Picker Entertainment!

Sometimes in this business you trip across amusing little things, old humorous articles in the way of old newspaper clippings that someone from yesteryear clipped and saved in some old book,  funny little letters, goofy comedic postcards, amusing photographs, information in books that is so-o-o-o outdated it makes you giggle, etc.

Well, I tripped across something that made me laugh today, and I thought I'd share it with you.

It turns out the folks at Bombardier had a sense of humour at one time...and decided to include their brand of humour in their user's manual for their "Snowmobile". 

I have personally not known these as a "Snowmobile"...it has always been known as a "Bombardier"; which we pronounce as "Bomb-bah-deer". That might be one of those Canadian prairie slang terms unique to us Canadian Prairie folks, who knows!

Anyway, I'll leave you now to enjoy the cartoons I found while leafing through it...Enjoy!.

A Hardcore Picker's Thrift Shop Comedy Moment!

 I have found and spotted all sorts of bizarre things in thrift shops. People will donate all sorts of crap, and the things that pop up in some of the stores make you wonder about the world.

 I am sure there are tons of things that hit the trash in the sorting rooms, but the "censorship" of the sorters is only as good as their own personal knowledge....
 
About 10 years ago, a fellow dealer friend and I would do runs down south of Winnipeg to various thrift stores, second hand shops, and other places we knew about. eBay was rocking then, and we did very well, getting loads of stuff. We bought all sorts of stuff I would not give a second glance to now. 

I got addicted to cheese curds on those trips. Sounds like they are disgusting, but they are delicious....!!!   On many of the trips, we'd make sure we would come back via a route that would pass New Bothwell, Manitoba.

 Bothwell Cheese's plant is there, and they have a little storefront in it. It looks very different from when we went there, more upscale, but still is packed with their quality products. I love their Mild Cheddar Cheese...none better anywhere, in my honest opinion. Bothwell Cheese is where my friend introduced me to those damn, squeaky, addictive chunks of goodness....

Mmmmmmm....Bothwell Cheese's cheese curds....

Oh geeze, hang on, I need to go get a towel...I have a pool of drool forming on my desk.

They used to be super cheap, and you could buy a HUGE bag of them for under $10...I am talking what seemed to be thee equivalent almost a bread bag's worth! But, supply and demand has taken over, and ever since "poutine" has taken off in restaurants, etc, cheese curds have gotten much more expensive....and they now sell them as a packaged snack product.

No, I am not getting paid, receiving a kickback, or any sort of revenues from this plug. They are a Manitoba company who make a superior product, and they deserve the attention! 

And who knows, maybe I will get a huge case of cheese curds appear on my doorstep! 

If that happens, you will know it, as I will be blogging every day...because  I won't be able to go pickin' at all....I'll have gained 200lbs and won't be able to move.


Anyway, back to the story.....

We went into one MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) thrift shop in a little conservative town.  


There on a shelf, right at eye level, was a 1960s/70s vibrator in its original box, sitting nonchalantly beside the other donated used goods.

I pointed it out to my buddy, with a smirk.

He bought it as a lark, and was not unfamiliar with selling that sort of stuff in his shop....I remember him bringing in a load of dildos into a shared shop space he, myself and 2 other junker guys were sharing, and putting them all out for sale. He had snagged then in a clean-out job he got...some stripper's apartment he had hauled stuff out of.
Anyway, this little gizmo on the MCC Store's shelf was tagged at a   $1.00 or something like that, and it was a deal, after all....

The little old ladies running the store obviously hadn't a clue what it was. They were talking about using it for relaxing neck massages,  and that sort of thing, while he was paying for it and his other purchases.

I was having trouble keeping a straight face all the while....I had to go outside to compose myself...

Of course once we got back to the vehicle, we went into hysterical laughter...

Ya gotta have some laughs when you are on the road! 

And, as a bonus, here is another bit of Thrift Shop tune-age/comedy for you....

Here is

  MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS

 performing their tune  

THRIFT SHOP