7.31.2009

A Day to Remember


It all started with a pot of coffee at about 7 am. This trip, that is the norm. There has been to much to do, and yesterday was the pinnacle. Yesterday was the highlight, the thing we looked forward to: THE GARAGE SALE. You've inevitably been apart of one - the neon stickers, the bins full of crap that you think no one will buy, you know the drill. You put things in there and said "There is no way ANYONE will buy THIS for $1.50", and yet, they did. Here is how our day went.

7:45am - first customers, 15 minutes early. South Africans from down the street. They purchase a half broken George Forman, a brand new set of plates/mugs/dishes, a portable DVD player. Great start to the day!
7:55am - the first real "garage salers" that we had been warned about. These gals - typically in their late 50's, early 60's, show up early and try to get the best stuff. They roll up in their beat up '89 Camary and go for it. Today was no exception. We had one. She took a look in about 23 seconds, and bought nothing. I felt defeated.
8-10am - steady flow. But here is what Ashley and I's conversation sounded like: "Hey we got one". "Nope, they are neighbors". "Nope, '92 Bronco. They'll stop". "Yep, you're right". And so on. We sadly analyzed cars and figured out which ones would stop, ignore, or drive and stare. It got to be quite entertaining!
8-10am. Also during this time span was our friend Gus. Gus was the big winner of the day. Gus came 3, count 'em, THREE times throughout the day, he was relentless! Gus bought the following items: my old laptop from freshman year of college, my Dell from soph-senior year of college, an old MP3 player (not sure if this works anymore), 2 pairs of shoes, a totally broken TV (free, don't worry), another fully functional TV, a desk, a hat, and who cares what else. Gus spent almost $100 at my sale. I declare Gus the WINNER!
12PM - Ashley and Alex are roasting in the frickin heat, and decide to call it quits.
12:03pm - more people show up, of course. They buy a pair of shoes, a book, and I throw in a coffee travel mug for free.
12:17pm - even more people come. . .they walk away with mostly free items. My negotiating skills have completely deteriorated.
1:01pm - everything unsold is packed and off to Goodwill. All in all, a SOLID day. But here are some Garage Sale lessons:
- people buy the most random crap ever - drivers with a dent in it, old shoes, mirrors, anything. It is unreal.
- people want desks, electronics, shoes, and free stuff.
- people will drive up, take a look, and drive off if they see nothing of value. Very embarrassing.
- people will haggle, but hey, who won't?

All in all, it was fun. We drank way too much coffee, gave away way too many free items, but hey - we made money, people walked away happy. What more can you ask for??

We ended our day by going to the Sugarland concert at the Amphitheater. And let me be the first to say that they were amazing. I was impressed at the variety of music they covered - REM (Night Swimmer), Bon Jovi (Can't Go Home), B-52's (Love Shack), MJ (Rock with You), and Pearl Jam (Better Man). They were just extremely entertaining and well worth the money spent!

As I type this right now, my house is totally empty. Except for me, Ashley and my Mac. The end of an era - a very good one - in Bend. I loved this house and this town, but you know what? Ashley and I are on to amazing things ahead. And we are very excited about it.