Here we go again!

We're baaaaack! AND we are on Extreme Houseboats tonight (Sunday Nov 4) starting at 8 pm Pacific time (and running throughout the evening at various times). Check out the Travel Channel Network online in Canada and on TV in the US (and probably the rest of the world). We will post the video (the producers sent us a copy earlier this week) on our YouTube channel later. Here we go again :)


And we are on eBay auctioning our float home (got a bid within one minute of listing it) visit our eBay auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultimate-MacGyver-Collectible-Original-Float-Home-Houseboat-from-80s-TV-Show-/140880430912?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20cd20c740    Should be fun woo hoo!

New media..here we come!

He said: Well, we've tried ebay, facebook, twitter, pinterest, blogs and anything else we could think of. So, we've decided to change it up a bit. We have just put the house on Craigslist which has proven to be a fun little exercise in itself. Apparently, Craigslisters don't want to see the same ad in two different places. We ran our ad in Vancouver for about a week but we decided we wanted to try the Seattle market so we had to delete the Vancouver ad. Also, there was no way to post it in Real Estate so we have had to put it under Boats for sale by owner. There is a huge floathome population in Seattle and the prices there are substantially higher so we are hoping that our friends to the South may be able to think outside the box and realize that even with shipping, they can get a heck of a good deal. We will also try a facebook ad where we target the exact people who may be interested in the floathome. It's really a great way to advertise because you only pay when someone actually opens your ad and you can set your own budget. So if we decide we want to sell to a left handed 50 year old female who likes romance books and chocolate, believe it or not, we can!!, I think we'll probably be a little less specific than that.

Photo from a few years ago - home was still turquoise and no neighbours to the east of us (no exterior finger docks either)

The last day . . . counting the hours

She says:

I can hardly believe this is the day - it's 11:38 am Thursday May 10, 2012 and my hunky Guy and I are home and online today. Our auction views are over 126,000 right now and climbing every hour. The Guinness Book of World Records emailed us a notice yesterday letting us know we are on their list and of course eveything is waiting for the final moments of the auction to know if we really have broken any viewing records for eBay.

It's windy today, the river is very active, the ripples and waves are bouncing us around and the sun is shining brightly here in the marina. A couple friends from work Michelle & Cindy are stopping by for a visit over the lunch hour. Some more family and friends will be coming over after dinner to keep watch and lend some good energy while we watch the auction and keep track of the clock. We will be checking in all day and posting more photos and comments.

Let us know where you are tracking us from and how you found us, ok?
More later - cheers!

Last Day to bid on the Floathome

Bidding on the floathome ends at 7:49 tomorrow evening. Will it or won't it? On the edge of our seats, after doing this on eBay since 97, I know most of the serious bids come in during the last 24 hours. We are at $99,900, a tidy sum to be sure but still not at our reserve. We have 695 people watching the auction, so they get updated every time there is a new bid. Nearly 125,000 views, hopefully enough to get into Guinness World Records. We have 33 separate bidders, 6 of whom seem to be bidding back and forth. We will be home tomorrow to refresh the screen every few minutes.We'll let you all know the final result.
We're at $122.50 for charity on the MacGyver chair. If you know anyone who may be interested, give them the link to this facebook page. All to a good cause.

MacGyver Director Chair goes to eBay today!

With the end of the auction closing in, we realize not everyone will have the coinage that it will take to buy MacGyver's floathome. So later today, we will be auctioning off the above chair, a director chair from the set of MacGyver on eBay. All proceeds will go to charity, we'll give more details later today.
The chair has been a part of our floathome for many years, but here's your chance to own it. I'll make sure the link is provided.

World Record in the Making

We're going for a World Record

He Said:   Yesterday afternoon, I decided to call eBay regarding the clarification I added to our auction regarding my confused friend. While speaking to the rep, I casually asked if he had seen a higher viewership for a single item. He said "in my 3 years here, I haven't seen anything come close". That got me thinking (ouch) I wonder what the record is? So I asked. eBay in all its wisdom won't give out a number, so the way I look at it, there is no number. 

I contacted Guinness Book of World Records, filled out there elaborate paperwork and Voila, I have an official transcript saying that we are trying to establish a new category "Most views on a single item on eBay".

Here's where we need your help. If you would like to be a part of a world record, we need you to visit the eBay auction, and then forward, post, like, share, tell, hand signal, smoke signal, whatever you need to do and let your friends know to visit and forward. That's it! Our goal is to reach 250,000 views in the next week. We are now at over 75,000 so this is reachable and attainable. 

Please go to eBay.com and put in this item number 

140738046722

Thanks all, lets set a WORLD RECORD!

MacGyver Going for Guinness World Record!!

MacGyver can get out of some tough situations, but now he needs your help.
MacGyver's floathome has officially requested from the Guinness Book of World Records, to create a new category for "Most views on eBay for a single item"

There is currently no record. I phoned eBay today and spoke with a represantative who said "It's by far the highest number I've seen in 3 years". eBay will not disclose the current stat but the rep did say that if Guinness Book of World Records were to call, they would probably disclose it.

We need your help. As of this writing, 5:55pm PDT, we are at 65,979 viewers. Is it possible to hit 250,000 in 8 days? We're going to our part. We will be sending out press releases to every news channel, radio station, newspaper and internet site we can think of and ask their readers, viewers etc to click on the eBay site and view the auction listing. What we need from you friends, is to like, share, forward, tell, speak, copy, hyperlink or otherwise let everyone you know what we are trying to do. BE PART OF A WORLD RECORD:

Please send everyone you can to http://tinyurl.com/84ycq2h This is the shortened version of the url where our ebay auction resides.

Adele and I want to personally thank you all for joining us in this fun and incredible ride. Our intent was to let people know about a cool floathome and a new way of living life. It has become so much more. We will post every day and let you know how we're doing, Thanks again

eBay Feature and a new video!

He Says:

Wow, what an exciting week this has turned into. I woke up this morning and of course the first thing I did was to check and see how MacGyvers floathome is doing on eBay. What do I find?, eBay itself has picked up our auction and run a story on the eBay blog page. How cool!

We almost didn't get there. Yesterday while at work I received an alert from eBay. Now, when they come on your phone you see the eBay logo and I automatically think that it's a new bid so I'm excited to open it. I find that it's a question (statement, complaint, diatribe) from an eBayer that says I am misrepresenting us on our auction site. Why? Because I claim that Richard Dean Anderson lived on the floathome as MacGyver during the filming of the show. OK, brass tacks here. RDA did not live on the floathome, MacGyver did. They are the same people. Hint: MacGyver is not real!  Shhh!

 I honestly cannot imagine that anyone in eBay land was confused by this but obviously I am mistaken.
Anyway, I have written a note on the bottom of the auction clearing the air of my faux pas. If anyone believes I misrepresented, sorry. It was intended to be understood by the other 64,000 viewers of the auction. Yup, that's right. As of this morning 64,000 plus viewers. I'm going to do some homework and find out what the record is on eBay. Let all your friends know, I would love to go to 100,000.

Adele and I finished part 3 of the video on Monday night. We probably didn't need to do it, but it's so much fun that we wanted to wrap it in a bow. Action, romance, adventure, comedy,danger, sex, (well maybe not sex), it's got it all. I would like to personally thank Caszie Schoeber, our neighbour, good sport and brilliant emoter for playing along with us. Let us know what you think when we post the video on Thursday or Friday. It went from being a 1 shot video to actually doing 5 takes of one scene including specialized lighting and music. I could get used to this, let us know if you think we should quit our day jobs and become directors. Talk to you soon.



40,000 hits and climbing!

She says:
Well, as fast as I can hit the refresh button the number of views on the eBay auction are jumping up, never staying the same. I remember when we started this Blog and the only visitors were friends & family and the occasional "stranger" and then we got all excited about someone finding us!

Up this morning at about 7:30 and it's now 8:51 am Pacific Daylight time and we are at 40,847 views, so there is a good chance by the time I finish this blog post we will be over 41,000. Later this afternoon we film part 2 of the video with Caszie Schoeber (with a possible part 3 - we will see how that unfolds). Spent most of yesterday online, tracking where the story is going and who is picking it up. Was amazed to find out that when I entered "MacGyver" into the Google search engine this blog came up at #7 - the wonders of the world wide web :)

Enjoyed the telephone interview yesterday with Gina Pace of the New York Daily News. Our "Official MacGyver House" photographer Peggy Robbins Millar (Bliss Photography & Design) is coming by the house later this morning to drop off a jumpdrive with all of the photos so I can email some unpublished ones to Gina today.

My Hunky Guy will be working on the float home bumpers this week. Neighbours have already promised to come by to help (nice thing about living in a small community is the old fashioned 'give & take').

We are currently preparing for an INVITATION ONLY Open House Saturday May 5th, and yes, that's IS Cinco de Mayo day, so bring on the wine and cheese! The open house will run from 2 - 4 pm. This event is by Invitation Only and it is being held for our official eBay auction bidders (and yes, we DO check). We have had a lot of interest, as you can imagine, and bidders want to come and see the actual floating home in person, so we are opening the doors to them and will be showing off Land's End. We'll  post photos at the end of the day.

Current number of eBay views: 41,013 :)

She says:
Just finished a telephone interview with Gina Pace of the New York Daily News: http://tinyurl.com/82j75dg How exciting is that? My Hunky Guy & I just kept on smiling throughout all the questions. Will let you know when the story runs. We made sure to mention Jonathan Christian of "We Make Stuff Happen" http://www.wemakestuffhappen.com/ and Neil Godin of "Marketing Dangerously" http://www.neilgodin.com/marketingdangerouslyblog/ our 2 Social Media gurus!
Right now our views on eBay are at 24,515 (the average eBay viewing for an item is 30!, yes 3-0) As fast as we refresh the page the numbers are changing. The bid is currently $85,100 - and this is BEFORE the New Yorkers & the East Coast read all about it on Monday :)

Holy Crap, how things have changed

For those of you who have been following along, you know by the title what the intent of this blog is. Well, as of April 10th, we put "Lands End" on eBay.
To say the response has been overwhelming is an understatement. We currently have over 20,000 views on auction, 200 people following it from around the world and 52 bids and currently sit at over $80,000!
This entire endeavour has been done at almost no cost with the viral impact of social media. We are in for a wild ride in the next 10 days, so we'll keep you posted

So Close.....

Been a while since we last got together so time for an update. We hope to have MacGyver's floathome on the market within 30 days. As you can see by the photo, it's mid winter on the Volga...er.. I mean the Fraser.
The plan is to put it on ebay. I've been a seller there since 1997, so I'm pretty comfortable with it. We hope this will allow a wider audience as it may have some nostalgic value for some of the MacGyver fans.

Over the course of a very busy summer, we managed to have the upstairs floors put in, a beautiful deep rick mahogany color with a 25 year guarantee. Just this last week I managed to replace the front porch so all is safe and sound. Next on the agenda is a full inside paint in a comforting neutral. This will allow the art to pop. Adele and I also had the kitchen counters redone with bright white 6" tiles. Clean and modern. One last thing in the next week, full restoration of the kitchen floors. We're going to sand them down and have the real Larch refinished.
We hope to have a video done shortly. This will allow you all to get a look around for yourself.

New photos, winter 2008

Oh, how could we ever forget the winter of 2008? 

The river froze and the snow accumulated on top of the frozen water,

 it looked like we could almost walk right across to Maple Ridge! 

(the view below is of the centre of the marina looking north).

We shovelled the snow from our decks and the flat roof but soon had nowhere to put it. 

Snow is usually pushed easily into the river but at that time shovels were heaping it on either side of the docks.

This view (above) is looking north, the centre walkway is a wooden finger dock between 2 homes, 

then the snow continues right across the river to the other shore.

 The tides still rose and fell twice daily, cracking the ice and reforming, creating hard ridges. 

Marina residents kept watch over their floatation, as beautiful as the ice and snow can be, 

the heavy ice could cause damage as well.

Our neighbour on the live-a-board boat (above) also had to contend with the elements, 

not to mention a very slippery passage between the dock and her boat deck.

 In this view you are looking east, the snow you see piled on either side of the dock

 is sitting on the river ice - at least two feet below.

 Looking east (above) the morning sun reflects on Golden Ears. 

A good natured marina rivalry exists between the East-enders (above) and the 

West-enders (below), with the West-enders being the most colourful group 

(of course!)

Looking west (below) you can see the Golden Ears bridge in the distance 

and home sweet home.

Came home tonight & threw open all the windows!

She says:
Yes, it's truly one of those beautiful, glorious, wonderful sun-filled days on the river, I came home tonight and threw open all the windows! Our little Chihuahua Elvis followed me excitedly from room to room as I unlocked latches and flung back the sheers and let the river breezes clear out all the stale winter air. I could even hear some of my neighbours talking on the docks (a normal occurrence in warm weather of course but nice to hear once again after the closed doors and windows of winter).
I listened to the birds and even a woodpecker! Then I heard then real harbinger of spring - the first power boat zooming up-river, motoring too close to our homes (very typical) and the wake bounced our homes about and threw bright reflections from sun on water high up on our walls and reflected brightly through stained glass and crystal wind chimes.
I checked my stats for this blog tonight, and wow, we've had over 1800 visits, most from the United States and Canada, but some from Norway, Italy and Greece! Many of you come here from the MacGyver fan site (see the site link on this page, and Hello to you Rocky!)
Welcome all and please take time to leave a comment, we would love to hear from you!
I will be posting new photos later this week.
Cheers!

In the Palm of Her Hand

She says:
Well, it's the first week of Spring 2011 and the welcome sun is shining down through the clouds upon the river this evening. It's still too cold to think about finishing the outside painting, or changing out the new bumpers, but winter is finally over and warm weather is really heading our way. It was low tide when I got home tonight, stepping cautiously down the ramp I wondered about freshet this year, there wasn't much in the way of snow in the Lower Mainland this winter but the same may not be true for the mountains, so as the melt begins the water will rise.
The world watched while Japan was hit by an awful earthquake 10 days ago and while we kept the Japanese people uppermost in our thoughts and prayers the realization of a remote but possible tsunami began to surface here on the coast. There isn't much we can do in the marina except to be sure our lines are in good repair and that we are cross-tied tightly enough - but with the ability to still flex so lines won't break.
There's a connection to the Earth here on our floating home that I have never felt in a home on land. The big, beautiful Super Moon shone on the river last Saturday night, neighbours celebrated the bright moon and the onset of spring, while we keep an eye on the weather and the mountains and wonder if a rapid rise in Spring temperatures will melt snow too quickly, and if that rapid melt will impact freshet - either way the river will rise, it's only a question of when and how much.
There was a small earthquake off Vancouver Island a few days ago, in response to the plate movement in Japan, I wonder?
No tsunami tides here, just a quiet beginning to Spring 2011 in southern BC and as much as we human beings attempt to alter our world and harness her resources and assert our dominance over her, for me this March 2011 is just a reminder that Mother Nature holds us all in the palm of her hand.

Winter Wonderland

He says: 
Okay, as pretty as this is, I'm ready for summer. This was shot from the shore, looking out to the marina. It really can be a winter wonderland.
Getting ready to sell MacGyver's floathome has been a bigger project than we imagined. We have replaced nearly every window and door, we have gutted and rebuilt the bathroom, we have added a luscious dark larch hardwood floor to the kitchen along with adding a window seat storage area. This, along with the countless other small things including paint etc, has been a huge challenge.
It's time for us to get back on land. With wifey's business and the need for dirt, we're going to let someone else have the privelege of floating on the river. It truly has been a fabulous 5 years. When we bought the floathome we knew it was going to be a lifestyle change, but it has truly touched us in many ways. If you have never lived in a community of common interest, you'll be in for a treat.
Respect and privacy were things that we were concerned about when we first moved here. It turned out it was a needless worry. No one bangs on your door asking why aren't your at so and so's get together. Everyone smiles, nods, says a few kind words when we meet on the dock and we all go about our merry way. No pressure to participate, but warm hugs when you do.
From live bands, to summer barbeques, to Chrismas sing a longs to  floating luminaries in remembrance of loved ones, there are many wonderful things to do as a community. You can also walk along the beach watching the beaver, bike the quiet roads, saunter to the dog park or chase deer in the dog walking field. It truly is a great place and we will miss it, but, like my favorite saying goes: "embrace change, it's gonna happen anyway"

Adding Color

He says:
Well, MacGyver's floathome looks a little different than you might remember it. We think it's an improvement, hope you do too!
As you can see, the biggest change from the show is the basic color. If you remember, it used to be the old original aged gray cedar. We decided to pay homage to the water theme so we went for a lovely Mediterranean blue. After we added the railings, we set off all the trim with a deep glossy black. To make it pop, we opted for a wild lime green on all three doors. To finish it off, a tomato red awning over the fireplace entry door area allows a covered smoking area for our guests. The outside is pretty well done, just a couple more touches inside and we'll be ready to put 'er up!!!

Icy Cold and Toasty Warm

He says:
Sitting in my chair watching the temperature plummet and ice build up on the river. It's only November people! Preparing the floathome for winter is pretty easy these days. A lot of the work is ongoing, such as installing new insulation around all the new windows we put in and making sure that the locks for the doors are snugged down tight.
About the only other things we have to do are change the light bulb in the storage room outside from a regular bulb to a heat bulb. This keeps the temperature above freezing. We also have a plug in heater wrap for the copper pipes to the kitchen. Sitting so close to the water, they're one of the first things to freeze. I installed new insulation and heat tape around the water hose that supplies our main water as it pops out of the river (good insulation) and is exposed to the air (bad insulation) as it climbs to our main water pipe.
The other constant is bringing down pellets from the car to the house to keep the pellet stove fed. One bag of fir pellets usually lasts about 3-4 days, but in this weather with the stove cranked up high, less than two days. It certainly works well though, that little stove can heat up all 1200 sf in no time flat.
One more project that wifey and I finished is installing a 9 foot long seating and storage bench in the living room/den/library/office. Wonderful for extra storage and it allowed us to clear out one more closet.

What the Hell Happened to Summer?

He says:
Why is it that when your life is filled with good intentions and wonderful plans, the day to day stuff gets in the way? Did you know that it takes 3 1/2 hours to pick up drycleaning, get a bottle of wine, wash the car and get gas? That's the better part of a morning or an afternoon. Now I understand why people live in high density housing or townhouses. I could have done all that in half an hour. Shopping isn't a task then, it's an opportunity for a little stroll.
When you live in a floating home, there are things to consider when you do your shopping. Like high tide. Who knew. It is substantially easier to carry your Costco shopping spree down a gangplank when it's nearly level at high tide, than when it's at low tide and you need a sherpa and a rope guide to venture the steep angle you're now faced with. It's like living in the Bay of Fundy. Remember that when you buy furniture.
Anyway, back to the point. Just like those afternoons that slip by while doing little chores, the summer has done the same thing. I never got out fishing (my bad, I live on the river for god's sake), I golfed twice, never got to the PNE, none of the fun things that you remember about summer. I did get a lot done, mind you. Painting, building, cutting, cleaning, moving, schlepping, lifting. It was all a blur. Oh well, we're getting closer to being able to put Land's End on the market. Then of course, we'll move. We certainly couldn't have any chores or repairs to do in a new house. Could we?