Free to a good home

One man's trash is another man's treasure? Or so the saying goes....

In the aftermath of yesterday's garage sale, we took two cars full of stuff to the Goodwill store. There were some remaining items that never made it to the garage sale because they were trash or broken and a few other items that seemed to bulky to be carted off in the car. We had a theory that putting these items out with the trash would allow them to go to good homes without the middle man of goodwill.

Mind you, many of these items were marked under 5 dollars. For the last hour, we said everything was 1/2 price. People still hemmed and hawed over paying $2 for a kids microscope set which still had its original price tag of $33. Needless to say, I believe it was donated in the end.

I fully expected that long before the garbage man came tomorrow morning a mirror, wobbly table and chair with a yellow flowered print cushion would be taken. Interestingly enough - the man who took the chair sat in it during the garage sale and wouldn't pay the "sale" price of $1.50 for it.

The most suprising thing was the number of items that were taken that we had deemed "not garage saleable" - an old box of Cheer (most likely from the early 80s), a mirror that had once been attached to a dresser and a rusted and dented dollhouse.

A teenage kid on his bike took a lawn chair that was riped only to have it open on him as he rode away. The girl he was with kept asking - "What are you going to do with it?" and made the observation that it was also a rocker and not just a regular chair.

I was annoyed with a few people who took it upon themselves to investigate one of the big black garabage bags by ripping it open - seriously, just untie the handles. No need to make a mess for the garbage man or me.

Even though we made a few bucks off the garage sale and were equally surprised at what people will spend their money on - in the future I plan to be sure and display more "junk" in my yard on garbage day...just to see if it gets taken. I know - I need to get a life. Not to worry - Steve will be home in less than 24 hours and he won't let me throw away anything.

If it's before 7am on Monday July 11th as you read this - feel free to stop by and pick through my garbage. There is still a metal bird cage, push mower, and an old chair with a crack down the middle of the seat. Just leave the rest alone. And don't bother with the canned tomatoes - best we can tell those are from the 60s.