8.21.2007

Egypt or bust!

Raleigh to Atlanta
Atlanta to DC
DC to Paris
Paris to Cairo

Not exactly an ideal route to begin our trip, but Max, my brother Chico, and I can’t complain. We paid nothing for three round-trip tickets to Egypt thanks to Max’s seemingly endless supply of frequent flyer miles. If all goes well, we’ll arrive in the early afternoon on Thursday (around 6am Eastern Standard Time).

Excitement doesn’t begin to describe my feelings at the moment. Even as I type these words, I can hardly believe this is my last full day here.

Remarkably, I’m almost packed. Between getting my house showroom-ready and actually having two prospective buyers come yesterday, there has been little time to prepare for the trip. A pick-up at the $1.50 drycleaner, manicure and pedicure, and dropping the cat at my sister’s house is all that stands between me and my being ready to venture to Egypt. Woohoo!

Call me an optimist, but I think I may have shown my house to its future owner. He’s a recent graduate from the University, familiar with the neighborhood perks and drawbacks. He also brought his entire family to the showing and, when I finished the tour, asked me to “cut to the chase.”

“If my father were to write you a check today, what’s your bottom-line price for this unit,” he asked.

“I honestly couldn’t give you a number without consulting my husband,” I replied. Max had prepped me not to do any of the negotiating. He knows I’m a complete pushover when it comes to wheeling and dealing.

So instead of a check, I got a business card with the instructions to have Max e-mail with our best offer. Max plans to stay firm on the price, asking the potential buyer to come back with an offer instead.

“Who ever makes the first bid, typically loses in these situation,” Max explained. If we make our bottom-line offer, there is no way we’ll actually get it.”

I’m not sure about the strategy, but am willing to leave it to him to decide. We have three months, after all. It’s not like we’re desperate—yet. And besides, all I really care about right now is EGYPT!

Gosh, I hope it’s a good trip. I also hope I get to blog while I’m away. But if not, have a fabulous next two weeks. And I will see you (virtually, at least) on the other side of Sept 5th!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

THAT IS SOOO EXCITING!! I wish I could spend the night (with a group of people of course) at the PYRAMIDS!!

LZ Blogger said...

I flew to Paris one time via St. Louis from LAX... that was in the old TWA days (and it was also a SMOKING flight) full of French Smokers... NOT a flight I remember fondly! ~ jb///

AmyB said...

Have a GREAT time! Take lots of pictures!

And good luck with condo negotiations!

Jamy said...

Safe travels!

kenju said...

I made the DC to Paris flight last October! But I sure wish I had been going on to Cairo; the one place in the world I'd beg to see before I die.

Have a great trip and take lots of photos!

Anonymous said...

Have a wonderful time and go have FUN!

utenzi said...

It sounds like Max will get you a great price, Diane. Have a great trip to Egypt--and soon it'll be on to Germany! It all sounds wonderful!!

zerodoll said...

first one to speaks, loses. (or so they say about negotiating.)

how wonderful with everything else! i can't wait to hear all about egypt!