Monday Rambles

That crumbling sound you'll be hearing later in the week is 2007's post record falling as I dash past it.  After that, I'm targeting the triple digit years.  Yay me!

Lord, but I am still tired from the weekend.  We yard saled until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, since we were in one of the larger of Louisville's "suburban cities" for its city-wide sale.  It's big enough that we never get to the whole thing.  In fact, we usually end up in a different section each time, without realizing it.  The streets do not meet in straight corners and often curve and meander around for a while,and then, all of a sudden, you realize that you've circled back around on your path and have no idea how.

The shopping is always good, and I filled the car with all kinds of cool goods, including a whole box of stuff from a retired science teacher--prisms, specimen slides, magnets, etc.  It's one of the coolest buys I've ever made.  Look for some of it to show up in a post later this week, once I get the photos edited.

One thing that I find fascinating about this particular little city is the fact that within it there are several gated communities, including one that you actually have to be buzzed into.  That one was particularly creepy.  Every house was identical, right down to the American flag by the door!  We got out of that one in a hurry, before the Reagantonian Stepford clone reptile people could come and get us.

But seriously, when you consider that most of these small cities in Louisville were formed in the late 70's and early 80's as a part of white flight to the 'burbs to avoid busing and paying property taxes, it's kind of disturbing to see that there are those for whom that insular environment is not insular enough and they have to close themselves off even further!  Whatever world they're living in, I don't want to go there, no matter how many times my bike gets stolen.`

One more bit about these little cities and then I'll go on to other topics.  In the mid-90's when the effort for gay civil rights really ramped up in Louisville, hordes of right-wingers from these little cities swooped down on the city council rallying against it.  One of my favorite memories of the time is one of the public hearing where a particularly savvy Alderman slammed one of their spokespersons hard over it.

"Do you live in the city of Louisville?"
"No."
"Do you pay Louisville taxes?"
"No."
"Then why do you feel that you can come in here to tell us what we can and cannot legislate?"

Speaking of bikes by the way, Keith sent me an article about an increase in the number of bike thefts in our part of town.  One the one hand, it's kind of comforting to know we're not alone.  On the other hand, it's very disturbing to think that someone is out there hopping fences into people's yards with impunity.  That violation of our property is the most disturbing aspect of having my bike stolen.  I did, however, move both of our bikes so that they cannot be seen from the street any more.

Booth sales are holding steady right now.  I've had sales every day at both locations.  I should have rent made at the Peddlers Mall either today or tomorrow.  It'll be a couple of more days after that for YesterNook, but it's coming along nicely.  Yay!

We are in that odd time of year where weekday sales are regularly better than weekend sales.  Yard sale season is in full swing and folks are abandoning the indoor venues to try and beat the dealers to the bargains.  Fortunately, summer heat and humidity are also in full swing, so a lot of them will soon retreat back into the world of air conditioned bargains.  In  couple of weeks, I expect the vacation lull to hit, especially at YesterNook.

My project for the week is to get the Peddlers Mall booth back into shape.  It's a hot mess on a stick right now.  Part of the problem is overstocking, so I'm going to hold off on putting anything new out for a couple of weeks, and let some stuff sell down.  But, mainly, my booth time has been limited lately, and I haven't had the time to spend and really tidy the way I should.  I'm going to spend the whole day there on Thursday and see if that helps. I'm pulling everything off the shelves and starting from ground zero.  I might even rearrange a bit, who knows?

One area I will restock, though, is my books.  I've had a flurry of book sales over the past week or so--over fifty sold (for both locations)!  I've put out the stuff from the library sale and still have a huge gaping hole.  Since it looks sloppy like that, I will be bringing in more this week.  Fortunately, I  found a couple nice stashes this weekend.

If I remember to take the camera, I might document the booth redo for you all, but I've intended to do that in the past and have forgotten every time.  We'll see.