New Things are Happening!

So, I have been neglecting the blog, as you can tell, considering my last post was in 2021!  But, I have been active on YouTube since then, so please check it out. You can catch up on all the drama that occurred with the sale of my property and follow my progress in renovations of my new-to-me commercial building. Renovations are still ongoing, as cash flow permits. As I type this, there are electricians retrofitting new LED lighting in the old fluorescents. 

The shop is looking brighter by the minute! 

Also, the latest major event is the launch of my new website, www.fedoraantiques.com! I have been meaning to get a website up for nearly 20 years, so it is about time!  So far, there are a bit under 300 listings already on there, but I am trying to load more on it every week, sometimes daily. 

Blog wise, that is where I will be doing blog posts in the future, though I might post them here as well, haven't quite decided yet. I will be copying older posts from this blog to the website blog, as well as potentially doing fresh ones as inspiration hits, though many end up instead as videos on YouTube, so I suggest following me there. In any case, check out the new website when you have a chance!

Another Update in the New Chapter of Life

So, much has gotten done since the last post. Not as much as I would like, mind you. The whole reno process is slow, with some of the tradespeople doing work, then coming back a week later to complete it. That has been frustrating, especially when one set of tradespeople need the work of another set of tradespeople to be done so they can continue their work....the days and weeks in between have been adding up fast.   

The carpenters have been moving the fastest, though with hunting season upon us, they had to take a week off to go hunting. Oh well, they have gotten the most done, really, and have earned their money.

You can keep abreast of the weekly changes by subscribing and watching the videos here. 

Things are slow as far as the shop storefront is going, as I can't do much until the floors are washed, and without running water I can't get that done. The electricians just got the power going to the pump, and now the pump doesn't seem to be pumping water...so, I still can't call the floor cleaner to come and do the front part of the shop floor.

I had hoped I'd at least be living in the living quarters by now, but these delays are not helping the situation.

Trying to have patience, but my anxiety has been rising with the delays, and watching the money go out far faster than it is coming in. I am not bring in to much as far as income goes, because most of my inventory is packed....and I can't unpack much inventory until the shop gets set up.

 Stuck between a rock and a hard place. But that is where I have to operate for now. Anyways, as I mentioned before, to keep up and current, just catch the videos as they are posted.

Happy pickin'!

Arsenic and Old Books

We covered Arsenic and wallpaper already, but another source of Arsenic you may come across is in old books. 

Potentially, the green colouration of some of those early books could well be Arsenic based.  Though, more than likely, it is present as "Paris Green", have being applied to prevent insect damage to said books.

The article here will give you some more details.

Containers of Paris Green itself tend to pop up in many places. I have seen more containers of it than I can count, from little tins to gallon pails of the stuff.  Many people whose sheds, basements, barns, etc I have gone through realized this poison was present at all.  "Paris Green" does sound innocuous enough....but the skull and crossbones printed on some of the cans should be warning enough, you'd think.

Anyway, just another little tip to help you stay safe while picking!

Poison Post

In light of my previous blog on arsenic in wallpaper pigments, I thought I'd do a bit of a post on a few things I come across semi-regularly on picks.  

Tins and boxes of Paris Green - Arsenic

Tins and bottles of Embalming Fluid - Formaldehyde  (Most often found in buildings formerly occupied or still occupied by funeral parlours, but watch out for the stuff in homes of former funeral parlour owners. The stuff can turn up in what seem to be the oddest of places. I picked a general store once whose second floor was the local funeral parlour.)

Tins of Smut Poison - Formaldehyde (farm sheds, barns, farmhouse basements)

DDT and insect poisons containing DDT 

Rat Poison - Thallium, Warfarin

Fire Extinguishers (especially the brass pump ones and glass teardrop shaped ones) - Carbon Tetrachloride

Jugs and bottles of Carbon Tetrachloride (most commonly found in old drug stores, occasionally hardware stores and general stores)

Concentrated acids (sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, etc) - Drug Stores commonly had these in their inventory. This is not the watered down stuff you'd use in chemistry class, either.  But, you could well find this sort of thing in old schools/educational institutions that had chemistry courses.

Asbestos - Watch for this pretty much everywhere. Cardboard impregnated with asbestos was used to wrap hot pipes, boilers, furnaces, and all sorts of other things that heated up. Was commonly used in those thin floor tiles you see in many old kitchens.  You will find it in old toasters, waffle makers, irons and other appliances.  My personal experience has taught me that there was literally tons of asbestos used on military bases, for everything from the floor tiles to entire wall panels to exterior cladding.

Paint - potential for lead 

These make up only a small and very basic list of the things I encounter often. There is a ton of other thinners, paints, chemicals, and other hazardous materials I have come across while picking. 

Use your head, and be careful when rummaging around shelves & cabinets of containers. You never know what is in those two bottles you keep banging together, or that tin that just you put your finger through. 

Pick Safe!

Arsenic and Old Wallpaper - Walls of Death

I know, the title sounds like it would be appropriate for a Halloween blog, doesn't it? 

I realize I do mention and even harp on keeping safe when picking far more than most picking related blogs. 

I do it because, frankly, it can be dangerous profession, and the better armed you are with the facts the better you can protect yourself from harm, and live to go picking another day.  I have been lucky, and have learned the hard way to take certain precautions.

One of those precautions is wearing a respirator, not just one of those flimsy white dust masks.  I will admit, I don't wear one of my respirators all the time when picking, but, frankly, I should.

I already have a type of asthma that is triggered by fine dusts, and fibreglass insulation in particular. That is a direct result of my chosen profession, not an inherited malady.

Dusts, seen and unseen can be a problem. You already likely know to be careful of lead paint, but the source of what I am about to reveal may surprise you.

Arsenic dust borne from wallpaper.

If you take a read of this article, you will see this is not just a paranoid thought. 

The fact is that "near the end of the 19th century the American Medical Association estimated that as much as 65% of all wallpaper in the United States contained arsenic."

That leaves pretty high odds for that peeling wallpaper in that old Victorian farmhouse you are picking to be a very dangerous material....and the airborne particles you are breathing in won't be just from mouse/rat droppings, bird droppings, black mould spores and fine topsoil...you can add a lethal poison to the mix. 

Go buy a respirator.

Pick safe! 

General Store Pick - July 2017

Been awhile since I was out on what I consider a true "pick"....for reasons outlined in my previous post.

So, when I got a call to look at some items from a location I was familiar with, I decided it was time to carefully get back in the saddle again.

The owners are wonderful folks, a young family. They have the same mindset for preservation of Manitoba's history as I do, which was great to encounter. 

They'd love to preserve the building, but financially they simply can't put the kind of money into it that it needs to be properly preserved.

Here is the grand old lady:

And in true picker fashion, I located a piece the owners didn't

 realize they owned!

 Here are some more "action shots", along with pics of some of the other items I purchased:

Pick safe folks!

Disaster Averted, Not Without After Effects

Averted a major disaster recently.

One that would have resulted in loosing my business and my home.

In desperation I even set up a gofundme campaign.

Here is the text of that campaign, which explains things, shown between the two rows of asterisks:

*************************************************************

I am about to loose my home and my place of business, essentially due to the immoral actions of an insurance company. 

My mortgage is in default solely because I have no insurance, and this far have been unable to secure any that satisfies the bank's mortgage conditions. 

The following is a letter of complaint I wrote to the insurance company, as well as the provincial body that regulates/oversees Insurance companies operating in Manitoba.  I have redacted the names of the company, bank, etc for privacy purposes.  This letter will best explain the actions the insurance company took, which has seemingly also essentially destroyed my chances of getting "Full Replacement Coverage" insurance elsewhere. 

Letter is as follows in bold: 

During a rainstorm in the late evening/early morning hours of a Friday in June 2015, sheerwinds stripped a swath of shingles from the roof of my home. 
This damage resulted in water pouring through the ceilings of the 2nd floor, 1st floor and basement. 

As per is required by the insurance company during such events, I made attempts to minimize the damage by putting down pails, buckets, etc, and moving all items out of the water's path, which resulted in piles of objects in corners of my previously well & neatly organized the living room. 

I worked until the early hours of the morning to do my best to minimize the damage, but of course the water from the torrential rain pouring through my roof caused substantial damage to the interior of my home, as well as caused things to be strewn about the yard. 

Being a Friday, a subcontractor adjuster was sent out from YYYYYYY. The individual proceeded to take photographs of areas pertaining to the damage, and, without my prior permission/consent, also snapped several photos of portions of my home and yard that had nothing to do with, nor was affected by the damage. (She also failed to make a close examination of the other side of the roof, which had also sustained some loosening of shingles, which resulted in aggravated further damage of that side of the roof when a tornado funnel passed over the house about a month later.)

Do note that I was/am going through a divorce, and did have personal items moved into my living space after dividing possessions with my soon to be ex-wife, who had fairly recently moved out. 

Soon after, I got a call from the insurance broker, ZZZZ ZZZZZ of ZZZZ Insurance in Virden, MB, about having to "discuss the policy going forward." 
This discussion was not in actuality a discussion. 

Mr ZZZZZZ stated that *********'s "big guys" and his boss both agreed and decided by the photos that the property was owned by a hoarder, and that if we did not sign off on a voluntarily cancellation of a policy that ********* would do a "company cancel" of the policy and put it on public record that I was a hoarder. 
Do note that this action is the textbook definition of extortion. (ex·tor·tion - the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats. Synonyms: blackmail, shakedown; formal exaction) 

Do note that being a "hoarder" is a clinical diagnosis, and that *********'s people are very unlikely to be qualified to make such a diagnosis, especially such as was undertaken based solely upon photographs taken by a similarly unqualified individual. 

I do happen to suffer from a mental illness, but it is not that of hoarding.  As a result, the action taken by ********* also could well constitute discrimination against; and quite possibly could be considered a violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act. 
Due to the threat, we did sign a document voluntarily cancelling the policy, as we were told by Mr ZZZZZ  that should it be put on public record the policy was cancelled due to hoarding, that we would never be able to get insurance from another company based on that notation. We felt we had no other choice and had to sign under duress. 
Also note that the ARHA (Assiniboine Regional Health Authority) is behind me 100%, and will back me with documentation stating clearly that I am NOT diagnosed as being a hoarder. 

It is our position that several of the photos were taken: 
(a) of areas that had NOTHING to do with the storm damage and were taken without expressed permission 
(b) and were considered/looked upon by employees of ********* and ZZZZZ Insurance completely & utterly out of context (IE: Items stacked in corners of the room to minimize damage during the deluge of water) 

The decision to make a threat of cancellation based on hoarding was stated by Mr ZZZZZZ as having come directly from within ********* Insurance. 
Our position is that due to us having 3 previous claims (all "Acts of God" type incidents beyond our control), ********* was looking for any excuse to cancel the policy, and utilized the baseless accusation of hoarding to force us to cancel the policy. 

After this time, despite the only "voluntary cancellation", I have not been able to get insurance from any company that satisfies my mortgage requirements. All companies seem to find some sort of excuse/reason to say no, or deny the application, some even after having given a quote and saying they would insure. It seems rather suspicious that they all would deny the applications, no matter the company. Oddly enough, ********* quoted on an application put forth through XXXX , only to end up denying the application and further cause issues with getting insurance from any other firm.

As a result, my property is now in Foreclosure due to non-compliance with the Mortgage requirements (not having valid insurance in place) . I am now as a result of the extreme stress *********'s action have caused am suffering from depression, anxiety, and am generally not functioning well in day to day life. 

I may well loose my property to foreclosure due to *********'s actions; actions which were undertaken in such a way that could well be considered illegal under Canadian laws, as well as a violation of the Human Rights Act of Canada.
                                            ******
I have pretty much exhausted all means of obtaining insurance, though there are brokers trying various markets. However, these markets also put my insurance cost at over $6000, figures which will cause a financial strain (ie: wipe out my savings and then some).  By the bank foreclosing, I will loose my home and my sole means of income, which is my antiques, collectibles and salvage business which I operate from my property. 

The only ways to stop the foreclosure at this point is to get insurance (which as I have outlined has proven oddly impossible over the past year) and the other is pay off the remaining balance of the mortgage myself, or by the sale of the property.  The property is up for sale with a realtor for a year so far, but with the market being down with the price of oil (this is "oil country")  there has been no takers as of yet. 
 I have no other means of being able to immediately obtain the  $110000 required to pay off the mortgage, unless the property were to sell. It is listed currently a $300,000.  If the bank forecloses, I fear they will sell it for grossly under market value and then after expenses, (as well as payment of a $28,000  loan for the geothermal heat unit we had installed) will leave me with next to nothing (that remaining  sum which I will have to split 50/50 with my exwife, also).

I am at the end of my rope, so thus I have put up this plea for help.  

If by some miracle things do work themselves out (ie: I end up with insurance (unlikely), I win the lottery (equally unlikely), the property sells for a realistic sum before the bank forecloses (I can only hope)) then the monies will go towards a downpayment on a new location.  Having been self employed pretty much all my life, my credit rating sucks, and thus obtaining a significant mortgage is a daunting task. So, a larger downpayment on a property is an asset.   The property I do have my eye on is under $200,000, and is ideal for my business. 

I/we (the ex and I) have had far more than our fair share of  drama occur in the last 10 years of living here, as well as events that you would find yourself frowning & shaking your head at how much bad luck we have had.... but I will spare you the details, as they are only precursors to all this, and I am not looking to evoke sympathy, I am only looking for empathy and assistance/help.

Even if the final goal is not reached and if I am able to raise more funds myself via sales of inventory that I am undertaking presently, I will utilize the funds to perhaps be able to cover the mortgage that way.   Also, should I actually find some company that will insure the properly, undoubtedly it will be in excess of $6000, so any funds may end up used to help cover the insurance.

***********************************************************

So, what has happened? Well, the very insurance company that caused this problem in the first place ended up giving me insurance again. It was even cheaper than the first policy that we had, oddly enough.

So, anyways, I had been trying to get insurance for the past year, and when the bank finally started foreclosure proceedings, things were looking very grim. Basically, two weeks before the bank would have started procedures for auctioning the property, I got the insurance in place. Sadly, that is not the end of it. I am now dealing with anxiety & depression that still will not go away, despite disaster being averted. 

Here is an "update" from my gofundme campaign that explains a bit of the financial after effects (again, between the rows of asterisks): 

*****************************************************************
Finally some good news! The insurance company that caused this mess has now done a 180 and offered insurance!! So, in the 11th hour this may well come to a positive close. Just some banking/legal stuff to deal with now to pull things out of foreclosure.

Well, the foreclosure will soon be stopped, but the costs have risen...this fiasco will have wiped out my savings, having cost me about an additional $6600 (beyond the $2100 paid out for insurance and $1800 worth of back mortgage payments that they had stopped taking 4 months ago; which of course I just saved up. Both amounts I would have spent anyway, so I am not including them in the total.) The $6600 is made up of over $800 in "temporary fire insurance" the bank put in place and the rest is LAWYER'S FEES! 

Yes, the bank's lawyers require me to pay the legal costs and fees, amounting to the $6600. So, I am not coming out of this free and clear, not by a long shot. This "series of unfortunate events " has cost me more than $6600....as that number does not factor in time and fuel for running around to insurance brokers all over the place, the extreme stress, the $ not made in my business due to the loss of productivity as a result of the anxiety and depression I have had to deal with for a year, and on and on and on. I am reducing the amount of the campaign to $6600 as a result, to try and get somewhat back on my feet financially, and repay the money I had to borrow to top up the amount I needed. 
I'd rather sell you stuff than "beg" here, so maybe just buy lots of cool stuff from me, ok?

***********************************************

Anyway, so that is why I haven't been blogging as of late. Lost the drive, the motivation. 

I did manage to get a pick in, now that that stress is basically behind me. But, I will blog about it in the next post, to give you some relief from the stressful drama you have read above.

Adventures on Etsy

So, I am finally getting lots of inventory listed on Etsy. (Click on that to see my shop.)

I find, though, that it is a very niche market when it comes to selling antiques & collectibles.  The type of merchandise that sells on ETSY is not generally the merchandise I want to spend the bulk of my time dealing with.

Maybe it is because I am a Taurus, and we tend to be stubborn, stuck in our ways,etc.....

Or, it is due to the fact is just that ETSY is more geared towards crafts, fashion and decor, and "vintage" just happens to cover a portion of that.

I do have inventory that is of an ETSY ilk, but sales are still slow.  I find that all the extra activity it takes to get eyes to your listings is extreme, and, frankly, harkens of a ton of extra work that was at one time unnecessary.

If I had someone else working for me, and they could strictly run and promote the ETSY store front, that would be fine, but the only people working for me at the moment are the 3 of us...

Me, myself, and I.

There is always eBay, right?

Wrong.

eBay has long been out of the picture for me....and I will tell you one of the many reasons in the next posting.

Just An Old Picker

I have been picking and dealing in "old stuff" for a long time, and I vividly recall that recently I was the "young gun" in the crowd; the youngest at every function, antiques show (etc) that I went to.

 However, I was awoken to a fact not long ago...

Rudely awoken, you could say.

I am only 44, by the way...well, ok, I admit, I am almost 45.

It came by way of a eyebrow raising moment a couple weeks ago.

I stopped in at a thrift shop while I was in Winnipeg a few weeks ago, and after doing my tour of the place, I had managed to find a few goodies.

I brought my purchases up to the sales counter which I knew totalled $5, and set them in front of the cashier.

The cashier tapped away on the register, and I was told by the smiling 60+ year grey haired lady behind the counter that the total was $4.00.

When I politely pointed out that the total was actually $5.00 the dear old gal behind the counter smiled and said:

 "Its Senior's Day."

 It took me a stunned second to realize that she had given me the "senior's discount."

I guess I need to look at it in a good light. So, I have decided that I have earned every one of my grey hairs, so perhaps getting a senior's discount 20 years sooner than I should is my reward.

Every buck counts, right?

Maybe I need to save those bucks up for some hair dye....

Junk Biz Reality TV - Right, Left or Straight ?

Welcome to the crossroads on the back roads of this landscape called the Junk Biz!

Get in the passenger seat, and you can get a close view of what I am seeing.

Let's go straight up the main road...not right nor left down those side roads...perhaps we'll get to them later.
 
The road straight ahead, the one well traveled, well, we all know it goes where everyone else has already gone. Been there...done that.

End result?

A general consensus that adds up to Meh.

So, how about turning right or left, down one of those other roads?


In picking circles, the road less traveled, is the one we'd likely take when looking for treasures...after all, the less people who have gone down it, the more likely we are to find treasures everyone else has missed, right?

The problem with that scenario is that often it doesn't  end up anywhere...well, anywhere except perhaps a dead end on to an lonely expanse of field....and no viewership...and you might get stuck, and a long walk to the nearest town....and have to pay a significant towing bill.

Once and awhile it might end up in discovering a wealth of treasure that may end up making you some good money....but let me tell you a fact: 

The odds are simply not in your favor.

Production companies and their backers/accountants aren't happy with random risk, no matter how interesting it looks from the passenger or driver's seat. Unmapped territory is not for the feint of heart...or those who are at all risk adverse.

 Veteran pickers aren't happy with that scenario, either.  We do tend to be adventurous, but we're not stupid. We don't toss our cash away, either. 

 Usually there is a method to what seems like madness. Most times there has been research into the route or at least the general area to back up our seemingly random, convoluted route.  Like a veteran picker and a good production company/producer both should realize that maybe some serious, heavy duty research is in order, to maximize the potential of that road less traveled....and to get off the same congested, worn, and tourist trap ridden route everyone else is on. Find some fresh territory, and potentially get on to a fresh pick where no one else has been, and one which is lucrative, and you can bank on for a long time.

A good picker will consult the locals, and others familiar with the territory. They know they can improve their odds of doing well with more information gleaned by talking to those who know these back roads well. The locals who know the unwritten history,  unrecorded stories, and referrals from locals who the picker has treated with respect, get to know, treat well and end up get references from...and may even gain friends who show them around from place to place, introducing them as a person who can be trusted.

 This tends to result in  great success buying from those who would never have let you on their properties, let alone sold you those great folk art whirligigs their uncle carved in the 1930s....and they even told you the story behind each one.

You could just drive down that unknown road. It might even seem like a good idea at first, and it sometimes is a fun time, you may have a little success, even.... but most times it is simply a waste of time...where you end up turning around...and you could get first stuck or just entirely lost.

So, let's stop at this little restaurant...no, not the trendy one with the $7.00 lattes you like...the one across the street, the one that the long time locals frequent...better coffee there, anyway!
Time to do some research.  

 
Oh, and yes, I do have some old maps with me, and I did get a tip from a former resident of this area...told me the name of a guy to ask about...have your coffee, and I'll do some research...No, I'm not wasting time talking to those "geezers"...their stories are better than most history books you will read...granted, some of their stories are fiction......

 *****

OK, let's get back on the road. Our odds are far better....now that I have talked with the locals, got a few extra leads, a few referrals, additional info, had some details corrected, etc.. I did some research at home, some time ago. I admit, I am also a little familiar with the area, as I did some picking while on a trip to follow up another lead, which took me down this same main road. Plus I talked to a local, who referred me to another resident who moved here some time ago....and I heard rumor of this fellow from an old school picker I talked to a few years back....who passed through this area once, before this well traveled road was "well traveled"......well, let's just say I have a hot lead as a result of all the info I have compiled...

So, when we get about a mile down this road, we'll let's take this left turn, instead of that right towards that barn we initially thought was intriguing.....it is empty as empty can be, from the information I confirmed, while we were at the old cafe.
 

And a turn....and on to this gravel road.....

Doesn't look like much out here, does it?

 

But look over my way......... 

Now, let's see....

I was told me to turn to the right...

 towards the white pick-up truck...

Cool.....check out what is around this bend...!

.... an old prairie village! 

Check out the "parked vehicles"....

.....antique threshing machines!

Plus, the village still has many original, still standing buildings...and they appear to be pretty intact, quite likely still full of cool, old stuff!!!!!!

 

 AND, get this, I found out the entire village is owned by one person!  

 You know that "weird looking geezer" you referred to? (His name is Samuel, by the way.) I met Sam last time I was through  that town. I wasn't aware he was as wealthy as he is...turns out he bought stocks in a company years and years ago, which shortly after was bought by International Business Machines, just when they were starting to buy out other firms. He sold them at their peak...did very well, apparently. Anyway, he told me that everything in this place was all just "old junk" to him. He bought it all, lock stock and barrel for $1.00 at a municipal tax sale, back in the 1960s!

I told him I was a serious buyer, but he waved his weathered hand at me, and said he'd refuse to take a dime for anything. I thought he was brushing me off, but then told me he was just happy someone might actually want and make use of some of it....and I can have whatever I want from the place.....right down to the buildings themselves, IF I can move them..or parts of them!

And our timeline to get the stuff? 

Get this!!! He said to take my time, he is in no hurry to demolish any of the places. For future picking stops I just have to call ahead to him or his niece (the waitress you didn't leave a tip for...not very  classy, by the way, dude) so he can make sure the access road isn't blocked off by the derelict vehicles he normally puts across the road.

*******************

 Cool, eh? 

Anyway, the point is:

When you talk to the right people,

Do some proper research,

Treat people well and with respect,

Make some real friends in the area,

Have gained experience in the business,

Network with people in the area and/or are familiar with the area yourself,

...you can discover some hidden gems in places you would not expect them to be....which in the short AND long term can be highly profitable. The fun you will have is included for free...even though obviously there will be still hard work to do along the way.

************************************

*** A Note/Confession ***

Ok, ok, ok, some of you long figured out that the tale end details of a village full of stuff offered up for free is an unlikley sort of scenario..."a picker fantasy" as it were...! Imagination took over as far as the final details of this little drive down the back roads go. Yes, of course the story is essentially fiction, though not at all inaccurate as to the various experiences a  veteran picker has on a trip....save for a village full of stuff for free.....

OF COURSE I am still looking for that kind of place!  
 OH YES, I DO have leads, information, details, stories, rumor, (and even solid locations!) of similar places such as the long abandoned, never picked old village as I described. Yes, I am serious....no, I am not pulling your leg.
  
Hopefully they will all turn out to be their own stories, blog postings, etc....for sure will hit some dead ends, false leads, wild goose chases, etc, and some will be mediocre, average picks...and some may be absolute "motherloads" of cool stuff....but their stories are still have yet to be experienced...and those experiences is what I love...well, finding a treasure or 2 helps, too! 

An FYI, regarding the photos: They are of places I have actually seen, from trips I have been on, places I located using the skills (etc), which I skiffed over and sketched out above.  

The story above may be fiction, but you will read many equally intriguing true incidents and stories in this blog...Yes, my life as it is. I am a real picker....snippets and moments in the life of someone who lives and breathes "The Junk Biz."