12/17/11 Purchase Summary

Normally I wouldn't consider garage saling so late in the year but my college roommate was in the area and wanted to go.  Sales were better than I expected but not great; not as good as last week but better than previous years' experience with December sales.

I spent $1.25 total today: $0.50 on a welding mask -- an exceptionally good deal; $0.50 on a metal box that reads "First Aid Kit Life Raft;" and $0.25 on a book -- The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.

As it says on my about page, this is the sixth welding mask I have purchased.  I first started buying them when they were a novelty -- meaning I had never before seen them at garage sales -- then I started collecting them.  I now have four mounted on my wall in a manner similar to trophies.  I didn't intend to purchase any more but for that price I couldn't pass them up; I usually have to pay between two and four dollars per mask.

I bought the box only because I thought it looked interesting.  As it turns out it may have actually come from a life raft because it has a rubber seal on the inside.  I'm not expert on these things so my assumption may be completely wrong.  Unfortunately, when I removed a strip of tape from the front I found the tape was used to cover up "Rm 13" written in black marker.  I'm hoping applying some ethanol will strip the marker.

The first aid kit box

I actually got trolled pretty well when buying this.  Here's an approximate transcript of the conversation:

Me: "Excuse me, how much?"

Seller: "Fifty."

I stand there for a minute and debate whether I should put it down.

Me: "I'm sorry, did you mean fifty cents or fifty dollars?"

Seller, getting offended: "What do you think, of course I meant fifty dollars!"

Me: "I didn't mean to offend you, your statement was rather ambiguous."

Seller: "I'm just messing with you, kid.  I meant fifty cents."

Me: lost for words.