I Love to Treasure Hunt

It sure has been a while since I've posted.

I've been trying to get my new house pulled together.  It has been slow and has all the prospects of being a long haul.  This is due to getting to buy more/new furniture.  At the old house, I had a bunch of old furniture (not old in a good way).  So I got rid of it.  The Salvation Army took the best of the stuff and the rest got hauled to the landfill.

I did keep some stuff, but need more.  The ordering process is relatively quick.  The delivery time seems to take forever.  So, I'm in hurry-up-and-wait mode.  I can't put books on shelves if the shelves haven't arrived yet.

On the other hand, I'm doing some searching while waiting.  Occasionally at Goodwill, you can find some nice things.  Granted, a great deal of the furniture at the stores is either dated or has been rode hard and put up wet.  However, it doesn't hurt to look.

I went to one store this afternoon and didn't see any furniture that came close to coming home with me. Then for some odd reason, my digestive tract had weird episode.  I'll spare you the details.  I immediately headed home to take some OTC stuff.  I waited around for a bit and the weirdness didn't recur.  So, I decided to go fill up the car to prepare the start of the week's commute tomorrow.  In the same strip center as the gas station is a different Goodwill store.

What the heck, I headed on over.  I didn't see any furniture that even remotely appealed.  However, when I walked into the store I saw a display of glassware.  I walked over and, be still my heart, there was a gorgeous cut glass bowl.  I immediately snatched it up.  It's mine, all MINE.  And for just $25.
Here's an overhead view.  The bowl is about 8 inches across.

Here's a side view.  The bowl stands about 6 inches high.

Interestingly, they had the cut glass bowl sitting out in an open display for anyone to handle.  Inside a locked glass case, they had another bowl.  I asked to see it as well.  It turned out to be just pressed glass.  Guess they didn't know the good stuff versus the OK stuff. 

If I stayed longer at the first store, I probably wouldn't have gone to the second store.  Leaving the bowl to go home with someone else. 

Score one for me!  Although some usable furniture would have been nice, too.

Papillon

P.S.  If any politicians are reading this, please end Daylight Savings Time.  NOW!

Treasure Hunt

I love going to Goodwill.  It's always rather like a treasure hunt.  Some days you find nothing much, other days, treasure!

I primarily go for books.  I like to have a good selection of reading materials on hand and I've found a lot of good things over the years.  One of my more fun book finds was a signed copy of Hedda Hopper's autobiography.  ("Thanks, pal!  Hedda Hopper")

However, starting a couple of months ago, I found some REALLY good items.  Specifically, some lovely cut glass.  I was at the Goodwill store on Paseo del Norte.  I'd found some books and was waiting in line to check out.  I looked into the glass-front case at the cash register and spotted three bowls.  One was a large bowl, about 10 inches across and about 4 inches deep.  Here's a photo looking straight down into the bowl.

The other two were smaller bowls, each with a different design.  They're about 4 inches across and are about 1 inch deep.  Here are photos looking down at each bowl and a side view of one of the bowls.

This is a side view of the 2nd of the two small bowls.

I got all three bowls for an average price on the tag of about $15 to $30.

At that point in time, I thought woohoo!  And that I'd gotten three lovely cut glass bowls for a great deal.

Yesterday, I was at the Goodwill store on Coors.  Once again, I found several books that I wanted to buy.  There was a line at the cash register so I wandered around the store.  I checked out their glass-front case but there was nothing in there I wanted.  I then wandered through the glassware section.  I didn't see anything I wanted on the first set of shelves.  Then I turned around and while perusing a second set of shelves, there was a lovely little cut glass dish.  It's a smaller version of a larger, similar piece I bought 25+ years ago.  Here are a couple of shots, one looking down (with an odd reflection) and one from the side.

It's about 3 inches wide and about 6 inches long.  As with the first three pieces, it's in good condition.  Yesterday I got an even better deal since nobody at the second store apparently knew what it was.  It was priced in line with the regular glassware and was only $2.99.  I snatched it up and went to the cash register.  I checked out and it's now mine!

All in all, I'm definitely going to keep my eye out in the future when I'm at the Goodwill stores here in town.

Papillon

A Weird and Annoying Week

The week started to get weird and annoying on Tuesday morning.  It was a cold morning, around 17 degrees. So when the low tire pressure indicator came on, I figured things would be OK once the tires got warmed up.

Things weren't OK.  The indicator stayed on.  I stopped at a gas station on the way to work and pumped some air into all the tires.  That helped and the indicator went off.  On the way home, I stopped at another gas station and made sure all the tires were up to the correct pressure.

On Wednesday the weather went to hell in a hand basket.  A nasty cold front blew through, literally.  All day it was cold and VERY windy.  Normally I would stay inside as much as possible, but work required me to be out and about.

Then, on Thursday, I noticed my sinuses were acting up.  Tight and some drainage (TMI?) causing some sporadic coughing.  I took some OTC sinus medication and things seemed to get better.

That is until Friday rolled around.  My sinuses were really tight and lots more coughing.  The OTC medication helped a little.  I was worried that I might be too sick to take part in Xmas activities.

Saturday morning I woke up to a headache and a whole lot of coughing.  However, after a while, things calmed down and the OTC medicine was helping.  At that point I thought I'd head to Target, get some additional OTC stuff and head home.

Imagine my annoyance when the low tire pressure indicator popped up.  WTH?  I drove to Target, but when I got out of the car, I noticed the left front tire was not flat, but it was rather low.  I got back in the car and drove to Firestone.  I've had the car for 4 years and the tires are originals, so I just went ahead and bought a new set.

They initially told me it'd be about an hour and a half or two hours before they could get me in and get things done.  I strolled over to a nearby Dollar Tree and got a bag of nuts.  Then on to the Goodwill next door.  There I found an Agatha Christie I hadn't read in a while.  I headed back to Firestone to wait things out.  Surprisingly, I was feeling better than I had in about 48 hours.  Not 100%, but at least around 75%.

The Firestone folks got me out in about an hour and I headed on home where I spent most of the rest of the day on the couch.  This helped and I did feel better - at about 80-85%.  It's been kinda up and down today, but the coughing has subsided a bit.  That's always good.

I'm hoping things continue to get better, but I'm going to continue to keep the OTC medication and Kleenex handy for the foreseeable future.

Joyeux Noel.
Papillon

Feeling Good

A week or so I was making my weekly trip to Goodwill to see if I could find any good books to read.  One of the books I found was a copy of Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick.  It's been a couple of decades since I last read any of Alger's books so I thought 'what the heck' and bought the book.

When I bought the book I noticed it had markings indicating it was a part of the Albuquerque library system.  I didn't think much about it because libraries periodically cull their files and sell the books they know longer want to keep.  I figure this was one such book.

However, when I got home I noticed there was nothing on the book to show it had been pulled from the stacks by the library.  So I went out on the official city website and checked the library's catalog.  They had the book listed, but also said there were no available copies.  Normally if a book has been checked out, the catalog will show this.  So their notes meant they had no copies in the system. 

So I read the book and then took it to the closest branch library and put it in the book drop-off.  Tonight when I checked, voila!  They now have one copy of the book listed in their records - ready to be checked out.

I'm not sure how the book ended up at Goodwill.  So I did Good will a favor by buying the book and supporting their efforts.  I helped out the library by returning the book so they don't have to buy another copy - saving them money.

I'm feeling good.  Two good deeds in one fell swoop!

Papillon

A Glitter of Unicorns?

As has already been mentioned, I love going to places like Goodwill & looking through their used books.  Most recently (yesterday to be precise), I found a book edited by Bennett Cerf.  (For those too young to remember him, he was a publisher, lecturer, columnist, toastmaster, and TV personality.)

The book is Bennett Cerf's The Sound of Laughter.  It was published in 1970 and there is a fair amount of humor in it that is rather dated or is what would now be considered politically incorrect.

However, I have run across some items that I like.  Here's one:

"Almost everybody knows that lions travel in prides, that pups come in litters, that elephants en masse are referred to as herds, and that fish navigate in schools.  But you'll have to dig into James Lipton's unique book An Exaltation of Larks to find that in their time and fashion, good folks have referred to an ostentation of peacocks, an impatience of wives, an unction of undertakers, a sneer of butlers, a twinge of dentists, a tantrum of decorators, an indifference of waiters, a descent of relatives, a no-no of nannies, and a babble of barbers.  If the game appeals to you, you might strike out on your own."

I may just have to see if I can find a copy of Lipton's book.  It sounds rather a hoot (of owls?).

So what sorts of things can you come up with?

Papillon