In terms of being self deluded and then let down, Thursday last week tops my days.

You see, ever since setting up this site and the blog, we've always thought/hoped that with the family dream of rescuing the old bus, someone out there online or who knows would help us out... Somewhere, out there, some businessperson would say, "Hey! That advertising potential is perfect and I'll help out this family too!" or someone with enough money who appreciates our work/efforts either here or with our paranormal work or possibly just someone who appreciates the historical aspect of saving the old bus would help us out... therefore, it's always been a "phone call" or "e-mail" away... unless our lottery luck changed!

Well, it's been almost a year and our luck has not been too good.

That said, Sue sent me an e-mail on Thursday afternoon...

Call Mr. (blank) from New York from the website (blank) about the bus. He called and wants to speak to you about it.

I'm not going to lie... 99% of me said, "Could it be? Perhaps this is it? Will the dream come true?" at the same time the "other voice in my head" was saying, "Dude, you've been here before... don't hold your breath... it's probably another person that wants you to pay and get the glory for them..."

...but none-the-less, I was optimistic as always... I was thinking, "Okay, assuming this is a done deal now, who do I contact? How do I set up the sale of the bus? How do I nail down absolute ownership to someone in Santa Rosa or wherever? What were my contacts for shipping from California to Toronto? How long will it take to get everything ready for storage in Toronto?"

I put in my last few hours at work... on pins and needles...

Was Mr. (blank) the answer to our prayers? If so, was this fellow an internet mogul of the better dot-com days? Perhaps he's one of the new entrepreneurs who wants the advertising?

Little by little, I was more and more anticipating the call... and working away quietly deep in my thoughts and hopes at the office...

Finally, it was time to head for home...

Once there, I didn't want to get overly excited... I even waited until after 6pm to call Mr. (blank) to find out what, if any news he had for us or the bus...

I called and Mr. (blank)'s company and he, himself, was the one who picked up the phone... and promptly tried to sell me on using "Pop-Under" ads on the website and blog.

No mention of the dream. No mention of the website. Just effectively a sales pitch... and not a terribly "lucrative" one for this site, the blog, or anything.

...besides, I would *NEVER* do "Pop-Unders"... I hate them and regardless of the coin would NEVER subject my readers to them.

So, once again, big high and thinking Our Dream Has Come True only to be dropped from that great height.

By this point, you'd assume my personal cynicism would have kicked in with a vengeance... but apparently it hasn't... and who knows... maybe I shouldn't completely give up on my cock-eyed optimism...

I know that even Sue looked sad when I told her how the call went... luckily, my cynicism (based on past experience) was good enough that we didn't share the initial call with our little one who would have taken it much worse than we did.

Another day, another chance... perhaps one day we’ll be able to tell you about the dream coming true... but right now, not yet...

The only thing we can do is keep hoping that somewhere, out in the ether of the internet or wherever, someone will help us... and most importantly, we gotta keep dreaming.

The standard last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

This blog is here to help promote a dream that an entire family shares... that dream is to rescue an old London Double-Decker bus.

Please, if you have a few minutes, take some time to find out more about this bus and the kooky dream by clicking here.

This bus is VERY special to myself and the whole family, and any help any person can lend us would be most gratefully accepted.

If you or someone you know might be interested, there's our pixel ad site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and a PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, a Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff!
(...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

We thank you for your support!

Please Note: We are also hoping for help from a public relations/marketing standpoint... If you might be able to assist OR know someone who might be willing to, please click here and read this entry...