Don't Get Too Involved

We humans are generally a pretty darn curious bunch.

If you are a really curious type, that can work in your favor.

Having that urge to know what is behind a door, around a corner, underneath a pile of junk, etc, can lead you to treasure.

It can also mess with your head....

One of the things I discovered early in my pickin' career was that there is a fine line between "research"and "obsession".

When you are dealing with situations like sorting/digging through estates of deceased persons, it is sometimes tempting to take some time to read personal letters, diaries, etc.

Frankly, sometimes that is actually something I'd recommend doing.  This is how fantastic "true story" movies get made, books are written, mysteries are solved (and created), etc.

But, there is a fine line between "research"/"due diligence" and "obsession".


Someones innermost fears, confessions, desires, etc, are quite likely things that person did not intend to ever reveal to another soul. the opposite may well be true in the minority of cases.

Perhaps the individual wanted the world to know certain things, but could only reveal them after their passing.  Many times this is owing to living a lifetime with some piece of knowledge they could not speak of when they were alive.  Those pieces of information, say, something like having been witness to/participants in some horrific war crime, murder, theft, etc may have created a burden that built up emotional scarring in their shadowy corridors of their mind.

Usually, however, the letters, diaries, documents, etc of most people are pretty "blase." Videotapes, home movies, audio recordings etc are similar, but require some sort of additional effort beyond manipulating paper.

The day to day lives of those who lived through other eras can be interesting, and reading their writings really can open a window in the fabric of time allowing you to see what it was like living in World War 2 England,  the "dirty thirties", a life of hard rock miner, a musician, etc...a peak into the past. Sometimes the past is not that far past....could be a  last week, allowing you to walk a block in the deceased person's shoes.

Thing is,  you can VERY easily get WAY too involved in a person's life.  Reading bare, raw emotions written as words on a page by another can put you right into that person's head, and your mind becomes intimately involved.  You may even learn things you really did not want to know.

It can be like watching a movie that suddenly has a scene that is imprinted on your mind, and there is no way to erase it. A particular clip in John Water's cult classic "Pink Flamingos" left one of those images branded in the folds of my memory....And no, it isn't the one where Divine eats dog crap, either. I am not really a John Water's fan...it was one of those "arty" movies you get dragged to see by friends, some with good intentions, trying to expand your intellectual horizons. Or, they may  just want to enjoy the thrill of shocking the shit out of you....no pun intended!

If you do find assorted documents that have some historical value, or maybe the blockbuster "true story" movie or book/biography that is potentially the find of the decade...well, ok, fine, read away. Figure out what you need to keep using the info on the pages, and go from there. It is surprising the "regular everyday items that can suddenly be very important in the telling of a story, confirmation of an event, etc.

Who knows....you know that that old $15 fountain pen, which you packed up yesterday.... the one you found in the junk drawer in the kitchen? A little reading reveals that it was used for the signing of a historic document.

AND one of the signer's included was John F Kennedy, AND the pen was given to him by Marilyn Monroe.

AND you have documentation in your hot little hands that tells of how it was accidently left behind in a cab, which was being driven by the deceased when he was working as a taxi driver.

AND he picked up a man who turned out to be a disguised JFK.  The candid photo with the letter, JFK autograph on the period dollar bill really adds credibility. Only further reading tells you of the fingerprint work on the pen stashed in a baggie had been done some years later by a policeman buddy, and the 3 different prints have been proven to be those of Marilyn Monroe, JFK and the deceased!

AND more reading reveals that those very documents are hidden in a secret compartment.... of the very desk you are sitting at!

$$$$$ KA-CHING! $$$$$

Yes, doing a bit of that sort of visual/mental digging, reading, and research can pay off. Maybe it won't be a score like the fantasy situation above, but it the writings could result in a lead to other treasure. Perhaps you find out that the deceased went to a baseball game with an uncle as a child, and describes how Joe Demagio autographed the 4th page of the child's scribbler.
Oddly enough, the description of the type of scribbler matches the stack of tattered old notebooks you just put in the recycling pile.  Some of that sort of "life" writings can be as good as a pirate's treasure map!


BUT, if you find the writings consist of the usual day to day existance of an average person, with the usual ups and downs, tragedies and triumphs, you might want to just dispose of the items, maybe saving the stamped envelopes for collector purposes, the "certificate of achievement" due to it'd related collectible in whatever field, (etc) and get rid of the rest.

Getting all wrapped up in other people's lives whom you do not know may give you insight into them, their actions, their possessions, and their former earthly surroundings, but it can also make a mess of your own psyche.  Re-living tragedies (which is what people tend to write about far more often than triumphs) which occurred in someone elses life, consumed via intimate ways such as reading diaries, trigger serious symptoms of depression, anxiety, etc in some people. 

A thick skin for such things is something you will need to develop if you get really hands on, and digging through physical remnants of someones lifetime.  It can also be disturbing, and you do sometimes need to take a step back and say "whoa." Sometimes you need to take a break, or a long walk to clear your head.

I can assure you that the VAST majority of you out there really do not want to read a  highly descriptive, multi-page manifesto of someone's sexual fantasies involving the local Lion's Club president and the local zoo's resident sea lion....


It can also be a heck of a time waster. Say you are going through an estate that you HAVE to have cleared out of a house within a week. You find a shoebox of love letters, evidence of a torrid extramarital affair the deceased had...and your reading of the 400 plus pages of back-and-forth lust and drama takes over your entire day.

* POOF *

You realize that your take-out pizza is now cold, your beer or soda (or both) are warm, the sun has set...8  hours have disappeared. To top off the loss of work time,  you absorbed/experienced someone else's stress, heartbreak, anxiety, desire, confusion, etc...piling it up in your mind....and none of it even belongs to you.

Hopefully you can let it go...but odds are that many items you handle in the estate will trigger something you read to flash into your mind.

AND now you have one less day to do what YOU need to do.   Break away from it....because a plumber and his male accountant lover's escapades is really not what you need to focus on. AND when you find the wife's box of love letters to her BDSM lesbian dominatrix with the school lunch counter job, toss them out in the shred/recycle pile, too. 

Make good use of your time. Bad use of your time involves reading a woman's diary about the daily beatings she received at the hands of her drug addicted husband, who had been sexually abused by the Parish priest....yes, she really thought she could "fix" him....yes it is tragic, but just toss that diary aside.

Those parties involved have been dead and gone for 60 years. That time you spend reading really could  be spent finding some really cool, really valuable stuff.   If the writings have some relevance to some criminal case, reveals potential living victims,  etc, well, then you have a moral call to make, as you may have important evidence that may need to come to light.

There are lots of great stories out there, and those out of the ordinary that need to be told should be told.

The majority of stories out there should be just laid to permanent rest with the deceased.

The Picker Hokey-Pokey

I’m not much of a dancer. My wife refuses to dance with me to anything faster than “waltz” speed.  I also dislike waltzing…not a big fan of that sort of “classic” dancing overall. I do like dancing to rock ‘n’ roll, the whole air guitar thing, rockin’ it out to 1980s hair metal, old school punk, that sort of thing. However, as I mentioned, there is a reason my wife does not want me to dance. It just looks weird, I guess…not that everyone else on the floor are potential “dance with the stars” pros, either.

In Manitoba, we have events we call ”Socials.”  The prairie social seems to be a very much mid-Canada event, and most people who grew up elsewhere tend to look puzzled when asked if they want to buy a ticket to a social.   I’m a picker, so I am very used to confused looks, which comes with insisting and trying to convince people that the “trash” in their shed is worth me taking a look at.

Socials are usually organized by a small group of people in order to raise funds for various things. Tickets are sold to the event, which normally consist of a dance and a bar (you buy tickets, and tickets are exchanged for your choice of alcohol.) Sometimes goods, gift certificates, and other prizes are donated by businesses & individuals, which are dispose of via a silent auction, random draw, etc. More money is raised via ticket sales (to attendees) for those prizes, also.

More often than not, much later in the evening, in the area of 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM,  usually some sort of food is served. Mmmmm....FOOOD......gooood....

Most of the socials I attended years ago served things in the range of cold cuts, cheese, salami, buttered bread, that sort of thing. However, the edibles served these days can vary from place to place and the choices of the organizers, whose food tendency could be based on their culture, background, ethnic roots, personal choices, known preferences of the bulk of the attendees, theme of the social, donations (think beef in ranch/farming areas, fish where fishing is the main industry, assorted meat & cheese selections at a butcher's daughter's wedding social, venison (deer meat) where hunting is an avid past time, etc, etc.)

 Wedding Socials are common here, as one of the ways to raise some money for the bride and groom. Good causes are regularly boosted in their fundraising efforts by the utilization of socials. Families who lose one or both parent(s), those whose homes succumb to flames, people in need of surgery or other medical care (those that our systems will not or can not cover)  etc, etc…basically anything you can think of that there is a need for money to be raised, a Social likely has been held in an attempt to raise money.

Really should not have gone off on that tangent….now I am hungry, and craving a rum & Coke…or even a bottle of beer…and it is only 9:50 AM.

OK, so what does the Hokey-Pokey have to do with picking?

Maybe these pics of yours truly working will give you a clue:

What am I doing? Pulling something towards me for a better look, as well as distributing my weight over a larger area. The floor just beyond my feet looks solid to the untrained eye....but it is completely rotten, and is barely holding the weight of the few things on top of it. 

Some of these make it obvious that I am referring to the motions, positions, movements, gestures, etc that are part of the way I search for "treasure".  Yes, some are quite bizarre looking, geeky, weird, etc........like the 7th from the bottom...what is with my gloved pinky finger up in the air, eh?!

Believe it or not, all these photos represent the picker hokey-pokey.....the movements, stance, balancing, etc required to pick WELL.

Take #1, as an example. This was an old blacksmith's shop, and the roof had collapsed. Sure, I am just poking my head through the window hole, no big deal, right?

If you have been following my blog, you know what is next: YES, it IS a big deal....or at least potentially could be.  Old windows that no one has touched for eons, or even those recently broken/damaged, all could well be lethal, or in the least cut your picking short while you run to the hospital for stitches.

AH, so you think you are really tough, and if you were to get cut, you would keep right on pickin'?
Figure you can use your the blood trail to find your way back through the maze of rooms in that basement?

Well, that is NOT the point. Blood stains are not something you want to have on that "barn fresh" 1920s Wrigley's gun paper poster, or all over that fantastic, minty Victorian crazy quilt you are pulling out of that old trunk in that attic.

Plus, it is hard to pick things up with blood running over your fingers, see things when it is dripping into your eyes...and it is darn distracting when it runs down your neck or when it is squishing around your toes in your boots.

Peering through any window does not mean I have just stuck my head through it without first looking closely at the situation. It means I likely have looked critically at it and observe things like chunks of broken glass, loose frame parts, glass (whole and pieces) sitting in panes above with little but gravity as their only fastener, window frames that are the only real structure holding up the top portion of a wall, etc, etc.



I also personally do not want to re-enact the scene in the Patrick Swayze flick GHOST.....ok, enough of the snickering!! I saw it when it came out, while I was out on a date, ok?!

You know the scene......

Yeah, YOU! The macho guy in the back!  YES, YOU! Don't bother even trying to act incredulous!  I know darn well you slipped your girlfriend's copy into the machine and watched it when she was away!

Yes, the scene where the villain bites it, via the window attempting to do a guillotine imitation.

Not my desire in life to be impaled on anything, thank-you.

General contortionist-esque moves are something I tend to do while I am checking out places, though as I get older, I try to examine the situation/location for less back twisting ways to access some spots. I have crawled into tight spots where I had to crawl backwards in order to get back out, duck walked through cellars with narrowing tunnels, contort into forgotten/hidden attic spaces from the more modern additions' attics, done the limbo through cellar openings whose trap doors would only open just enough to slide between it and the floor's edge....and I could go on and on and on....

The pictures really do represent what I will call the "Picker Dance.".  If you are a GREAT (and smart...and SAFE) picker, you will use your whole body when picking, brain (knowledge), eyes, ears, sense of touch, etc.  And, for things like your sense of touch, I mean pretty much all over your body, not just your hands...every step in an attic or even on what seems like solid ground should be something you are aware of.  You need to not just see, but also hear and feel the tell tale give/creaks/cracks of rotten/split/rodent-gnawed floor boards floating on nothing but 15 feet of thin air below which lies  scrap metal with spear and pike like protrusions laying about the barn floor.

Same goes for what you'd normally think was a simple, almost casual stroll through any unknown/unfamiliar/obscured patch of ground.

 That grass you just stepped on that gave a little is growing over the top of a well with nothing but a cork-like plank preventing you from plunging 20 feet  down a well. Or, that slight "give" you felt as your foot hit the ground is an old enameled steel sign flexing slightly as they do, where it has been hidden by mat of grass that has reclaimed the surface real estate.

Fences of all kinds are their own little experience. If you are male, and have ever straddled/stepped over a barb wire fence, you also may have experienced the inadvertent use of other parts of your anatomy to recognize some potential harm.

Lots of hazards out there, always need to keep your wits about you. Will leave you with some pics of  the insides and some outsides of various places I have picked.

******* NOTE OF CAUTION! *******  I am a "professional" with many years experience under my belt, and many of these places I would not have attempted entering, salvaging/picking when I first started in the business. DO NOT be fool hardy and attempt to pick  places similar to these without knowing the full extent of the obvious and, most importantly, the hidden and potentially life threatening dangers involved.

Where am I?  
In the back storage space of a walk in attic.
 What am I doing?
Pulling something towards me for a better look with a piece of wood.
I am also shifting and distributing my weight over a larger area. 
The floor just beyond my feet looks solid to the untrained eye....but it is completely rotten, and is barely holding the weight of the few things on top of it.
You see sunlight on the back right because the roof is rotted away entirely in that spot. 
 The weight of 2 chimneys diagonally across from one another, both of which were starting to crumble, did not make this area more stable, either. 
I happened to have been in this attic 15 years prior, and it was rock solid then. Mother Nature does not waste any time in her reclamation process!

View of a barn from half way between it and a road. Looked pretty intact from the road, through the trees obscuring some of the view. But, I could see it was not as it initially appeared.

DEFINITELY not as intact as it appeared from the road.  The  half-wall you see we could make sway with not much effort...when a slight breeze came up, it started to sway in a quite graceful, but menacing motion. When the breeze turned to a mild wind, we called it quits for the afternoon. Winds got much stronger in the evening, and we expected the wall to be in pieces on the ground when we came back the next day. Surprisingly it wasn't.

Main floor of same barn. No movement inside, everything still seemed "solid"...crooked, but solid.
 However, I knew to retain a heightened sense of awareness when I ventured into this area.

Closer look at the main beam reveals how poor the structure/stability of this barn actually is.
Any creaking and cracking sounds we made note of constantly!

View of roof collapsed into/onto the loft floor. Can you say "lumber landslide?"

Another barn's loft. Yes, looks solid, but between super dry and thin planks, rotten spots, and holes made in the floor by previous owners, I walked only on the spots where each beam was. Looks can be very deceiving....and definitely were in this loft

Ah-Ha! Attic entrance into a building built beside this barn!

View of my intended path for a leisurely stroll through an old, abandoned, clean looking farmyard

Ah, what is that in the grass?! Could it be TREASURE? Good thing I was looking where I was walking, I might have missed it!

Not treasure! Could have been tragedy, tho!

Another well on the same property. Within a 50' x 50' area we encountered 3 wells that were "obvious" like the two pictured. These were more "modern". I am positive there are others there, as this farm site dated to easily 1890, but have a distinct lack of interest in dying at the bottom of a well, so I had no interest in walking on top of/over/very close to the other less obvious impressions I noticed in the ground where I suspected others were.

PICK SMART. PICK SAFE.

TEST TIME!

Ok, here is the test....all you have to do is choose which photo(s) is/are of REAL oak. Now, I have made this EASY. The photos are close-ups, and that should be the way you look at things before you believe what you are being told.....CLOSE-UP.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, are you done yet?

Here are the answerS! 

All except #1 & #2 are real oak...and 3 to 7 are all actually FUMED OAK, also. The real deal.

#2 is FAKE oak....a ink printed grain stamped on to another wood(s). Many times these "fake oak" pieces are actually made of several types of wood, whatever was cheapest/available. Actually, most furniture has at least a couple different woods involved in the construction, but these "fake oak" items sometimes will have a few difference pieces of wood as part of one component....so stripping the "fake oak" stamped-on grain may result in a piece of furniture that will look goofy as heck if you go to stain & varnish it. Sometimes they will turn out ok looking. In these cases, the piece was likely varnished before the fake grain was applied. However, some manunfacturers did not varnish the piece prior to stamping on the grain, so upon stripping the piece you will end up with a ghostly, grey/black inked image of the printed grain, soaked deep into the wood. Get the paint out, because that is now the only way you can make the thing salable.

I see so,me of you are still looking back at some of the pictures, muttering in indignation.
So, if you haven;t figured out the odd color/style of #6 & #7, I will clarify something about those two. Including these two was a bit of a trick on my part. Some eagle eyed pros might have noticed why I included them, but I will still explain for those who are looking stupified.

 They are close-ups of a "grain painted" cupboard I have. The bottom half of the cupboard started out life as a fumed oak piece (a buffet more than likely.) However, a previous owner repurposed it earlier in its life, building a cabinet to sit on top, likely in the 1920s or 30s, to create a kitchen cabinet.  They then grain painted the whole thing to match.

 "Grain painting" is a technique of applying paints/varnish to create a faux woodgrain. It is indeed fumed oak underneath the painted finish, and you can tell that by the one photo where there is wear from handling over 80 years.  This piece is worth more as a complete cabinet, than trying to rescue the buffet portion. It is very country, folky and primitive.

It is one of the few types of "frankenstein" pieces that is actually worth more than the original item. No, no, Igor isn't anywhere around....By "frankenstein" I mean that it is made of more than one piece of furniture, and is not anywhere  near original. It has been heavily modified or "has been screwed with" (a phrase which I personally prefer!)

Now, if you picked #1 as real oak....

*****BBBZZZZTTTTTTTTTT*****

Wrong! It is a 1980s era piece of junk, that uses printed paper applied over sawdust board....now where did I put that dunce cap.....

#2 is the FAKE oak. I have heard it called "stamped oak", "painted oak", "printed oak", "grained oak", among others...all basically legitimate terms, but can be deceiving/confusing to the unaware....sort of like Ricardo's Chrysler Cordoba's Soft Corinthian Leather.

Oh, wait, you didn't know?

*sigh*....Ok, for those of you who still are confused....Mr Montalban's car's quality leather is actually VINYL.

And if you don't know who Ricardo Montalban is...well, you are just too young.....hey, wait, what was that????

Hmmm, weird, I must be hearing things....Have banged my head on too many beams in attics....

Now, while the under 25 crowd is confused, and hitting Google and Wikipedia, we'll continue...

Number 5 is sort of a trick one, also.

It is fumed oak VENEER. Real, fumed, oak...but only a thin layer of it.  In this case it is actually been applied to oak boards, but sometimes is applied to other woods.

You should also take a close look at #7. You see, the fuming process only darkens the exposed grain. Goo deep enough (like the wear on this piece), and you have got regular old oak. SO, if you plan on refinishing a a fumed oak piece, do it with care...you CAN sand/scrap away the value! True fumed oak items tend to be worth more than the identical item made of un-fumed oak, so take it easy with that belt sander!!!

So, hope this lesson wasn't too dry for you, but, face it, if you didn't pick out the true oak pieces, you needed to read this!

And, if you picked all the right photos, well, you've won a trip to an beautiful island......

"Da Plane, Boss, Da Plane!"

A CONTRACT - The Terms

I have something that I guarantee will help you in your picking career!

There is a contract you will need to sign, however.

The general terms of the contract you will be signing is pretty basic…quite simple, actually.  Yep, very, very simple.

 I know, I know, you never knew that “contract” and “simple” are words that could be used without “not” or “never” stuck right out in front of the word “simple”.

Let’s just blame lawyers for that one.

Being a picker, I can not afford a lawyer, so I decided it was best to use the KISS principle to create this particular contract.

I have kept it to just one line.

Here it is:

I WILL ALWAYS GET MY TERMS STRAIGHT.

Ready to sign?

Are you SURE?

Well, frankly, due to the odds I have calculated over the years, I'm not so sure you are ready to sign. Forgive me if I am wrong in your individual case, but 99.9% of the population is not perfect. If someone can correct me (and back it up with fact, references, etc!) I will be the first to admit I am wrong. Usually when people obviously “know” what something is, and it is obvious they really want to show me their vast knowledge and intelligence, I just listen. 

Yes, those folks who say “Do you know what this is?” and it is SOOOOO obvious they are itching to tell you, and they look like they are ready to burst with their superior knowledge.

It is enjoyable to hear people ramble on about how “it is very rare, and this such and such is a such and such, and was used for this scientific, important, wonderful purpose!”

 I have long decided to just take silent pleasure in my accumulated knowledge, and I just nod and smile. I also try not to wince, nor close my eyes in disgust, when they put the item in their mouth and blow on it so you can get a visual as to how it was used.

Yes, I no longer bother to inform them that in actuality they are wrong. In some cases they are/it is oh so, so wrong…

Especially when they are holding what I will call one of “the business ends” that are found in an enema kit…

And DOUBLY-especially when the tone of the item isn’t exactly what I’d personally call “patina”…

But, then again, they are the “expert” after all…And, they are probably better off not knowing what the chunk of brown plastic they had their lips wrapped around was likely last up…and that the plastic thing is actually black, not the dark brown it is at the moment. 

I’ll let you chug back a few shots of whatever hard liquor is handy so you can get that image out of your mind, and I will go work on the next installment in this blog series!

It Has Been A Real Barn Burner..

Wow, it is already October!

Ok, ok, ok....yes, it is actually mid-October. Cut me some slack, I have been busy....!

Lots of stuff has been happening....some good, some bad.

Let's start with the bad.....just get it out of the way right away.

We found out in early summer that where we were starting to get a mini-salvage yard/flea market area, and antiques shop was not actually our property. As it turns out, the front of "our" property did not start at the fence line as we had been led to believe.  The Highways Department actually owns 125 feet of the land from the fence line. Wouldn't you know it, the area on which we had cleared & leveled, built some small buildings, dropped a sea container there, as well as dropped tons of stuff on, is ALL within that 125 feet! What a waste of time, money & energy.

 *sigh*

Now we (I) have a major task ahead of us (me)...moving it all.

So, the plan was to fix up our barn, and make it a shop.



















Then in July...well, the photos below explain it best.

The firemen figured the grass fire (that started the barn ablaze) was likely ignited by  glass in the dry grass, and I have been wondering if it was possibly spontaneous combustion due to rotting manure in the barn yard. Did I mention we also live in what is basically a desert? We were lucky, really. Usually that time of year the grass and much of the foliage is crispy and super dry. We had an unusually wet year in this area, so much of the foliage and such was still green. Had it been the usual sort of July, we'd likely have lost the house and everything else...

So, we are dealing with insurance, and that sort of thing. At the time of the fire, I wasn't sure we even had any insurance on the barn. Thankfully, it turned out that we had insured it way back when we bought the property, but there is no way we could replace the structure for the amount it for which it was insured.

Back to the drawing board, as they say.

Now the plan is to build on a budget...a shoestring budget. Hopefully between salvaged materials, trade deals for labor, materials, etc, combined with hard work (which I am no stranger to, being a picker and all) we can get something built in the spring.  We are currently working on some small building(s) and shelters created from salvaged materials, but once the snow starts to fly, and gets to be more than a dusting on the ground, it will be pretty tough to continue with that even.

So, there is some of my  "bad" news.

Good news from the past while includes becoming a columnist for "The Country Register." Not a big dollar paying gig, but it is publicity for the business, B&B, and this blog.  My initial column, thus far, has only appeared in the Canadian Prairies edition, so if you can't get a copy of that area's paper, Oct/Nov 2011 issue, you won't find it. But, if the publishers/editors of your area The Country Register get enough requests for them to publish my column, then maybe you will get to read it!   If it were to be picked up by other publishers of the paper, I would:

(A) Get paid for each column published in each area. (At $25 a column it might actually pay to write them!)

(B) Be a little more broad in my content of the articles as a result. Would contain more "A Pickers Journal" style of content. Half of my initial article was fairly "local". I will release it in the blog here, also...guess I will have to start a sub-section of some sort....oh geeze, now I will have to learn more stuff about this bloggin' thing.......

I am also starting a project....

I am going to attempt to create a Lean, Mean, Pickin' Machine!


Mike & Frank of American Pickers have their new Mercedes Sprinter van...

Scott & Sheldon of Canadian Pickers have the rental vans they seem to get in each province, which they slap their magnetic sign on...

Allen & Ton of Auction Hunters have that late model milk truck....

The "hosts" on Storage Wars all drive their "trademark" vehicles....

Not sure what Cari of Cash & Cari drives....haven't seen very many episodes of it.

The Picker Sisters have...oh, you know I haven't even seen an episode yet....Well, I assume they drive SOMETHING....

but I will have something far better......wait for it.....

1977 Vandura MOTOR HOME!

Yup. A vintage vehicle!  Ok, I know that there is a show out there with a vintage bus that runs on Veggie grease or bio-diesel...but they haven't been picked up buy a network yet....Well, I guess I haven't even got to the point of having my own show, either...oh well....I will have a cool vehicle, tho....Especially after the Monster Garage-esque modifications I have planned...

It is white...mostly......with some yellow & brown. It even has a textured hood...unique to "vintage vehicles" that have been sitting awhile...

Confused?

Well, let me explain. The hood has lichen scattered/growing all over it.....which I intend to KEEP as part of it's "patina!"


Yep, it should be a heck of an adventure!

As you'd expect from a frugal picker, it will be on a shoestring budget, also....I am gutting much of the unit, so the proceeds from the interior bits I sell will go back into creating this ultimate picker-mobile! Donations accepted, too!!!! Cash, parts, etc!!! I'll even take beer! And/or rum!

hmm...all that is starting to sound like work!


Anyway, with winter coming, and the weather turning cooler by the day, the blog will get updated more frequently.  I do have other news, plans, ideas, etc to relate, but will save it for another day.... got an early morning tomorrow, as a friend (and fellow long time picker) is dropping by in the A.M.

Happy pickin' folks!

Happy New Year!

Let's crack open that 40 year old bottle of good scotch you picked from that estate last spring!

Pour everyone a glass, and have a toast.....not too much, there are 30 followers to the blog, so ,make sure we all have a taste...and I am sure some of us are going out to see what antique shops are having new years days specials, and hitting flea markets, etc.,...plus, we need to be coherent and alert to do some internet sales work done, auctions set up, etc......Sure we all still have lots of bills to pay!

*aruumppft-umm* (Clearing throat of 2010's attic dust)

 Here is to a  year of happy, successful, fun, safe, pickin' in 2011!

C'mon, slug it down!

*haackckkfff * WHEW * Good stuff! * I hope my throat doesn't have holes burnt in it... *

Ok, now the New Year's Day formalities are over with, back to business...

Well, lets make it Pickin' School, for you...

So, being the first day of school, I am just going to let you know sort of what you are in for.
I will be doing a few "How To" videos on YouTube, as well as a few others for entertainment. I'll show you a few tips, tricks, and methods for cleaning things, searching things out, do's and don'ts, stuff you might need when picking, etc.

I have picked (and still do) a variety of places, using a variety of methods, and styles, depending on the place,time, and others present.

 I scan thrift stores/junk shops/antique shops, attend antique/farm/weekly/surplus auctions, scan classifieds in the newspaper/online, buy directly out of old stores, clean "junk" out people's garages, attend yard/garage/estate/basement/porch/patio sales, pulled stuff out of dumpsters/trash cans/middens/ditches/garbage bags/trash trailers/outhouse holes/scrap piles/scrap yards/dump pits/demolished buildings/etc, bought items from online sellers' stores/auctions/ads/etc....and the list goes on.

Over 20 years in the business, and at least 10 years prior to that, being fascinated by the world of "junk".

Lots of experience. I've barely scratched the surface in revealing to you the things I know, have learned, and am still learning.  Odds are, there are things you know that I do not. Our paths in life teach us different things.

Keep that in mind. 

Oh, I said I'd only just let you know what you are in for, didn't I? Made it sound like there was no lesson plan for today.......and here I am already instructing....AH, ok, so I guess you will have to learn a little today....

And everyday for the rest of your natural life.

No, I am not kidding. You do learn everyday. If you think you haven't learned anything new, you either have been sitting on your butt with your eyes closed & ears plugged, sleeping, or, perhaps you are dead.

And, frankly, there are no zombies allowed in this class.....nothing personal, but you guys tend to be rotting corpses, and really stink up the place...makes it hard for other students to concentrate.....not to mention all the flies you attract.

Everyone can remove your the clothes pins from your noses...the place will air out in a few minutes...And just let them keep the vintage clothing on their backs, ok? Most of the stuff is in way too rough of condition, anyway, and, you'll never get that smell out.
You DO learn everyday. You need to take notice of this, and utilize it.  If you feel you haven't learned anything in a day, then TRY to learn something. Flip open a reference book. Get online and do a random search on something or some object you saw last month in a book, at a shop, or heard about. Read some history on someone, somewhere, someplace. 

You might be surprised how that little bit of knowledge turns out to be useful someday.  Out picking the countryside, and you are in some small town? Taking a lunch break? The bright orange vinyl on the booths is worn, torn, stitched, patched, and the wood grain arborite table top is worn to a plain beige in 4 spots...just tells you where to put your plate, that's all. Apparently they serve damn good food here. Yeah, the locals are giving you the once over, just ignore 'em....you'll get used to it. Don't make a face, be polite, pleasant even, smile, nod...that is it. You may end up buying something from one of them today.

Hey, here is the bowl of stew you ordered. Smile and thank the waitress now...this isn't MacDonald's..and I believe her and her hubby own the place. Pretty sure I saw him in the kitchen. Plus, you might want to see if you can pick the basement here...the floor sounded a bit hollow when we walked in, and aside from the booths, the decor is decidedly authentic 1950s small town diner. Oh, and you can still see some of the marks on the old tile floor where the diner style counter was, and the stools were screwed down...maybe they are still in the back shed or basement.

Enjoying that home made stew? Pass it over here for a second, and meanwhile, look out the window of the cafe; at the buildings across the street. You found out that the building used to be a Masonic Hall. No, they had nothing left in it, it got hauled to the dump last year, but you have a chance to learn something that you won't get a chance to tomorrow.

 It is covered in that corrugated steel sheeting now, but examine the shape, form, some of the tell tale hints in its structure, window placement, etc, that identifies it as a former Masonic Hall.  The next one you pass in a town, that has been refaced/renovated you will suddenly see it as a Masonic Hall, and not a modern storefront, and prompt you to investigate further. But in that one, the basement and second floor are still FULL off great fraternal items...and the building owner is all too willing to sell you the stuff, and his prices are bargain basement...he's overjoyed to not have to clean the place out himself....he doesn't have to lift all that old heavy, chunky carved oak furniture. "Antiques? Pfffttt. OLD FRIGGIN' JUNK is what it is" he says (but uses a stronger F word.) He even seems to find it amusing you are paying him for it. Yeah, you could have gotten it for free, but you'd also likely have had to take out all that trash, too. We don't have that kind of time..would cost us 2 nights in a hotel, food, etc...and likely have to pay for a new change of clothes, too. I'm not keen on the overpriced polyester duds from the late 1990s the local clothing store had.

MMmm-mm...That was good stew...Here's your bowl back...you need to wipe that gravy off your chin there, by the way.  Finish up your Coke, we need to hit the road....only so much daylight to work by. You get the check, ok? Oh, and don't forget the tip...say, 20% of the total, before tax.

Ok, now, hurry up...did you use the washroom? I won't want to have to stop 15 minutes down the road to let you out....

What? You are still hungry? Well, I think I have a half bag off chips in the van from a picking trip last week.   You can munch on them on the way to our next stop; I'll  continue the lesson after we get there.

Yeah, I know you forgot to ask about picking the basement of that cafe. Don't worry, I've been there, done that...found some cool stuff. We'll chat more later...and try to keep your crunching quiet....I wanna listen to this cool tune on the radio.  LET'S GET ON THE ROAD AND DO SOME MORE PICKIN'!

A Day In the Life

As I mentioned in the last posting, I have seen more than a few articles online about how easy and profitable it is to get into antiques picking....

Ok...let's look at "Easy."

Yep, ok, admittedly it is easy to get into this business.....TOO easy.

"Profitable?"

Let's define "profitable"...

Good ol' Wikipedia's definition of "PROFITABLE"

Hmm...lots more involved in profit than you thought, eh?

Not worried?

So, ya scored something for $5 and it is a $65 item!

That equals $60 profit, right?

OH, geeze, shucks, there are those cash EXPENSES to factor in yet.

$10 in gas to get there...oh, lunch cost $7, tip is another 50 cents (ya cheap bugger!), oh, and $13.50 gas to get back due to the higher cost of gas in the area you drove to, wear and tear on the vehicle, chip in the windshield you got from the gravel truck that cut you off...well, lets just ignore those last two...hard to put a value on those...and don't want to make you too depressed...not yet.

Ok, so we have another $31 in CASH expenses...the sun shining in your eyes that is glancing off that stone chip until you get it fixed? Ya, just ignore that, 'kay?

And, you paid $5 for the item...

Ok, so we're at $36 that the item cost you...$29 profit!

Um, so, ya work for FREE, do you?

1 hour labor...$10 an hour...ok, not a bad wage...but $6 an hour less than your old job you quit to follow your dream profession

$19 potential profit....

Yeah, POTENTIAL...remember, you need to sell the item yet.  Uh-huh, at this point, you are still down $46!

So, put it in the box with your other finds. Toss it in the cab of your pick-up truck, and haul it down to your buyer of such treasures, about a 1/2 hour drive downtown.

You pull up in front of his store, park at the meter, noting it is 4:30 PM....and he closes at 5:00 PM. 

Hmm....You realize you are cutting it close, 'cause he tends to be busy, as he has a real good reputation for having great stuff, and you have to deal with him when he isn't busy with customers. Plus, Saturday afternoons he tends to be twice as busy, buying from other pickers who have finished garage sales for the day that bring their garage sales finds in this late Saturday afternoon.......and wow, it is such a beautiful day, sunny, but not too hot, not at all humid just warm enough to sun bathe and not get cold, but not sweat to death, either....remember 3 years ago when all summer you and your buddies/family went to the beach every Saturday? Wow, yeah, that was a great summer...was so relaxed when you went back to work after your 5 week vacation..nice to have seniority; got to take the prime vacation time...and you saved all those sick days for that extra week (hey, your nose is dripping from that summer cold! ...wipe it off! Yuck.)...yeah, *sniffle/snort*...ah, yeah, those bar-b-q's, the Sunday afternoon poker games with the buddies....for sure, some great times!

Oh well, beach is 2 hours drive away, gas is now getting pricey.  You only broke even playing poker, anyway...you are saving some money on beer, too. Your other half is not complaining about Fred's smoking in the gazebo...mind you, she took up smoking again...and worked her way to her old pack-a-day habit.

 Still would have been great to take the kids to the pool today....but, hey, gotta make money to pay the bills....& pay for pool admission. Remember, they weren't impressed when you took them to the paddling pool at the park last Sunday at 3:00 PM, while you were sweating like a pig, looking like a homeless guy, after attending that auction where you ended up buying a pile of what was really just hard, sweaty, dirty work that you paid someone else for the "pleasure" of doing yourself...and the finale was a trip to the landfill to get rid of 99% of it after you found it smelled of cat urine...

Oh, HEY, reality check..you just got asked a question....!

"How much do you want for the widget?"

"Just $39", you say, thinking that you do need to attempt to break somewhat even on that trip, "They're worth $65."

And, how did you come up with that?

It comes to light that you saw that the snotty dealer down the street had 2 on his shelves marked at that!

"Did you know yours was actually 10 years newer than those?"

Ahhhhh, crap....!

Ah, but this dealer/buyer is honest, and tells you that; oddly enough, it is a GOOD thing in the case of this widget!

Less were made during that period! These are quite RARE!

COOL!

SCORE!!!!! *fist pump* *woot* *woot* 

"We're in the money, We're in the money...!"

He beamingly announces to you that it is actually worth....wholly smokes....omigawd...wait for it...
.
.
.
.
.
 $100! 

Whoopee..uh,...huh, uh, oh, wait a minute....

Only $100?

But the dealer down the street has two less rare ones priced at $65 each....but this "rare" one is only worth $35 more than the common ones?

Ah, but Smythe's Teek's down the street $65 ones are priced at triple what they are actually worth....and he has had them on the shelf for 12 years....Guess you shouldn't value your stuff based on some other guy's price tags...

And he also recently refused to buy one last week from Junkster Bill...you know Bill, the guy who gets stuff from trash clean-ups......no, no, not that guy...you're thinking of Weird Will....I mean Bill, the guy who sells his stuff dirt cheap all the time to anyone who will buy it, so he can buy food for his 5 kids? Yeah, him....

Any-hoo, he was wanting $7 for it..and it was in far better shape than the ones Smythe had on his shelf.....Snotty Smythe offered poor Bill a measy $1!

Oh.

You also see that your buyer has one just like those 2 you saw on Smythe's shelves, but the one here is in much better shape...darn thing is near mint...! Makes yours look rough, even...

"Yeah, I bought it from Bill, gave him his $7. Really too much, and shouldn't have even bought it. Have 2 over there on the shelf at $20 each, and  I have 3 more in the back I bought at an antique auction a month ago, for $5 each. And, it seems like no one wants them anymore.  They used to be hot, hot, hot!  Not anymore, though, But, Bill said he's going to bring all of his stuff here first from now on...I guess we'll see if that actually happens, I'll be surprised...he always needs the cash, like, "right now", immediately, and I am not always open when he comes around....but, hey, he is a decent guy. Poor guy is just trying to make an honest living any way he can"

You are now thinking: Well, still, now I can get $50...right?

Oh, wait a sec....

As a dealer with the overhead of a store, you remember that previously he said he'd pay you 1/3rd of his retail for items worth under $100...

Initially you thought was a damn rip-off...but, when he pulled out some of his bills (how many dealers would have done that?) and popped out the calculator, and he quickly went through the numbers, adding up monthly expenses, the total of which made your eyes grow wide....and a week later you saw his business tax bill open on the counter (they charge THAT much for business tax?)....and that day the furnace in his store conked out, and you watched the counter while he had to hunt down a used part, which still cost him $300...that he had to install, because the local furnace guy wanted $400 for their labor, and would not install that used part, it had to be new or nothing....

*sigh*

Oh, yeah, remember that day you were there and that arrogant city's licensing inspector came in?
He nearly started a scene, snorting that he should issue the dealer a $1000 fine, just because he had those 5 sterling silver brooches in his showcase (yeah, the ones you sold him...the ones he paid you close to what he priced them at, just to bail you out of that bad deal you made 2 month ago) and he wasn't licenced to sell precious metals...He had to pay another $100 fee in addition to the $500 antiques dealer license..which was only $300 last year, but due to that old biddy...that pawn dealer's wife down the block, the one that complained that antiques dealers who were setting up in the area were cutting into her family;s "honorable" business (yeah, the pawn dealer couple who were convicted for selling baby food jars, with a little paint thinner in them, out the back door to those sniffers...yep, those sniffers that you seem to have to walk around sometimes when you come to sell stuff to your buyer..the same ones who smashed his window last year because he wouldn't buy the real "antiques" they brought in...the handfuls gravel they scooped up out of his parking spot.....Man, and that window cost him $600, remember? And it was a SALVAGED one, not even a new one..it was going to cost $2000! )

So, you decided that 1/3rd for an item worth under $100 was actually more than fair, really, but that was only after you spent a week complaining about it to your cronies. You had to do some damage control after that, remember? You're lucky the guy didn't just refuse to buy those brooches from you after you slagged him like that...He called you on it...and you meekly explained that you realized you had over reacted, and that you came to your senses...You almost grovelled...but managed to apologized as best you could. You're lucky he saw himself in you...he told you a few stories of his start 30 years prior....he is a real interesting guy.

You sure found out how fast the grapevine works in this business, didn't you? Plus, if he hadn't bailed you out of the brooch deal your spouse would have had your neck for gambling the mortgage money on what you initially thought was a bargain of a lifetime....

Yep, expenses of a store were WAY higher than you imagined. The guy isn't making a great living doing that.

Looking around, you can still see quite a bit of the other dreck they (his wife and him) bought from you...seems like a fair bit of it is still on the shelves...and some of it is marked down to darn near what they gave you for it. 

Heck, he has treated you damn well, really....gone beyond the call of duty.

Ok, so, I guess we're looking at about $33?

He agrees, and pulls out $35...Crud, you have no change....you spent it all at that last garage sale on the way here.

He says "No problem, we'll even it out on some other deal. I'm really sorry I can't use any of the other stuff...the store is quite jammed with that same sort of stuff right now....it not is just not moving. Tastes have really changed in the last 8 years."

Glancing around his store you think, yeah, he is getting pretty crowded in here. There is more than one shelf that is threatening to collapse under the weight of what used to be desirable inventory...that now collects dust.

He thanks you for bringing the widget to him, walks over to the front of the store, flips the chipped "open/closed" sign to "closed." He clicks out a few of the front lights. Pops the cork out of a bottle of wine he pulls from behind the counter, offers you a glass.

You decline...The label on the bottle indicates it is pretty cheap wine, and looks like it came from a discount bin, seeing as the label is pretty ratty. You are a little spoiled with the $40 a bottle stuff. Been awhile, though, since you had a glass of that.  You did have a few glasses of a bottle last month...but, admittedly you didn't buy it...it was handed to you by that buddy you used to go golfing with during those clear summer Wednesday nights, when you popped by his place after buying that cool old Hula lamp from that old lady. She happened to live near his place, so it was a convenient stop.

Your golfing buddy sure rolled his eyes when you showed him your prize; looked at you almost with pity, in a way, didn't he?  He did say he missed your company on the links, but not to worry, he had picked up a new partner.  

That weekly Wednesday evening auction was one you've decided you just can't miss....Early on you learned that....you just never know what they will pull out of those boxes. Ok, so some of it is pure junk, but you did do really well a few times....made some good money...and remember the one time you did go golfing  instead of hitting that auction? It just happened to be the very night that the rude jackass (yep, the one that seems to beat you to some of those great garage sales) scored that pair of bronze statues in the box of worn out Tupperware, for the bargain basement amount of TWO DOLLARS!? No, not the  rearing horse he sold for $500...he got that at the estate sale...the one where you only had $20 left on you, they were priced at $40, and the seller would not go down in price...but the jerk managed to smooth talk another one of the sellers into selling them for $20?  I'm thinking of the Art Deco nudes he sold for $1000 on eBay, the week after he bought them. He had bragged about how they went for "thousands"...yeah, there are all sorts of people in this business, aren't there?

Heck, from that one score you got from the auction, that the $35 box that turned out to be a $400 sale for you! You took the family out for supper 3 different nights in a single month! Was almost like you used to do  when you were working, every Tues & Thurs night. Those evenings out to the fancier Greek & Italian joints in the trendy part of town? Yeah, in the area you don't bother going to garage sales at, because they seem to have just modern stuff, and they mark their used clothing and worn designer Gucci purses at "new" prices....tough to buy your shirts & jeans for yourself at those places, too...so, basically no reason to shop those sales, really. You can buy your clothes at the thrift stores in the north part of town, at the same time you do on your rounds of them all on Thursdays....the day you are out until 7:00 PM, because there are a couple shops that don't close until 6:00 and 7:00PM.  Even tough to buy some clothes at the thrift stores in the south part of town; they price their shirts at $5, compared to $1.00 at the other places. LOL....remember when you used to pay $45 each for shirts? You have TWENTY of those same high-end shirts in your closet, and they cost you less than $30, TOTAL!

Hmm...Thursdays...Remember when you went to that cool little Irish-style pub near the office, at 3:30PM for a "business meeting" with Frank from across the hall ...drinks & that good 'n' greasy "pub food" food...little pricey, but damn good....and it was all covered by the company!

 Hey, remember there was an old beer sign hanging in there!? Maybe you could buy it and flip it over at the next flea market? YIKES,  that is next week! Got to get packed up for it! Need to cover the bill on the repair of your wife's car!  It is 2 months over-due.....When you were working that 9 to 5, Monday to Friday gig, you'd have a  a new company car every year. You did have to buy that half-ton truck, and needed it to be reliable...lots of money went into it. SO, for your spouse's car; instead of doing the leasing thing on a car that was maybe a year or two old;  you had to pick up that 15 year old Buick your neighbor's grandmother had in her garage...the one you scored at her estate sale for $500. Was little old lady driven, just like they say...too bad she never ever took it in for tune-ups...starting to cost lots in repairs...really more than it is worth now....hmmm.

The dealer notices you staring, rather blankly, but seemingly at the label, and laughs...

You "come to", snapped out of that little world in your head...

"This is NOT vinegar, my friend."

He proceeds to tell you about the Italian couple he met while on a house call at their home, where he spent some major money, presented him with a case of homemade wine. The stuff was made from grapes they had cultivated in their back yard, picked from vines growing them from clippings from some of the finest grapevines in Italy, which, apparently, the grapes only the finest winemakers in Italy use, and use only for their "masterpieces".

He also relates to you how it is best stuff he has ever had...far better than anything that he ever drank when he was wined and dined by clients in those Parisian cafes or those exclusive London night clubs.  That, of course, was when he was working at a 6 figure-a-year job, and travelling around the world. 

Looking up from his wine, he seems to sigh a little...."Almost seems like it was someone else's life I'm remembering, now."

He picks up the bottle and gestures with a pouring motion to the empty glass.

You smile...and even almost grin...this sounds like superb vino! Could be one heck of a treat! You are about to say "Sure!"..then your bubble bursts as you remember you assured your spouse that you'd be home by 6:00PM at the absolute latest tonight. She/he had to pick up part time job, so it is your turn to watch the kids tonight. Plus, you really need to clean up some of that really filthy stuff you pulled out of that basement sale 4 weeks ago...the stuff you have been putting off cleaning....Yep, the box that had that bottle with the rotting mouse corpse in the bottom. You need some fresh stuff for the flea market next week....and "eau du rotten mouse" is not going to attract any customers...

So, you shake your head, offer to him the fact you have to get home and the reasons why (death at the hands of your other half being one of them), and pick up your box of stuff that will now have to be blown out at the flea market next weekend. You say a goodbye, and wander to and out the door, directly to the passenger side of your truck...where you see a yellow slip of paper flipping in the light breeze.

A parking ticket.

You forgot to plug the meter.

It is only a mere $25, if you pay it within 2 weeks of the date on the ticket....then it jumps to $55.

Hmmm...cost on your $5 purchase, after factoring in expenses?

$61.

So, you are only $26 in the hole...

Oh, wait....

You were on the road for an half hour, and spent a half hour at the dealer's shop,...so, add your $14 an hour you figured your time was worth,  and you are $40 in the hole.

Oh, and a half an hour's drive home....tack on $7...

$47...in the hole.

Not quite like the hole-in-one you got on that one beautiful Thursday evening; when the sky was a beautiful red.  "Red at night, a sailors delight" Sailing...another hobby you thought about, but won't be taking up anytime soon...
I bet it will be a similar sunset tonight. Maybe you can wash that junk out on the picnic table in the back yard, and possibly catch a glimpse of it....

*****

HEY YOU, I'm over here!

So, did any of that sound familiar?

No?

Well, it could become familiar....and it is far more common scenario than you'd think.

Hey, SMILE people, there are happier tales and tips coming...stay tuned to this channel...all pickin', all the time!