Treasure Hunting via Craigslist
How many of you have ever bought or sold anything via Craigslist? It’s quite an experience.
There are the predictable scammers that want to mail you the money for a vehicle you have for sale. Or the folks that have a place for sale or rent, if you can just wire them the down payment, it will be a done deal. My personal favorite, the person that is all set to buy your couch… until their nephew wrecks their pickup and they can’t afford to spend more than $75 for anything… Sheesha. But, for the most part, Craigslist is a great way to buy, sell or trade.
I got to thinking, without Lance in my life, what would I have to blog about?? Today was no exception. After a busy weekend of pulling over five dozen stumps out of our yard and smoothing everything over, we head into town to return the rented Skid Steer. Those of you who don’t know what a Skid Steer is, I pity your sheltered city life ;-). Lance decides to call on a ‘House Jack’ offered for $50. Apparently, this nifty tool can hoist our entire cabin up with a few twists and turns.
Warning: Do not attempt to go treasure hunting without a GPS, unless you are a glutton for punishment. After entering the house jack location into the GPS, we made our way to Spokane Valley, WA. Thanks to Craigslist, we’ve gotten to see more small town America than the average shopper. We drive into a well manicured neighborhood that could be the set for That 70s Show. We arrived at our destination without a single ‘RECALCULATING’ scolded at us even once. On the drive-way were Wayne and his girl friend, polishing the house jack.
While the jack isn’t hydraulic (did I mention, my husband could put Tim the Toolman Taylor out of business), Lance decides to buy it without dickering on price. Next comes the question I love, “What else have you got to sell?” This seems to perplex people. So Lance asks again, ‘What else do you want to get rid of?” Invariably, everyone has a boat or jet ski they want to unload. Sure, we live in a lake community, but who has time for toys? Not Lance! So, off Wayne and Lance go, into the junk laden garage. Then they circle the house a couple of times. I’m certain Lance asked a time or two more what else did Wayne wanted get rid of.
In the meantime, I sit in the truck sucking free internet from an unsuspecting neighbor who hasn’t locked his wi-fi (thank you ‘Galactica’). Thirty minutes pass. Wayne’s girl friend comes out to visit with me. She manages to tell me about becoming a widow, then meeting Wayne at a bar. Oh, she never goes to bars, mind you…
We head back to Idaho with a fiberglass pond insert (I see happy, cool chickens in our future), a really nice piece of diamond-plate aluminum (<–he’s really excited about that), yards and yards of various unique copper wiring, a heavy-duty plastic pallet, 2 metal hauling clamps and a house jack. Lance will find a use for all these treasures, you-betcha-bob he will! Everything in his barn has a purpose or it gets recycled or given to the neighbors.
Craigslist has provided many adventures for us. We’ve looked at property, sold my car, our dining room table, couches, washer/dryer… Searching for a pickup truck provided us with months of entertainment, resulting in the 2nd love of Lance’s life, Big Red. Last month I bought a chair that the lady assured me was leather. She offered to deliver it and when she pulled up in the pouring rain with 3 kids in the truck, she unloaded the wettest plastic chair I’ve ever seen. Lesson learned (people aren’t always honest) and I was too shocked to argue. We now own a pleather chair.
My life is an adventure. I never know what tomorrow will bring…
