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Garage Sales - Week 9 - 2011
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 1845
A thousand sales, nothing too great.
Friday, in Killarney, a skillsaw mitre saw for $45.00, which, given the renovations I've undertaken, is a bargain.
And on Saturday - off to a variety of garage sales, there are hundreds, the first sunny Saturday morning since....? well, I don't know.
But there are signs everywhere, and I stop at countless.
The Kensington Parade of Garage Sales finally takes off, and I'm sure to be there by 9:00 - 3 ceremonial Sabres, probably from the 20's or 30's, complete with scabbard and ornate hilts, surprisingly sharp (given their ceremonial status) - $20.00.
And hundreds of others of sales, most of which don't bear description. The sabres content me, there's much to be done about the house at the moment and I can't give over too much time to treasure hunting...
Panning for Gold & Diamonds in Manhatten
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Found
- Hits: 1869
An interesting one from the New York Post about a man who makes a living prospecting for gold and diamonds in Manhatten.
Link: Got his "mined" in the gutter
Of course, this isn't without precedent, there have long been panners for gold wherever there are big cities and clearly defined jewelry districts - here's an article on the gold panners of Mumbai:
Link: Panning for gold, Mumbai streetsweepers watch for all that glitters
And if those articles fail to inspire you, in Japan recently they've taken to mining the precious metals out of sewage,
Link: Sewage yields more gold than top mines
Which might make a fun afternoon for the kids, panning out the remnants of bran muffins and pancakes...
Of course, if you wanted to keep them interested it might not hurt to "salt the pot" a bit with this or some other edible accessories here or here.
Wall to Wall
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 1888
Another day entirely wasted pulling up Wall to Wall carpet.
The installers, they go crazy, firing staples from machine guns, they assume that whoever ordered this carpet will want it forever.
I don't. I want it gone yesterday.
The whole idea of wall to wall carpet offends me, not least because I have to spend hours ripping it up, pulling staples and nasty wooden-spike-clips from the floor that have filled me with tetanus. Or the dirt, so much of which has built up beneath the floor that I think - momentarily - that the house has been built directly upon the ground and the wall-to-wall carpet is there to hide the grass...
No such luck.
And hours and hours of pulling up staples and tacks and sweeping up garbage bags full of fine dust later I'm done.
It should be illegal.
What is the benefit? A haven for allergies, dirt, mites? "It's like having slippers on your feet wherever you go, only at many hundreds of times the price"
For health reasons alone it should be illegal. But it's done, I've pulled it all up and hidden the remnants in the neighbors trash bin. Now to lay the floor.
Comic Con - 2011
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2114
Father's day and we're bereft of things to do, we decide upon the Comic Book & Sci Fi Convention.
$50.00 admission, $25.00 apiece. We did this last year...
...and it's much the same. Countless artists and vendors promoting their work, abundant costumes, superheroes of every shape and size: a 60 year old overweight Batman, a 14 year old underweight Superman in a skin-tight lycra that hangs from his skin like a tent, various others, a Jessica Rabbit, very convincingly done (less the curves, which I found too abundant anyways), only I think she's not really trying, the resemblance is natural.
Others, too, there's Zelda, and no less than 100 unwashed Katamari whose resemblance is probably pure chance, but how convincingly they've done it, there's zombies and Star Trek Aliens and Vampires and any number of Steampunk heros and people in costumes that probably have no comic book equivalent, merely dressing up, events like this bring out the kink....
Much to look at, but the most impressive thing by far (and most of the celebrities and vendors I'm sure were noticing as well) was the stall that sold mini-donuts and slushies. Averaging $10.00 every 30 seconds and a line that wouldn't diminish (the katamari's need feeding, after all, rolling away stuck to their slushies and donuts...), I'm guessing this is the business to be in. Forget everything else, run a mini-donut stand at Sci Fi conventions and in year you'll be rich....
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