Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by nvaccaro on 04/25/10 - 5:38 PM

I thought you guys would get a chuckle out of this. It isn't Whaler related, but I think it makes for a hell of a story.

The following is true:

I am a contractor and have been looking for a box van to put one of my crew in. I finally found one in South Carolina. I negotiated with the seller and we agreed on a price. He sent a great deal of pics and everything seemed to check out.

Now I have never bought a vehicle from a private seller, nor have I ever purchased out of state. I was going to fly to South Carolina where the seller was going to meet me with the box van. I was going to pay him and drive the van back home (9 hrs). I know you are asking, but the answer is no. I have been looking locally and have been unable to find one in good shape and at a price I could afford.

So, I booked my flight Friday afternoon and was preparing to fly to Greenville, SC this morning. I was talking to my friend Friday night and he told me I couldn't drive the truck back to Louisiana legally.

So I called the local state troopers station and found out that I would have to buy the vehicle in South Carolina, register it at the DMV and get a plate and then drive it back to Louisiana where I would then have to transfer the title and have it registered in state. This seemed way too complicated and not worth while, so I called the seller and told him we would have to ax the deal. Here is where it gets interesting.

He said that since he was retired, he would drive it to Biloxi, Mississippi and meet me. Biloxi is about an hour from my home. I figured I would chance it and drive it back to Louisiana from there. The seller had a brother in law who was visiting his relatives in Biloxi and was planning on driving back to the Carolinas on Monday morning. Seller said he would grab a ride back to the Carolinas with him. So now the wheels were in motion.

Upon further review, I found that I needed the Bill of Sale and the title notarized. I started making some calls Friday night and a notary in the Biloxi area answered. He said he was more than willing to notarize our documents on Sunday.

He gave me directions and said to walk up to the counter and tell them we did not want a snowball, but we were there for notary work. I just let it go at that point.

Right around lunch time today, the seller and I met at a coffee shop. The truck looked great. Everything worked. IT was going to be the perfect additon to my company fleet. The seller followed me (I was using gps) to the notary's office. We pulled up to a snowball stand. There on the side door was a "Notary Public" sign. We were killing ourselves laughing, but sure enough, there in the covered patio area sat an honest to God notary. She was very nice and for $9, she notarized our documents.

My seller left with his brother in law, and after ordering 4 snowballs, my wife and I and two kids headed home, I in the van and the family in our tahoe.

You know, I know the economy is struggling and it has caused businesses to re-think existence. You see Taco Bells and Pizza Huts sharing space. You see fast food joints being run out of gas stations. Fed Ex and Kinkos share space. This being the case, why can't a notary and a snowball vendor share space?

Funny thing was we figured nobody would believe this so my wife took a picture of the sign on the door. One of the employees asked if we were photographing their pink flamingo as it was a very special statue!!

I assure you this is a true story!