Garage Sales are the Devil

Among the many things that are totally horrific about moving is the garage sale. Garage sales are great ways to get rid of things you have decided are useless and actually charge for them. Plus one point for garage sales. But they also introduce you to the weirdest people in your neighborhood, minus 10 points. It also requires you to get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday. I should not see 6 am on a Saturday unless there is a road trip planned. Even then, we don't talk to each other, M. and I just go to the gas station, get orange juice, coffee, and snacks and wait until we're functional to speak. Minus another 5 points.

We started setting up at 6:30, and a nosy neighbor informed us as we were setting up that the city doesn't allow us to actually sell anything until 7am. She then proceeded to ask questions about stuff that she had no intention of buying. Thanks Mrs. Kravitz, geez. One woman tried on a coat of mine and asked if it had become too small for me, which was rude, but I guess she wanted to know why I was selling it. Still. A $5 coat that was never worn does not require a conversation. Buy it or don't lady! M's shoes were a big hit, though everyone was surprised that they were only one size. We had a desk out there and someone asked if we had a chair to go with it. Like, hello, this isn't a store, it's a garage sale. Also, I don't have several sizes of feet, so I pretty much am only gonna offer the one size.

Some people were nice, though, one lady practically sold our stuff to another person she described it so nicely! M. got rid of a lot of skate shoes, and a big heavy dictionary left for greener pastures. What actually ended up selling today was the odds and ends, clothes, and kitchen storage. My bookcases are currently back in the garage, along with a stupid huge desk and a TV storage thingy from back when people (us) had big tube televisions. Ugh. I think we're going to have to post craigslist ads for them.

Anybody need a big desk? Billy bookcases? Tv storage? Close-out prices!

As a special bonus, one of the big items for sale got knocked over by a random gust of wind, hitting my neighbor's car and denting the passenger door. So even though we made a couple hundred bucks, I'm sure that will go toward some kind of deductible for our insurance so that she can get it fixed. Sigh.

Worse tragedies have afflicted people, it's true, but I really hope we don't have to do this again.

We had a lot of Ikea furniture that we just didn't feel was worth it to move across the country. I don't know what it is about this move, but I'm much more willing to give up stuff and slim down our belongings. I guess because it's no longer a matter of filling up my car a bunch of times going between the old and new apartment. All of it has to go at once. Do 10 copies of that article I use for teaching really need to make their way across the Rockies? Is that set of ramekins as necessary as the other set of ramekins I have? I mean, how many people are gonna need ramekins at any dinner party I throw in the future? Why do I have three different kinds of padlocks? I apparently will never need to buy paper clips as long as I live. I have thousands!

It's starting to get real though, this big move. We have already contacted a realtor in Philadelphia to help us find apartments. She gets paid by the various landlords, so all we have to pay is a $50 credit-check fee and she'll organize a weekend of searching in early May. Pretty sweet! We have narrowed down our search to the Queen Village/Bella Vista/Hawthorne areas of downtown Philadelphia. I am doing a lot of work and writing, so I haven't done my usual round of intense research of the area, but I can't wait to find out about our possible future neighborhood! All I know so far is it's the area where Pat's and Geno's cheesesteak restaurants are and that the world's largest pinata is housed nearby.

How do people get through a long distance move? I'm expecting a breakdown sometime in May, around when the dissertation needs to be done and my students are begging me for higher grades.

iTunesU

I noticed that the new Blackboard system at my work (the online course software we use to provide students with course materials, message boards, etc) had a new button for "iTunesU." So I did some investigating and found a treasure trove of stuff over on iTunes. Apparently, many universities have begun posting digital files of their course lectures and guest speaker lectures. You can go to the iTunes store and click on iTunes U and find all kinds of FREE stuff available on any subject, some of them from ivy league schools, others from private and community colleges. Some courses are completely online, including the first day (which is always boring!) and some have powerpoints. It's a great resource.

I downloaded a ton of lectures and put them on my iPod for future listening when I'm at the gym. I may even burn some on CD so I can listen in my car. If I had this before I started teaching, I would not have been so green going in. Listening to the different ways professors lecture is fascinating and helpful. Am I going to make my class available? Hells to the no. But if you want to hear what the academic word is on your particular subject, I'd suggest heading over there. Does everyone know this already? Am I like seriously late on the iTunesU thing?

I went to Ikea, ostensibly for a short Billy bookcase. But I took the whole tour of the upstairs and the marketplace because why not, right? I ended up buying a duvet, a mirror, and some accessories to dress up my bedroom. Our super cool Malm floating side tables kicked the bucket and so we had a bit more space in the room. I noticed that I had piles of books (novels mostly) that were stacked all over the bedroom. Hell, since every other room in the house has a bookcase, I may as well give in.

So now next to my side of the bed are almost all my novels, with an entire shelf devoted to vampire fiction. I moved Baron Von Pyre from the living room to his special place. I think he looks cute there. It's, as far as I know, the only stuffed animal in the whole house.

The mirror was cheap ($39) and made a world of difference in our room. It looks much wider and more open over there. The cover for the chair in the corner just cost too much, so I used a coverlet that we had been using as the new chair cover. It works just fine, since that chair is mainly our cat Stevie's sleeping spot.


Meanwhile, Radley was happy I kept the furry brown blanket on the bed, because it's his favorite.

Randomness

Another junkie talked to me randomly! This time at the coffee shop. This one was totally whacked out and had to be told to put a shirt on before coming in to the shop. He was laughing because I was reading a magazine and someone else was reading a book of poetry (yeah, I don't get it either). Am I some kind of junkie magnet? I'm starting to wonder. It could be a sign that my true calling is in drug rehabilitation. But that just can't be. I hate watching that show, Intervention. I don't care how much it might help others on the path to sobriety, I think that shit is personal and that your darkest moments should not be interspersed with ads for viagra and promos for Shark Week. I get really sad and anxious when I see Amy Winehouse these days. Drunks, however, are my people, and I can totally speak their language.

By the way, I forgot to mention this in my Denver post: if you get your boarding pass for a flight, check to see if there are 4 S's in the bottom corner, like this:

My friend Brande calls this the "Super Secret Special Search." Because that means you are getting the full on terrorist search at security. Yeah, fun times! Humorless security folk are going to take apart your stuff, open up our phone and laptop, and make you stand without your shoes for like, ever. Meanwhile, I had a whole bottle of Visine in my pocket that nobody confiscated or even noticed during the extended search. I don't really feel like much of a genius for fooling them with pants pockets. Nor do I feel any safer about air travel. The terrorists have already won, people. Random, but I thought you all might like the info!

Anyway, if you know me well, you know that I love Ikea furniture. One trip through my flickr site and you will know even if we've never met. I do. I can't apologize about it. I like the idea of beautiful modern arty furniture at affordable prices. I think it fits the philosophy of modern architects working in the 50s; the idea that everyone deserves a beautiful home, no matter their income level. As someone who can't afford vintage originals or fancy reproductions, Ikea is pretty much the next best thing. Plus, since it's fairly cheap, I can not worry about messing with it (check out the ikeahacker blog in my blog list to the right for ways people have altered Ikea furniture). This weekend, we are having a garage sale (if you are in the market for some gently used Ikea furniture, electronics, and kitchen stuff, come on by Saturday!). I am getting rid of the desks in the office, since we basically use our laptops in the living room only. Instead, our dining room is becoming a craft table in the office, which allowed me to make my most wanted Ikea purchase ever: the Docksta table.


A complete rip-off of the Saarinen tulip table from 1956, which would cost me close to a grand if I wanted the real deal. You see what I mean? I painted our original dining chairs white and added white chair pads. The whole dining area feels and looks bigger. Maybe we'll finally go back to eating in there.