26 March 2010

Adventures on eBay

If they put s#!t in a can, I swear, my mom would buy it. Every time I venture onto eBay, I realize she's not the only one.

In our ongoing effort to bring the volume of our belongings into closer  correspondence with the available space in our house, I came across a couple of things I will never again use in a million years but which seemed too valuable to throw away. I decided to put them on eBay. Who knows? There are people like my mom out there.

I've been giving desk-drawer space to a K&E Leroy lettering set ever since my brief and unremarkable career as a zoologist, many many many years ago. It was quite the indispensable tool in its day, for preparing technical charts and graphs. It's now totally obsolete, archaic, even, superseded by garden-variety software installed on pretty much any computer. And it wasn't really something you'd want to keep around to do for fun. Really. Trust me on this. So I put it on eBay. Not only was it not the only item of its kind offered for sale, far from it, but somebody actually bought it. Go figure.

Encouraged by my success, I put up my Olympus OM1 SLR 35mm film camera (remember film?) with f1.8 50mm and f5 85-250 zoom lenses, and a bunch of accessories. It was a fun camera in its day, but I can't remember when I last took it out of the case. And really, film? I invested a fair bit of time in creating a listing that would stand out from the surprising (to me) amount of other old Olympus OM Series hardware. With so many people selling this stuff, I can only assume that there are people buying it. Who knew?

There really are people like my mom out there.

In other developments, Ernie's pain meds seem to be helping, thanks for asking. He is moving a little easier and seems to be resting better.

The ARNP in my family practitioner's office filled out the latest Attending  Physician Statement for the long-term disability insurance company, declaring that as much as I wish it were otherwise I am, in fact, still disabled. Since we will apparently need to do this every 6 to 9 months for the next 10 years, she cleverly saved a copy so it will be a quick and dirty process next time.

The wheelchair guy says a joystick of some sort is really the best option for controlling my power chair. I'm sure he knows what he's talking about, but I'm also sure any joystick-type solution is only going to buy us another couple of months before the Red Queen catches up to us again. And since another joystick modification is not that much less expensive than going with a head control, how about if we just cut to the chase? So, he's going to put together a head control for me to try. We'll see how that goes.

So. It's Friday. And it's a beautiful day. (Guess who was re-watching Fargo the other night.) They say the sun may make a few brief appearances this weekend. For March, in Seattle, that will be a beautiful weekend.

5 comments:

  1. Oh the marvels of ebay! Go figure? It amazes me what you can find for sale. - err auh I think I have something similar boxed up with the slide ruler - not as fancy but same idea. Lots of old school drafting tools from my dad too.

    Glad to hear that Ernie is helped with the pain meds. Catfish and Annie send him the woofy loves and kisses!

    Sounds like you finally caught a break with the medical paperwork mess - YEAH!!!

    When do you get to test drive the head control? Staying one step ahead of the Red Queen sounds like a great idea. Who knows maybe she will take a break and never catch up again.

    My Aunt and Uncle from Seattle are here visiting my parents -well actually they are from Des Moines/Kent a few blocks from the sound. It rained yesterday here and the temperature dropped - I think they brought it with them!

    The sun is back today :) my Aunt made a lemon pie - YUM. Same Aunt that made pies from all the berries I could pick when I visited as a kid.

    Hey anyone need an old transit level?

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  2. Zoom - I have sold a fair bit of things on eBay as well and am sometimes shocked about how much people will pay for things. Glad you were able to sell those items.

    I love Fargo! We consider it both to be our favorite movie. "love ya hon" and "such a special lady" are two of our favorite lines from it.

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  3. being a collector of epic proportions (tho only an occasional frequenter of Ebay), I may be one of those like your mother. Actually, I'm like my mother. I spent last night fully absorbed in sorting and winding a bag of laces, probably come down even from my grandmother, long stored by my mother, and now MINE. I've warned my daughter -- just think, the lace, the buttons, the fabric, the yarn, the books, the 33 1/3 vinyl (even 78s): One day it will all be hers!

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  4. I'm sorry, I can't stop laughing about "narrow dogs" hahahahahahaha Ebay. I am still chicken to try it. Hang in there, Ernie. SUN! I know, 66', how weird and wonderful is that?? It has really been a nice 2010 for Seattle so far. LOL we have two residents here str8 from Fargo---LOVE THEM, so guiless and sweet.

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  5. I'm selling stuff on ebay now. Yeah it is amazing what people will pay. WOW.

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