Yard Sale Mentality

On Saturday, we had a yard sale. It was one of the strangest things that we have experienced out here.

I put an add in the paper to run on Thursday and Friday. We made signs, and have been collecting things to sell in our garage for the past month. We then got little price tag stickers and spent Friday night pricing all of our items. I must say that we were very organized for this yard sale. I went into it thinking that if we at least made $28, I would make back what I spend in the add.

The sale started at 7am on Saturday morning. I am not a morning person, so Scott was out of bed at 5:30 and getting things ready. He came up to wake me up at about 6am and said that we had stalkers in the front of our house. Of course, I didn't believe him - so it was finally that statement that got me out of bed and peering out of the window. No one was there - ha, I knew he was kidding.

Scott put the garage door up at about 6:45, then came inside to get his cup of coffee. When he went back outside, there was a man in our garage already looking at all of our stuff. When I came outside 5 minutes later, our entire set of pots and pans were already sold and the man was loading them into his truck. Over the next hour, a mass of people (mostly Mexicans, I think) came and bought the majority of our things. They really wanted to bargain, and we got talked down on most of our things. I found it odd, but the main tactic seemed to be for them to make a pile of things and say "If I buy all of this, how much will you charge me?". We added everything up individually, and normally lowered it by about $5, and that seemed to make them happy. Our best sale (although I think we could have gotten more money for it) was our 27" TV, the TV stand, and an old microwave for $80. Very quickly, we watched our belongings drive away...

People also came up to us and asked us if we had specific items. One person asked if we had any sleeping bags, and if I had found Scott's sleeping bag in the garage, it definitely would have been sold. Another person came looking for lamps, and another person asked for clothing. We didn't intent to sell any clothes, but when asked I immediately went upstairs and raided the closet for shoes and clothes that I could get rid of. Selling things is so addicting!

Overall, we made over $400, which is amazing! By 10am, people were just trickling in and we decided to shut down early at noon. It is strange though - they really just wanted our electronics and junk. All the nice thing that were in unopened boxes (picture frames, music boxes, wedding gifts) they couldn't care less about. They really wanted things like Scott's old suitcase that went around the world and had a 2" layer of dust on it. I wonder if we go to the flea market next week, if we will see all of things for sale for twice as much as we sold them... Oh well - I think we are going to have to this at least once a year to clean house!! It's so refreshing!

Latest updates

Scott has been bugging me for a while to update my blog. He said that there are so many things that we have done lately that it needs to be posted. OK - here goes.

First, I do want to say that I am horrified about the shootings at VA Tech, and that my thoughts are with Hokies everywhere, especially those in the Burg.

At the end of March, we went on a trip to Vegas with our friends Keith and Kara. It was a lot of fun, and it was also Scott's first time in Vegas. We stayed on Freemont, in the Golden Nuggett. It was so much nicer of a hotel than I imagined! I guess I was expecting an old hotel, since it was in the old part of town, but it was really nice and they just revamped the pool and put in a shark tank with a water tube slide. I did go down the slide - totally under duress. We gambled and lost a little - nothing too severe, but we are eating Ramen noodles for a couple of months :-) We also went to go see a show called Fantasy at the Luxor. Kara had a friend in the show, who hooked us up with tickets. We were in the second row, and yes, we saw lots of boobies (16 to be exact, over and over again). But it was a very funny and well put together show (we had no idea what to expect when we sat down). I must say that the grand finale of our trip was getting a bit tipsy at the pool bar while checking out of the hotel, and then going for dim sum at Ping Pang Pong! We had seen the billboard for this restaurant starting about 50 miles outside of Vegas, so we had to go see what it was all about. Overall, it was a great trip, and we need to go back again before we leave SoCal.

Scott had his Birthday last week - the big old 34! He didn't want to do anything special for his birthday, so we went out to dinner on Tuesday to Claim Jumper and got him a fattie steak. He asked "Are there going to be people waiting for us when we get there?". I didn't plan anything for your Birthday today, sorry hon. But notice the key word - Today. On Friday we went downtown to pick up my friend Kelli from the airport, and then moved onto Karl Strauss where his surprise party was waiting. I think he had a great time, and it is always wonderful to see him actually surprised and taken aback when things like this pull together. I must say - Kara and Keith went above and beyond ensuring that Scott had a great Birthday, with presents, balloons, and a cake. And of course, their company!! Kara and Keith - you have become such wonderful friends - I am really going to miss you a lot when you move this summer :-(

Scott went to a job fair this weekend, and things are looking ok on the job front these days. I think Scott was able to practice his interviewing skills, and feels much more comfortable with it now. I knew it would only take a couple of times for him to start feeling normal, and less nervous, during interviews. But as the weeks progress, I'm sure there will be more job hunting, interviews, and I'll keep you updated on our progress.