The Garage Sale Dynasty

[WSUCougar]

My wife and I are having our first-ever garage sale tomorrow. I have been taking a few notes about the prep just for fun, but the real juicy stuff should come with the actual sale.

Stay tuned...

[sachmo71]

i wish you had let me know. i have some stuff i need to get rid of.

[JeeberD]

Same here. I wonder how much I could get for my '96 Avs Photo Pucks?

Hmmm...maybe we should have an FOFC "Garage Sale"? I'm sure I would get top dollar for those suckers from Draft Dodger!

[WSUCougar]

Rule #1 of Garage Sales: Survival

And we survived.

[WSUCougar]

The first step of any garage sale (Henceforth, “GS”) is, of course, the decision to undertake one. This roughly equates to the decision to declare war on China. Or so it seemed. For years I have been suggesting to my wife that a GS was a good way to clear out some stuff, rather than just throwing it out. It's truly remarkable how much shit you gather up and haul around from move to move. After almost 17 years of marriage and multiple moves, it is seemingly everywhere, stashed in the basement, garage, den, a shelf here, a cabinet there. I’m more of a packrat than she is – she’s a “cleaner” – and I hate to just toss stuff that has any value. So I wore her down over the long months. Finally, she agreed to declare war on China. We set a date in early May and proceeded to the next phase: Telling Others.

[WSUCougar]

Telling others about your GS is sort of like announcing your engagement. You will get a response from everyone, no matter what. Some responses are good. Some aren’t.

The most common generalized response is something like, “Really?” They then look at you, sort of peering into your face, to see if you have really, truly lost your ever-frikkin’ mind. Anyone who has ever done a GS of their own will then recite the horrors of that dreadful experience. They may end their story with a nervous twitch, staggering off as they mumble “Never again. Ever.”

Others will delight in the fact that some idiot is actually going to do a GS, and it’s their opportunity to take advantage. Or say they think. “HA-HA. I’ve got a garage full o’ shit I’ll have to bring over. HA HA.” But most of those types are bluffing. See, they’re too f’ing lazy to get their lard-asses off the couch long enough to do much of anything, much less load and haul a bunch of junk to my house.

Then there are the true-blue opportunists. They talk you up and make you feel like what you are doing is kind of cool. “Oooh, I love garage sales! You never know what you might find. They’re like treasure hunts. I have a globe* and a ceiling fan** I’d like to try and sell, would you mind?”

It’s a double-edged sword, though. If they don’t give you a price they are looking for, you may fall into the trap. “What?!? You sold my unique unicorn ceramic piece*** for $2?!? My sister made that for me!!!”

Then there are the friends who just unload things on you. One of my wife’s friends, who has a PhD by the way, dumped off four boxes of books. “Sell them for whatever. I don’t want them back.” Uh-huh. Let’s take a look at the merchandise, shall we? Hmmm…approximately 15 books with titles like, “High Maintenance,” “The Man-Hater: A Novel,” and “The Vagina Dialogues” (I’m not kidding). Another twenty or so freakishly bad sounding novels. A few psych books. A few dieting guides (this woman weighs 80 pounds soaking wet). And maybe half a dozen familiar, good novels.

Well, let me tell you, I didn’t want to be sitting their when some burly dude from Jefferson County pulled up in his rig, came up the driveway scratching his balls, and reaches for “The Vagina Dialogues.” Not me.

* actual example
** another actual example
*** not an actual example

[WSUCougar]

The next two stages run concurrently: advertising, and The Gathering of Sale Items.

Advertising was pretty straightforward. Newspaper ads, signs on the street, and word of mouth. One rather amusing aspect of the newspaper ad was that my wife put “free weights” as one of the listed items, and all we had for free weights was these four rusty, pathetic old things. Yeah.

The signs on the street proved to be a learning experience. Lesson #1: The font size is never too big. Ours was too small. Lesson #2: Securing cardboard signs to a telephone pole isn’t as simple as it sounds. One pole looked like there had been around 14,006 things previously nailed to it, so finding a flat surface to affix the sign to was virtually impossible with all the nails still there. Plus there are cars ripping by at 40+ mph, which constantly pulls at the sign. Throw in a little moisture from rain and dew, and I had several sign issues.

Then I asked my wife, who’s more artsy than I am, to make two hand-written signs for our street (the others were out on the main drag). So she does so, and hands them to me. They are large enough letters, but are done (a) in red felt pen on a brown cardboard background, and (b) with hollow, “puffy” letters. Visual range for actually reading these signs? Around 10 feet. But I didn’t say anything, because we had serious GS Angst working.

Anyway, meanwhile we have been gathering up items for the sale. We have a big pile of stuff in the basement – it looks sort of like a cairn of books, boxes, and old VCRs – and a working area in our dining room. Lots of cobwebs. Lots of worthless crap no one will buy. Then there’s the garage stuff – I actually have one of those hand-powered push mowers that I’m going to throw out there. A mini electric weedeater. Moth-eaten carpet pads from the Camry we used to own. An unused “Club” from the late 1980s. An unopened multi-bladed tool with “Tool Time” Tim’s picture on it. Dear lord.

And how many old phones did we have? My wife kept appearing with them, like we were stuck in a time loop or something. “I found another phone.” How many is that, 15?

Then there’s my four-year-old son, who quickly rediscovers the joy of old toys and doesn’t want to sell them. This, I’m told, is standard operating procedure for any GS with a child involved. His tune will change later, however, when he realizes that cash means more Hot Wheels.

Once The Gathering is more-or-less completed (I say more-or-less, because it never really ends – you’re grabbing shit left and right as the sale progresses), it’s time for the dreaded Pricing Stage.

[Radii]

awesome.

[WSUCougar]

Ah, pricing.

My wife set herself up quickly and firmly in the "price it to move" camp. I, on the the hand, was more of a "see what value we can get early, then cut prices as the day goes on" kinda guy. This resulted in several disdainful looks and a few brief squabbles throughout the pricing stage. We each had our own turf with regard to items - games and my books for me, clothing and her books for her - but there was lots of common property laying out there in no-man's land. Some of it was easy enough to price (kids toys), but some was tending toward irreconcilable differences. For example, there was the cappucino machine I'd bought her a few holidays back. She suggests five bucks, and I'm like, "It's almost brand frikkin' new!" She counters with, "Five bucks is better than it collecting dust in the basement." Ouch. But I make my stand. "We'll start it at $10 and see what happens." (Alas, we still have it, but that's a different stage to discuss. I ain't giving away no cappucino makers, brother.)

We did have a role-reversal moment during the pricing. My old Samsonite brief case...I label it $2, she counters with, "At least $5...it's a Samsonite." Oh, okay then. We still have that, too. Beyotch.

During the pricing stage, you see some of the weird shit that your spouse has pulled out to sell. Hers included half-full old perfume bottles (50 cents?), a tiny new picture frame that perhaps only Stuart Little could use effectively, and some old, beloved sweatshirts that aren't so old and beloved. "Hey, I bought you that in Cape May!" "It's 20 years old. I'm not gonna wear it." "But...but..."

My weird stuff included a sound-effects machine for your car (machine gun, ray gun, missile launcher, etc.), an Energizer Bunny screen saver, and a really bad old Star Trek board game. (We'll come back to that last one).

Books took forever to price, to the point where I finally said "screw it" and put up a sign for the whole table of books. I hid The Vagina Dialogues under some other books, so as not to offend the chaste and pure GS folk.

Finally, the bulk of it was priced, and it was Garage Sale Eve. Poised for the great day, we considered the proper timing. The event was listed as strating at 9:00 a.m., so figuring the early freaks and putting everything out, I say we can get up around 7:00ish. The wife wants to set the alarm for 6:00 a.m. Uh, NOOOOOOOO. Like our 4-year-old son's ever going to let us sleep until seven if we didn't automatically wake up before then. She must be nervous, primed for the big day. Me, I'm hoping for some tension relieving G.S.E.S. (Garage Sale Eve sex), but no go. She's tired or something.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Radii

awesome.

No shit ... the exact word I already had in the chamber before getting to your comment.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

An unopened multi-bladed tool with “Tool Time” Tim’s picture on it. Dear lord.

Interested to hear how it turned out. Off to a fantastic start.

[WSUCougar]

Dawn. It's gray, broken clouds overhead, but no rain. Temperatures are predicted to be decent. Perhaps it is a good day to die!

We wake swiftly, and choke down a quick breakfast (toast, I think - who invented toast, anyway? I could eat around half a loaf of bread if all I'm having is toast. Where's the meat? But we can't dally. Remember, it's on with China.)

I immediately tackle the set-up tasks while my wife goes to wake up our son Drew. I get a few folding tables out and some of the bigger items in the driveway by the time of the first question: "What's THAT?"

Me: "It's an old lawn mower, bud. You used to have to push them around without any power but your hands."

You know what's coming next...

...wait for it...

Drew: "Why?"

Me: "Well...I dunno, bud. Go help mommy."

I'm into now, see. The thrill of the hunt is upon me. We're going to make hundreds of dollars! We can turn it around and buy cool stuff! I'm thinking plasma TV, and by God it's just after 7:00 a.m.

But it's all about the presentation. We have a sloped driveway, so this takes some strategic thinking. Crappy big stuff up front along the sides of the driveway, hanging clothes on the rack near the front as well, kids stuff front and center as the driveway gets flatter, and then the tables with "the good stuff" (read = shit nobody wants that's overpriced) ranked in the back on the flat part. I've got four folding tables and a lame plastic patio table arrayed (the latter holds The Vagina Dialogues, hidden of course), plus a clothes rack, four chairs with games and my books on them, and stuff on the ground.

By around 8:00 a.m. we're getting close. The wife is tidying and marking last-minute prices. I'm pulling some smaller stuff out of boxes for better viewing (yeah, those buyers need a better look at that "The Symphonic Star Trek" CD. Yeah, buddy.). I hear the sound of a car pulling up. My gaze shifts down the driveway...

Sure enough, here he comes. The early bird has arrived to try and catch the frikkin' worm.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Sure enough, here he comes. The early bird has arrived to try and catch the frikkin' worm.

**rips up ticket**

[Mustang]

Man.. your first person showed up at 8:00 AM? Lucky...

Every time I've had a garage sale, there are always 2 or 3 that show up at 8:00 PM at night with the same bullshit story about how they have to be out of town and they really wanted to go to your rummage.

But, it is all for shit... all they are really wanting is first dibs.

Anyways.. sorry.. continue.

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Every time I've had a garage sale

*peers into Mustang's face to see if he's lost his ever-friggin' mind*

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

*peers into Mustang's face to see if he's lost his ever-friggin' mind*

*L* Let me rephrase.. every time I have been a part of a rummage sale where I helped out. Either solo, family members or friends. Although, I've only done a solo one once.. mainly because it takes away from my garage sale exploits.

[WSUCougar]

As Early Bird Guy moves up the driveway, I thought back to the rogue's gallery my imagination had conjured up for typical GS folk. Think AD&D Monster Manual...but I digress. This guy isn't quite what I'd envisioned for first blood GS-style. Bookish, late 40s, wearing one of those short-sleeve white dress shirts that you typically see in a movie about early NASA moon launches. He was wearing glasses but they weren't the black horn-rims from the 1960s, or he would have been a NASA geek. Oh yeah, with a pocket protector (no lie).

Anyway, I smiled at him as he walks up and said something cheery like, "Morning! Getting an early jump, eh?" To which he replied, "Hmnh," and began desperately avoiding any eye-contact. Okey-dokey, there, pal, the Dork-a-Rama is a mile or two down the road. But hey! A customer is a customer. I realize that this guy must be trying to get the jump on some particular item(s), and so I ask him and he says books. Cool, we're strong in books. Right over here. Lots of military history stuff, which captures his fancy right away. Which is good, because getting this dude anywhere near The Vagina Dialogues might cause him to spontaneously combust.

So he paws through most of my books, pulls out a few titles, and then clutches them tightly to his chest, sort of like a 7th grader protecting his text books from Greg Whiteside the class bully. Not that that ever happened! He also went out with Cindy W. for awhile even though I had a crush on her since 5th grade, the bastard.

Back to the GS. So yes, the early bird does indeed get the worms, to the tune of...(drumroll)...SIX BUCKS!!! Woo-HOO! Plasma, baybee, plasma! We are +$6 on the day, but around -$16 overall due to the ad in the paper.

Who's next?

*cues up "Who Can It Be Now?" by Men at Work*

[Raven Hawk]

Great stuff!

[Logan]

This is why I randomly check the dynasty thread.

[Barkeep49]

This is a great writeup. Well done, WSU. Makes up for your dropping of the pirate game

[WSUCougar]

Surprisingly, we went another half an hour or so before the next customer arrived, and then the floodgates opened and we had quite a start-up time run.

Our second customer was a walk-up from our street, an older guy I’d seen before but never met. He was an active-looking grayhair, come to find out he’s a golfer, and he’s one of those jolly types that has a comeback for anything you say to him. He’ll always have a fond place in my memory because he actually bought the push mower! Our second sale was the item I thought, if we got totally cleaned out, might be the only thing we had left at the end. Seems he wants to put in his own putting green and needs something that’ll cut the grass close. He keeps asking little technical questions about this piece-of-shit mower. “What’s the blade height?” Uhhhhh… “Can you sharpen the blades?” Uhhhh… But he leaves happy, I’m ecstatic to be rid of the damn thing, and we are +$8 for the day.

In the weird coincidence department, the first four or five cars that pulled up were Toyota Camrys. Later, we moved more into mini-vans and hoopties. But we start in the Camry era. Anyway, the next customers were what I deemed Polite Quiet Lookers, or PQLs. They come up, offer up a little polite chit-chat, gaze at the various items, pick up one or two but promptly put them back down, then say thank you, and leave. Kinda depressing. You want to head them off as they’re leaving and say, “Hey! Didn’t you see the half-full perfume bottles for 50 cents?!? C’MON!!!”

Next in came a pair of Power Garage Salers, or PGLs. These are the types that pull up to the curb at a relatively high speed, beat feet up the driveway, do a quick but thorough scan, buy something specific – “I’ll give you $2 for the tricycle!” – then march off, loot in hand. My guess is that the PGLs have mapped out a day of GS hunting, and have no time to dilly-dally. I have no problem with PGLs, because they seem to be motivated buyers. Bring ‘em on.

[ibnsgirl]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

Makes up for your dropping of the pirate game

No, it doesn't.






Great thread, Coug. I can't wait to hear about all of the "personalities" that you met over the course of the day...

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

I have no problem with PGLs, because they seem to be motivated buyers. Bring ‘em on.

I am definitely a PGL... I might have to do my own dynasty but, the reverse.

[Swaggs]

More Garage Sale Please.

[oliegirl]

Are you sure that book was "The Vagina Dialogues" and not "The Vagina Monologues"? The latter is a very well known and well respected book that started out as a play by Eve Ensler - adoptive mother of Dylan McDermott. I'm sure it will be lost on this audience, but it's actually a great book.

Now...more GS stories please! We really need to have one so I'm reading this as kind of a user's guide

[AlexB]

The Vagina Dialogues is the less well known version where it's theme is 'get a little, give a little'. For some reason it never sold as well

[Swaggs]

Are we sure that WSU's wife didn't get POed and sell his computer before he was done w/ this dynaysty?

[WSUCougar]

Heh.

I'm still around. I don't have much time available this week, but I'll see what I can do.

[WSUCougar]

Given that we had a continual run of customers over the next few hours, I can’t be certain about the chronology. However, I am very much certain about the personalities. So let’s take a peak at some more…

We had several neighbors stop by. First was the nice 50s-ish lady from two houses down, a jovial sort who liked to make funny, snide comments about everything. “So what sort of things that I don’t need do you have?” “Oooh, a meat-slicer. That’s nice! I’d like that but I’m not buying it.” And so on. She was actually fun to talk to.

Then there were our next door neighbors on the other side, Bob and Brenda. Let me start by noting that Brenda is a little hottie. Not a major babe, but definitely a cutie with a sexy body. She’s a dental hygienist, and I’ve never had one that looked like her. Anyway, she’s dressed up for a party or something that they are attending, so that distracts me right off the bat. (Yeah, I know, I’m a pig, what else is new?)

Bob, on the other hand, is a typical “guy” – like something out of a commercial for Bud Light or Ford trucks. He works in construction or contracting, drives a pick-up, is a handyman always working on his house or in the yard, etc. Nice guy. Anyway, he comes over, walks by the table with the CDs for sale, and immediately says to Brenda: “Hey, honey! Look! Rhythm Nation! That’s a great album!” Dude just put in his own patio, and he likes Janet Jackson? But whatever, it’s a buck, sold! Then he wanders over to another table, and picks up the Tool Time multi-purpose blade thingy, and takes that too! Off to the side I’m dancing with myself. Nant-nah, na-na-na-na nant-nah!

So off they go with their loot.

The other neighbors who come by are from three houses down. I’ve seen them periodically out in their yard, but never up close. It’s a large older woman, and her babe MILF daughter, who’s maybe late 30s. And fine. The older woman is the talker, the babe is the slinker. She’s slinking between the tables. Yummy. But then she asks me questions! “Is that a head board or a foot board? Is it a queen?” Uhhhhh. “Hon? That’s a queen-sized foot board, right?” Yes, it’s a queen foot board.

“Oh,” says the babe neighbor. “I need a queen head board.” And she turns away. I had to fight down the urge to shout, “DOH!” like Homer Simpson.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Let me start by noting that Brenda is a little hottie. Not a major babe, but definitely a cutie with a sexy body. She’s a dental hygienist, and I’ve never had one that looked like her.

Side note...

One of the dental hygenists at my dentist's office is a MAJOR hottie. The other one, not so much, but still moderately attractive.

As you can imagine, I have NO PROBLEM whatsoever having my teeth cleaned when I get the major hottie (I am also a pig )

[Swaggs]

So.... where did the headboard go? These things are usually found partnered up.

[JeeberD]

One of my fellow bartenders at OG is going to school to become a dental hygenist and she's pretty damn cute (except when she uses too much fake tanner and comes to work orange)...

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

So.... where did the headboard go? These things are usually found partnered up.

Hotties run through headboards like you wouldn't believe.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Hotties run through headboards like you wouldn't believe.

That doesn't explain where Cougar's headboard went though...

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by Bee

That doesn't explain where Cougar's headboard went though...

Ohhhh, shot! :o

And I believe the headboard is currently still a-thumpin' at the head of our bed.

More garage sale follies to follow soon!

[WSUCougar]

I hesitate to play this “ace” at this stage in the epic, as in terms of sheer value it really belongs near the end. As far as GS folks go, this couple was simply Grade A bizarre. But they came rather early in the sale, and it’s been awhile since an update, so why not go for the gusto.

The first word that pops into my head anytime I think of this couple is “severe,” although that’s not entirely accurate since I always want to smile at the same time, and technically only the woman had the looks that could scare the war out of Rumsfeld. They arrived in a clunker of some kind, I’d guess something like a mid-80s Ford Fairmount or along those lines. Note that this was in the Mini Van stage of the GS, so their arrival heralded something…severe. *thunder and lightning*

We had several other standard customers already wandering around the grounds like Night of the Living Dead characters (but zombies don’t buy anything, even cheap shit, dammit!). But seeing this woman plodding up the driveway was hard to miss. It’s going to be hard to describe this lady, but I’m going to try. If you ever watched Third Rock from the Sun, remember the aliens’ land-lady? Sort of gross, middle-aged, but stacked? Okay, start with that, add maybe 15 years, and then tighten her hair bun by, oh, a factor of 10 to the 23rd. This was a prototypical hatchet-face, with a scowl on it as wide as my front yard. If that weren’t scary enough, she was driven. Clearly on a mission from God. “Elwood, there’s bargains in them there suburbs, and we’s a-gonna root ‘em out! Grab your buckshot loads while I fire up the Fairmount!”

The term for countrified hicks in the St. Louis region is “hoosiers,” but that doesn’t even come close. This couple created it’s own class and then scared off the mold.

But Pa wasn’t nearly as frightening. He was more of the gentle old toothless type with really grungy clothes, smoking some rotten-looking cig-a-something. Thank god for gentle breezes.

Anyway, Ma Kettle goes a-pounding through the knick-knackery, and I get distracted by a couple normal sales. Hey, that zombie lady bought 50 cents worth of old perfume! Boo-ya!

But next thing I know – and please trust me, gentle reader, when I state on my soul that I’m making none of this up – I’m in a polite (on my side) argument with Ma and Pa over whether the cheap old 35mm camera we are selling for $1 really works.

“Yes, ma’am, it works.”

“Are you sherrrrrrrrr? Last one we bought at a garage sale, got home an’ it didn’t even load properly!” At this, she looks over at Pa – who is eyeing up the meat slicer - and nods, as if that doubled her Indignation Points or something.

“Well, ma’am, all I can say is that it worked last time we used it, but that was quite awhile ago. But it is only a dollar.”

*grumble* “Well, I don’t want to waste a dollar on a camera that doesn’t work.”

And I don’t want you taking any pictures of your kin, personally, but I won’t mention that. I asked my wife if she could verify whether the $1 camera indeed worked, and she said basically what I had said, but it was no go. On to new and interesting challenges. Like my board games.

Now not to be mean or anything, but what the hell do Ma and Pa Kettle need with a “Rules of the Game” sports trivia game? Can you see them all gathered ‘round the spittoon on the porch, swayin’ in their rockers, pulling questions like: Where is the ball placed on an offensive holding penalty in college football?

But I’m distracted again – we’re busy! – and I don’t get to track what’s going on with Ma on the left flank. Is she looking at the doofy Star Trek kids’ game now? No, she’s got the portable chess game open and she’s pulling the pieces out. Okay, what? “No, sorry sir, no baseball cards.” (whew, a legitimate question)

The crowd slowly clears. I see Pa down the driveway a bit, heading out. Ma’s shuffling across in front of me. She’s on about something else. “Your game is too hard to put back together, I did what I could.” She waves disgustedly in my direction and then departs. I rise slowly, watching them drive off, before moving over to see what she’s done to those poor, innocent games.

Snapshot: before the GS, I laid things out for best display. The games in question were stacked on a chair, with the big, long box Star Trek game on the bottom, and then Rules of the Game and the portable chess board on top of it.

Well, after I brought in Kirkwood CSI, here’s what Ma apparently did. She opened up Rules of the Game, and did nothing to those components. Then she lifted the lid off the Star Trek game. Then somehow dumped several of the chess pieces in there (ignoring the fact that each chess piece has to be taken out of a foam slot to do so!!!), and closed the lid. Then she closed the magnetic chess board back up, and tried to shove it (picture maybe a 6” by 12” by 2” box) – perhaps I should say impale it – upon the center of the cardboard holder in the middle of Rules of the Game. It was jammed in there like she just KNEW it went there. “Yer gonna choke on this fooked up checker board, Rules of Game!”

Sweet jesus.

I just looked over at my wife and shook my head.

[QuikSand]

Solid.

[Radii]

worth waiting for!

[WSUCougar]

Perhaps it happens at every GS. Perhaps they are as commonplace as the earlybird and the rest of the GS-types. But I guess I just wasn’t prepared.

Man-hating lesbians.

Yup. We had two of ‘em show up.

There I was. It was late morning, and my wife had gone inside for a few minutes with our son. I was flying solo in the midst of a lull. When the car pulled up (it was a 10+ years-old Volvo), I had high hopes. The two women got out with a purpose. They were not here to dally…they were serious. But about what? No signs of children, so selling any kids stuff seemed like a longshot. Perhaps kitchen gadgets? Lame picture frames? A few paperbacks?

One of them was moderately attractive, one of them was not. Both didn’t even look at me, not even when I greeted them. They perused, but only briefly. We didn’t have what they were looking for (which was what? Lilac-scented candles? A big pair of testicle-choppers?).

Just like that, they were off down the driveway, holding hands together as if to say: Look at us walk away, worthless male. We don’t need your broken exercise bike for enjoyment.

Then they drove off. The man-hating lesbians.

[Barkeep49]

More. I need more.

[WSUCougar]

To finish the clientele out, I need to discuss The Closer. This was a guy who clearly knew what the hell he was doing: going to garage sales at the end of their time period, working the weary homeowners a little, and consequently cleaning up. It was a surgical strike. No cheap, dime store quality crap for this guy. Meat slicer? Talk me down a little, say stuff like, “I’d probably just use it once, just like you, and then re-sell it.” And then blam! Lowball offer accepted. Oh, a VCR? These are a dime a dozen these days. The technology is archaic. Blam! Another one bites the dust.

He shaked and baked his way through our remaining inventory and went off with the good stuff. Well, relatively good stuff. But hey, we got rid of the crap.

And then, with light rain sprinkles falling, it was time to close things up. It’s amazing how much quicker things go cleaning up a GS then setting it out. Dump these in this box, consolidate books in that box, chuck this POS eagle pendant OUT! We’re done, woot!

Drive out to pull down the remaining signs, and then it’s time to relax and count our loot.

Bottom line? We did okay for money, but not as well as I’d hoped. We cleared away a lot of crap without just tossing it in the trash. And we still had a bunch of crap leftover. Soooo…

A donation here, a quick co-worker sale there, and we’ve almost cleared it all away as you read this. We discovered the local library takes books for donation, which are then free for others to pick up. They disappear almost instantly. Even The Vagina Whatevers.

Thanks for reading!

[duff88]

First time I notice this thread; this is great and I'm glad I didn't miss it!

[sterlingice]

I don't know how I stumbled across a 2006 thread now 4 years later but I just ran across this and it's excellent.

Awesome work, WSUCougar!

SI