Monday Rambles

This week finally begins the long-awaited (well, by me at least) "Your Vintage Religious Booklet Cover of the Day" series using the booklets I bought at a church sale in the beginning of February.  The reason it's taken so long to get to these is that I got really inspired with my blogging last month.  The whole month was planned out by Feb 5 and all written by Feb 10.  There just wasn't room for the booklets.  I didn't want to do double posting like I do with the vintage Christmas cards, because those are part of a special time of year.  Plus, I had that smattering of vintage Valentines going up as double posts, and I didn't want to overdo it.  I want to keep that specialness kind of reserved for the holidays and such.  I think it works better that way and doesn't look so much like I'm trying to pad my post total.

Since the booklets aren't tied to any particular time or season, I'm going to spread them throughout the month.  They'll be featured on Tuesdays and Thursdays in March as primary (solo) posts.  Hope you like them.  Look for the first one tomorrow.

I've gotten most of this month pre-written  and already uploaded, except for two posts and the Monday Rambles, which are always written on Sunday evening or Monday morning.  There's a lot of different stuff:  video posts, some image-based posts, and a couple of essays on various topics.  I'm trying to get a little bit ahead and build up a cushion for a couple of reasons.

First, I need some time to work on Top Secret Project Phase Two.  It's just about ready to debut, which should happen next week.  I need to make a few more tweaks first, however.

Second, my goal for the blog this month is to get all of the partially written drafts and posts that are just titles with (maybe) an outline finished and published.  Call it online spring cleaning, if you will.  Some of these have been hanging around for ages and ages and need to be done.  There are about enough that I can spread posts throughout the spring and summer.  We'll see.

Anyway, that's the plan.

As I write this on Sunday, we're battening down the hatches for a winter storm that's due in a few hours and which will snow us in again, according to the forecasts.  I am anticipating (but not hoping) not to work tomorrow.  The timing could not be worse.  I already have to miss one of my sessions on Tuesday to go to the cancer center for my six month follow up.  I always try to get my appointments scheduled early, so I can get in and out and not miss work.  This time, I was unable to get anything before mid-morning, and they're always backed up an hour or two by that point.  Rather than run the risk of missing work, I went ahead and made plans not to be there.  Interestingly (or ironically), I was supposed to pick up a few extra sessions this week, filling in for a colleague.

Speaking of the follow up, I got scanned on Friday in prep for that.  I always hate the scans, because they require an IV for the contrast, plus the yucky tasting oral contrast.  I'm so not into needles these days, thanks to the chemo.  This time around, it took two sticks to get it in, which for me is pretty good.  Would have been better if  the tech hadn't dug around with the first one to try and hit the vein.  Still, it's better than the alternative.  This time last year, I was finishing my radiation and scheduling the first chemo for later in the month.  Seems sort of like a distant, unpleasant memory.

Saturday was awesome, weather-wise.  It was the kind of day just made for going to sales.  Better yet, one of my most favorite church sales was going on.  They fill their gym with all kind of stuff--and I mean they fill it!  The last hour is half-price, so that's usually when we plan to show up.  I made two trips through, but didn't spend as much this year.  There wasn't as much stuff I was interested in this year.  I was more in furniture mode (last year I bought a bunch at this sale), and they just did not have a lot.

I did have one of those experiences/mad coincidences/total frustrations that only junking can provide.  At that sale, they had three vintage folding chairs that would have been only a dollar each at the half-price.  Thing is, I have several already at the booth, along with several other chairs, and they've all been there for a while.  I debated getting them and storing them, but the thought of doing that for an extended period of time did not appeal to me.  So, I took the "rational" course and left them behind.  What did I sell on Saturday?  THREE CHAIRS!  Sigh.

Even more interesting is the window that I took out of my storage at the Peddlers Mall on Saturday to take to the second booth.  I was also taking a shelf and some other stuff, so I ended up forgetting the window and leaving it in my PM booth.  I realized when I got home that I had left it at the Peddlers Mall and not taken it to the other booth and figured I would just grab it the next time I was in.  Guess what sold out of the wrong booth on Sunday?  A sale is a sale I guess.

I did get a couple of fun things during the rounds on Saturday:

The Egyptian image is a felt-like material that has been stretched and stapled to a board.  It was sitting behind a bunch of other pictures at an estate sale.  The lady running the sale said that she did not know where her mother got it, but she sat it in front of the opening of her fireplace for ages.  It's got a little bow in the wood from sitting propped up for so long, but I think I can set some books on it for a while and work that back out.  I do have a lot of books, you know.  That was the find of the day.  Every time I look at it, I start humming this.

The umbrella thing is like a party or bar decoration, rather than anything practical.  It's in three pieces that fit together, and the umbrella is a burlap type fabric.  I didn't have time to open the umbrella up for the pic, but when I was taking it inside the Peddlers Mall, the cart it was in hit a bump, and the damn thing popped open!  Scared me to death!

That's our "new" ride in the background.  We went the used car route this time.  It's a mini-van with plenty of room for junk hauling.  I put a shelf in it to take to the second booth, and the whole thing slid right in with room to spare!  This might be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Happy Birthday to Roger this week! 

Booth sales were solid last week at both sites.  I ended up with a banner week at the Peddlers Mall and that turned into a banner month.  It wasn't my record month, but it's in the top five.  I was very, very happy.  At the second site, it pushed me close, but did not quite make, rent.  Sigh!  Still rethinking that one.  What to do?  What to do?

By the Way...

This week is my tenth blogiversary.  Ten years!  That's a long time!  Please try to ignore that fact that I've only managed to produce slightly over 1,000 posts in that decade.  At least I've kind of tried for most of that time.

I had planned on doing a Top 10 post list for the anniversary, but it kind of snuck up on me.  I was thinking it was a little later of the month, so it caught me off-guard when I checked this morning.  Kind of like the entire history of this blog.  Oh well.

I will get to that Top Ten list sometime before the end of the year.  Ten years is a lot of posts to go through.  I do feel like I should do something to honor my blogiversary, though.  From now until my birthday (November 4), I'm going to blog in some form or fashion every day.  Call it my anniversary gift to you all.

Monday Rambles

I have kind of deduced that my particular chemo cycle runs like this:

Infusion Week:  Feel Like Shit
Second Week:  Feel Little Better
Third Week:  Feel Tiredest of Cycle
Fourth Week:  Feel as Good as I am Going to Get (not saying too much here)
Then it all repeats.
Lather.  Rinse. Repeat.

So last week, I started feeling a little better.  The nausea subsided.  No more puking.  Still very, very tired, but I've been able to live with that, except that it annoys me not having any energy.  The tinfoil is mostly gone, bur Diet Dr Pepper still doesn't taste right.  I can drink coffee without gagging now, so that much is appreciated.

I guess this week I'll be the tiredest of the cycle.  Oh well.  I can deal with that.

The YesterNook outdoor sale went well.  I was under the awning, so I was out of the sun ll day.  I still wore the hat, though.  I sold some stuff, but not as much as I expected.  Mostly, it was books and comics.  Next time, that will be all I bring.  They're talking about doing another one in the fall, which would be fun.

The take for the day was about 60 bucks from the sale.  I say "about" because I was shopping out of my intake, so I don't have an exact number.  After the day was over, I took all the leftover books, LP's (given to me), and comics to Half-Price Books and cashed them in for another 90 bucks!  Not bad overall!

I did buy quite a few things, so I made up for missing the best church sale in town a little.  I also had a lot of stuff given to me, which seems to happen a lot.  I managed to sell a couple of the pieces there, and the rest will keep me stocked for a long while, which is nice.  I'm thinking on laying off the sales for a while.

I managed to get some longer essay posts finished this week.  Two "Junkin' Memories" and one "This is How we Do It."  Feels good to get some of those series moving again.  Look for them on Tuesdays (starting tomorrow) for the rest of June.  It also feels good to get the drafts folder cleared out a little.  I realized the other day that, if I can finish all the drafts I have accumulated, I'll have have a thousand posts published.  I'm working on it!

Speaking of posts, there's one you won't get to see.  I mentioned on Mother's Day that I was working on a post for the anniversary of my mother's death.  I did finish it, but it ended up being a bit too personal to share on the internet, so I set it aside.  Just wanted you all to know.

Got a busy week coming up this week  I'm adding new morning duties at work, which will last for the next three months.  Good to have the summer income, but I'll miss the sleep.  Thankfully, my afternoons are still open.  I should have two or three new posts up, so keep checking back.

Take care!

Memorial Monday Rambles

Sorry to have dropped out of blog-sight last week, but I spent a lot of the week too tired to do anything except go to work and then go to bed.  I thought last week was going to be my "good week," but I think I learned that there aren't really any "good" weeks any more.  There are tired weeks and then tireder weeks.  The goddam bricks are everywhere these days, it seems.

I have my next round of chemo tomorrow.  I can't wait to see what new fun it brings!  Okay, so really I can wait.  A very, very long time, in fact.  Unfortunately, I am not able to wait, so bring on the next round of toxic fill up!

I have been kind of pleased with my blog totals for the year.  I am on pace to meet my 200 posts for 2013, even with my forced vacations.  I really have tried to keep up with the blog as one of my ways of coping with everything.  Plus, having to finish a post before I leave for work gives me an extra incentive to get out of bed.  I need all the incentives I can get, since the bricks provide their own kind of incentive to stay in bed.

Sales have sucked all week.  I've not had a decent day at either site, which means my monthly totals are going to suck.  It's extra discouraging right now because it takes so much out of me to really work the booth the way it needs to be done.  I worked several hours on Friday with a foof and redo that hasn't yielded any results.  I could have phoned it in and been a lot less tired.

Worse yet, I had a text the other day about some AnnaLee dolls I have at one of the booths.  I've got 10 of them, very reasonably priced.  Someone wanted all of them and was inquiring about a discount.  I am more than happy to deal in a case like that and offered a very generous 20% off, which was turned down flat.  Pissed me off too.  That would have really turned my month around.

There's a customer entitlement mentality you run into selling secondhand stuff, particularly vintage items.  Some folks have the idea that you ought to be so glad they have deigned to take an interest in your shit that you should mark it down to next to nothing, then carry it out to the car for them.  I don't have any problem saying "no thanks" to that.  Many of them turn out to be dealers, too.  It's enough to make one cynical.

Until you turn around and have a pretty good day yard saling.  The day started off with a decent sale right down the street from me and kept going all day long.  Every stop ended up being worth it, and that almost never happens.  I'm kicking myself over a couple of chairs and some wicker that I didn't get, but I listened to what the bricks were saying instead of my instincts.  They would have required a run to both booths that day, and I didn't think I was up to it.  Damn bricks talk too loud sometimes.

I ended that day at a vendor mall that's closing at the end of the month.  Lots of the dealers were in their spaces marking things down, so they wouldn't have to take them out in a few days.  I found a few things there.

Yeah.  Just a few.

I think that I'm well set for this next round of chemo, just in case I end up not being able to make it to any sales or thrifts this go around.  I'll be taking some larger items into the booths this week, if I'm able, to give it the quick and easy approach to a new appearance.

The third anniversary of Mom's death is this week.  I'm trying to get a post for that finished, but I may be off by a few days, depending on how I feel.  I'm trying to take advantage of having today off in order to take care of some things that need to be done this week.

There's a terrible lot of whining in this post.  Sorry about that.  Being tired all the time makes me grumpy.  I hope everyone has a good holiday.  Travel safely.  And take it from the dude with melanoma:  Wear a hat when you're out in the sun and use lots of sunscreen!

Monday Rambles

Finally!  A much cooler week!  Thank goodness!  We were even spared the worst of the storms that hit other places after the heat wave pulled out.  I'll take it!  For sure!

I had one of those old ABC Sports moments the other day at one of the booths.  I was rearranging some stuff, when a woman expressed interest in an end table that had been there forever.  I agreed to take a couple of bucks off and she agreed to buy it.  I carried it downstairs for her.

THE THRILL OF VICTORY!

As she was checking out, she decided it was too wobbly and was on the verge of saying that she did not want it.

THE AGONY OF DEFEAT!

And the agony of lugging the thing back up stairs.  But, it was pointed out to her that the floor in front of the register is uneven and, when she moved it over, it didn't wobble.  Purchase made!

THE THRILL OF VICTORY! 

Had an interesting experience the other day.  I got to Goodwill before it opened.  That's never happened before.  I wasn't sure whether to go on or wait for the store to open.  I ended up deciding to wait, but then had to ponder what my life has become.  I sit and wait for thrift stores to open.  I can't decide whether that's pathetic or kind of cool.

Then, I got in the store and found three Pyrex mixing bowls for 57 cents each, so I stopped all the silly philosophizing and went with the flow.

Actually, that Pyrex was my find of the week.  To begin with, I hardly ever find Pyrex, other than the clear glass stuff.  Then, when I do, it's never mixing bowls.  And, on the rare occasions when I do find the bowls, it's always the solid color bowls and not the patterns.  And then, I never, ever, ever, ever find any for less than a dollar each!!!  

(I know the pattern is pretty common, but my enthusiasm remains undampened.  And, no, I can't explain 57 cents as a price point.  Who knows what they think in the backrooms of Goodwills?)

This post puts me ahead of 2010's post total!  One more to go and then I'll be into new territory!  And I've noticed that my overall total is edging closer and closer to 800. Hmmm.....

Speaking of posts, I'm clearing out my backlog again.  Those "Practical Yard Sale Advice" posts had been sitting around, 75% complete, for ages.  I'm glad to move them off into cyberspace.  Now I'm going to work on getting some more Junking Memories posts completed.  I have several started already, but some are not past the title stage yet.

Yard sales were a mixed bag this weekend.  One of my favorite church sales did not fail to disappoint.  Got a big box of stuff for very little cash.  One of the volunteers kept waiting for me to gather up a few items, then he would come get them and put them into my box at the register.  It was like having a personal attendant!  And also a stalker.

Most of the individual sales we hit didn't measure up, but the neighborhood sale (another one I look forward to each year) was grooving along just fine.  The trunk was full  The backseat was filling up. And, then, it started raining.  And that was the end of that.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful for very much-needed rain, but, man, I only needed a couple more dry hours!

Oh well, Sunday we went to a synagogue sale and everything was fine again.

I'm starting to gather new in the package items from clearance racks and sales and stash them away for my "gift ideas" table during the holidays.  I haven't really seen many holiday items worth picking up otherwise.  I think I'm going to put up a small "Xmas in July" section this week at the Peddlers Mall and put out some leftover Xmas stuff.  It'll be a nice change of pace.  

I'll probably leave it up until the end of the month, then shift to back to school stuff.  That reminds me.  I've got to start bagging and pricing my excess office supplies for back to school.  For some reason I have tons of extra pens, post its, notepads, notebooks, scissors and the like.  Way more than I need or want.  Way more than I ever remember buying. Certainly way more than I could ever actually use.  (I think I might be sleep-hoarding office supplies?)  I might as well get something out of them and declutter a bit.

I'll be pet and house sitting this weekend.  I'll only be gone a couple of days, so I'm not sure if I'll pre-schedule some posts or just not post.  You'll know what I'm planning probably right around the time I do, I suspect.

 Finally, courtesy of the ever wonderful Yard Sale Queen, enjoy the best in YARD SALE MUSIC VIDEOS!!!

¡Hasta lueguito!