Mexico (James) Vs. Argentina (Jess)

The World Cup game between Mexico and Argentina was on yesterday during our semiweekly swap meet extravaganza.  Every aisle had TVs and radios tuned in, and everyone I asked said Mexico was going to win.  It's too bad I'm not the betting type, because Mexico got spanked 3-1.

In retrospect, if our bargaining yesterday was a game, Jessica would be Argentina.  I didn't even have a fighting chance.

Starting out strong on our very first aisle, she spied an original Ronco Food Dehydrator in the original box.  'What on earth would she want with that,' you ask?  Healthy, chemical-free, dried, fresh fruit, vegetables, and jerky of course!  Our neighbor's plum tree has been exploding with fruit this month, so this was a pretty good idea.  Of course, the cost could easily sway the perception of just how good the idea was...  Now, how much would you pay?  $20?  $30?

The lady offered it for just one easy payment of five bucks.  SOLD!  At that price we could get our use out of it and then turn it around at our next garage sale for 10.  Kinda makes you feel sorry for the sucker who paid full price 20 years ago... Jessica 1, James 0.

(<------- Exhibiting my Ron Propeil trustworthy TV salesman face)


We headed up a nearby aisle to one of our usual hotspots.  Along the way she asked a guy about his post hole digger (for putting up a trellis in the garden).  $25?!  We passed on that one, and soon came upon another post hole digger, this one for 10 bucks...  'Will you take five?'  Jess asks.  'Sure.'  SOLD!  Another item for the garage sale.  GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!  Jessica 2, James 0.

Along that same aisle, I spied a 20 pound CO2 cylinder.  'What would he want 20 pounds of Carbon dioxide for,' you ask?  Beer of course!  After bottling 5 batches of home brew, I decided to go easy on myself and start putting it in kegs.  CO2 pushes the beer out of the kegs.  (It doesn't hurt to have something to keep the beer cold in too, so I recently built a new toy...)

The "kegerator" already has a 5 pound CO2 tank in it, so I can resell this 20 lb CO2 tank on Craigslist for $100 and use the profit to help pay for the parts I needed for the project.    GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLL!!!!!  Jess 2, James 1.

Now, things were looking up, but nothing could prepare me for her next big find.  This one inadvertently brought about my absolute defeat. 

It was a six setting hand-painted matching stoneware service set from Mexico.  Three boxes, including two sets of plates, bowls, platters, a pitcher, a vase, cream and sugar bowls, gravy boat, glasses, cups, a soup tureen, service bowls...  you name it, it's there.  Do we need it?  No!!!  She's already got a 12 place setting Noritake china set she bought when she was 16!  We never use it!  But here's the kicker...  She asks the guy anyway, and he only wants $40 bucks.  $40 bucks!!!  She walks away to find me and chat about it, and he yells out to her 'OK, $35!'  $35 bucks!!!  The set we got for the wedding (and later returned because it turned out to be complete crap) cost about that much by the piece!

So I make her a deal.  She can have this set if it replaces the china.  She readily agrees, and I go talk to the guy a little more.  By this point we only have $30 bucks left.  He's not happy to drop- the price again, but he needs to get back to watching Mexico lose the soccer game.  And so, I helped her emerge victorious with our new set of dishes for $30 bucks, effectively kicking the proverbial ball into my own goal.
 

You see, had I not been haggling for plates, I could have come out ahead by a long shot.  On my last pass down an aisle I hadn't hit yet, I come across a bright red rowing shell, like the kind I used to race.  Mind you, when I bought mine it cost me $5500, used.  The cardboard sign on this one said "$2700, yours for $300."  The oars alone were worth at least the $300, and just as I'm ready to ask about them, I notice the word "SOLD" being written on the sign. DEFEATED!!!!! 


Final score: Jessica 3, James 1.
Damn plates...

"Pinch me! I'm still in California!"

Walking around the lake to our favorite local phở, pronounced "fah," place (which turns out to be Ahn Dao since Phở King, while notorious for its name, is a further walk to a slightly less safe part of town), we had another "pinch me I'm in California" moment.  We still seem to have a lot of those.  This was the first walk around the lake we'd made in a few months.  And then it hit us.  It's been over a year since the big move.

The day-to-day details (our jobs, cats puking all over the house, hanging out with the neighbors and catching the germs their kids bring home from daycare, visiting the ethnic markets, restaurants, and grocery stores) have become a blur, but we're noticing some trends in how we're managing our time.

My schedule isn't always in sync with Jess', so when I'm not working I keep myself busy with projects like selling things on Craigslist.  Some dude paid me $90 for a pair of scuba fins I bought at the Laney College flea market for 2 bucks (mind you, they sell for over $300 new but the guy who offered them to me for 2 bucks was obviously oblivious).

The swap meet has become a semi-regular weekly adventure, complete with a near-routine schedule and walking path through the aisles of tarps on the ground, neatly littered with old household stuff, gizmos and greasy tools, cheap socks and used clothes, and generic old junk, with the occasional "too-good-to-be-true-I-wish-I-had-somewhere-to-put-that" find.  I now have something of an inventory of crap to sell on craigslist, including no fewer than three fancy nylon kites and a couple hundred or so pieces of very nice grapevine wood.  Whatever's left in three weeks will be garage-saled. 

Speaking of garage sales...  In place of the Wine Bus idea, Wifey's been working on a professional organizing business concept.  It started a few years back when we got onto this "simple living" kick with a book called "Your Money or Your Life" which is featured in the documentary "Affluenza."  We started getting rid of stuff we didn't use, spending less money and time on "stuff" and more on "doing."  The move helped us pare down the "stuff" even more, and now our time spent "doing" is at an all-time high, and we're enjoying it immensely.  I sometimes find that the "doing" thing is more on my end than hers though.  If there's one thing Jess is good at (almost too good, really) it's relaxing (see Photo Exhibit A: "Day-old, Half-eaten Sandwich on Desk").

Photo Exhibit A: "Day-old, Half-eaten Sandwich on Desk"

My "doing" is a running joke with the neighbors.  Jason calls me "James the 'doer'" because I'm almost always working on something.  It could be that I don't get bogged down with three hours of commuting to San Jose like he does, but I digress.  I have noticed though that my "doing" is more for my entertainment than for the sake of actual productivity.  I do prefer to do things that have some kind of productive value, monetary or otherwise.  The swap meet, for example, is a diversion that has the potential to bring in some extra cash.  I even have thought about writing a book about the folks who I meet there, something of a photo documentary about how they make their livings on what other people would consider trash- it's really quite a statement on how we consume so blindly in this country.
 
I find the swap meet to be among the most interesting cultural experiences Oakland has to offer.  Is it because you can sometimes haggle with someone over the price of a set of drinking glasses because of their being displayed in such close proximity to jock strap? (see Photo Exhibit B, entitled "Would You Like a Cup or a Glass?")...  Or is it that I can practice my Spanish while hanging out with guys with names like Manuel, Panchito, Jesus, Memo, and Miguel Angel?  (Yes, I said Panchito.  That's him smiling on the right with some plantains)...  Jesus, the 15 year old who helps Panchito hock fruit every Sunday, seems to be inspired by my ability to habla the Español, as evidenced by our discussion about the benefit of studying Hmong over French (Hmong you ask?...  it's a language spoken in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and China.  Who knew?!...  I wish I could have taken Hmong in high school!).

It's nice to be living in such a culturally stimulating place, and we're loving every minute of it.

 Photo Exhibit B: "Would You Like a Cup or a Glass?"