Carrots: France is waving a very tempting carrot our way: Do we dare to hope? Nicolas Sarkozy has been elected as the new President. He is an astonishingly conservative man who idolizes America. Sarkozy has ambitious plans that include encouraging business and discouraging taxes. He was elected in an overwhelmingly large turnout, so the French people took this quite seriously. It will be interesting to see what he will do about their alarming Muslim Extremist population, which is the largest (and most dangerous) in the free world.Corn: My ex-fiance has finally decided to do the right thing, as corny as that sounds. He became a born-again Christian some time ago, but has recently entered into a serious drug program and has been clean for over 2 1/2 months. He has a nice place of his own, and he's doing what he can to make things right with everyone that he has wronged. I congratulate him, and I highly recommend the old-fashioned no-nonsense tough love attitude. All the "it's not you, it's the disease" talk that he got from others, as well as the morons who gave him money, only slowed down his getting true help.
Peas: OK, this has nothing to do with peas and I can't think of any puns here unless I talk about pea-ing, which is really stretching it. So instead I'll tell you about the auction I attended this weekend. It was like a thrift shop with an audience. I was amazed at what good prices you can get for some items! Rings and coins went for much more than what you could get for them on Ebay, but furniture went for much less. I ended up purchasing a gorgeous front-entry table of carved mahogany and Italian marble for only $82 total! So, if you're in the market for quality furniture at less-than-thrift-store prices, check out your local auctions. They're fun, different, and you get to wave a card at people when you bid on something: What more could you ask?
11 comments:
I love thrift stores, garage sales, and auctions. Sadly, I havent been to an auction in years, mostly because due to lack of money (and danger of overpriced junk bought in hurried decisions). The last one I went to (over a decade ago)I bought an old Datsun pick-up. It was a piece of crap, last used by a university's grounds crew, but it got me around for about a six months, which aint bad for $150.
Sauer,
I've never voted for a republican here in my life but I was thrilled that the conservative won in France. Though he only won by three-percentage points, this represents a badly needed correction for France.
I like this guy.
French people need to stop importing so much excess labor and get off their asses and work harder and start having more babies.
Did I just say that? And I'm a democrat.
Bah bah black sheep have you any crack?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for my Old Lady.
One for my ex-wives.
One for the little Sweet Thang who lives down the lane.
Bah bah black sheep have you any crack?
Yes sir, yes sir three bags full.
Let's hope your ex has honestly and truly turned his life around.
But I suppose the long-term verdict is still out...
I used to love the card-waving, and then I got into the eye shift, the nod and assorted other clever strategems to keep people from knowing who I was. It didn't matter: I was going to outbid them, anyway.
I was once an auction addict. When I was finishing my PhD, my stipend didn't really take care of four kids so I became what was then called a "picker and placer" for two or three antique shops. It was particular fun because I was using their money. After I was finished and moved to Upstate New York, I still bought almost everything at auction (we had two really good auction houses in the area). when I moved from NY to GA I had a three story four bedroom victorian home that was completely furnished in Victorian Oak. I had one of the greatest yardsales when I moved. I just marked everything up to double the cost and sold out in what seemed to be no time. I was trained in not letting the people around me that I was bidding. We pretty much bidded (bid?) with a knowing look and a blink. Cards would cramp my style
(I also was pleased with the French Election, but I am, at best, cautiously optimistic.)
Did you hear Bush say that the Queen was here to celebrate the 17.....er 1976 bicentennial? The Queen is old, but not over 200 years old.
I hope France's new president is smarter than ours.
And I hope that at the Bush Administration's first white tie ultra formal dinner he did drink from the soup bowl.
Lazy, I think it would be easy to get a President smarter than ours. Let's hope he's less corrupt, too.
3Score & 10, My family has always been into antiques. My parents really cleaned up when antiques were not the HOT thing (and Scandinavian/modern furniture was). They got some magnificent bargains and their home looks like it should be featured in House Beautiful... all because, like you, they were on a tight budget.
Old Hoss, I guess I'd better work on my poker face. Er...auction face, that is.
Green, yes, it is. It will be a long time before we really know.
Anonymous/Gator/Caiman, Of course he needs me! That doesn't mean he gets what he wants or needs. But he is doing this on his own, when there were just as many options NOT to. So, I'm not willing to completely disregard it.
Matt, ;o) I agree with you. I'm a moderate, so I believe that there are some areas in which the government has to intervene because democracy creates a system that can be dominated by greed. However, France is more a socialist nation and a very unhealthy one, too.
Daveawayfromhome, I would be leary of buying a car that way. I bought one not too long ago for a friend (she paid me back for it over a span of months). It was a bargain at $850, or so we thought. But it quickly became less than a bargain when she had to do another $2K or so in repairs...
Saur,
Be careful. It ain't over till it's over.
Michelle, Thank you. Very, very true. *hugs* ;o)
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