to do, email me.
Raw materials no price
See also ‘art no price’. It takes me 5 minutes to upload a pile of pictures to the web site and walk away. It takes 15 minutes per item to list items for sale and describe them. I’d rather show you 1,000 items I have that you need to inquire about if you want, then 10 items carefully labeled and priced and you think it’s all I have. Oh yes- it will cost more if you have to email me and ask, and I have to send pictures and do the descriptions to sell it to you. That’s the idea. Those with money get special service, and those who do not, can pick from the 10 items in the shop cart. Raw materials shown can also give ideas for special order finished art. Someone cuts and pastes a picture “I’d like something like this as a pendant with an opal on it” If you cut and paste from my web site it makes it much easier for me to go look for material I know you like. A picture is worth a thousand words. Often there are many more choices then can be described. A simple wolf claw for example can be tan or black curved or fat, with a bone on top or not, small or large massive looking or dainty. I can glace at the picture you cut and pasted and in 2 seconds understand what you want. I do not have an hour to discuss the subtleties of the elusive wolf claw. (as an example). Think of my web site as a junk yard antique shop yard sale. Stuff under tarps in the back yard, or in dusty boxes in a building out back, maybe 10 years old I forgot I even had. I once misplaced $10,000 worth of ivory and did not know where it was for a year, for example. Here you are - poking through it looking for treasures. Here you are at the source dealing with the guy who may have dug it up. At yard sale prices. Because if low overhead and no middle people. Those who do not get it and do not understand might be better off with one item under a spot light at 10 times the price- well described- with a hired clerk ready to chat with you about it. The idea here is we want to do the deal quick and dirty. Hunkered down together in the dust of the shop, with a bare light bulb swinging overhead. Realizing you have stepped into a Indiana Jones movie. Or I am the sole owner of a junk yard running the register out front. You come in and ask me if I have a 53 Chevy hub cap. Without looking up I hand you a screwdriver and tell you to go out back and look. Out back as far as the eye can see are wrecked cars piled 20 high. Of all makes years brands colors. Organized by size. If you bring what you want up to the register, it’s 2 bucks. If I have to close the shop and go look with you it’s $100.
But alas I can not run it like this! Because you rummage through pictures not the real item. If you show me the picture how do I connect it to the object? That picture may have been sitting on the web site 5 even 10 years. I may not even recall ever putting it there. I’ll be darn. Where’d you find that? I have 46 pages and over 1,000 pictures up. I skandisk and defrag my brain each evening when I go to bed. I wake up in the morning with blank fast ram. Ready to load with now fresh data. I see a yellow orb out the window and load up ‘sun’ I open my emails and say ‘friends’. By the end of the day I’m stuttering with all the data I loaded today and ready to begin the whole thing again. It’s pictures. I had that stuff one time. Who knows when or if I still have it or where. It’s $65 an hour to find out. But you only want to know the price and do not have much money or time and…. “Next!”. See ‘doing business 101’, see definitions ‘good customer’ Oh it might be worth asking. Who knows I might have seen it and remember where it is? I might need a break from the computer and willing to get my snow suit on and go out in the 50 below Alaska dark to go look in the unheated warehouse. I might want to donate my time to a worthy cause. I rarely actually turn people away. I never know from what direction a good future customer, even a friend will turn up from, or a source for something in a trade.. Among the poor the rich the smart the not so smart. I deal with an amazing bunch of people. In my fancied life as Indiana Jones (Or perhaps the Wizzard of OZ) I deal with those supplying me with raw material who live in the wilds as antisocial, even criminals, but hasten to add among my friends are lawyers, judges, senators, a few millionaires. So far no movie Stars though, except I personally sold a set of wolf claw necklaces to the Steppenwolf band who praised me highly. A very red letter day in my life. But anyhow - so this partly explains raw materials put up there with no organization no apparent rhyme or reason. It might be like a museum. You can look, and I can share, and it may not even be intended to sell. Just so we can share together “Cool, wow, nice stuff , nature is grand huh?” Why do we have to own it? Why is that concept so strange?
Or some see me as a shaman. My role is to be a middle man connecting people to material that has deep meaning for them. out of their dream. The man of magic. When I recognize this connection I focus on that single item and take the time to find it, weigh it, come up with a price and picture. I hope to get paid more for this personal service. But money is not my God and now and then I even give it away - donate it to a worthy cause. But note I choose the cause, as I never bet into another man’s game. No one likes to get scammed. Read my references of satisfied customers. I wear many hats, fill many needs - that to me is part of doing good business. I deal with fellow artists, museums, collectors, witches, native Americans, knife makers, investors, do appraisals, repairs, I write I make knives sell raw sell art work stone carve ivory cast metal, design web pages, garden live subsistence so I am a busy person. I can not be an expert any everything. Organization is one of my failings, and inability to remember numbers or people. I prefer to wear dirty jeans then suit and tie. I do not do straight lines. I make sure my hands are dirty when I have them in pictures showing my art or materials. I make sure my socks do not match. I’m probably eccentric. And proud of it. Read my book.