Between crises, work and other daily chores, my wife and I have been doing a bit of Spring cleaning. Yes, I know it is late summer (what summer?) going on fall, but still....
We started in the garage. A trailer load of what the hell is it went to the dump. A truck load of why the hell did we keep this went to the local twice around shop. Several wheelbarrow loads of holy shit I forgot I had this were sorted cleaned and properly stored. Before we knew it, we could actually see the floor! Holy Mackeral! You mean we might be able to keep the motorcycles in the garage rather than in my shop?
A pain in the ass, but worth the effort. We literally went through boxes that we had not opened in over 20 years. Most of what was in them had value....not necessarily to us anymore, but either donation or future yard sale value. I found several tools that I knew I had, but had no idea where they were and finally had gone out and bought a new one...so now I have two. I found a metal box with college papers in it including a couple letters from my grandparents. Unfortunately they were mildewy and smelled...I laughed a bit reading them and nearly cried thowing them in the stove...but that is the way it is.
I have always been a "saver." Much like my grandparents and parents were frugal and made do with what they had, I have always seen potential in what some people might call junk. Hell! I farm with junk...and do ok too!
I have three old skid steer loaders. Two of them run and one is strictly parts. The two that run need various things and should probably be classified as projects. I had plans for them! I have not used them for probably 5 years, but I had plans! About a month and a half ago, my cell phone rang. I did not recognize the number. It turns out that this person had seen one of the skid steer loaders behind my shop and tracked me down. "Would you be willing to sell me some parts off your junk skid steer?" I was asked. Now to be honest, nothing pisses me off more than some guy who thinks he is God's gift to negotiation and just because there is a bit of grass growing around something it must be junk. "No, and it is not junk. If you would have trespassed a bit further you would have seen that."
"Oh...Uh....well I only looked. Would you sell the whole thing?" he replied, not getting the hint. "No. I have three of them. I might consider selling all three, but not just one and certainly not parts off one." "Ok...how much?" he asked. "I gave him a price. A high price in my own opinion, but remember, I never planned on selling them in the first place. "Oh...Uh....are you sure you won't just sell me some parts?" was the response. "Nope." and I hung up the phone. That was the end of it...or so I thought.
About a week ago, the phone rings and it is the same guy. "Would you still be interested in selling your skid steers?" he asked. "I suppose. " I replied. "How much did you want?" he asked. "I already told you." I responded. "Uh yeah, but how much will you take?" he asked. "Exactly the amount I told you....in cash." I replied. "Well, It is going to cost me probably $500 to come get them and get them home and I was wondering if you could do something to help with that?" Wait a minute? Why is where this guy lives my problem? Why does this idiot think that is a valid negotiating point? "Nope." I replied, "Cash money, no negotiating, you want them and I don't need to sell them. I will help you load them up though and that is it." "OK, I will be there Saturday afternoon."
So I guess I have sold 3 skid steers....the only problem is that the dumbass is coming with a covered trailer....I should not have offered to help him load....
The honest truth? I probably never would have gotten around to fixing them. I am roughly doubling what I have invested in them and I can use the space. I can always use the money, but getting rid of something that could still be usefull is not an easy thing and snooping trespasser piss me off. However, it feels good to not have the projects hanging over my head.
A clean garage, some space in the yard and a few bucks in the pocket. Damn...what could I buy to fill that space in the garage and the shop? It will have to be something useful...Maybe if I sold one of the tractors...I would have space for something really big...and rusty...and cool...
Now, now, GT. No point in giving us additional information confirming you're an ornery, sour-puss, curmudgeon.
ReplyDeleteWith my city slicker publicist hat on I see..... reality show (and riches if we bottle this lightning fast enough) with you playing yourself as the main character.
You just described one of the episodes: Driving a hard bargain country-style and being mean and rotten, face squished up like a wrinkled prune, to a kind enough fellow who would have done you a favor by clearing rusted, hardly used any more 1970s-era equipment.
You then turn to the camera controlling your fury, red in the face, and rant about him coming on to your darn property without "per-mishhin."
"And if I ever see him again," you say, leaving the answer open-ended with the potential violence very real.
Camera shot of the next day's afternoon, you with a shit-eating grin, wearing those expensive Carhartt insulated overalls, as the man counts hundred dollar bills into your eager hand.
I once sold a "Total Gym" on eBay and between when the guy paid me and the shipping that he paid for, he could have gotten a new one for less.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you stood firm. And the Christian thing is to help this moron load them onto his damn trailer. ;)
KT - I specialize in curmudgeon.
ReplyDeleteJoseph, I used to attend auctions just for the pure entertainment value of watching dumb asses pay $20 for $9 toasters!
In fact, I remember attending an auction where I ran into a friend. We were standing together laughing at the absolute junk that people were bidding on. I noticed his auction card sticking out of his pocket and I carefully took it. The next lot was an old rear engine lawnmower that had the old bicycle style steering handle. Very rough and probably only worth scrap value of about $5. Carefully, without him seeing me, I began to bid at $1. Someone else wanted it too, surprisingly....and they began to bid against me. When it reached $30 he looked at me and asked, "what kind of a dumb ass would bid $30 for that piece of shit." He was laughing until I showed him his auction card and replied, "you!"
ReplyDeleteI bought a $30 piece of shit that day and had at least $300 worth of entertainment as he sputtered and swore at me. I think the scrap value was actually $3.
Clutter is a terrible thing.
ReplyDelete