August 21, 2004

I leave the house late remembering that there was a sign down the corner from me saying that there was a big multi family sale. I go to the address in Lake Claire to find no sale there. I then drive out to Decatur to pick up some photos from Wolf. Seeing a sign I head down a street in Decatur only to notice when I get there that the sale is tomorrow on Sunday. This is really a poor start. Driving down Scoot Blvd. I'm directed by a sign of a sale near the the Fernbank Science Center. This is not a neighborhood I've seem good sales in, mostly smaller ranch homes even though the people here have a bit of money. The sale is in the basement of a home. The selection is terrible. The seller seems to be the wife of a retired or perhaps deceased doctor. Some boring Christmas ornaments, some old overpriced books mostly pop novels from ten years ago. Some kitchen stuff and dusty luggage. I leave empty handed.
Getting back near my home I drive down McLendon, which they are STILL working on so traffic is a mess. I stop at a house with a porch sale only to notice when I get there that this is the stuff left over from a sale last week. Its mostly a lot of kids and women's clothing in cardboard boxes. I spend less than 30 seconds here. I see a sign at the corner of McLendon and Oakdale directing me to a multifamily sale in Kirkwood. I usually don't go over the tracks since sales tend to be pretty lame in Kirkwood and Edgewood. The sale is in this huge new development off LaFrance that I had never ever noticed before. A walled compound of attached suburban style homes, right in the middle of what used to be a very undesirable neighborhood. Two thirtyish women are having sales in their new garages side by side.
Mostly a lot of newer stuff that one would expect from yuppies. I do buy two video cables I can use at work. I attempt to buy a small disco ball for a dollar. But after I give one of the women a dollar the other says its not for sale and I get the money back. I wanted give it to my wife to put in her new water garden. Then they both start trying to sell me a love seat and a sofa. The love seat is only $25 and the sofa special for me only $75 neither of them go with anything in my living room so I buy neither.
Crossing back into Candler Park I see a sign for another multi family sale on Iverson.
This is far better as its three homes in a row with moderate piles of stuff in each yard. Among the items is a PC. Computer prices at yards sales are always indicators of what's happening in the economy. The PCs are for sale obivously because the owner has bought a new one. Non working computers are just put out in the street. So they indicate that someone had enough money to buy a new one. Here is a late model HP with monitor and printer for $30. No indication of what software is on it. The printer comes with a new cartridge in the box, which alone may be worth $ but these things sit at these sales all day. The sale in the middle the larger of the three has a few boxes of books. I find one entitled "You are worthless... Depressing nuggets of wisdom sure to ruin your day." I buy it for 50 cents. They also have the usual selection of college text books most of which are programming texts for C++. Selling your college textbooks is a right of passage. It indicates you don't need these thing anymore or that your nolonger even near the field you studied in. Or perhaps that what they taught you was of no value in today's world. Judging by the books they are at least 12 years old. Is the information even still in use today. They will probably be on the street after the sale or given to Goodwill. They have a little bit of means clothing here but none of it is my size.
Latter in the day after my wife picks me up when my bike gets a flat we decide to try the first sale that was not happening when I stopped there. The sale is on going but there not much of interest for me. Two women in their late 20's are selling a few things, mostly women's clothed on the porch of a quite large Victorian home. I presume they are renting the place. There is a pile of men's clothing . One of the sellers comments "he's not around anymore" did she throw him out, did he leave suddenly leaving his clothes behind. All I know is that he was about my height but a good bit thinner than me so none of it fits. Cindy my wife buys a a dress for $3.

At the end of the day I have two video cables and a book of depressing thoughts, "Your friends don't really like you for who you are" etc.. For a total of $1.10. Cindy in one sale has spent nearly triple that with one dress. Latter in the evening when we are getting ready for a party she tries on the dress but decides its is not festive enough to wear to a summer party. She tells me "It looks more like something I would wear to a summer funeral"