Collectibles may not be worth much (6/21/2022)
A few years ago, I went to an estate sale that was dominated by the presence of about twelve display cases filled with figurines.
According to the salesperson there were at least 2,000 of little statues that the owner had collected over the years.
I don’t recall what the asking prices were but I’m sure that it was minimal. And when I came back the next day I really didn’t notice that any of them had been sold.
“How are you going to get rid of them?” I asked the man in charge. He shrugged his shoulders and answered: “I don’t know.”
It seemed to me that he would have sell the whole lot to someone who could part them out at a swap meet. And that person would probably not pay more than fifty cents each which proves that, with a few exceptions, all those Precious Moments, Hummel, Lladro, and other figurines are worth very little.
There are many people who bought them went they were issued, sometimes with the expectation that over the years they would increase in value. Especially the ‘limited edition’ ones were considered to be a good investment.
It was just too tight (6/19/2022)
Our commercial property had two driveways that were connected in the back by a short turn, only suitable for cars and vans. The area in between had just been landscaped by my dad with shrubs and small trees.
We made sure to tell all delivery drivers that they should take the wide driveway, otherwise they would get stuck in the bend. The second driveway was just for cars. Most truckers didn’t need to be told though; from their cabin they could clearly see which one to back into.
One of them, the driver for a mattress company, was not that smart. He pulled in forward with his sizable box truck and when he couldn’t make the curve he just plowed through the bushes causing considerable damage.
My dad saw it coming but didn’t get there in time to prevent it from happening. The driver got out like it was no big deal. “Why on earth did you do that,” my dad yelled. “Didn’t you see that you couldn’t make the turn?”
The driver shrugged his shoulders. “It couldn’t help it; it is just too tight there.”
Table manners (6/11/2022)
We just love going to a buffet restaurant if the food is good of course.
The downside of visiting a busy buffet is that often kids are running around. I can’t tell how many times I barely managed to avoid a collision and spilling food on the floor. And it’s not just the kids displaying lack of caution; quite a few adults make surprising moves as well. Even turning around quickly may cause an embarrassing situation.
While this doesn’t really bother me, there is something that annoys me to no end.
There are always some individuals who load up their plates to the max, like they think the place may be sold out any minute now. And after balancing the pile to the table they take a few bites and discover that they don’t really like it. The plate gets pushed to the side and they go for something else. That kind of behavior I consider to be extremely rude and inconsiderate. Why not take a little from everything you like to try, and go back for more if you enjoy it?
Unnecessarily complicated (6/5/2022)
A few years ago, I went to a garage sale where I found a nice camera tripod, and the price was very reasonable.
I decided to buy it, but I hit a snag.
The number on the little label was not the price but a number. The owner had to look it up on a list and find the corresponding price.
What a ridiculous concept. Why not just put the price on the item, like (almost) everyone else does? It saves buyer and seller time and there will be no confusion.
She wanted retail price for the tripod, so I walked away from it
.
It wasn’t the first, or the last, time I have seen people do silly things at yard sales.
Frequently it happened that the seller didn’t know how much to ask for an item. You’re the seller, you should know much you want for it. I wanted to buy a table from a lady and after asking three times she did not give me a price.
