Would You Buy This or Not? (part 2 - June 24, 2007)

As you may recall from yesterday's post, Janie and I went to the Minnekadha Vista neighborhood of Minneapolis to see if their community sale was any good.

This is almost an inner-ring suburb, and there were a lot of families with small children.  Still, a littli digging did make it all worthwhile.

Here is what we bought:

Find of the day (this is a tough call - so much great stuff):

Stained glass cardinal

price - 25 cents

sold

This is the find of the day by virtue of the value.  Despite being decades old, it has hung in a window and is brand new.  I particularly like the two little beads, made to look like currants (brilliant).

Other things we bought yesterday:

Eagle postal worker candle

price - 25 cents

sold

We collect birds of all types, and one of our criteria is that it helps for them to be comical. This guy will fit right in.

Stainless roasting pan

price - $2

sold

Our oven barely holds it, and like so many things people do not want, it doesn't appear to have been used.

Sheet aluminum scrap

price - each from two different free boxes

sold

4.5 X .55 = ~$2.50

I've never been one to pass up free money.  We make a run to the salvage yard every two months or so.

Ginormous red bowl

price - $5

sold

This Vietmamese bowl says Oggetti on the bottom.  At first I thought it was plastic, but it seems to be thin strips of bamboo (or something) wound up and then pressed by a machine and then coated with a plastic sealant.  Whatever it is it is very hard to photograph.  I finally gave up and just used my head for a sense of scale.  And I have a big head.

Unopened News from Lake Wobegon tapes.

price - $5

sold

This could be a gift or maybe Janie will listen to them on the way out to Colorado.  I've bumped into Garrison a couple of times and let it go with a nod and a smile.  Poor guy.  It must be hard being a genious.  I grew up around movie stars and such and I can tell you they want nothing more than to be left alone.

Inlaid boxes

price - $5 for the two

sold

I hope a day comes when I can't buy something like this for almost free.  I'd like to see people continue to do this, but a box like the one above (see lid detail in photo below), ought to retail for hundreds of dollars.

 (!)

Tapes about Edward R. Murrow

price - $2.50

sold

We won't be keeping these because I think watching anything about the fascist Joseph McCarthy would just bum Janie out.  We're thinking this could be a present for her dad.

It was not just me who thinks McCarthy was a fascist.  I first heard Walter Cronkite use the word.  I agree, and I use the word sparingly and where deserved.

 Women's shirts

price - 3 for $3

sold

Janie asked if the third one looked like it was her size.  I said it's a buck, let's find out after we get home.

 Table edge clamp

price - $2

sold

Can a guy have enough of these?

Yes, I know it shouldn't be clamped on the edge of the dining room table.

 Grab bar

price - $1

sold

These are unreasonably expensive, I assume because of the insurance in case they "fail".  We load up on them.  Janie needs them now, and everyone is likely to need a few eventually.

Books

price - $3 for the 4

sold

All Janie's purchases.  I did weigh in on the little tranquility book.  Page after page of happy and calming thoughts.  I said buy it.

Paper crimper

price - $1

sold

I bought it mainly so I could get it home and take my time photographing it.

What an odd and interesting idea.  It actually does fasten two pieces of paper together without a staple.  But it was one of those "better mouse trap" ideas.  Both staplers and mouse traps work just fine.

Actually, with a little tugging, the two pages do come apart without tearing, and a staple wouldn't allow that.

Gold coffee basket

price - 50 cents

sold

I buy all the gold-plated coffee baskets I see.  People don't give them up that often, because they last forever.  I thought about passing this one by because no one I know has a cone drip coffee maker.  Then I noticed that it comes with the cone basket also.  Great.

Keyring memo fob

price - free

sold

It holds one spoken message up to 20 seconds long, which overwrites the previous message.  The battery works.  We've had a lot of fun thinking up things for it to say.  This and the jig saw, the inlaid boxes, and the bowl all were in the running for find of the day.

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Yesterday, I posted pictures of the things we did not buy (which can be just as much fun to discuss and our purchases).  You can see those photos by clicking here.

Next Sunday, we'll be on the road in Colorado, on our way to haul some of our finds to my mom's gift shop.  Thus, the post from that day will be largely made up of things offered for sale to the traveling public.  It should be fun. Come join us!