The Hazel Project

This post is mainly for my fellow shopping/ coupon finder friends,

Linda & T ;

So last Friday night, I’m running an errand for my boss from South Pasadena to Alta Dena (which is about as far up the mountain they could build homes).

I’m a little lost which I’m sure comes to no surprise.
As I’m orienting myself back to my path of simple instructions:

Follow 1 road, Fair Oaks Blvd., and turn left,

I pass this very nice bookcase. Looks like a 1990 vintage with some shelves missing. It’s sitting in front of a garage, I ponder whether or not to get out and leave a note with my phone #, but I’m on a mission, and stick to my plan of making simple instructions rocket science.

I catch my boss as he’s leaving, and return his Hard Drive. I’m so glad
that I caught him I forget that he needs the 3 VHS tapes in my trunk as well.

Saturday I have no official work to do, so I decided to drop off the VHS tapes, and then follow Fair Oaks Blvd. to South Pasadena and deliver my old G4 computer to the studio for file transfer.

I never make it.

I find my self at a yard sale, back on Fair Oaks Blvd. looking at office furniture. I become excited and stressed at the same time because I have $11 in cash and know they won’t take a North Carolina check.

I make a mental note of a cool chair and small typewriter table on casters. The guy wants $35. I head to the Rite Aid drug store which has become my default ATM.

On my way to Rite Aid, I pass a yard sale with a familiar looking book case. It’s My Bookcase! The very one from yesterday!

Two very nice women out in the yard drinking Mai Tai’s offer to help me clear off all the stuff on the book case and ask me if I want any thing to drink; Champaign, a Mai Tai or water?

I kindly say “no, but this is the best yard sale I’ve been to so far.”

I introduce myself because I was going to be there a while dismantling the pressboard, hex-bolt fastened bargain.

Among other things I find a coffee grinder, kinda old, no telling what ‘herbs’ it was used for, it was too clean to have been coffee, but I offer the Ladies my $11 for all it, and go to the VW which is now my tool box. 20 mintues later the car is loaded and I’m off for cash back.

At Rite Aid drugstore, I’m at a loss. I don’t need anything. I’m thinking of what I might run out of and see contact cleaner for $1.50 off regular price. I grab it and a big bottle of Biotene mouth wash that will last until April 2007. So I have my hygeine products and $40 cash back for office furniture; and a car already full of book case parts and undelivered macintosh equipment.

Thankfully my chair and table are still available. I offer the cat $30 for both and spend 30 minutes taking parts off and repacking the car.
It was like crossing the desert again. I began to sweat, I think just for the sake of the experieince.

So,

A room full of office furniture=$40
A coffee grinder that will be used for coffee=$1
Hygeine products to buy for free cash back=$15

How’d I do ladies?

Thanks for checking in.

Stephen A. Thomas

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 24th, 2006 at 11:33 am and is filed under on the path, posts & stories . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.