Getting With It

Well, seeing as it is unlikely the business will sell in the near future, it is business as usual.   

Ok, you got me...it will be sort of business as usual. I am slowly getting with the age it is...the internet age. 

It seems the days of being able to 'have the right product and the people will find you' is not how it is online.

Yes, some of you already know this, and I guess I have for awhile, too.

 Just been in denial, I suppose. 

Could be because I am a Taurus, stubborn in my ways, resistant to change.

But, online change happens quickly. And, I guess I will have to change the angle at the way I come at things online....because many changes have occurred over the last several years.  

Time to get "with it."

So, I have a friend who is into the internet end of business in general who is helping get me up to speed.

Made a step...signed up for an Instagram account....done nothing with it so far, but here it is, in case you want to get a jump on the crowd. 

So, Fedora Antiques is being dragged into the new millennium.

How quickly the changes will take effect, or, rather,  affect sales (as in increase sales,) waits to be seen.

I am cautiously optimistic....and crossing my fingers.

Time For a Change?

Lately I've been thinking of a change.

A pretty drastic change. 

I've been thinking of getting out.

Getting out of the antiques business, that is.

There are lots of reasons you could point to....

Like:

A desire to just do something different...it has been over 25 years of this.
Or perhaps a midlife crisis?
The events of this past summer wearing me thin emotionally?
Repros and fakes flooding the marketplace via eBay (etc) with no end in sight?

But, the reason is pretty simple, when I think about it. 

 I am just plain tired.

I need a break, and I don't see any way of getting that break short of getting rid of the business entirely....or, at least all my inventory.  

But, that leaves me with a big question....what would I do?

Actually, that is easy....

I'd write....get my book(s) actually going, started, finished, down on paper/disk. 

I'd have to have that financial cushion in order to do that, which selling the inventory should give me...but, finding someone who:

 (A) recognizes the value in the inventory I have 
AND
(B) is financially able to purchase the inventory

It would take $200,000 as a lump sum to buy me out, I figure. That is lock, stock and barrel. All my inventory, good and bad, high end and low end.  

Realistically, retail value of the inventory is likely in excess of $1 million......and that is no joke....and no I am not off my rocker. 

Remember, that is at retail; and frankly, taking it item by item it adds up fast.  Even at "wholesale" pricing...and by that I mean at the reduced figures the inventory would wholesale to other dealers at.... (say, let's use 50% of retail across the board) you're looking at $500,000 in inventory.

Crazy? 

Not at all. Think of all the work that has gone into accumulating the inventory, piece by piece. Fuel, time, knowledge, sources, vehicles worn out, all those expenses incurred running around, hauling, storing sorting, and on and on and on. 

Factor in/add the expenses incurred in sourcing the inventory to the actual cash cost of the inventory at time of purchase, and you would be well over that $200,000 mark. 

  But, antiques and collectibles inventory tends not to be easy to liquidate into a million dollar figure in a short time. This is not a "get rich quick" sort of business.   You have to love the stuff  to be in the business.  

But I think I may be falling out of love with it.

I still get a high from the hunt, and I am good at it, so eventually, maybe  I'd do some "custom picking" for the new owner(s) of the business. 

Who knows. Most antiques businesses get liquidated by their owners; rarely do they sell "en bloc." 

It all seems pretty much all a pipe dream at the moment. 

But, then again, that could just be because I am tired.

So tired.

  

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.

Driving Down The Highway Of Pickers - Part 1

Mike Wolfe now has a blog of stories about picking.

He (or his staff) has called it "Two Lanes Blog."

I guess "A Pickers Journal" was taken...!  (More on that in a later post....)

Just click on that title to open a page to it, if you are so inclined.

And, no, I do not get any payments per click, referrals, mentions, or any other sort of compensation.

Thinking back, oddly enough, there were several of "us" (as  in pickers, dealers, etc) that "supported" Mike and the show when it first hit the airwaves. We certainly are not even half of why the show has done so well, but I'd like to think our enthusiasm, verbal support for, and word of mouth advertising for the show helped him get a firm footing on that creaky and fickle staircase to financial success and recognition.

I think the fact that "our profession" was finally being shown on TV as a legitimate business, and that we would (hopefully) now get some respect and acknowledgement from the general public, as well as the same from family members, most of which, being non "junkers", thought we were just weirdos, hoarders, eccentrics, garbage-pickers, etc.

It did accomplish that, and more.

Some of it was negative, some positive.

There has been growing pains, for sure.

We defended Mike when things appeared nasty.

Take for example, when Mike & Frank paid a "small amount" for a saddle (seems to me it was $75, or $20, something like that.)

Then an appraisal was done...and it was appraised at a 4 figure value!

 The fallout from the general public about that was nuts on the discussion boards of History Channel at the time. Those boards were taken down, and are likely no longer accessible anywhere. The hard drives with the data were  probably long shredded, too.

 "Crooks!", "thieves!", "scammers!" and assorted other not-so-complimentary as well as rather "blue" epitaphs were tossed at Mike & Frank  quite a bit, and had it been possible, some people were to the point of nearly burning them in effigy!

 Of course, being bound by contractual stuff for the show, and perhaps under advisement by legal counsel,  they didn't wade into the fray.

We (by "we" I mean various pickers, dealers, collectors and other experienced people of the antiques business) were the ones who dealt with that little shit-storm, and explained (and RE-explained X100) that all wasn't as it seemed, what the realities of this business are, pointed out the much higher mark-ups of assorted other resale businesses that they seemed to have no problems with, and the fact that it is business after all, so there has to be an appropriate profit margin involved.

We also pointed out that the seller himself quoted them the price  he wanted, which they paid.

One thing none of those "critics" really took into consideration was that, oddly enough, when put on the open market at auction, in this case eBay, it sold for not much more than they paid for it.

So, what about the appraisal of a 4 figure value?

The fact is, the appraisal wasn't at all accurate, for dried out, old saddle.

Basically the "appraiser" was basing his appraisal on what he knew and where his expertise happens to lie....

And that was with new & used working saddles.

 He was not an expert in antique & vintage saddles, nor antique western goods, nor Americana, nor decor items, etc,etc, etc...

SO, he had no background, nor knowledge as to the factors that actually makes some old/antique saddles valuable...and what makes others really just decorator items.

Anyway, back to Mike's blogging.

I am actually quite surprised it took this long for the "powers that be" to get him writing. I thought they would have pushed it right from the get go.

I wonder if he will be doing it himself, or if he is dictating, and has someone doing the typing, editing, etc?

He has the bucks to go that route, and I am sure his time tends to be limited, so he may be doing the blog posts on the fly, or someone else transcribes them from some other source he has, maybe somewhere he jots the stuff down, and someone else tidies it up, fixes grammar, spelling, etc?

He has done quite well for himself, and whatever you think of him, you do have to give him credit, he has worked hard, and is reaping the benefits.

Many of us, of course, also work very hard, maybe even some have worked harder  than Mike has,  and most of us haven't seen the same sort of success he has.

 Some pickers don't want the spotlight shone on them, for an assortment of reasons.

Some of us; yes, myself included, have tried hard to reach that level of success and recognition, but, for whatever assortment of reasons, haven't gotten that same sort of recognition.

"That's life."

"Luck of the draw."

"Just the way the cards are dealt."

Metal Man Mike is one I tripped across some time ago...just click on his name for his videos. I don't have any personal connection to him, but he is one of many characters around. He has one video on what not to do when approached by a production company, based on his personal experience.

Yes, I know I should have as many "picking" videos as he does. I never have gotten (yet) a "GoPro" type camera, and, well, getting bills paid has been more important.

I have a few videos, some badly produced, really shaky,and some, done by friends, are not bad.  One of the issues is the most interesting places I have picked can also be some of the most dangerous places...

So, I have to have both hands free...thus I don't want to be holding and aiming a camera!

Anyway, I guess a spotlight, recognition, Mercedes van, sponsor ships, substantial additional income, etc, is just not in the cards for some of us, or, perhaps, it is just not quite "our time."

I am not sure where my future lies, but wherever it lies, I am sure "old junk" of some sort will feature prominently!

Junk Biz Reality TV - Crossroads

I've always thought "The Junk Biz" would be a great name for a reality TV show about the "Junk Business", in which I am so indoctrinated.  Yes, I have mentioned before, that I had the same idea Mike Wolfe did, though years before...and it is unlikely that I was the only picker who had the idea, either! The idea likely predates my birth, Mike's birth, and pretty much anyone who is alive now.

Anyway, I've blogged a bit about the "Junk Biz" related reality TV shows, some of the stars on those shows, ideas for shows, reactions, thoughts, complaints, etc in the past, ever since American Pickers hit the screens of the general public.

No, AP was not the "first" "Junk Biz" related reality TV show, not by a long shot.  Antiques Roadshow pops up in most people's grey matter, and there are several other less iconic ones, as well as others that are/were regional in nature.

AP, however, got the general public interested. Good timing on the behalf of Mike Wolfe, right place and right time, as well as hard work, the right connections made, etc. I doubt it was easy for him to get it going, unlike some of the shows that came after they blazed a trail, which others have tried to follow. Some have had success,  others lesser so, and yet others met a brick wall and faded quietly into oblivion from whence they came. Some deservedly disappeared due to poor content, poor characters, poor execution, and others fell by the wayside due to poor promotion and behind the scenes issues.

As far as Junk Biz Reality TV goes, however, I personally feel we are at; or at least nearing a crossroads....and it is something  production companies should take note of.

Striving for and building on a foundation that promoted longevity is something that production companies seem to be skipping when they put these shows together.   I don't know if it is something they are doing on purpose, out of design, or they are simply not "getting it." No doubt AP will keep going for awhile, as it is "The Original", and "The Original" tends to create its own longevity, despite any flaws that may arise. Some of those flaws are even embraced by fans.  But it is important to note that very same viewership will not necessarily forgive those flaws in any spin-offs!

The public is not stupid....

That especially is so of those who gravitate to, function well; even prosper in the "junk biz." If you can use your alchemy-esque skills to squeeze CASH from what many/much/most of the general public view as trash, well, you obviously have to have some intelligence, don't you?!? 

Many of those in this business are not "University Educated"...but we all most of us know that means little to nothing when it comes to the real world, anyway.  We live in an age when tradespeople make far more than many of those University Graduates sporting costly pieces of framed paper on their walls. 

Heck, storage locker hounds across the US, Canada, UK, and elsewhere have bought the contents of 1000s of storage lockers that have those very costly, well framed diploma's packed in boxes! 

The recipient of those same diploma's lost their stuff because they can't even pay  their storage locker rent.  Guess that $150,000 education is not working out as well as they were lead to believe, is it?

So, over all, much of the viewing public quickly figures out that staged situations are the norm, rather than the exception. The exception should only be due to the requirements of TV, and all the legal issues.  There are many exceptions due to the way media tends to work, so don't get me wrong! 

For those of you unaware, when I refer to the legal issues I mean things like: Model Releases,Liability Waivers, contracts of various sorts, among a host of legal documents related to the making and the participation in any filmed production, not to mention the documents that are meant to zip people's lips until the production airs, etc, etc, etc.

Viewers who are observant, loyal, etc are quickly growing tired of set-up situations, hosts chosen for looks (and/or acting/improv ability, among other assets) rather than their genuine experience in whatever field of the "Junk Biz" being "portrayed", as well as a list of other issues that arise with these productions.  

Lack of experience in those areas shows through. This is a point that has rankled many a junk biz vet's hackles, not surprisingly.

However, the shows have spawned more participants in the "junk biz"....and they have figured out on their own who is real and who is not, comparing notes using their own experiences. They quickly come to a conclusion that things depicted are not all that realistic.

They think to themselves:

 "Who can make a living paying $75 for something, then sell it for $100?  Oh, sure, I can...but not if I hold on to that item for more than an hour....and I sure can't pay to have it shipped across the country first...and then pay an auctioneer a commission after it is sold."

 Certainly it does not take a genius to figure out the viability of that as a living. 

"Reality" is a misnomer....but then again, the show "Survivor" does not depict what many people think of as truly "surviving" either.

The viewers of Junk Biz TV now include those who are not vets, but they are educated in the junk biz. They started not so long ago, maybe 5 years, 4 years, even 2 years ago.

However, from the comments, forum threads, "shop talk", junk biz grapevine gossip, and all the junk biz regulars' tired sigh (accented with rolling eyes) when hearing a show/character's "tag line" at a garage sale they are attending, I'd say we're at a crossroads. 

It seems more and more Junk TV fans/viewers are ready to move on to more intelligent, less staged, fare.

So, where does this leave the "Junk Biz" as far as Reality TV?

I'll give you my thoughts...

***Insert/imagine suspense-inducing music here!*** 

In my next blog posting!

Treasure Hunters All - (Teremity Magazine Article)

This is a copy of an article I did for Teremity Magazine - published Feb - 2012

__ Treasure Hunters All__

Yes, I am a real picker.

I have been in the antiques biz, as my primary (and usually only) source of income, for half my life…20 years. Add to that the fact I have been “into” "treasure hunting" of one sort of another for as I can remember!

I briefly owned a metal detector, but it was pretty much the cheapest one on the market....I could see metal objects it had passed over, barely settled in the grass, which the unit could not seem to locate no matter how many times I carefully moved the head over the spot! 

Why did I buy such a crappy detector? Dreams of a kid, and one I wanted to fulfill as soon as was possible. My parents worked hard for every dollar, and had little to spare, aside from the 25 to 50 cents allowance I acquired every Saturday. Thus I worked hard for pretty much every cent I ever had, also.

That crappy metal detector was paid for with hard earned nickels and dimes. The dollars were painstakingly accumulated, 5 and 10 cents at a time. I searched for soda and beer bottles high and low on weekends, holidays, and after school. I dug them out of clumps of winter killed weeds on boulevards and rescued them from their precarious perches amongst thorn spiked hedge branches. On family camping trips I scavenged them from cigarette butt strewn campsites. I popped them up out of the sun baked mud of roadside ditches, snagged them from their hiding spots in waist high grass, all the while shivering, soaked to the skin, the result of early morning dew wicking off the switch grass into the denim of my jeans and shirt sleeves. I even tolerated the stench of the clumps of rotting cigarette butts, insects and mouse corpses, some of which stubbornly stuck to the insides of their glass walled coffins. I am all too familiar with the stench these mini-greenhouses can create out of the mish-mash of debris that may end up in them. The goo sometimes lost its battle with centrifugal force, mid-swing. I can vaguely recall moments when a piece of chunky slime would shoot out of the bottle neck, then, to my horror, took an unintended, but oddly graceful acrobatic arc, seemingly in slow motion! Sometimes I dodged the wad of rot, the ground being its final destination. Other times my shoes, jeans or shirt became the landing sites.

On my return home from such an outing, there may have been the disposal of a pair of favorite-one-sole worn-through-running-shoes. They were given a proper burial in the outside trash can. Sometimes a pair of knee patched jeans or shirt followed them.

If it was clothing I was fond of, or I knew I'd catch heck for throwing out, the article would become part of an existing laundry pile, usually in my bedroom closet. Sometimes they shared their odorous prize with the rest of the clothing until washday, on the occasions that I forgot to make mention of them to my mother.
(Sorry, Mom!)

I had found & cashed in literally hundreds of “deposit” bottles to pay for that detector.

I guess the word “found” is not actually correct. The term really should be "picked."

Hmmm, come to think of it,  I have been honing my "picker's eyes"  for a LONG time....since I was 6 years old!

That is the thing with picking, you rely on your eyes quite a bit.  However, a really good picker uses all his/her other senses, also. Yes, every sense we have, we use.

While walking on trash/debris strewn wooden floors of old buildings, I have learned to be highly aware of what is underfoot, not just being aware of things in my line of sight.  You never know, you could be
far closer to a real treasure than your eyes can see, or even your arms can reach. But, of course, safety is very important, too. I want to be able to go out picking for a long, long time.

I can be walking along, stepping gingerly, feeling the floor's boards give slightly, listening for the structure underneath the planks creak just a little more than in an average old building. I strain for that initial sharp splinter of wood fibers, groups of them simultaneously letting go of their 100+ year grip they had on their neighbors...sort of a timber's own  nearly-too-late-warning-scream of  "OH CRAP!"

Or, it could be the barely audible squish of waterlogged, sponge-like, rotten wood fiber, ready to imitate that trap door on a stage, and in a blink of an eye, recreating that classic magical illusion of "now you see him, now you don't!"

So, all the while I am walking, I listen carefully, feeling each step, making sure I am not about to fall through a floor to my demise, or in impale my foot on yet another rusty nail.  With the next step, the feel and sound of that footfall is noticeably different than the previous. The general "feel", combined with the tone, echo (etc) of the sound differed dramatically from my previous footfalls. It is likely not something anyone else who has tread on the same spot has taken any notice of in the room's 75 years of human traffic.

I realize there is metal beneath that foot's resting spot! No electronic metal detector required. Moving aside, still aware, but with some anticipation clouding my usual careful steps, I brush the debris aside.  What is revealed is a sheet of metal. Brushing away all the debris past the surface's edges reveals a streaked mix of smooth, streaked glassy, but grunge smeared surface. With a slight shift of my eyes, they follow the flashlight beam tracing the outer edge of the whitish smeared chunk of steel. Visible upon careful inspection, almost obscured by an oily floor wax/dirt residue, are holes at the corners and middle edges. Most people would not have even not noticed them, but the smears of green, indicative of verdigris growing on the brass grommets the holes sport, are obvious to me. 

The odds very high that it is an old enamel sign covering some hole! Maybe even a very VALUABLE sign!

Experienced 'digger's are familiar with these sorts of feelings, I am sure. The detector sounds, you bend or crouch down to the spot, and get out your equipment. With the first push of "whatever preferred excavation tool you use" into the ground, you hear/feel the pebbles, rocks, rotten wood, tree roots, and anything else it rubs against, or hits, including the target your detector sounded when it skimmed over the ground's surface.

Odds are you even have a pretty good idea of what it is, or at least it's composition. You may even know the object's shape and size, just from the feel of that little vibration.

These skills are the things we develop. We fine tune of our senses; hone them for, and by the pursuit of, our specific treasure hunting interests.  We really think little about them, until they are pointed out to us.  I am referring to observations by that friend/relative who tagged along with you. They come along with you on a hunt, maybe invited, sometimes out of curiosity, or maybe from pure avoidance of chores they needed to get done around the house.

Besides, it is a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Over the afternoon's hunt, you have calmly ignored their rolling eyes and their bored  yawns. It is mid-afternoon, and over the past 2 hours you have politely answered their moronic or/and annoying questions, which are getting close to being  akin to a five year old's whining queries of "why?"

As you bend down, and excavate the target your detector sounded on, you audibly mutter that you think the item is only a 1950s quarter.



After you excavate the prize, and show your companion for the afternoon, their eyes widen and with an amazed and almost incredulous tone say:

"How did you know it was going to be a quarter and not another bottle cap? And how the heck did you know it was from the 1950s????"

Yes, it is like that for me, as a long time picker, also.  I don't know how many times people have said things like:

"I can not believe I walked by that thing pretty much every day, for 40 years, and had no idea it was there!!!"

Diggers.

Pickers.

We are all part of a worldwide treasure hunting fraternity. The treasuring hunting experience is something that unites us in more ways than we realize.

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Link To Article On Temerity Magazine (online) - SEE PAGE 70.