Happiness is Often Used

[primsong]

I simply love some of the stuff I come across at garage sales and such - in this case it's a computer hutch! It's beautiful and matches my maple kitchen cabinets, which is a Fine Thing as my comp is right at the end of my kitchen, I am sooo happy. It was missing a couple pieces, so my DH called the company (Sauder) and sent them a picture of it to identify the model - even though it was discontinued five years ago they promptly sent us all the parts we needed, free! (even though we told them we'd bought it second-hand and were willing to pay for parts). Unexpected and very nice! Some creative drilling fixed the holes so they work a little better for computer cables and such, DH added a hook for my headset to hang from too, so I can stop running over the cord with my chair. It even has a light at the top. Yay! I feel so spoiled, I would hug it if it weren't a piece of furniture.

I was just looking around my house earlier and mentally identifying all the stuff we got from yard sales - there's quite a lot, I suppose if I were one of those folks who "MUST have it new" my house would be pretty spartan (or I'd be in significant debt). Looks good to me - I'm grateful for my mom raising me to appreciate how used can be good as (or better) than new.

It's an interesting mindset, the 'new' thing. My daughter, starbells, has an excellent artistic eye for clothing and told me one of her classmates admiringly asked her where she got her clothes. She said "Goodwill" and the other girl was both shocked and dismayed. "My mom won't let me shop at Goodwill, she says the clothes are germy."

I just have to roll my eyes. As if her 'new' clothing shipped from companies in China and handled by who knows how many people before her would be germ-free, lol! When my mom was in real estate for a while, she mentioned meeting a woman who said she wouldn't buy a 'used' house, only new because she didn't want to sit on a toilet seat someone else had sat on. I mean...good grief...

But then, germs hold little terror for me, and I love a good treasure hunt - plus now I get to hunt more often as my Etsy shop needs feeding, a nice bonus. Each to their own!

Comments

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I always have to give the books a look-over, you never know what might be going by, and I think that randomness is part of what I find appealing - a typical shop has 1000 of essentially the same thing in different sizes and colours, a thrift shop as 1000 different things with so much variety. :-)

I've found some great old titles that have been out of print that way, books I wished I could share with someone except I didn't want to give away the one I had.

[thisbluespirit]

I am hopeless second-hand bookshop addict. :-) (And charity shops are cheaper.)

I once went to Hay-on-Wye (on the Wales/England border) with my alos book-loving friend. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it is a book town, and also on the crossroads of two very scenic walks (the Wye valley is one of the most beautiful areas of the country) and anything that isn't a second-hand book shop (which is very little) sells walking stuff. The cinema was a book-shop, so was the castle... And some of them just sold particular types of books - at the steep 2nd hand proper prices, but still. Then my friend and I lost each other in the biggest second hand bookshop in the country - and her mobile didn't have any reception, either. :lol:

I especially love second hand history books!

Lately, as I still have a video player, I've picked up all sorts of random things on videos - Carry On films, Jeeves & Wooster, The West Wing, Blake's 7 - for a moment there about a year ago, you could find almost anything on video in charity shops. I picked up an old Miss Marple that must have been one of the first things Peter Davison did after leaving DW. (He was the charming villain, oo-er.)

I always lose patience looking at the clothes - I know people who find amazing things in there, but I get bored too quickly and head off back to the books. ;-D

But yes, random discoveries are a good thing! You enjoy yours.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds just heavenly! Definitely adding that to my list of must-sees if I ever get over there!

I am lucky enough to have Powells near me, second biggest bookstore in the country - I guess its only competition is somewhere over in New York - it has new and used and grew until it entirely took over its old building...then the entire block... then the shops across the way... then opened one on my westside end of town in a little mall which it then proceeded to grow out of. After slowly taking over the entire mall, it then moved this westside bit to a huge building even closer to me, yay!

If *you* ever end up in Oregon, you can add that to your list - though yours sounds much more charming and funky and walkable. :-D

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, my.

How big is that bookshop? (Noted! Although the chances of me being in Oregon seem slim - admittedly, they just increased considerably, but stil... :lol:) And I thought the Waterstones on Gower St in London was good. (It does however answer the Terry Pratchett criteria in that "A good second-hand bookshop is just a genteel black hole that has learned how to read.")

Hay-on-Wye is lovely but it is on the border with mid-Wales, and therefore, like everywhere in Wales, barring Cardiff, may not be far but is not very accessible! I'm sure you would enjoy it, though. ;-)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I love the black hole quote - strangely true.

Her's a link to a nice overview of Powell's original store at their site (http://www.powells.com/info/places/burnsideinfo.html?header=Sub:%20City%20of%20Books%20on%20Burnside) - you can buy stuff online from them too, though I expect the shipping wouldn't make it a good option from where you are.