SE 20th and Salmon.

During my bike rides around town, I have noticed a very large number of yard sales. I'm going to start a new feature wherein I chronicle some of the cool stuff that I find. Some items will be purchased, but many will not be because, let's face it, I'm broke.

Today I was riding up Hawthorne on my way home from downtown. I noticed a sign for a yard sale and thought, "why not?" So I took a left and made it to the yard sale. It wasn't too exciting. Mostly there were just a bunch of books. I did see a large cage and thought it might be good for Wicket. I ask the guy -- who seems a little too busy taking an inventory of his items -- if the cage would be good for a hamster. He mentions that he has a hamster cage inside and goes in to grab it. He returns with the seediest looking cage I've ever seen. It looks like a snake cage. Wicket would definitely end up with lockjaw and splinters from this thing. I told him that I might be back tomorrow. Fat chance.

I take off on my Schwinn and notice another yard sale a few blocks down on a cross street. When I get closer, I realize it's not a yard sale, but a load of free stuff. The first item that caught my eye was a suitcase phonograph.

At first, it looked really good, but when I got closer, I noticed a lot of problems with it. There was duct tape along the bottom on the outside, as well as a piece on the inside. There was some regular tape on the needle holder that left a sticky residue when I tried to peel it off And there was some general funk (possibly uncleanable) on the inside lid. I ended up not grabbing it. I really had no way to get it home anyway.

So I rooted around for a bit, and some guy pointed out a book called 2000 Great Insults. I read a few excerpts for the small crowd of moochers, and believe me when I say that these insults were bad. And esoteric. One of them went, "Even if he found a $1000 halitosis cure, he'd still be unpopular anyway." Huh? I know what all those words mean, but what's the sentence all about? Plus, I hate sentences that add extra words. "Still" and "anyway" are both serving the same purpose in this sentence. It's like saying, "I too would also like to go to the movies as well." I didn't take the book.

All wasn't for naught. I did find some cool stuff. (Click the images for larger versions.)

	This thing is awesome. It's a playing card carrying case made of yarn and plastic. I grabbed a couple of cool-looking card packs to pop in it.
	A cute little blue-green wool green hood.I can't use it, but maybe a friend will like it.
	A leather bag with no strap and a hoop missing on one side. I guess I can sew a strap directly onto it. I'll let you know what I do with it.
	A bottle holder for a bicycle. If only my bike had braze-ons.
	Some argyle socks with wear in the heel. A small price to pay for argyle.
	A nice light blue track jacket. I was hoping this would fit me, but alas it's a little small.
	I thought this was a cool geometric pattern. I grabbed it for a friend, but I'm not sure it will fit her...or if she'll even like it. I don't think it's specifically her style. But it's definitely cute.
	At first I thought this was a straight vest, but when I got it home, I realized it was a sweater with the sleeves cut off because the arm holes are different sizes. That can be fixed. Alas, this was also too small for me.

Perhaps a success. We'll see.