Thrift Store Show and Tell '23: Fall Edition

Years ago I had a student who also liked to shop at thrift stores. She was really into 70's t-shirts, and it was fun to talk to her about her finds. Her mom, however, wasn't a huge fan of her daughter's hobby. Eventually the girl's closet was full of vintage threads, and her mom told her, "You can buy any shirt that you want. But from now on, for every one that you buy, you have to give one back." 

I thought that was kind of harsh at the time, but I get it now. We've lived in our house for ten years, and space in our basement is now at a premium. I have begun to thin the herd by returning stuff to Goodwill.

 

I used to own that Jackson Brown record. It was kinda weird seeing my old stuff for sale. Luckily, it and the other LPs that I had donated were gone the next time I checked. Makes me feel like my taste in music isn't so bad. Also, it makes me a little sad that I value the opinion of people I'll never meet. 

Maybe the next thrift store post I write will be about what else I donated... Okay onto the "finds".

I thought this was a hockey puck at first, but the Amazon logo gave it away. It's a 2nd generation Amazon Echo. It was first released in October, 2016. I had no idea if it would function, but we have a couple newer Echoes at home and they're fun to use. At $2.49, there wasn't much of a risk.

I used the Amazon Alexa app, an old phone cord, and a power adapter that we had in our kitchen "junk" drawer to give the Echo a test run. It only took a minute to connect to our internet. The speaker's sound isn't as beefy as our larger Echoes, but that's a minor complaint. "Raining Tacos" used to be hit at our house, but then Char grew out of Parry Gripp songs. (I miss those days.)

It's a light-up word clock from Sharper Image. I cleaned it up and put it in our downstairs bathroom. The clock advances in 5 minute increments. That takes a bit to get used to, but the timing seems to be very accurate. Also, the clock doubles as a nightlight.

I love this Razor Scooter's little kick stand.

Char's old scooter scrapes the pavement in certain spots when she scoots along with with us when we walk Ellie. That can be frustrating for Charlotte. I found this larger model in early November, but I wasn't sure if I should buy it. Maybe Charlotte would think she's too old for a scooter? I took a chance, and boy, I'm glad I did. Char glided out of our driveway without a hitch on her test ride. She then brought the scooter inside and personalized it with stickers. That's high praise from a 13-year-old. 

I internally smile every time I see this scooter in our garage. As a father of a teenager, I don't get as many "wins" as I used to.

Bike Project! It's a 1987 Peugeot U.S. Express. This was marketed as an "All Terrain Bicycle" before the term "mountain bike" became synonymous for all off-road bicycles. The Express looks pretty good from ten feet away. Looks can be deceiving. 

The plan is to make the Express as mechanically sound as I can without throwing too much money at it. I'll replace the chain, the cables, the housings, the brake pads, and the bearings. The tires look okay, so I'll leave them on for now. The same goes for the saddle, grips, and pedals.

I'm pumped to finally have a real bike stand in the garage. I should have bought one of these years ago. 

I made this ring from a spoon that I bought out of that flatware box. It's the first spoon ring I've made in years, and I was curious if I could still do it. 

I spent a lot time rounding off the inside edge of the ring to make it feel more comfortable on my finger, but that didn't help. I don't like wearing it. I forgot that spoon rings are more fun to make than they are to wear.

Man, Genesis ruled the 80s airwaves. In 1986 alone, "Throwing it All Away", "In Too Deep", "Land of Confusion", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" were all in the top 5 of the US charts. "Invisible Touch" went all the way to number 1.

Here's The Beach Boys first LP, Surfing Safari from 1962. This isn't the greatest group of songs. The boys were playing their own instruments, instead of studio pros like the Wrecking Crew, and it shows. 

Check out this picture from the back of the sleeve. Look how young they are. I believe their ages ran from 21 to 14 years old. The Beach Boys was an accurate name.

I had this 45 when I was a boy. I remember being confused by the guy who started yelling about eating meat and pudding. My friends and I really liked the lyric "Hey Teachers! Leave them kids alone!"  "Another Brick in the Wall" was the most requested song at the 6th grade skating party at Magic Wheels. 

Any record that mixes classic monsters with Christmas in okay with me. I currently have this hanging on a wall in my basement.

The Ed Wood Box of six DVDs is still sealed in its original plastic wrap. That's cool, but it's also frustrating. There's no way I can bring myself to tear off the wrap. Whatever value this has to a collector would be greatly diminished if I open it. I'll just put this in the box of stuff I'm going to sell to Half Price Books.

This DVD set is open, so there's no guilt in watching Monty Python. 

I spotted this sign when we were walking in Charlottetown. PEI. Char didn't get the reference, and she wasn't impressed with the humor when I showed her the"Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch on YouTube. I guess we won't be watching Monty Python together on Sunday nights. 

That's about it. I bought other stuff, but nothing I want to write about. I am excited to have another bike to work on. I took some "before" pictures, so if things work out with the Express, I'll have some "after" shots as well.