Your self-esteem could take a hit at a garage sale
It was the mother of all garage sales. Six families on the same Peninsula block banded together to rid themselves of years, no, decades, of unwanted material goods this summer.
Some of the stuff was quite good, especially certain furniture selections that were no longer needed for one reason or another. But, truth to tell, the bulk of the jettisoned items was nothing particularly special.
Old CD’s, crockery, linens, gardening tools, computer parts, earplugs, toys, rugs, vases, you name it; it was for sale at rock-bottom prices. Bartering was the name of the game. Nothing new there.
Things got so busy on the first morning of the event that it was hard to keep up with the customers as they zoomed in and out of the six pre-arranged venues near one another.
Even households that weren’t involved in the effort found themselves under siege on occasion. One uninvolved resident reported that he got an offer on a car parked in his garage, well off the sidewalk traffic pattern.
In other words, he received interest on something that wasn’t for sale without even trying. Admittedly, though, his latemodel German vehicle is in mint condition. Incidentally, it’s still not clear whether he actually sold it. The car, after all, is considered a classic. On the other hand, just when you thought you had something of real value for sale, reality hit.
Rejection at a yard sale is tough to stomach. We thought our set of attractive carving knives would fetch a tasty price. Wouldn’t they be a nice addition to someone’s kitchen? Of course they would. We were wrong. No one showed much interest in them at all. They languished unloved for the duration. Rather sad, really. Doesn’t anyone carve their own meat anymore? Apparently not.
A decaying train set last used during the Reagan Administration was snapped up. So were a couple of faded 1960s-era Beatles eight-tracks that had the fine-tuning of a meatgrinder at your favorite deli.
More than half of our detritus didn’t sell. Other families did far better. Our self-esteem continued to plummet as the day proceeded. It was painful. Dr. Phil, where are you? Interested in some nifty knives? We’d be more than willing to cut the price again.
Photo history
Way back in the Jurassic Era when print journalism and actual photographs (remember those?) were all the rage, few Peninsula-based shutterbugs (love that word) created a more extensive collection of commercial photos than the amazingly productive Norton Pearl.
For six decades, beginning in the late 1940s, Pearl shot pictures of San Mateo County’s growth and development after World War II. His massive portfolio of an estimated 250,000 negatives was donated to the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City three years ago.
Now, museum officials are looking for tech-savvy people to help with the considerable task of dataentry and the scanning of those negatives. If interested, please contact Debra Peterson at 650-299-0104.
A cactus moment
Also in Redwood City, while your devoted correspondent was walking on Broadway at 5 p.m. last Friday, another pedestrian braved the scorching heat (it was reported to be an energy-sapping 105 degrees at that time) and noted that it was so hot he saw a guy watering his cactus.
It seems rather doubtful that line was an original witticism. But it sure was appropriate at that particular moment. By the way, thank goodness the City Pub on Broadway, our mutual destination, is air-conditioned.