We first moved into our house in 2003. That was, like, a million years ago. Our First House and while we were both pretty jazzed about it, I was also irritated as heck. My initial idea for a house was “We’re going to pay $X!” and, as it turns out, we found this one and it was $X+20K. We got it anyway. I spent about a year cursing under my breath when I thought about the price and kicking myself in the butt for getting ripped off.
There were a couple of boxes that got shuffled off to a corner in the various frenzies of getting into the house that got put there but never opened.
Well. We opened one. And we found some stuff that I haven’t seen in a long, long time.
First off:
This is my cummerbund and bowtie from Chamber Singers 1990-1991.
I absolutely understand why I kept it after graduating high school. I sort of understand why I kept it after graduating college. I have no idea why I packed it when I moved out of the house into my first solo apartment.
Here are my rainbow ‘spenders.
These are from the 1970’s. If they weren’t Mork & Mindy ‘spenders, they were Mork & Mindy knockoffs. They were my dad’s and I took them from the cull of his clothing after he passed. I wore them quite regularly in high school. Then I stopped wearing them in the 90’s and by the time I found them again, the semiotics had changed entirely.
Here are my parents’ commemorative bicentennial pewter plates.
There is a set of four in there and a standalone plate. The set of four goes for ~$80 on Ebay. Since I imagine that they sold for something like $17.76 each at the time, I’m seeing that they appreciated about $2 per plate. I am going to give the set to a co-worker without telling him. He’s just going to come in and see the plates and ask “WHAT IN THE HECK ARE THESE?”
I might keep the standalone. You know. For nostalgia and whatnot.
And here is an antique coffee grinder:
This hung on the wall in the kitchen when I was a kid. If you tried to turn the crank it wouldn’t turn. I remember asking my parents about that and them telling me that it was an antique and didn’t work anymore. It’s just art now.
This time, I flipped it over:
See that nut? I loosened it and, suddenly, IT BECAME POSSIBLE TO TURN THE CRANK.
I turned the crank that I wished to turn since the 1970’s!
It was satisfying.
And so, this weekend, I will be doing a bunch of stuff. They’re calling me into work to be part of a major project that has a deadline in two weeks. We’ve got a game night on Saturday night. We’ve got a dinner date with friends up in Denver on Sunday night.
And Monday we’re back to the grind.
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is the ‘spenders. Photo taken by the author.)
I hate the grind…BUT I LOVE THAT YOU FINALLY GOT TO TURN THR CRANK ON THAT GRINDER!Report
Do we know anybody who likes coffee to the point where they’d want an antique grinder?Report
I got around to looking on Meetup, and I found a board game meetup that meets on Saturday afternoons. I haven’t really been able to play with anybody other than my wife since the pandemic. Assuming I don’t decide at the last minute that I don’t want to leave the house, that’s my big plan for the weekend.Report
Ooooh, good luck.
Is it going to be a game shoppe or a tap house or what?Report
It’s at the local “Real Estate Entrepreneur’s Center,” whatever that is. I imagine it will be a bit quieter than the game store or a tap house.Report
Sounds like a room that will have comfy chairs, though.
Bring your own Mountain Dew.Report
First you gotta sit through the time share pitch.Report
Currently recovering from booster #2 – the fever and stomach upset are gone, but I’m still tired and a little achy.
I’m also waiting on the city to deliver a demolition dumpster; Tuesday the home renovation kicks into high gear as I empty the remaining contents of my savings account into the general contractor’s pocket. Really hoping there are no bad surprises; I’ve been offered a six-months’ grace period (interest free) to pay what I DON’T have cash on hand for, but who knows if there’s even worse damage to the siding-under-the-siding and the window frames than his pessimistic estimate.
So I’m going to be sticking close to home and spending as little money as possible on other things until I’ve got this paid off in full. (I COULD take out a loan against my retirement account but I really do not want to)
Also once I get feeling totally better I have to box up my various tchotchkes because he thinks he’s going to have to work indoors, around the windows, and I’m more comfortable boxing up my own stuff than having his guys have to do it, and I’m hoping that maybe saves a few bucksReport
Ooof, glad you got the shot though.
Good luck with the house! Are you planning on culling anything or is this just an irritating requirement to put things in boxes so they don’t fall off the shelf?Report
I’ve already culled. this is just boxing up the stuff I want to keep in order for there to be space for the dudes to work without them knocking stuff off shelves and stuff. Also furniture will have to be moved; I said I can do MOST of that but I can’t move my piano and probably my sofa myself. But I figure if I have everything else cleared up that will make it easy.Report
Really, Jaybird? Those rainbow suspenders are from the 1970’s? Are you sure? Couldn’t they be from any other decade that they made rainbow suspenders?Report
Dude, they sell them at Hot Topic now.Report
Home from family vacation Saturday and turnaround and leave for a work convention early Sunday morning. No rest for the wicked, but I’m looking forward to having my own hotel room for a few days.Report