We’re Maxed Out – A Volleyball Story

I had a weird experience you might expect during recess in elementary school, but this was not in school. It was on a volleyball court in Florida.

For being in the Sunshine State, so far my experience with pick-up volleyball has paled in comparison with where I lived up until a few months ago— Nashville, Tennessee. There, there were only 2 sand courts in Centennial Park but the nights I went to play were crowded, sometimes almost too crowded, with people wanting to play. On top of that, they were nice people! 

My last experience at Tom Brown Park in Tallahassee, Florida was mostly the opposite. This park has 5 sand courts so you’d think a lot of people are interested in playing, right? Well, not only is that not the case, the few times I went there mostly were 2v2 games and that’s the way people preferred it! I half-expected to see Kerri Walsh-Jennings out there with how serious some of these players seemed to be. 

The drama. This particular visit featured most of the courts with 2v2, no surprise. But one had an odd number, seven people. I waited patiently for them to finish their game and when they came off the court I asked if they were playing pick-up. In other words, a courteous way of asking, “Can I play?” One woman spoke up, responding, “We’re kind of maxed out.” 

As they went back to the court for their next game, another guy showed up and jumped right in before the first serve. I don’t get embarrassed much but I sat there with my dogs, embarrassed. A few minutes later I left and haven’t been back since. I’m taking my talents elsewhere!

But I’m also hoping that in the spring there will be crowds of nice people who want to play and don’t exclude anyone else who wants to play. 

Have you had an experience like this? Did it make you feel angry, embarrassed, or both? 

-Out of the Wilderness

Domino’s Has a New “Support Local” Ad – But Why?

Domino’s has a series of ads out supporting local restaurants. Their slant is not just to order from the “mom and pop” shops, but also to skip the delivery apps like UberEats and Door Dash. By the by, Door Dash has a great commercial, check it out here. Take a look at the short Domino’s ad here, and the extended version is at the bottom of this post.

Something about this campaign rubs me the wrong way. I don’t think it’s because I deliver for UberEats from time to time. I just get the vibe there is something else Domino’s actually cares about and it’s not saving customers from the delivery apps. My guess is that somehow this simply helps their bottom line. After all, Domino’s uses the apps to deliver their pizza!

Not to mention, restaurants aren’t forced to use these delivery app brands. I would think getting an order from an UberEats customer is better than that customer not ordering from the restaurant at all, right? I mean, let’s be honest, someone who can order and have it delivered to their doorstep isn’t going to take a more noble route by getting out of bed, getting dressed, driving to a restaurant (dealing with traffic and gas prices), ordering, driving home, changing into comfy clothes, then eating… just to save a few bucks. So these restaurants either get the customer through the apps, or not at all.

Because of that, this Domino’s ad is pointless. Well, I shouldn’t say that… they did a good thing by purchasing the $100 gift cards from the local restaurants, but if they genuinely only cared about the local shops, they would have done the gift card thing without making a whole commercial about how virtuous they are.

Another thing not mentioned, if the apps were to go away, that eliminates income for a lot of people.

How do you feel about the ads? Are you encouraged to buy a Domino’s pizza because of the kindness they showed to other restaurants? I bet they’re betting on you making that choice 🙂

Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

Yes… yes, it was Miley Cyrus

I opened up the Shazam app the other day because a song I liked was playing nearby. I’d only heard a few seconds but it sounded interesting. I can’t lie about that. What I WISH I could lie about is the singer.

Hi. My name is Ben. And I recently liked a Miley Cyrus song.

They say admitting it is a big step in healing, right? So what do I do now? I’ve just confessed that I, a 42-year-old man, liked listening to Miley Cyrus. And you want to know the scary truth? This isn’t the first song I’ve liked of hers.

What’s wrong with me?

There is some hope for me yet, though. This song is not a Miley original. She was covering Blondie’s version, released in 1978. Hallelujah! So one might say that I liked the song …from what I could hear of it; the tune, the melody. Way down the list of “likes” was the voice, if it was on the list at all.

OK, I can handle that.

-Out of the Wilderness

My experience selling a car to Carvana

If you would’ve told me in July that in just a few months I’d be living in a different home, in a different state, and driving a different car, I would’ve thought you were off your meds.

And yet, every one of those things is true. Getting right into what this post is about– I recently sold my 2017 Nissan Versa Note to Carvana and I’m not going to make you wait to find out how it went. In a word, unbelievable. And I mean that in a good way. I had owned my Nissan for about three and a half years, planning to keep it till it’s on its last leg. But as my plans recently changed quite dramatically, selling the car became a serious consideration.

I had an offer from the dealership (the one where I ended up buying the truck I have now), they proposed a trade-in and I was happy with the value they put on the Versa. Then late one night as I was considering their offer I went to the Carvana website just for fun. Would they offer as much as the dealership? I had to find out! And then…

Welp, they offered a lot more than the dealership! This is also after I conservatively described the condition of the vehicle (I put in that it was “in OK shape” when in reality it was in pretty good shape). I didn’t believe this offer could be true but you better believe I ran with it! I decided to just keep moving forward with Carvana until what seemed “too good to be true” disintegrated back into reality.

As I got deeper and deeper into process, though, I started believing it was real. I took it as far as setting up a meeting with a Carvana transport driver. Then came the day when I was supposed to meet him and I still thought, “Something’s going to fall through. It just HAS to.”

I live in a smaller city so I met the Carvana rep about 70 miles away and he showed up in a little flatbed Carvana truck. OK, this was getting real. The guy couldn’t have been nicer! We chatted some, he checked out the vehicle and was impressed with how clean it was (I didn’t mention I’d spent 4 to 5 hours washing, vacuuming, etc) so that made me happy and proud.

I signed their paperwork and left with a check. Even then, I thought this couldn’t be real, even with the check in my hand. From the time he arrived to the time I rode away, it had been no more than 30 minutes. My dad had followed me to the meeting spot so while we were on our way to the next stop on our morning adventure, I asked if we could stop in at the bank. The sooner I could deposit the check, the sooner I’d believe what just happened.

Check. Deposited.

I guess it was all real but I still have a hard time believing it. Such a good experience with Carvana! If you are thinking about selling your vehicle, definitely check out their offer before you make any decisions. There are a few other online-style dealerships so it might be a good idea to look into those also. I’m not saying Carvana will always give you the best deal, maybe a dealership will give you a good offer. But it’s worth your time to at least give Carvana a look. You may end up quite happy with what they offer. I know I was!

Do you already have an experience with Carvana as a seller? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Comment below and I’ll be sure to respond.

Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

Significant milestones with my Nissan Versa Note

When I bought a Nissan Versa Note in 2018 I had no idea I’d be selling it a few years later. I kind of like to keep things until they are just all out of gas (pun intended!) and this car was no different. The last car I had made it over 200,000 miles (I wrote about it here) before I sold it.

I also liked tracking significant events related to the Versa. I actually posted about a few occasions during the first 5,000 miles of owning it. Check that out here.

It has since cleared 70,000 miles and is a member of the Carvana fleet now. I will absolutely write about my Carvana experience for any of you wondering how that goes as a seller. It was very, very interesting. Check back soon for more on that story.

For now, though, here are a few more landmark miles from my time with the Versa.

6,069. Driving to the hospital to spend the night with my brother-in-law who just had stomach surgery.

12,400. Driving to east Nashville to kayak the Cumberland River.

14,116. Driving to Florida to help with Hurricane Michael clean-up.

22,200. Driving back home after my friends Derek and Mary got married.

23,800. Driving to watch the Rams play the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

39,370. Driving to Tallahassee for my aunt’s funeral.

43,500. Atlanta for my niece’s dance competition.

50,724. Picking up my dog after she ran away, someone picked her up on a busy road and kept her till I could get there.

67,641. Errands with my Mom in Florida.

71,659. The last mile driven before selling the car to Carvana.

Those are just a handful of recorded moments and now I’ll be doing the same thing for a new Chevy truck. Do you keep track of events in your life? If so, how? Chime in below!

Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness