My garage sailing last weekend (on Saturday the 6th) was short and not really worth mentioning. My sister very rudely decided to waste most of my day with something as frivolous as her marriage. The nerve of some people!
Anyway, I did grab a few things in the morning which are worth talking about, so I've rolled them in with this weekend's items:
As you can see, I did pretty decently well over the last couple weeks! And both outings were, to my delight, able to happen with my dear companion Morrie by my side! I always enjoy having her with me. She has a knack for noticing things which I normally ignore as "big, expensive items." When, in fact, they're something I need at a cost which is very affordable. (One such example is the bike I got a few weeks back, and another surprise item to follow at the end of the post. Though you can peek if you want to. I'm not some kind of scrollbar nazi.)
This item was a bit of a disappointment. I saw a bag of four comic books at the table of a matronly old woman, and it was marked four dollars. Given that they appeared to be of 1970s stock, a dollar a piece sounded good to me. Comic books from that era are always kinda fun and campy to read.
Little did I realize that all four comics were identical.
I guess I learned a lesson though: ALWAYS inspect what you're buying! Even old ladies will try to fleece you!
Morrie suggested I try to take them back. But I told her "Let the buyer beware. It is the Garage Sale Code."
I kinda like the idea of a Garage Sale Code. It makes me smile.
This garage sale was next door to a church sale where a woman tried to hard-sell me on a computer and CRT monitor for $45. Her primary selling point, which she repeated a few times, was "it can run windows 95!"
I may not be on board with smart phones yet, but do I look like I'm fuckin' Amish?!
Anyway, the books were cheap. The James Bond book was a dollar, and the Russia book was 25 cents. I picked up the former because I quite like the films, and thought it might be fun to give the original books a try. I purchased the latter because I returned to it no less than three times to flip through it, before realizing that if I was THAT interested, 25 cents was not a steep price. It's filled with great photographs about life in the Soviet Union, and the book is remarkably charitable for being published circa 1980.
This was one of those "Multi Family" garage sales where they had half a dozen people sitting around figuring out which one of them got every nickle and dime from the items sold. Whoever was hosting the thing must have been a teacher, because there was a TON of early childhood education tools. Among them, two educational card games which appear to be intact.
One of these days I'll find that card game Ms. Mosby, my second grade teacher who was also a huge Trekkie, had us play. It was about the ecosystem in a forest or something. And the cards all had natural predators and prey.
Long long LONG before I got into Magic: The Gathering, I was into Star Wars: The Customizable Card Game. Truth be told, I never actually figured out how to play it. But, as a very very young, very very devoted Star Wars fan, the cards were really neat. One of these days I really would like to sit down with someone and learn the game.
And now, if I ever decide to do that, I've got more cards to play with! The whole stack cost an entire dollar. Doesn't look like there's anything super rare in there though.
Blank CDs. I offered a dollar and they took it, which is a great savings over a store. So woo!
BORING STUFF! Folders with drawer hooks (which we have discovered don't actually fit the drawer we intended to use them in, but thankfully do fit another drawer if we ever decide to use the hooks in that one.
Also a knife sharpener! I've been looking for one for ages! Most people will only sell them with the block, and I've already got a damned block.
The Far Side has been a favorite of mine since childhood (though I noticed on perusing this that it seems to lose a bit of its touch when reading it with some years behind me.
Much as I hate the Star Wars prequels and everything they stand for, and everything they did to my beloved Star Wars Expanded Universe, I've heard a number of times that Terry Brooks did a much better job of telling George Lucas' abomination of a story than Lucas did himself. Knowing Terry Brooks other work in Star Wars fiction as I do, I can believe it.
Alright, now for the super super super fun stuff. FIRST, The DVDs:
This woman had a colossal selection of DVDs all laid out on a blanket on her lawn. There seriously must have been about 80-120 DVDs there. Her asking price was a little steep on a DVD-by-DVD basis (three dollars) but she told me up front that she'd take $10 for 5 of them. Knowing she was willing to price on a sliding scale, I offered her $15 for the lot, and she took it!
Though, it's odd. At the sale itself, and several times in the moments following, I swear I counted 21 DVDs. But either I lost some, or I'm shit at counting, because there sure as hell isn't 21 DVDs there.
Still, it's quite a nice little bump to my collection. Lots of old favorites of mine in here, like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Silence of the Lambs. I've been meaning to watch Planet of the Apes again, so this huge collection of the entire original series + bonus features and whatnot will be fun. I'm really happy with everything I got, really!
Two busted NESs for $5 each. HELLYEAH!
The couple running this sale was really nice & fun to talk to. I actually found a number of the above items at their sale, and several times they said "If there's anything you're looking for let us know, we just got tired of bringing things out."
I debated with myself for awhile. Should I even bother to ask? It seemed like such a longshot. But, on a whim, I did. And when the woman said "Yeah, we've got two in the garage." I'm sure I must have looked like a kid on Christmas morning.
They were pretty sure the one with the heart stickers on it would work, and that the other would not (there's something loose inside it rattling around.) Unfortunately, after thorough testing, I have concluded that neither work.
HOWEVER, both are exhibiting the exact same diagnostic error: the blinking red light, and the solid color screen. Which, according to http://www.nintendorepairshop.com probably means that they just need a new 72pin connector. So next month I'll be using my discretionary spending budget to (hopefully) fix all three NES which I currently have. I may sell the other two, or simply give them to friends who would provide a good home for them.
Last but not least, the "surprise" item:
A queen sized bed frame. Price: $30.
We found this just a few blocks from our house, and purchased it from a delightful family who were very friendly with pricing, and holding it for us while we went to get Morrie's larger vehicle to haul it in. Now, this coming weekend, Morrie and I will be using some savings & a nice little refund she got to purchase a box spring and mattress, and we will finally have a bed big enough for the two of us.
Though, truth be told, I'm going to continue sleeping by the air conditioner until things cool the fuck down. God damned summer. >.>
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