#I had to get rid of all my big huge antique stuff when I moved but I want it BACK

[hawnks]

I have to become howl pendragon. This will fix me.

[dinosaurtsukki]

housemates with karasuno

okay this is so fucking long because i love karasuno so much i’d get up to a million antics with them

how you ended up living with them: 

you were probably friends with the entire volleyball team in high school since you were one of the three (cute) managers so when they all suggested living together you were like ‘sure why not? how bad could it be?’

honestly this is so unrealistic but we’re enjoying ourselves aren’t we? 

since there are so many of you in one single house there are probably like 3 to 4 people in a single room

the original room arrangement was that the first-years and second-years would be in separate rooms but ennoshita was like ‘no way are you putting me in the same room as noya and tanaka i will die’

so you, ennoshita, yamaguchi, and tsukishima are all in another room (the second-most peaceful room in the house)

daichi, sugawara, and asahi are all together in another room because they’re pretty tight

and hinata, kageyama, along with tanaka and noya share twin bunk beds in the fourth room

now let’s get into living with this chaotic bunch:

daichi is undoubtedly the head of household. at first he didn’t want to have to manage that on top of everything else but one night he was making a chart for chores (along with small stickers of everyone’s faces) and finally accepted that he was in charge of the house

he’s def the type to manipulate the chore chart just a little bit. if tanaka or noya managed to piss him off, daichi will just slide their face under ‘dish duty’ and they’re none the wiser

at first he feels terrible but then tanaka and noya accidentally break a window and daichi just thinks that maybe authoritarianism isn’t so bad after all

jk guys authoritarianism is bad down with the government

you, on the other hand, know very well what daichi is doing but instead of tattling you just appeal to his good side and before you know it, you haven’t done any chores for an entire year

ASAHI IS THE TYPE OF HOUSEMATE TO BRING YOU UP A PLATE OF SLICED FRUIT WITHOUT EVEN ASKING AHHH

when the clock hits four, its cut fruit time and there are different fruits for every day and asahi just brings up plates of nice cut fruit for everyone

you kind of wonder if asahi ever gets tired of slicing fruit for EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE until you see him split open a pineapple with his bare hands

also he has such a huge closet but if you want a snazzy outfit all you have to do is knock on his shared room and he’ll whip one up for you

okay you guys are probably thinking that sugawara is the mom of the household but unfortunately he is a gemini and therefore even satan fears him

suga’s the one who cooks for everyone but when he’s in the kitchen you had better stay away because he gets intTENSE. he probably uses this big ass knife

potholders? suga doesn’t know her. he uses his bare hands to get trays and stuff out of the oven. just watching him cook stresses you out so nobody watches him cook

but his cuisine is exquisite nobody has complaints

i feel like their room probably has a fuck ton of snacks with asahi’s fruit-cutting, suga’s cooking skills and i bet daichi has a stash of snacks that he keeps from noya and tanaka (it’s under his mattress, that’s why his back hurts)

you, ennoshita, tsukishima, and yamaguchi have by far the cleanest room though (just slightly cleaner than the third-years’ room because they have snack wrappers) and your roommates are all workaholics

your room is pretty much ‘bookshelves and studyblr aesthetic’ except for ennoshita’s CPR doll that stays in a corner of the room looking creepy and out of place but you don’t have a closet to put it in

yamaguchi swears that it’s haunted because it changes positions every time he wakes up in the morning and he keeps trying to convince his roommates about it

little does he know tsukki and ennoshita like to move the CPR doll around to scare him because they’re like that

tbh you are not a fan of the CPR doll either but that doesn’t mean you won’t play with it by dressing it up 

these three are such workaholics that there’s literally only one person asleep there at a time and you like studying there because of the Intense Productive Energy

they even have their own espresso machine and a minifridge full of Red Bull

tsukki is the best at waking you up he’ll literally grip your shoulders and shake you or spray you with water

you can tell he enjoys it and you hate it so much but it does get your papers going

the one thing about this group is that they forget this little thing called ‘self-care’ because they work all the time (well except for yamaguchi who knows how to put on a sheet mask once in a while)

that means you’ll sometimes be knocking on their door with some of asahi’s Sliced Fruit or some instant ramen you whipped up yourself

ennoshita also has a habit of passing out in random places so it takes you and yamaguchi to haul him up to his bed

you also use this opportunity to tuck in his CPR doll next to him in bed because why not?

the chaotic, noisy members of the household are all relegated to one room for the good of the entire house and its downstairs where the walls are thick

these guys are the bunk-bed sharing kind of people but they kind of just switch beds depending on how they feel like it

tanaka: hey dude, is it ok if i top for tonight?

noya: oh yeah sure! no problem!

you: 👁👄👁

suga: they’re talking about bunk beds

hinata and kageyama like to play video games during their breaks but they only have one game and that’s Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3

i have an obsession with naruto don’t @ me

that’s because they bought a playstation on craigslist and it came with one game and that was it

you like to play with them when you’re taking a break and kageyama’s always the one who loses and he gets so frustrated with himself that you let him win at times just so he feels good

hinata always uses hinata when he plays but he’s also the type to elbow kageyama or purposely swerve a hand in your face when he’s playing 

even though sugamama is in charge of the kitchen, noya and hinata do like to experiment with cooking from time to time and if daichi is in a good mood he’ll indulge them

they’ll even rope you in on their shenanigans and pretty soon you’re making a casserole out of pepperoni and cheetos just in time for sugawara to come in and see what happened to his kitchen

it usually ends with all of you guys just ordering pizza and you having to clean the kitchen with noya and hinata

house incident: ennoshita’s CPR doll that ACTUALLY MIGHT be haunted

okay i know that i already wrote about ennoshita’s cpr doll being not haunted and that tsukki and ennoshita just like to mess with it but IMAGINE IT ACTUALLY BEING HAUNTED

it starts out with yamaguchi getting mad at tsukki or ennoshita for putting the cpr doll in his bed while he was asleep and they were both like ‘no seriously we didn’t do it’

and you could vouch for them because you were the last one to fall asleep in your room and the CPR doll was way in ennoshita’s side of the room (yamaguchi believes you cause you’re the only person he trusts in the room)

you and yamaguchi begin to think that something strange is going on and like ‘is it just me or are those dead, plastic eyes somehow following my every move?’

it gets to the point that you have to turn the plastic doll around the face the wall when you’re studying

and then, you begin to notice that the doll is nearer to your bed when you wake up in the morning and again, neither tsukishima nor ennoshita touched it

because of this you now stay over at daichi, asahi, and sugawara’s room because you’re so creeped out by the doll and also because they have snacks

and then an Incident happens wherein noya and tanaka, who are both doing a first-aid class, decide to secretly use the doll while no one is around at home

although noya and tanaka trying to practice cpr by themselves is hilarious

just visualize tanaka trying to administer cpr while dueting ‘staying alive’ with noya

they both take a break and turn away from the doll for one second only to see it standing upright when they turn right back

tanaka: that doll just moved on its own, right?

noya: yeah, pretty much

that’s when you and yamaguchi come home and see the cpr doll with tanaka and noya looking very afraid

you: the doll’s haunted isn’t it?

yamaguchi: I KNEW IT !!

daichi comes home to the four of you trying to dispose of the doll by fitting it into a box and gets mad at everyone because you can’t just do that to ennoshita’s stuff

but then he sees all of you looking clearly in distress and decides to call for a house meeting about ennoshita’s haunted doll

asahi brings sliced fruit

tsukishima and kageyama very firmly talk about how it’s not possible which is weird because it’s something they agree on for once

daichi: well, where did you get this doll, ennoshita? ennoshita: i got it for cheap at an old antique store. the owner was super intent to get rid of it so i bought it

you, tanaka, yamaguchi, and noya: 👁👄👁

daichi: even i don’t believe in ghosts but damn ennoshita what were you thinking?

and then sugawara who has been eerily quiet this entire time brings out a ouija board and goes ‘LET’S EXORCISE THIS BITCH’

a few minutes later you all are set up in the living room with candles, the ouija board, and the cpr doll

tsukishima’s just there to livestream everything (STORYTIME: my dumb housemates think this doll is haunted)

you, sugawara, and hinata are in charge of the seance (hinata ironically drew the shortest straw and was forced to participate)

sugawara: spirit of the cpr doll, what is your name?

the triangle piece on the board starts moving, you are looking at your friends in shock, asahi has fainted. the triangle piece stops at the word ‘yes’

you: oh my god this ghost is an idiot

daichi: all in favor of getting rid of this doll?

everyone except ennoshita raises their hands

sugawara is already on the phone with the current owners of the warren museum

you: why do you have their number memorized?

sugawara: ,,, reasons

the cpr doll is picked up the next day. kageyama pokes at the doll and goes ‘you’re just a doll, cpr doll. you can’t do anything’. asahi feels sorry that it’s gonna be displayed naked in the museum and gives the doll a little fedora hat

also ennoshita is compensated for the doll and now has enough money to buy AN ACTUAL, LEGIT CPR DOLL from AN ACTUAL, LEGIT CPR DOLL FACTORY

you and yamaguchi still hate it

taglist (still open to anyone who wants in!): @montys-chaos​ @miyumtwins​ @strawberriimilkshake​ @pocubo​ @sugawara-sweetheart @akaashisbabydoll @laure-chan @therainroguefanfiction @atetiffdoesart @stephdaninja @oikaw-ugh @charliefredb @dramaqueenweeb1469 @tremblinghearts @applepienation @doodleniella @haikyuu-my-love

[dingdonghun]

Ghost stories!

So since @killjoy-loveit and @fangirlingandprocrastinating wanted to hear the ghost stories/experiences I have had... I will eggsplain the ones I can remember! I will start with the small quick ones first and go to the most intense one last.

1.) When my momma and I finally got our own house, which was very difficult since she was a single mother at the time, (owning your own house as a single mother at the time was unheard of), it was haunted when we moved in, but the ghosts didn’t seem to mind us! We would always hear loud cracks and footsteps in the attic at night, see lights that came from nowhere in the hallway, stuff like that, but they never tried to scare us. We kind of just lived in the same space together. When we moved out, our roommate still stayed until he had to get kicked out, and he said once we left, the activity got REALLY loud and bad all of the time. He said he thinks that they didn’t like that we left. I still feel sad about that.

2.) One time I brought home a little colored electric disco ball from an antique store, and brought home a little ghost girl with it. She was kind of a sad energy, honestly. I felt her around often. One time my mom asked me to get something out of my bedroom, in the middle of the day, keep in mind. So I went to my bedroom and the moment I walked through the door, there was a little sigh RIGHT in my left ear. I froze, then turned around and sprinted back to my mom in panic. I felt bad for reacting that way so I went back to my room immediately after and apologized for my reaction, and asked her not to do things like that because I startle easily. She didn’t after that. We couldn’t get her to move on, so I eventually got rid of the disco ball.

3.) We used to live in a house that people said had a “portal” in it. If you know what that is, it’s basically a portal to the “other side”, which means there is A LOT of activity in the house, ghosts constantly coming and going, and not always GOOD ones. The house was so dark, light really didn’t get into it. It was weird. When I was in the bath (I was only like 10) I always felt something watching me from the connecting door to the master bedroom of the guy who owned the house. (He was never there.) One time my mom and I had a huge fight and went to bed angry. I woke up in the middle of the night and there was a HUGE spider web connecting from wall to wall inches in front of my face, with a regular sized spider in the middle. Keep in mind, I have aracnophobia, and at the time, the lights in the room were off, it was PITCH BLACK, but I could see every detail of that web and spider as if the lights were on. I ducked underneath it and ran to my mom crying. She came in and turned on the light and nothing was there. In the same house at a different time, I also saw a daddy long leg spin down from a web directly in front of my face as I was following mom through the garage door. Daddy long legs cannot produce silk or web. So that was literally impossible. And when mom heard me yell and came back, it wasn’t there anymore. That house was a fucking nightmare lmao

4.) This one is the most intense one, as far as I can remember. A client we used to work for had a beach house. She let us stay there during the summer for free and we brought some friends most times. It was a really old beach house, and the children’s room had a bunk bed and cool toys. It also had a ouija board on the wall that nobody wanted to touch. Also when you opened the little toy closet, it felt like something awful was rushing out and straight through you. The very first time we used the beach house, I slept in the top bunk of the kids room. I woke up in the middle of the night frozen in fear, and I had no idea why. I looked out the window and there was a HUGE ball of solid light (no it wasn’t the moon, there was a building next to us blocking off the entire view of the sky) and it just... FELT... listen this part is personal and I don’t want to share it in front of all of my followers so I will keep it to myself, but anyways it felt like it was telling me to get out of the room RIGHT NOW. Like there was an urgency to it. So I literally jumped off the top bunk and hit the floor and ran to my mom.

After that, we went into the room and said we won’t come into that space anymore and to please leave us be. Every time we stayed after that, I slept on the fold out couch in front of the windows facing the sea. I liked it much better. But unfortunately, One time we were there, my mom brought her friend, and her friend brought her whole damn family, so her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend slept in the bunk beds, where we promised not to go. The next morning I was sitting on the couch playing my ps2 while everyone else was eating breakfast, because I am an antisocial little shit, and all of the sudden everyone started yelling and then began to rush out of the house. Mom grabbed me and dragged me out too. Later she told me they were talking about the ghosts in the house. The girl and her boyfriend didn’t believe in ghosts, and the boy was mocking them. Saying “If there is really ghosts in this house why don’t they prove it” and immediately after that, he felt a huge scratch on his back, and they pulled his shirt up and there was a huge red handprint. Since then, my mom didn’t let us go back to the house because she said we “stirred something up and angered them” and she didn’t want to risk going back. A lot of little things happened in that house. Mom said when she woke up to use the restroom some nights, leading up to that incident, she’d hear the sound of a bouncing ball in the hallways, as if a kid was playing in it. She said she knew something was getting stirred up since then, because it was more activity then we were used to. 

The daughter went around the house as we were packing and took pictures of the house, and when she developed them there were orbs huddled together in a lot of the pictures, with one big orb off to the side by itself. My mom said the big one was probably what I saw in the room that night and that it was probably warning me to get out before the others ones hurt me. I was very thankful for that.

Anyways I know a lot of people don’t believe in ghosts and probably think I am crazy, but we can all agree to disagree and have different opinions. I am Ryan and you can be Shane.  

oh, a bonus story!!

5.) My mom and I had a cat named Princess a long time back. I had her since I was about two years old, and she passed when I was 18. she came everywhere with us (we moved a lot) so she was a huge part of my life. I still have pictures of her hanging up on my whiteboard calander. Anyways, when we go through hard times, my mom and I can feel a tickle on our lower legs like a cat tail brushing against us, for a few days in a row, and we can feel when we are almost asleep at night, something jump up on the bed and lay by our feet. It lasts for a few days and then goes away when I assume she thinks we will be okay without her. I miss her so, so much. I am very thankful for her still being here when we miss her or feel guilty that we couldn’t give her the best life she deserved. One day when I am finally able to get another pet, I hope she helps me find the one that’s meant for me.

[tinkdw]

Hi Tink! I didn't realize how far down the rabbit hole I'd fallen looking through your blog, but I found a post about A Most Holy Man from way back when about how Jensen improvised that bit about the Impala being stolen and you said you thought it was bad (paraphrasing) and I was just wondering why? (I mean obviously murder is bad but in terms of characterization, I guess) I hope this makes sense - it feels like it doesn't, sorry!

Hello!

Yeah, I did explain that I felt this line was out of character and out of sync with the development of Dean’s character throughout season 12-13 and absolutely it clicked in place for me 100% when Jensen said he added this line in that 

A. no I wasn’t nuts to have thought this in the first place as clearly it was NOT written as part of the script and therefore the fact that the rest of the characterisation and development works perfectly if you remove this line makes my wrinkles smooth out in deep pleasure as an analytical person who felt this one line totally stuck out like a sore thumb and didn’t fit at all with the rest of his characterisation or the plan of his character development

B. shows again how Jensen bless him can be so on the money about some stuff and yet so backwards and antiquated in his perception of who Dean is in others. It’s like he sees parts of the development but not all and suffocates those parts he doesn’t see/like sometimes because he just doesn’t understand that this isn’t OOC, it’s entirely IN character it’s just that his character had a facade up and now he’s letting it down. He’s played the facade so well he thinks it’s actually Dean sometimes... It fits perfectly with his denying the Game of Thrones line which revealed that Dean loves reading for pleasure and is a massive geek, the Taylor Swift line, leaving Sam when he knows he is undeniably dead, this moment... there’s more, the list is not that long really but they are some key moments where the writers and the analytical meta writers all squee over this exposition of his character fitting all together and all making sense in the big puzzle of Dean and Jensen just sometime doesn’t get because his perception of Dean omits these aspects and unfortunately for him this overall theme for Dean is only coming out stronger and stronger as the sublimation dies out. I say unfortunately because this basically means either Jensen is going to keep having to either change lines while the writer’s out of sight or get firmly told he just has to nut up and do it as per a variety of outcomes for the previous examples I’ve given. As the show is coming to the point where this is becoming more and more common and blatant the latter is likely to happen though, let’s be real. They’re not going to let go of the repeated characterisation and puzzle box of Dean that’s taken 13 years to build just because it takes a few takes to get Jensen to figure it out. Jensen continually tells us he is an actor and not a writer and is happy to let them get on with the job as long as he understands and once he does he’s totally on board (ie. Mary in 12x22) so likely they’ll just do that some more.

Back to the car line, well, essentially Baby is a metaphor for Dean’s emotional state. I think this has been confirmed by one of the writers on twitter some time though I don’t have the exact details but regardless it’s blatant. My tag for it is #baby is deans soul.

Eg. We discover that Dean is the one who chose Baby, not John then consistently we see her as representing his state of mind. When he’s out of hunting and masking himself with Lisa Baby is under a cover (masked), when Dean loses his faith in Cas when he becomes Godstiel Baby is wrecked and his repairing of her is a metaphor for his repairing his own mental state, when Dean gets sent to purgatory Baby is wrecked, when Dean gets rid of the Mark he cleans Baby up methodically and repeatedly, she’s gleaming (in his booty shorts), when they realise the Darkness is destroying the world Dean’s relief is short lived and Baby gets beaten up within that same episode, when Cas is dead and Dean can’t cope Baby is filthy, now that Dean is possessed apparently we don’t see Baby for a while... 

So yes Baby is a metaphor for Dean’s soul and throughout seasons 12 and 13 in particular Dean has been getting so much mentally healthier, more open with his emotions, more honest, just so much better overall (apart from his wavering and descent into darkness from mid s13 of course leading to Michael) but in general his view of HIMSELF has been so much better. He’s openly admitting that he has sublimated a lot in the past, then he shows us so much of himself. He goes around bonding with retro kids over doc martens and energy drinks and shows his relatively silly fear in his Indiana Jones moment which is so daft in relation to his usual life. He talks to Sam about his happy endgame. He gives Cas a freaking mixtape. He talks openly to his mother about his feelings I mean Chuck almighty! HE LETS SAM GO! That’s a huge one, he lets Sam go and be the leader he truly is and stops trying to control him. Etc Etc Etc. 

Then in this episode which frankly was boring but the META aspect of it was fantastic, it was a whole episode based on what’s right and wrong, do the ends justify the means etc, where do they sit, Sam being the leader again and convincing Dean of the right path and all that jazz, well, it kinda made zero sense for Dean to backtrack to season 8/10 style most repressed angry can’t see the good for the bad just wants to smash everything Dean like? ? ? This isn’t season 13 Dean. Sure season 13 Dean is struggling but he’s generally just so much better, he’s not regressed in that respect that much wowzers. IDK it just felt totally off and not true to real Dean, who we had been getting so much exposition of leading up to this huge flip at the end of the season which was SUPPOSED to make us see how this was totally bad because that’s not who Dean truly is because of this exposition of his character over 2 years and then relatively close to the climax we got this line which was such a performance of angry not-who-Dean-truly-is-but-who-he-is-when-shit-is-so-bad-he’s-lost-himself-Winchester. It just took away from the whole “blue blue blue blue blue blue blue - RED” thing by having a red right in that part leading up to the climax you know? It makes you not see the pattern of how WRONG the red is.

Anyway, that’s why I was very happy when I heard that it wasn’t scripted, because this wasn’t part of Dean’s characterisation or the writing plan at all, which is what takes us forward. The throwaway line by Jensen doesn’t mean anything, what matters in terms of seeing how it’s going to be written moving forwards is what the writers write and that all makes perfect sense. It’s all the BLUE ie. who Dean really is underneath all the crap and that Dean is beautiful.

[divinelydivorced]

Goodbye, Grandma

My grandma passed away yesterday morning. Even though we knew it was coming, it is still hard.  Tuesday around 3:50 am, I awoke suddenly and couldn’t quite get back to sleep until 4:30. Come to find out, the end started around four and she was gone around 4:20.  It’s amazing how souls are so connected that we can feel the loss happening at the exact moment it occurs.  The older I get, I am made more aware of how similar my grandma and I are.  I’m proud to have inherited so many of her quirky traits and have come to embrace them.  In fact, I see them as a tribute to the impact she had on my life.  So, in honor of the life my grandma lived, here are the 25 things she has taught me:

1.     Bladder problems ARE a joking matter.  My grandma was a hot mess, God love her. Whether it was peeing her pants in an elevator in front of a bunch of strangers or never leaving a restaurant without a huge stain on her top, she always managed to leave a trail.  Most people would cry or die of embarrassment, but she’d just hee-haw, laughing so hard she’d likely pee again.  She passed on her small bladder and the ability to find humor in the embarrassment to me, which has provided my friends with endless counts of entertaining stories. College friends still text from time to time, “Remember when Adam Harris finally asked you to hang out and you had to say no because you’d just peed on your long sweater and had to shower and change?”  Yes, yes, I remember.  

2.     If you want it, get it.  She always knew what she wanted and wasted no time in purchasing it.  I remember, around age ten, her saying how much she wanted a bird feeder.  I went home and made one out of an old milk carton.  When I showed up to proudly give it to her, only two days later, there in her front yard was a brand new gorgeous wooden one.    

3.     Eat it and get it over with.  My grandma was notorious for eating an entire watermelon in the course of an afternoon.  This also contributed to her bladder problems.  Once, my sister went to take a nap at her house.  While drifting in and out, she caught a whiff of the sweet smell of a butter braid (a very large pastry you’d take to a party).  When she awoke excited for dessert, she went out to discover my grandma had de-thawed it, cooked it, and ate 99% of it in the course of two hours.  To this day, whenever I make any dessert-I eat 99% of it while it’s still hot.  We all know what’s going to happen so just get it over with already.

4.     If it annoys you, get rid of it-no matter its practicality. My grandma loved buying things almost as much as she loved getting rid of those same things three months later.  One time she showed up at mom’s house with a car full of lamps.  She decided she hated lamps and wanted them all gone.  My mom, always the practical one, kept them so when my grandma realized later they were necessary, she wouldn’t have to buy more.  Any of my friends know I’m the same.  I served wine in a juice glass the other day.  My friend asked, “Don’t you have wine glasses?” “I did,” I said, “but just got rid of them.”  “Why? You didn’t use them?” he asked.  “No, I used them all the time.  I just got tired of looking at them.”

5.     Never stop moving.  My grandma moved all the time.  She’d often announce it at the latest holiday dinner.  She would wake up, be suddenly sick of her place, and a month later would be somewhere new.  She once left a home, only to return to it a few years later.  A constant mover myself, I was looking forward to staying in my current place for more than a year (a new record) until I recently found out I had to vacate in 30 days due to construction.  Although annoying and inconvenient, I was not surprised when I found myself thinking the other day, “Actually-I’m kind of over this place, so that worked out.”

6.     Crazy is charming.  My grandma was nuts, as am I.  Yet we embrace the crazy and combine it with big hearts.  That’s why people keep coming back.  A little crazy never hurt anyone…and we are a lot of fun on road trips.

7.     The flu is for sissies.  We’d often stay at her house when we had the flu. Grandma gave us whatever we wanted, which included the time my brother insisted he wanted to eat a bunch of tacos.  You can imagine my mother’s frustration when she arrived to pick him up and found him vomiting ground beef and shredded cheese everywhere.

8.     Pools and convertibles aren’t luxuries, they’re necessities.  Life’s too short.  GET THEM BOTH.

9.     Dogs are our children.  She had an antique cradle for her dog to sleep in and was the first to introduce me to a dog stroller.  I get it and think it makes absolute sense.

10.  You don’t need a man.  Most of my life she’s been single.  Men have chased after her and she’ll let them buy her lunch or keep her company, yet it goes no further.  Because at the end of the day, she’s her own woman and has no need for a full-time man dragging her down.  This is a lesson I’m still learning.

11.  Soap operas are good television.  She lived near the high school, so at lunchtime, my girlfriends and I would take our lunches to eat at her place and watch Days of Our Lives.  Those were some of my favorite memories.  If the show got really intense and it was time for us to go, she’d try convincing us to drive her car back, at age 14, so she didn’t have to leave.  She even took me and my aunt to a Days of Our Lives festival one summer.  When it came to idolizing celebrities, her and I saw eye to eye.

12.  Dairy Queen can be dinner.  When she helped move me to Michigan, we spent a week eating Dairy Queen snicker blizzards for every meal.  She was doing Weight Watchers at the time and, although two of these, met her quota for the day-she was willing to make the sacrifice.  I remember thinking how brilliant this was.  When we got tired of Dairy Queen (rare), we’d hit up the Chinese Buffet.  No excuses and no shame-it’s how we rolled.

13.  Why choose when you can have both.  My grandma loved driving with the windows down.  She also would sweat profusely.  Once, we got in the car on a blazing summer day and I asked if we should turn on the AC or roll down the windows.  Her answer?  Both. We cranked the radio up, let the wind tousle our hair as the cold AC blasted our faces.

14.  Underwear is optional.  In fact, it’s often preferred you go without.

15.  Sing loud and proud.  My grandma had one of those loud operatic voices which she’d use to pelt Amazing Grace in church.  We grandkids would chuckle, but in reality, I always loved how she simply didn’t care. She was singing for Jesus.

16.  Spend your time how you want.  There were years where she’d choose hours of Farmville over leaving the house.  I’ve been known to spend an entire 48 hour weekend playing Sims-taking breaks only to run to the bathroom and grab a snack.  It’s our time-we will do what we want with it, and if that means interacting with computerized lives over human ones, so be it.

17.  There’s always something burning in the oven.  Every holiday she left something in the oven.  EVERY. HOLIDAY.  How no one caught on, I don’t know.  How I managed to inherit this trait, despite being annoyed by it, beats me. It seems the rolls always take the biggest hit…who needs carbs anyway-more DQ.

18.  There’s no time for sentimentality.  At a family event, she once walked out with crates of old photographs-including her wedding photos-and announced to the family she was throwing them away the next morning, so, “grab what you want.”  Everyone started arguing with her and refusing to take anything.  Meanwhile I did a clean sweep, loading boxes into my car.  Later, everyone was grateful because she kept to her word and burned everything I didn’t get my hands on.  Years later, I marched out to the living room with a box full of the photos I’d taken and said to my mom, “I’m throwing all of these away tomorrow, so take what you want.”  You better believe she took them-lesson learned.

19.  Sausage gravy is love.  As long as I knew her, she had a part-time job of sitting with an elderly person, a job I’ve now inherited.  As soon as I could work, she started taking me along and then giving me some of her shifts.  She taught me how to make sausage gravy-the first meal I ever learned to cook.  “Old people love sausage gravy,” she told me. She was right.

20.  Rules are meant to be broken.  My grandma didn’t give a f***.  In fact, she invented the phrase.  Sometimes she’d do stuff simply to get a reaction out of you.  There was no rhyme or reason-she went with her urge. I remember walking through the shoe store with my mom a couple years ago and asking my mom, “Do you ever get a strong desire to just start knocking things over?”  

21.  If it can go in a blender, it should.  Grandma introduced me to smoothies and I’ve never looked back.  “Everything can go in a blender!” she once enthusiastically told me as she threw in leftovers along with fruit and hit “blend.”  Now I buy pineapple in bulk and enough produce to feed a small village for a month.

22.  New fads are meant to be tried.  My grandma purchased every diet pill and vitamin that existed, as well as any exercise devise.  She had one of those machines that shook you, vibrating a strap around your bottom and promising to eliminate cellulite by simply standing there.  She had the utmost confidence they would work.  Each time she’d pull the latest tool or pill out of the box, I’d watch in awe as she demonstrated its powers, believing she’d discovered the secret to staying fit and healthy.  She instilled this hope in me.  I carried a crystal around for weeks once after reading it’d get my period to finally to start.  I paid an obscene amount of money for Cindy Crawford’s miracle elixir, returning it 30 days later, and then surprising myself by purchasing it a second time years later during a 5 am workout binge when the infomercial reappeared.  My recent purchase was a $100 fascia blaster which I use with fervor, while watching Friends episodes, and later have to justify when explaining the bruises on my legs to friends with a, “Yeah, it hurts but I can feel it working!”

23.  Walk everywhere.  It’s great exercise, sure.  But, more importantly, it gives you a chance to catch up on the town gossip.

24.  Careful-you can give a man your yeast infection.  This statement alone is self-explanatory.  Yet my grandma felt the need to retell an in-depth twenty-minute story of how her and my grandpa discovered this to be factual, leaving me scarred for life.

25.  When life pushes back, you push harder.  The beginning of my grandma’s life was not easy.  In fact, as I understand it, it was quite hard. My grandpa rescued her and she fell madly in love.  When he died so young, it would have been easy to give up.  But she didn’t.  She found job after job, she gave of herself whenever she could, and always left people laughing.  She was resilient.  She didn’t take the easy way out and, in fact, often took the road less traveled. She made no apologies and left some scars.  Although I will miss her greatly, I am grateful she’s in heaven, reunited with my grandpa-right where she’s always wanted to be.  

So, sing loud, grandma.  Eat your fill of watermelons and leave your underwear here on earth.  I won’t say rest in peace because that never was your style and, besides, I can hear the hee-hawing from heaven already.  In the end, she had it right.  We don’t need all this stuff we carry around because it’s only temporary. All that matters is how you make people feel, the laughter over tears, and never giving up.  And, of course, always knowing where the nearest restroom is.

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Starting Over (3/?)

Summary: A Lost/Once Upon A Time crossover.Three years after leaving the island, Kate and Claire’s search for a quiet town in which to make their permanent home brings them to the peaceful idyll of Storybrooke, Maine, where new friendships are forged and new relationships tentatively kindled - although nothing is ever plain sailing.

Eventual Claire/Gold, Kate/Ruby, with appearances from lots of Lost and OUAT characters.

Rated: T

[One] [Two] [AO3]

====

Three

They were officially moved in. Well, sort of. Everything was reassembled and most of the things that had been inside boxes were no longer inside boxes. Everyone who had come to help them move had taken their leave and made their way back to their own homes, with promises to come and visit soon once Kate and Claire were settled in their new lives.

The only mess that really remained was in Kate’s bedroom, and she crouched on the floor in the midst of all the boxes, sitting back on her heels. She always hated unpacking. It never felt right, always leaving her worried that she was being lulled into a false sense of security. She had spent so much time on the run, always ready to leave a place at a moment’s notice, that actually unpacking and making a new room into a proper and permanent home always felt strange.

Deep down, she knew that was the reason why she hadn’t unpacked yet, and why she was making no move to unpack now. She’d put it off ever since the boxes of her possessions had been put into the room, always finding something else to do, tidying up the rest of the rooms in the house or distracting Aaron so that Claire and the others could get on with doing things without having him underfoot all the time.

Now though, Aaron had grown fractious and boisterous having spent so long cooped up indoors and being kept out of the way of moving furniture, and Claire had taken him out for a walk to try and work off some of his pent-up energy so that he could hopefully get a better night’s sleep than the previous couple and settle back into something that vaguely resembled routine. He would be starting at the elementary school in a couple of months and Kate and Claire wanted to make sure that he was absolutely ready with no lasting issues from their upheaval. The last thing that they needed was any stress from that quarter.

Kate sat down on the floor properly, surveying the boxes but not really seeing them. She couldn’t believe that Aaron was going to school. It didn’t seem a minute since she had sat with him in her lap at the press conference in Hawaii and told the world that he was hers, firmly believing every word that she said. It didn’t seem a minute since she had introduced him to Claire and said that he was going to have two mommies for a while. It didn’t seem a minute since she and Claire had decided that ‘a while’ was going to be ‘probably forever’, and Aaron was perfectly happy with having both his moms in his life all the time.

Life in Storybrooke was going to be different; she knew that, and she was prepared for it. Perhaps there was something in what James had said, about her having itchy feet. She only hoped that they wouldn’t get itchy again too soon, and she knew that the best way to keep roots down was actually to put them down in the first place.

Unpacking was going to be key to that, but in that moment, Kate didn’t think that she could face it just yet. They had really fallen on their feet with this place here and it hadn’t quite sunk in. The foreboding feeling of having found paradise only to have it swept out from under her feet again was still there, and she didn’t know how to get rid of it. It wasn’t something that she felt that she could discuss with Claire, because Claire had never known it herself.

Kate jumped up to her feet and left the room. She needed a break from unpacking before she started tackling her own room and the things that were personal, the things that she would never want to leave behind if she did have to leave in a hurry. Sustenance was required, and a breath of fresh air. Now that she didn’t have Aaron as an excuse to distract her, she was going to have to go it alone, and to that end, she found herself wending her way in the direction of the diner. It was a homey place, and the food and drink there were certainly excellent, but she’d never really spent much time in there whilst they’d been staying on their reconnaissance mission. She and Claire had been too preoccupied with house-hunting and Aaron to give much mind to what was going on in the rest of the town, but this seemed like a good opportunity to people-watch.

She slid onto a seat at the counter and ordered a coffee; the waitress who brought it over gave a huge smile.

“You’ve just moved into the empty place on Shell Drive, haven’t you?” she asked. “We saw the vans earlier. It’s a beautiful house; I’m glad that someone’s finally living there.”

Kate smiled. “Yeah, we’ve just come from New York.”

“Wanted to get away from the big city, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Well, as you’ll soon find out, Storybrooke’s about as far away from the big city as you can get. If there’s anything to be known, then you can find out about it here at the diner. Everyone comes in and out all the time. There isn’t really another gathering place. Well, there’s the Rabbit Hole if you like kind of seedy bars and hustling pool.”

Kate snorted. “I’ve got a kid, I don’t think that seedy bars and hustling pool are going to be on my radar for a while.”

“Well, if you ever do want a break, Violet Knight’s a great babysitter.”

“Thanks.” Kate took a sip of her coffee. Yes, Storybrooke was definitely the kind of place where everyone knew everyone else, and she wasn’t really sure how that was going to fare for her and Claire. It was quiet, certainly, but the quieter a place, the louder the whispers that could be passed between people.

She glanced around the diner at the other patrons in there; families, couples, individuals. None of them were paying her any attention despite her being the new girl in town and the natural source of gossip. Perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad.

“I’m Ruby, by the way.” The waitress held out her hand. “Sorry if I’m talking too much. It’s just nice when we get new faces in town. At this rate I’m going to scare them all away.”

“Kate.”

They shook hands, and Kate let Ruby top up her coffee.

“So, are you all unpacked?”

“Not yet. Mostly. It’s just my room. I swear Claire has more stuff than I do and I don’t know how she’s managed to get her room organised so quickly.” She turned her head on one side as she saw Ruby give her the briefest of funny looks. “Is something the matter?”

Ruby shook her head.

“No, just me being stupid and jumping to conclusions.” Kate raised an eyebrow, and she sighed and continued. “I’d assumed that you and Claire were, you know. Together. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Not at all, I mean, that’s just what I thought when I saw that you were moving in and had a kid together, I just…” She trailed off. “I’ll shut up now. I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s ok. Claire and I aren’t a couple. We’re just friends who have a kid together. It’s a very long story.”

Not one that she was willing to share with someone she’d only just met. Both Kate and Claire were used to people mistaking them for a same-sex couple, and most of the time they didn’t bother making the correction, but since Ruby had brought the misunderstanding out into the open, she might as well set her straight.

“Ok.”

Ruby didn’t pry any further, and the talk turned to the town’s various attractions, mainly the extensive forest that surrounded the place and the ice cream parlour, until Kate realised just how long she’d been sitting at the counter and that Claire and Aaron would probably be arriving back at the house any minute to find her gone without trace.

“I guess I’ll see you around,” she said as she slipped off the stool and made her way out of the diner.

“Well, you can nearly always find me here if you want any more local wisdom. Or, you know, idiocy.” Ruby gestured around the diner, and Kate smiled. Despite her perky and upbeat demeanour, there was something in Ruby’s countenance that she recognised. She felt that she had found a kindred spirit of sorts. Ruby, Kate was certain, had some degree of itchy feet, but whilst Kate had had her taste of adventure and was now happy to settle down, Ruby was still waiting for her chance.

She thought about their conversation as she made her way home, and she really wished that she wasn’t fixating on the way that Ruby’s cheeks had gone as red as the streaks in her hair when she realised her mistake concerning Kate and Claire’s relationship. She had come to Storybrooke for peace and quiet and to start over, not to develop crushes on cute, chatty, and slightly flustered waitresses.

X

Wandering along with Aaron in the direction of home – at least she hoped it was the direction of home – Claire stopped outside an unassuming shop on the corner. Mr Gold, Pawnbroker and Antiquities Dealer.

When they had signed the lease and claimed the keys, they had done so in a small office in the town hall that was obviously not his regular working place but handy for getting documents notarised. This, she assumed, was her landlord’s usual place of work, and she thought back to what Desmond had said about him being a man with fingers in many pies.

“Aaron, I’m just going to pop in here for a minute,” she said, moving towards the door. Aaron followed her without comment, but he furrowed his brow as they passed the shop window.

“It looks kind of dark inside,” he said. “Is it open?”

“Well, the sign says it is. Let’s take a look.”

“Why?”

“Because I think that the man who owns our house is here, and I want to say hello to him.”

Aaron gave a good-natured shrug and followed her into the shop. Once she was inside, the tinkle of the traditional bell over the door still chiming in her ears, Claire had to rethink Aaron’s question. Why did she want to come in here and say hello to Mr Gold? It wasn’t as if they were anything more than acquaintances and she knew nothing about him. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him for a long time either; it was only two days since they had been assembling Aaron’s bed together. All the same, there was something about him that made her want to see him again and find out a little more about him and what he did in the town.

She told herself that it was so that she knew where to come if there were any problems with the house, not for any other more frivolous reason, and it was somewhat hypocritical that she wanted to know more about him when she categorically did not want him to know anything about her. She really didn’t want to scare him off.

Aaron had wandered away from her side to look at the glass display cabinets, stuffed to the brim with all kinds of collectibles, and Claire found herself still stationary in the doorway, wondering what she was going to do next and why she’d come in here in the first place.

It was a beautiful shop, she couldn’t deny that. Aaron was right, it was very dark inside and whilst that wasn’t exactly to her taste, it did give the place a sense of old-timey magic, as if she’d stepped back into the past as she’d come in through the door. There were nick-nacks everywhere, and she wondered how Mr Gold ever managed to find anything in here.

“Can I help you?”

The man in question’s voice brought her back into the present and Claire looked up to see him coming through the curtain that separated the shop off from the back room.

“No, just looking,” she said. “I saw your name over the door and thought, well…” She tailed off, because she wasn’t really sure what she’d thought.

Gold smiled. “That’s all right. Feel free to browse. How are you getting on?”

“We’re fine, thank you. All the furniture’s been reassembled so Kate and I aren’t sleeping on the living room floor anymore.”

“And how is your partner?”

“She’s doing fine. It’s a very different life from New York, that’s for sure.” It was blissfully quieter, for one thing. She hadn’t really noticed it until she had left the bustle of the city, but Claire realised now just how incredibly noisy New York had been. “And we’re not together, we’re just friends, and co-parents. It’s complicated.”

She wondered if she had said too much, but Gold just gave a nod of acceptance. God, this was awkward, why had she even come in here in the first place?

Luckily, or unluckily, she was saved from ruminating on her decisions any further by the metallic crash of something falling to the floor and Aaron’s small ‘oops’ from one of the display cabinets. Claire’s eyes widened, her hands flying to her mouth as she saw the clock that was now lying on the polished floorboards looking somewhat worse for wear.

“Aaron, be careful!” she squeaked, naturally too late. She looked over at Gold, mortified. “I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for the damage.”

“It’s all right,” Gold said. He came around the counter and limped over to the fallen clock, picking up the pieces and setting them on the counter. “It’s an easy fix, no harm done.” He hooked his cane into the crook of his elbow and beckoned Aaron closer; Claire followed him and watched, as enthralled as her son, as he slotted the pieces back into place and wound the clock up again so that it showed the right time.

“There we are, as good as new,” he said.

“Aaron, what do you say?”

“Sorry, Mr Gold.”

“It’s all right. My own son was always doing the same thing when he was your age. I can quite understand why, even I’m fascinated by most of the things in here and I own the place. You can touch anything that’s out on the side, it doesn’t matter if those things get dropped or broken. The valuable things are all safe in the cabinets. Like this one, see.”

He crouched down and pointed through the glass at the antique tea set that was on display there, delicate fine bone china that Claire would be scared to drink out of for fear of breaking it.

“It’s so pretty,” Aaron said, his voice full of admiration. “You like tea, Mommy Claire. Maybe you could get a tea set like this.”

“I tend to prefer my tea in as big a mug as I can get.” Claire laughed.

“Yeah, your morning tea mug is bigger than my head,” Aaron said, before losing interest in the tea set and moving away to look at some guitars that were mounted on the wall and thankfully out of his reach.

“It’s not that big!” Claire protested. She glanced over at Gold, but he was just smiling, and very obviously trying not to laugh.

“Oh, I understand,” he said, getting to his feet again. “I’m a tea drinker myself. The more the merrier.”

What separates us from these savage yanks if we can’t drink tea? Claire remembered Charlie’s words on the island, and smiled to herself.

“Do you have any plans yet?” Gold asked. “For what you’re going to do now that you’re here in the town?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought.”

Between the various transactions that were carried out on their behalf by Richard and the Others, she and Kate had enough money that they could afford not to work for a little while, and moving out of the city into a smaller town had certainly helped in that regard, but Claire knew that she couldn’t do nothing all day or she would go crazy again with nothing to occupy her mind. Kate had worked various little odd jobs throughout their stay in New York, letting Claire focus on her physical and mental recovery. Now though, Claire wanted to get back to as near to normal as possible.

“I like art,” she said. Art therapy was one thing that had helped her through the last three years, managing to get back to something that she’d enjoyed before the island. “If I could make some money doing that, then that would be my ideal life.”

“Well, I know you’ve only just rented one property from me, but I own empty studio space down by the docks if you ever want to think about it in the future.”

It seemed a big step, doing it properly and getting a studio, and not one that Claire was ready to take, but at the same time, it was nice to be thinking about the future.

It was nice to actually have a future to be able to think about.

They stayed in the shop for a little while longer, with Aaron asking multitudes of questions about all the various niche items that Mr Gold had on display. To his credit, the man answered every single one and showed no signs of being annoyed at the incessant interrogation. Well, if he had kids himself then he was probably used to it.

All the same, when they finally did leave the shop to go back home and see how Kate was getting on with the rest of her unpacking, Claire felt herself feeling a lot more at ease. The fact that their landlord was so good with Aaron made her foresee a much brighter future here. Their home was definitely a home, and Mr Gold, the man who would ultimately be the key to their happiness there, was on their side.

Claire thought again about what Frank had said the other day, about it being the start of a stereotypical grand romance. She’d already set the record straight that she and Kate weren’t a couple, but no doubt that would lead to some more awkward questions down the line as to what exactly they were if they weren’t together. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything, and she ought to have just let him continue in his misunderstanding.

Maybe there was something in her subconscious that had corrected the mistake purposefully because she wanted to let him know that she was single.

She shook herself crossly. This was not what she had come to Storybrooke to do. She wasn’t ready for anything like that. She probably wasn’t ever going to be ready for anything like that again. Mr Gold certainly wasn’t ready for her, if she put it that way.

Kate was still unpacking boxes in her room when they got back.

“Hey, did you have a good time?” she asked Aaron.

“Yep. We went to see Mr Gold and I broke a clock.”

Kate raised an eyebrow and Aaron quickly added: “he fixed it though.”

“That was good of him.” She looked over at Claire, who spread her hands.

“I was mortified,” she said. “But it was all fine. No matter what Granny at the diner may think of him, he’s great with kids. Well, he’s great with Aaron, so I’m assuming that extends to other kids.”

Kate didn’t say anything, but there was a slight smirk on her face that Claire wasn’t entirely sure that she liked the look of.

It was only later, once Aaron was in bed and they were sitting on the sofa together watching the end of a documentary that Kate actually acted on that little smirk.

“So, looks like we’ve both found little crushes today,” she said.

“I do not have a crush on Mr Gold!” Claire exclaimed, although as soon as the words were out of her mouth she wasn’t sure that they were entirely truthful. It wasn’t really a crush. It was more something that might turn into a crush. “He’s our landlord, it wouldn’t be right.” She paused. “Wait, who’ve you found?”

“I went to the diner for a break whilst I was unpacking. There’s a waitress there, Ruby. She’s really sweet.”

Claire grinned. “Well, I think that you’re probably on a better track than I am.”

“I don’t know. He seemed quite happy to help you with DIY, after all.”

They fell into silence, and Claire fell to thinking, wishing that love was not so completely out of her reach.

[propertyhold]

Let’s Go to the Auction! Tips and Tricks and A Big New Addition!

We all know I love vintage shopping. We all know I like a bargain. Good—glad we got that out of the way. See that rug up there? I bought it. For $40. At an auction!

There are lots of ways to find good deals on vintage/antique stuff: occasionally you’ll get a deal at antique stores, but I tend to favor consignment shops, thrift stores, salvage shops, flea markets, Craigslist, and the curb. Sometimes I venture into the land of eBay and Etsy but I like to see and touch and inspect things in person, so online shopping can be tricky. Also I hate waiting for shipping because I’m impatient.

In the past couple of years though, I’ve started going to more and more AUCTIONS! Auctions are my kind of fun: the people-watching is usually good, and I like seeing how much things go for even if I’m not really interested in them. It’s an exciting way to spend an evening…or afternoon…or morning…when ISN’T a good time for an auction, really? Especially if you’ve never been to one, though, the whole thing can be a little intimidating. In my experience, the general crowd at an auction seems to be largely composed of dealers—which is good if you’re not one, because you’re often bidding against people who have to be able to re-sell whatever’s for sale at a big mark-up for their attendance to be worthwhile. So if, like me, you have rooms to decorate and renovations to outfit, auctions can be an awesome resource once you get over the initial apprehension that might come along with trying it out.

Every auction house works a little bit differently, but here are some tips I’ve picked up along the way with the ones I’ve gone to!

1. Finding the auction! A quick Google search should pull up auction houses in your area. Most of them will have a website or at least a Facebook page giving some detail about the upcoming sales. Some places hold auctions on a regular schedule—once a week, typically—but others may be a few weeks between sales. Auctionzip.com is a great resource for finding sales in your area.

2. GO TO THE PREVIEW. ALWAYS. Before the auction, there’s a preview. Sometimes it’s a day or two before, and sometimes it’s just a few hours before the auction actually commences—usually the auction house will list this information, but just ask if it isn’t listed. GO. This is your opportunity to look at all the things for sale, and inspect anything you might actually want to buy. Usually there are paper copies available of the entire catalog that you can use for reference. I like to circle items that I’m interested in, and perhaps make small notes so I remember any flaws or repair work or whatever. There’s typically a LOT of stuff so it’s easy to forget—particularly if there are ten light fixtures you might want but two you REALLY want. You have to be able to remember which two! Obviously don’t break anything, but the preview time is there for you to touch things, open doors and drawers, and make sure it’s something you really want to buy. It may also allow you some time to check what similar items might be selling for online, so you have a point of reference for what a fair/good price might look like.

3. Bring a tape measure! You never know what you might find, and seeing a bunch of stuff sprawled out in an open space can mess with your sense of scale. You want to make sure you can fit whatever it is in your life!

4. If you can’t make it to the preview, your auction house might post the whole catalog online. The pictures are generally poor quality, but sometimes it’s enough to get a good idea. Sometimes, a few more items will be added to a sale that never make it into that online catalog, so going in person is definitely the best thing. If you can’t make it to the preview, though, sometimes it’s best to just skip the auction—purchases you immediately regret upon actually seeing them in real life suck!

5. Register to bid! The auction house will typically want your name, address and phone number, and then you’ll be in their system which makes the process faster next time. They’ll give you a bidder card with a number on the front, and typically a place on the back for you to fill in with your purchases. That space on the back of the card is really for your benefit—once you win an item, your number is noted in their system as the winning bid. But it’s good to keep track of your purchases yourself regardless—mistakes happen occasionally, and you don’t want to spend your whole paycheck!

If it’s your first time at an auction house, give yourself plenty of time to register—the registration counter will become crowded as the auction approaches, and you don’t want to miss the first items if you’re interested in them because you don’t have your card in hand yet!

6. Bring a checkbook! Or cash! On your winning bid, there is a buyer’s premium: essentially a percentage of your winning bid that gets added.  The buyer’s premium is usually between 10-20% of the winning bid, but many auction houses charge a lower buyer’s premium if you pay with cash or check instead of a card.

7. Lots: anything that goes up for sale as a unit is called a “lot.” When you bid on a lot, you buy it all—so sometimes a lot will be just one piece of furniture, sometimes it will be two chairs and a side table, or it might be a box lot like the ones above, which are just groupings of similar items that the auction house decides to sell as a single lot. Don’t disregard box lots! Even if there are 30 things in a box lot and you only want 2 of them, sometimes you can buy the whole thing for 5 bucks and then you just have 28 things to get rid of or resell or whatever. Ha!

8. Bidding! The actual bidding part is SUCH a rush but also sort of scary, so a few things are liable to happen: either you get so determined just to WIN that you end up over-paying and regretting it, or something is just going way too cheap so you buy it just BECAUSE and then you have shit you didn’t really want, or most LIKELY you get too nervous and flustered and don’t bid or stop bidding and then lose stuff that you actually would have paid more for if only you had a second to think! That’s the WORST. So I like to pencil in my maximum bid next to the item in the catalog (and keep that shit close to your chest!), so I don’t end up in any of those positions. It’s such a simple thing but makes a huge difference, I promise! Always know how high you’re really willing to go before you bid.

My rule: don’t be the first to bid, ever. Often, the auctioneer will open bidding at something like $100, and then nobody will bid until he drops down to $5. Let other people bid it up and swoop in toward the end if it’s still in your price range. You don’t want to be the dummy that raised your hand at $100 when you could have walked away winning for $30. At the same time, don’t wait too long because sometimes nobody will bid, and the winner is just the first hand up—so if you want it, be that hand.

Also, try to sit toward the center, in clear view of the auctioneer. It SUCKS to bid on something and the auctioneer just doesn’t see you. I like sitting more toward the back than the front—that way I can watch my competition. You can pick up a surprising amount from body language!

Also, also: SOME auction houses will have the entire catalog photographed and displayed on a slideshow so you know what you’re bidding on. Sometimes, auction house workers will carry each individual item up to the podium area as they come up. In the first case, bidding is more likely to go in order of the catalog—meaning you know if you can go to the bathroom or something because the next item you’re interested in is 20 lots away. When the catalog isn’t photographed, often they’ll just auction things off in the random order that the auction worker grabs them off the floor, so you have to pay attention.

9. Leaving a bid: If you can’t make it to the auction in person, you might still be able to buy stuff! You can usually leave a bid on an item with the auction house, and then your bid competes against bidders who are there in person. EDIT: if you leave a bid on a chair for $400, and the highest bid in the house is $50, you will win it for $55 or $60—whatever increments the auctioneer is increasing the bid at.

10. Phone and online bidding: again, if you can’t be there in person but might be able to bid in real time remotely, the auction house might be using a service like Auctionzip.com to allow online bidding. It’s the future! It’s kind of like eBay but way more intense: you have to sit there and wait for your item to come up, and then you’re bidding in real time against any other online bidders and whoever is sitting in the auction house. It moves quickly! For phone bidding, tell the house which lot you want to bid on, and they’ll call you when the item comes up and you can bid over the phone, much like you would if you were in the room.

11. Bring refreshments! Auction houses often sell concessions like hot dogs and sodas and stuff, but maybe you don’t want that? Bring your own! Even though each individual lot might only take 30 seconds or so between opening bid and hammer, the entire auction might last a few hours. Be prepared! For the love of god, leave your kids at home and don’t bring friends with short attention spans. Auctions are just too boring for some people.

12. It’s OK to leave early! If you’re over it, or everything in the catalog that you were interested in has already come up, snag the opportunity to beat the line at the end and check out early. It can take a while for everyone to check out, and then even longer for the house to bring out your items if you wait all the way until the last lot.

13. Be nice! Nobody likes a sore loser, so don’t be one. Also, if you have friends you go to the auction with, make sure you’re not competing!! If three of you want the same item, be open about your max bids then let whoever is willing to pay the most bid on it. It’s never worth losing friends over! With other attendees, don’t be an asshole! You never know if you’ll end up walking into that dealer’s store, and you don’t want to be remembered as that jerk from the auction. Also, you might start seeing items that you saw go at auction for $10 in a store for $200—knowing what somebody paid for something does not give you license to begrudge them what they’re reselling it for.

OK SO NOW THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IT…wanna see a thing?

I went to an auction a couple weeks ago. I saw THIS. I was filled with FEELINGS.

SO I BOUGHT IT FOR $200 AND NOW IT IS IN MY BEDROOM! It’s so tall. It’s so beautiful. It’s so…not my usual thing! Where furniture is concerned, I typically like modern from the past 60-70 years or so, or really primitive kinds of antiques from before 1850-ish. Then again I can be a sucker for Art Deco, so I don’t know. This armoire is Eastlake style—call it 1870s. I normally don’t like Victorian furniture for myself, but I make an exception for Eastlake because it was really a reaction against what we think of as Victorian furniture—the SUPER ornate, Rococo-revival kinds of stuff. Although the style of my radiators are literally named “Rococo” and I think they’re incredibly beautiful. What’s my point?

I have no point, except that the way to Narnia is through my bedroom and I’m pretty psyched up about it. I really like waking up and seeing this thing.

Right now the inside is set up with a clothing rod, but…I want a TV in it. I know I just renovated the den and the bedroom, but I do kind of miss having a TV in the bedroom because I’m trash, but I also want it concealed because I’m an insufferable snob. It’s a delicate balance.

To tie this post together, this is part of why you go to the preview! The armoire is not in perfect shape—it’s missing a few little trim pieces and the lockset for the doors, but look what was hiding in that lower drawer! All the pieces! Plus a finial that doesn’t appear to match anything. So $200 and an hour or two of little repair work, and it’ll be good to go.

I love you, towering Eastlake armoire. Welcome home.

Let’s Go to the Auction! Tips and Tricks and A Big New Addition! syndicated from findqueenslandelectricians.wordpress.com

[davidcdelreal]

12 Simple Ways to Save an Extra $7,712.60 this Year

When I was younger, it was virtually impossible to save extra money.

That's what I told myself, at least.

Truth be told I had plenty of extra money to save I just chose to spend it instead.   I know I'm not alone in this.

It's been reported over half of Americans don't have at least $1,000 in their savings.

When you have kids, a job, and a whirlwind of responsibilities, it's easy to believe you don’t have a lot of time for much else.  But it's no excuse to be lazy and not save money.

But with a little ingenuity, hustle, and planning, you can save more than $7,000 this year – $7,712.60 to be exact! The best part is, you don’t have to get a part-time job or change your habits.

12 Months of Hustling to Save Extra Money this Year

Whether you need some extra cash for a family vacation, a newer car, or some other goal, here are 12 months of money-making and savings strategies that can add up big time:

Month 1: Open a new bank account for a $350 bonus!

Let’s start with the easiest money-making opportunity on this list. Right now, you can score a sweet $350 just for opening a checking and savings account with Chase.

Make sure you can meet deposit requirements before you dive in, then get started right away. With both bonuses, you'll have an extra $350 saved in no time.

Chase Total Checking®

Get a $200 bonus when you open a new Chase Total Checking® account and set up direct deposit

Access to over 16,000 Chase ATMs and 5,200 branches

Chase QuickDeposit(SM) lets you deposit checks almost anytime, anywhere with the ease of taking a picture. Just point, snap, and deposit.

Chase SavingsSM

Get a $150 bonus when you open a new Chase Savings(SM) account, deposit a total of $10,000 or more in new money within 10 business days, and maintain a $10,000 balance for 90 days

Access to over 16,000 Chase ATMs and 5,200 branches

Chase QuickDeposit(TM) lets you deposit checks almost anytime, anywhere with the ease of taking a picture. Just point, snap, and deposit.

Link this account to your Chase checking account for Overdraft Protection

Total Saved: $350

Month 2: Get into the habit of taking online surveys for another $300 this year!

Online surveys offer one of the fastest – and easiest – ways to save cash in your spare time. With a website like MySurvey, you can earn $.50 to $1.25 just by answering a handful of questions every day.

If you meet certain qualifications, you can earn more than $5 per survey taken from the comfort of your own home.

Make sure to check out some other survey sites that offer cash back, gift cards, free products, and more:

Global Test Market

Harris Poll Online

Survey Rewardz

Vindale Research

Total Saved : $650

Month 3: Sign up for Inbox Dollars to rack up an easy $200.

InboxDollars offers yet another way to earn cash fast – and from your couch!

Just by signing up, you can score a quick $5 bonus. Boom!

Beyond the bonus, you can earn money by browsing the web with their search engine, watching videos, printing coupons, and more.

If you’re always on the internet and want to earn free money for doing nothing, you have nothing to lose and a few hundred bucks to gain. Talk about an super simple way to save extra money!

Total Saved: $850

Month 4: Save extra money with some part-time hours with Uber to earn $1,350 or more!

If you want to start earning some cash on the side, driving for Uber is one of the best options out there.

If you have a newer, clean, and safe automobile and a clean driving record, you can apply to drive for Uber and be on your way within a week.

Check out our post for more information on how to become an Uber driver!

The best part about driving for Uber is the fact you don’t have to commit to specific work schedule.

When you’re ready to drive, you turn your app on until you get a ride. And when you’re ready to call it a night, you turn your app off.

Working just ten hours per month at $15 per hour (after expenses) throughout the rest of the year will help you earn $1,350 in sweet side income.

Total Saved: $2,200

Month 5: Invest in Lending Club for another $200+ this year.

When you think of Lending Club, you probably envision a marketplace where people borrow money. However, it’s possible to use Lending Club for the exact opposite purpose – making money!

With Lending Club, you can invest your own cash across hundreds of loans and earn anywhere from 4 – 15 percent return each year.

While it’s possible to lose money with this peer-to-peer lending platform when people default, they make it easy to reduce your risk by spreading your investment out over hundreds – or even thousands – of loans.

With a $2,500 investment, for example, you can spread your risk out over 100 loans. If you want to earn and save extra money over the long run, investing in peer-to-peer lending can be a smart move!

Total Saved: $2,400

Month 6: Replace your pricey life insurance with a better product! Save $100+ this year.

If you’re like most people, you’re overpaying for life insurance. But with Haven Life, you can almost always qualify for a less expensive, term life insurance policy for a fraction of the price!

One lady I know shopped around for a term policy and saved more than 50 percent with this company. As a 37-year-old woman in good health, she could buy a $750,000 term policy from Allstate for around $59 per month.

But with Haven Life, she got the same $750,000, twenty-year term policy for only $27.33 per month. Make sure to check out our Haven Life review for more details.

Total Saved: $2,500

Month 7: Watch some gorgeous pets in your home for another $500!

If you love dogs and want to make money taking care of them on your own schedule, Rover.com provides an awesome opportunity.

With this website, you can create a profile online then get connected with people who need animal lovers to watch their pets overnight or during the day.

Not only can you set your own rates, but you can decide which type – and size – of animals you want to watch. Best of all, you can watch dogs only on days and weeks when you’re available.

If you earned just $100 per month watching pets for the last five months of the year, you would rack up an extra $500!

Total Saved: $3,000

Month 8: Save extra money by refinancing your debts for HUGE savings!

In March of 2016, the average indebted household carried $16,048 in credit card debt. Since the average credit card interest rate is approximately 15 percent APR, the average family making only the minimum payment is paying around $200.60 in interest every month.

By using a balance transfer card, you can whittle that amount down to 0 percent APR for up to 21 months for a total savings of $4,212.60 during that time.

Check out the best balance transfer cards to learn how to get 0% APR for 12 – 21 months, save money on interest, and potentially get out of debt faster. Or consider my favorite option – the Discover it®, which offers 0% APR and rewards.

Total Saved: $7,212.60

Month 9: Test the waters with Swagbucks for another $50.

Earning money and gift cards through SwagBucks is easy. Simply sign up for an account, then use their handy dashboard to surf the web, watch videos, take surveys, and more.

You can also earn cash back on your regular shopping just by clicking through the SwagBucks shopping portal. You can get $5 for signing up HERE.

Total Saved: $7,262.60

Month 10: Get rid of a bunch of stuff! Earn $200 or more!

Most of us have way more stuff than we need. To save up some extra cash this year, try offloading some of your unwanted items for cash.

Here are a few ideas that can help you score $200 or more for junk you didn’t want anyway.

Sell your used electronics.If you have old laptops, cell phones, iPods, or other electronics, you can make some quick money by selling them right away. If you don’t want to list them on a website like craiglist.org, you can use a website like Gazelle.com instead. With Gazelle, you can connect with buyers who are actually looking for the used electronics you have.

Resell items on eBay.com or craigslist.org. If you’re fairly savvy on “what’s hot” and what’s not, you can earn some extra cash fairly quickly on eBay. Look around your house for valuable antiques or name brand clothing that fetches top dollar, then list on eBay for a quick return. If you think you’ll be better off selling in your local market, you can also place a free ad for your stuff on craigslist.org. Remember, anything you sell means more quick money in your bank account.

Have a yard sale. If you need a quick infusion of cash and have “extra stuff” laying around, having a yard can help you accomplish two goals. Not only will you get rid of your clutter, but you’ll earn extra cash, too. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Total Saved: $7,462.60

Month 11: Learn a single online skill to earn another $150+!

If you have any creative skills and your own computer, it’s possible to pick up a part-time gig.

Believe it or not, plenty of bloggers and online businesses hire people to manage their social media, write content, and create graphics.

If you have any of these skills or simply want to learn, consider testing the waters with an online gig. You could easily earn an extra $150 during the last two months of the year!

Pick up freelance writing. If you have good or great writing skills and a passion for writing essays or interesting stories, you could easily parlay those skills into a lucrative online writing career. It’s not hard to get started (especially if you have a blog), and the opportunities are limitless. If you think about it, every business has a blog these days, and even those that don’t need to hire writers to create the content for their online business pages. Want to know more? Read how one online freelancer makes more than $200,000 per year creating online content in this post.

Market your online skills on Fiverr. If you have any web-based skills at all, you can pick up some side jobs on websites like Fiverr.com and Upwork.com. After you create an online profile, you can pick up work creating web pages, designing flyers, or creating one-of-a-kind logos for personal blogs or businesses. The sky is the limit and your income will vary depending on your level of skill.

Become a virtual assistant. Believe it or not, nearly all online entrepreneurs hire virtual assistants to handle at least part of their tasks. While some virtual assistants work mostly on crafting and replying to emails, others design spreadsheets, create slideshows, or help their clients with various online tasks. If you have experience with WordPress or making Pinterest images, your skills could be in especially high demand. Amazingly, some virtual assistants earn as much as $25 per hour from the comfort of their own homes!

Total Saved: $7,612.60

Month 12: Resell those holiday gift cards for another easy $100!

If you have a bunch of gift cards laying around from the holidays, there are plenty of ways to offload them for a profit and save extra money. Websites like CardPool make it easy to trade gift cards for cash, and from the comfort of your own home.

While you won’t get the full value of your used gift cards, you can get pretty close. And if you weren’t going to use the gift card anyway, this money can truly come in handy.

Total Saved: $7,712.60

Think you can't save extra money? Think again. There are literally dozens of ways to earn or save a few thousand bucks if you're willing to put in the work.

Now it's your turn. What are you doing to save more or earn more money this year?

The post 12 Simple Ways to Save an Extra $7,712.60 this Year appeared first on Good Financial Cents.

from All About Insurance https://www.goodfinancialcents.com/save-extra-money-this-year

[tricityrevivals]

Blog

Chapter 1.5: Mr. Teterboro

It was just a normal day at the office for us organizing, posting/looking into Items, and finalizing our schedule for the upcoming week. We were put onto a lead by Kate, Chris’s wife, for a lady named Cathy who is moving to Florida soon. She and her boyfriend Chris, of 25 years, inherited his Aunt and Uncles house in Saddle Brook, NJ. After calling Cathy and speaking with her a while we decided lets pick up and go today. She was pretty overwhelmed with the amount of stuff in the attic mainly. We put everything else on hold and headed over there and good thing we did.

We went there with all parties knowing the deal. She needed some extra cash as well as help getting rid of the clutter. We needed more inventory, and we promised to go through everything because we didn’t want to take her family heirlooms. From the moment we walked in Cathy and her dog Bella couldn’t have been any more hospitable to us. We got to know each other and than she started telling us about her uncle who has owned this house previously.

“His nickname was Mr. Teterboro, have you ever heard of him?”

Both of us looking puzzled at each other

“No…. we haven’t”

“He was one of the first employees ever to work at Teterboro Airport, he was there for over 55 Years”

We couldn’t think of anything else to say but

“Wow…really?”

As if she was going to lie about that.

She went on to tell us how he he was friends with tons of celebrities and presidents. He met all of these people mostly through Teterboro Airport.

Let’s get into Teterboro Airport for a second for most of you who don’t know.

Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport located in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is owned and managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and operated by AFCO AvPORTS Management. The airport is in the New Jersey Meadowlands, 12 miles from Midtown Manhattan, which makes it very popular for private and corporate aircraft. The airport has a weight limit of 100,000 pounds on aircraft, which is meant to make it nonviable as a commercial airport. The airport takes up almost all of Teterboro and consists of 827 acres and has more than 1,137 employees. Teterboro is home to many private aviation charter companies that fly nationally and globally. The Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey is also on the airport grounds.

So now that you know my wikipedia copy and paste skills I’ll tell you from a real perspective on what Teterboro Airport means to us. As two kids growing up in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, Teterboro Airport is literally in our backyard. It is a staple of our town, even our high school mascot is the Hasbrouck Heights Aviators. The airport is located right across the highway from our football field, and almost any time of the day or night you can look into the sky and see planes coming or going from Teterboro Airport. Constantly you’re hearing about celebrities coming and going through the airport if they have shows in the area. We even took field trips in grade school to learn about day to day operations.

So for us hearing just the name “Mr. Teterboro” we knew we were in for a treat that day. After chatting a little more we noticed Cathy had layed out some items on the table that she thought may be worth something. As we approached and started browsing we saw some generic antique scales, a couple of toys, german beer steins, and then we saw it, Frank Sinatras Funeral Mass Program. Only 400 of these were made and they were only given to the people actually invited to his funeral. As we picked it up and started browsing through it Cathy said

“You know he was friends with Frank”

“Really? ….He was?”

Again, as if she would lie about something like that.

Both of us being huge Sinatra fans we were in awe. Who was this man “Mr. Teterboro” who even Frank Sinatra liked enough to become friends with?

H.J. (HANK) ESPOSITO, better known as “Mr. Teterboro,” was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran and served in Europe during World War II. After that, he embarked upon a half-century-long career at Atlantic Aviation’s New Jersey FBOs in 1949. He was also a graduate of our Alma Mater Hasbrouck Heights High School in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ which made this pick all the more special. He later moved to Saddle Brook, NJ with his wife Helen who he was happily married to until the day he died.

“Unfortunately Uncle Hank became very ill when Frank died, and he couldn’t attend his funeral in California, So he wrote a letter to Franks assistant whom he had known to explain why he wasnt there”

Frank Sinatras assistant of 21 years Dorothy Uhlemann had written a letter back to Hank after the funeral and thought it would be best that she send a Funeral Mass Program to Hank even though he couldnt make it. Frank and his assistant Dorothy were so close he even left her a cash gift in his will of a reported $50,000.

(Read the personalized letter in photos above)

As amazing as that story was what we saw next really put into perspective of who Hank was. Cathy pre-warned us these items weren’t for sale, but that they were amazing. What could be more amazing than a legitimate documented relationship with Frank Sinatra? She pulled out a test tube with a label on it, and an old zippo lighter. Seems pretty normal until we actually saw what these items were. In the plastic test tube container it was actual D-Day Sand Hank took home with him from the war. Amazing. In our hands, holding the history of America from someone who was there. It was labeled “D-Day June 6th 1944 Utah Beach”. Possibly one of the most infamous battles in American History. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about it was the graphic battle in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. The zippo lighter was amazing as well. While at war Hank inscribed on one side “1943-44 "Espo”“ on the other side he inscribed the places he had been "France Belgium Germany England”. Sometimes you see in the movies things like this but this was real life. Holding these items it got real vey quick. Just think about not just Hank but all the soliders there that day. What they must have went through and seen that day. All the different countries they were shipped to, and Hank inscribing and keeping track of them. It was different times, and the start of the foundation that made this country what it is today. We’re lucky because in this business you’re constantly reminded of America’s past time, and you have to respect the people who layed the ground work for us to get us here.

(See Photos of the lighter/sand up above)

Now by this time we were chomping at the bit to get up to the attic and see what else could possibly be up there. We had just come across 3 items we never thought we’d see. What else could we find? After sharing a few more funny personal stories about Hank, Cathy walked us up to the attic. It was loaded to the brim. We’ve never seen an attic this packed. Filled boxes everywhere you looked, furniture, crawlspaces with no more room to put anything, and a loft with things hanging and piled everywhere. Now we saw why she had said she was getting overwhelmed trying to go through all of the stuff. We told Cathy that this was going to take a while and she could go downstairs if she wanted. We said we’ll make a pile and at the end she can come up, check on the stuff so it doesn’t have sentimental value, and than we can work on a price. There was just so much stuff we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to skip a box or an area. We had to see what we could find.

We for once came unprepared for this pick. We had the most important part- the cash, but we forgot our gloves and masks we like to wear for safety when were going through old dusty dirty attics. This especially started effecting us a few hours in. Coughing, sneezing, squinting eyes. I can guarantee we wont make that mistake again. By the 2 hour mark we had already built up a pretty decent pile of things we were interested in, and we were only a little more than halfway through. We had to suck it up. You don’t get opportunities like this everyday.

When you’re picking, you’re going through the items of someone’s life. Their story, told through their things. Even the stuff that wasn’t valuable was worth looking at for us. For example, we came across Hanks old flight log from Teterboro Airport, Military Paperwork, Books, Clothing, Music Records, Tools, Repair Kits, Artwork, and Posters just to name some. After looking through all of these inexpensive items is the part where you really get a feel for who he was and what he enjoyed. That’s the most underrated part of picking to us because nobody talks about it. We’re not there to find valuable stuff and run. We’d like to get to know your story so we can pass that on to someone who may buy one of his items from us. The story is everything, and sometimes unfortunately when your gone no one is there to tell your story, but your things will always be there to tell it.

Hank was a cool dude. He had exactly what we look for to sell. Going through his things you could tell by the huge belt buckles, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats he must have been some character. We also found a lot of “Dear Hanks”. Letters. Not just any letters, but personalized hand written letters from people such as George HW Bush, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Frank Sinatra, and John Wayne. I’m sure there were tons of more letters but it would have taken us all day to go through the box of them. Cathy told us Hanks favorite person to hang out with besides Sinatra was John Wayne. Every time he’d come into town Hank would always have a bottle of whiskey and big cigars waiting for him. They’d hang out, drink, eat, conversate, and smoke, and eventually call it a night. What stories he must of had hanging out with all these celebrities and presidents.

Hank being at Teterboro Airport for 55 years says something about Hanks character as well. Being in a profession and doing it for 55 years is an accomplishment to say the least. If it tells you anything it’ll tell you that he truly loved his job. He loved what he did, and when you love what you do it isn’t really a job to you. Even when he retired from Teterboro Airport he couldn’t stay away for long. The job offers came in from various different companies and everyone wanted him to be a consultant. When you throw the word “consultant” on a job title you’re basically paying someone for their experience and knowledge of that industry. Whenever you can just give your opinion on how to make a company better and get paid for it, you know you have to be an expert, which is what he was. He settled on Atlantic Aviation, wound up keeping that job for another 7-8 years until he officially retired, only because he got sick.

Another note worth mentioning is that Hank was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1986. Still at about 35 years of service and another 20 to go, the Hall of Fame thought he deserved to be inducted. This is the same Aviation Hall of Fame that has names like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart in it. Imagine what he must have meant and.the things he must have done for the Aviation industry to be inducted into the actual Hall of Fame. Only the best of the best make it here, and him and his family will forever be able to say he’s with the elite in this profession.

At the four and a half hour mark we finally called it quits after going through as much as we could and pretty much got to see everything available. Some of our favorite items include a busted plane propeller, parachute, cigar memorabilia, some old aviation calendars, and general vintage knick knacks about 3 full boxes worth.

As far as the items we picked, they weren’t worth much monetary wise, but the experience, stories, and items we were able to look through were priceless. To this day it’s still our favorite pick.

We tried to put a dent in as much as we could because the goal for Cathy was to get rid of the clutter to make the move to Florida in the future easier. The reality was that there was just way too much stuff. Realizing that, we offered another service to Cathy- a clean out. Generally when we’ve picked through everything and decided what’s valuable and what’s not there’s almost always leftovers. Unused or broken furniture, which takes up the most space, and boxes filled with general household items that even Hank and Helen probably haven’t used in over 20 years. We made a small dent but it wasn’t enough. We exchanged numbers and said we’ll figure something out to help out getting rid of the rest of the stuff. We had to stick to our word and help them get rid of the junk.

After running some numbers and figuring out details to make the clean out work, we decided we were going to do the clean out pro bono. We realized whatever price we gave would have put them over budget, and with a big move coming up we felt they could put that money to better use somewhere else. We’ve never done that before but all things considered, if anything, we figured we owed it to Hank. We’re sure he wouldn’t have wanted to overwhelm Cathy and Chris with all his stuff, and just the opportunity to see his stuff and hear his stories was enough for us to come to that decision. Cathy couldn’t have been any more thankful offering us lunch and drinks every day (alcoholic drinks). She was also up there with us on the three day clean out helping sort and organize. She also said we could take whatever we thought was cool or thought we could resell that we may have missed. In the end it was mostly garbage, but we found a few hidden items like typewriters, some cool coins, and an old schwinn bicycle.

In the end, the pick was amazing. The clean out was brutal, and Hanks stories were legendary. We were glad we got the opportunity to go through Hanks stuff, and even own some of it. A lot of the items sold fairly quickly so it shows we had a good knack for finding what people liked. It was truly an honor to see some of the things Hank collected that had been hidden from the public for decades. Although we’ve never had the chance to meet Hank, we do feel we have a special bond with him. His story is one of many, but its pretty damn cool to hear it, and it’s a great reminder of why we love doing what we do. Picking. You get to meet the most incredible people and hear the most incredible stories. Without these people and these stories nothing would ever be passed down, and were just trying to do our part and continue to pass down the knowledge and the story of our items past. Thank you for creating such a legacy for us to discover Mr. Teterboro! Until we meet again…

#pickers #nj #vintage #antiques #oddities #tricityrevivals #Teterboro #atlanticaviation #Hasbrouckheightsnj #hometown

[propertyhold]

Let’s Go to the Auction! Tips and Tricks and A Big New Addition!

We all know I love vintage shopping. We all know I like a bargain. Good—glad we got that out of the way. See that rug up there? I bought it. For $40. At an auction!

There are lots of ways to find good deals on vintage/antique stuff: occasionally you’ll get a deal at antique stores, but I tend to favor consignment shops, thrift stores, salvage shops, flea markets, Craigslist, and the curb. Sometimes I venture into the land of eBay and Etsy but I like to see and touch and inspect things in person, so online shopping can be tricky. Also I hate waiting for shipping because I’m impatient.

In the past couple of years though, I’ve started going to more and more AUCTIONS! Auctions are my kind of fun: the people-watching is usually good, and I like seeing how much things go for even if I’m not really interested in them. It’s an exciting way to spend an evening…or afternoon…or morning…when ISN’T a good time for an auction, really? Especially if you’ve never been to one, though, the whole thing can be a little intimidating. In my experience, the general crowd at an auction seems to be largely composed of dealers—which is good if you’re not one, because you’re often bidding against people who have to be able to re-sell whatever’s for sale at a big mark-up for their attendance to be worthwhile. So if, like me, you have rooms to decorate and renovations to outfit, auctions can be an awesome resource once you get over the initial apprehension that might come along with trying it out.

Every auction house works a little bit differently, but here are some tips I’ve picked up along the way with the ones I’ve gone to!

1. Finding the auction! A quick Google search should pull up auction houses in your area. Most of them will have a website or at least a Facebook page giving some detail about the upcoming sales. Some places hold auctions on a regular schedule—once a week, typically—but others may be a few weeks between sales. Auctionzip.com is a great resource for finding sales in your area.

2. GO TO THE PREVIEW. ALWAYS. Before the auction, there’s a preview. Sometimes it’s a day or two before, and sometimes it’s just a few hours before the auction actually commences—usually the auction house will list this information, but just ask if it isn’t listed. GO. This is your opportunity to look at all the things for sale, and inspect anything you might actually want to buy. Usually there are paper copies available of the entire catalog that you can use for reference. I like to circle items that I’m interested in, and perhaps make small notes so I remember any flaws or repair work or whatever. There’s typically a LOT of stuff so it’s easy to forget—particularly if there are ten light fixtures you might want but two you REALLY want. You have to be able to remember which two! Obviously don’t break anything, but the preview time is there for you to touch things, open doors and drawers, and make sure it’s something you really want to buy. It may also allow you some time to check what similar items might be selling for online, so you have a point of reference for what a fair/good price might look like.

3. Bring a tape measure! You never know what you might find, and seeing a bunch of stuff sprawled out in an open space can mess with your sense of scale. You want to make sure you can fit whatever it is in your life!

4. If you can’t make it to the preview, your auction house might post the whole catalog online. The pictures are generally poor quality, but sometimes it’s enough to get a good idea. Sometimes, a few more items will be added to a sale that never make it into that online catalog, so going in person is definitely the best thing. If you can’t make it to the preview, though, sometimes it’s best to just skip the auction—purchases you immediately regret upon actually seeing them in real life suck!

5. Register to bid! The auction house will typically want your name, address and phone number, and then you’ll be in their system which makes the process faster next time. They’ll give you a bidder card with a number on the front, and typically a place on the back for you to fill in with your purchases. That space on the back of the card is really for your benefit—once you win an item, your number is noted in their system as the winning bid. But it’s good to keep track of your purchases yourself regardless—mistakes happen occasionally, and you don’t want to spend your whole paycheck!

If it’s your first time at an auction house, give yourself plenty of time to register—the registration counter will become crowded as the auction approaches, and you don’t want to miss the first items if you’re interested in them because you don’t have your card in hand yet!

6. Bring a checkbook! Or cash! On your winning bid, there is a buyer’s premium: essentially a percentage of your winning bid that gets added.  The buyer’s premium is usually between 10-20% of the winning bid, but many auction houses charge a lower buyer’s premium if you pay with cash or check instead of a card.

7. Lots: anything that goes up for sale as a unit is called a “lot.” When you bid on a lot, you buy it all—so sometimes a lot will be just one piece of furniture, sometimes it will be two chairs and a side table, or it might be a box lot like the ones above, which are just groupings of similar items that the auction house decides to sell as a single lot. Don’t disregard box lots! Even if there are 30 things in a box lot and you only want 2 of them, sometimes you can buy the whole thing for 5 bucks and then you just have 28 things to get rid of or resell or whatever. Ha!

8. Bidding! The actual bidding part is SUCH a rush but also sort of scary, so a few things are liable to happen: either you get so determined just to WIN that you end up over-paying and regretting it, or something is just going way too cheap so you buy it just BECAUSE and then you have shit you didn’t really want, or most LIKELY you get too nervous and flustered and don’t bid or stop bidding and then lose stuff that you actually would have paid more for if only you had a second to think! That’s the WORST. So I like to pencil in my maximum bid next to the item in the catalog (and keep that shit close to your chest!), so I don’t end up in any of those positions. It’s such a simple thing but makes a huge difference, I promise! Always know how high you’re really willing to go before you bid.

My rule: don’t be the first to bid, ever. Often, the auctioneer will open bidding at something like $100, and then nobody will bid until he drops down to $5. Let other people bid it up and swoop in toward the end if it’s still in your price range. You don’t want to be the dummy that raised your hand at $100 when you could have walked away winning for $30. At the same time, don’t wait too long because sometimes nobody will bid, and the winner is just the first hand up—so if you want it, be that hand.

Also, try to sit toward the center, in clear view of the auctioneer. It SUCKS to bid on something and the auctioneer just doesn’t see you. I like sitting more toward the back than the front—that way I can watch my competition. You can pick up a surprising amount from body language!

Also, also: SOME auction houses will have the entire catalog photographed and displayed on a slideshow so you know what you’re bidding on. Sometimes, auction house workers will carry each individual item up to the podium area as they come up. In the first case, bidding is more likely to go in order of the catalog—meaning you know if you can go to the bathroom or something because the next item you’re interested in is 20 lots away. When the catalog isn’t photographed, often they’ll just auction things off in the random order that the auction worker grabs them off the floor, so you have to pay attention.

9. Leaving a bid: If you can’t make it to the auction in person, you might still be able to buy stuff! You can usually leave a bid on an item with the auction house, and then your bid competes against bidders who are there in person. This is tricky—if you leave a bid on a chair for $400, and the highest bid in the house is $50, you just overpaid about $350. But if you really want something and are willing to pay X amount for it, leave your bid and see what happens.

10. Phone and online bidding: again, if you can’t be there in person but might be able to bid in real time remotely, the auction house might be using a service like Auctionzip.com to allow online bidding. It’s the future! It’s kind of like eBay but way more intense: you have to sit there and wait for your item to come up, and then you’re bidding in real time against any other online bidders and whoever is sitting in the auction house. It moves quickly! For phone bidding, tell the house which lot you want to bid on, and they’ll call you when the item comes up and you can bid over the phone, much like you would if you were in the room.

11. Bring refreshments! Auction houses often sell concessions like hot dogs and sodas and stuff, but maybe you don’t want that? Bring your own! Even though each individual lot might only take 30 seconds or so between opening bid and hammer, the entire auction might last a few hours. Be prepared! For the love of god, leave your kids at home and don’t bring friends with short attention spans. Auctions are just too boring for some people.

12. It’s OK to leave early! If you’re over it, or everything in the catalog that you were interested in has already come up, snag the opportunity to beat the line at the end and check out early. It can take a while for everyone to check out, and then even longer for the house to bring out your items if you wait all the way until the last lot.

13. Be nice! Nobody likes a sore loser, so don’t be one. Also, if you have friends you go to the auction with, make sure you’re not competing!! If three of you want the same item, be open about your max bids then let whoever is willing to pay the most bid on it. It’s never worth losing friends over! With other attendees, don’t be an asshole! You never know if you’ll end up walking into that dealer’s store, and you don’t want to be remembered as that jerk from the auction. Also, you might start seeing items that you saw go at auction for $10 in a store for $200—knowing what somebody paid for something does not give you license to begrudge them what they’re reselling it for.

OK SO NOW THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IT…wanna see a thing?

I went to an auction a couple weeks ago. I saw THIS. I was filled with FEELINGS.

SO I BOUGHT IT FOR $200 AND NOW IT IS IN MY BEDROOM! It’s so tall. It’s so beautiful. It’s so…not my usual thing! Where furniture is concerned, I typically like modern from the past 60-70 years or so, or really primitive kinds of antiques from before 1850-ish. Then again I can be a sucker for Art Deco, so I don’t know. This armoire is Eastlake style—call it 1870s. I normally don’t like Victorian furniture for myself, but I make an exception for Eastlake because it was really a reaction against what we think of as Victorian furniture—the SUPER ornate, Rococo-revival kinds of stuff. Although the style of my radiators are literally named “Rococo” and I think they’re incredibly beautiful. What’s my point?

I have no point, except that the way to Narnia is through my bedroom and I’m pretty psyched up about it. I really like waking up and seeing this thing.

Right now the inside is set up with a clothing rod, but…I want a TV in it. I know I just renovated the den and the bedroom, but I do kind of miss having a TV in the bedroom because I’m trash, but I also want it concealed because I’m an insufferable snob. It’s a delicate balance.

To tie this post together, this is part of why you go to the preview! The armoire is not in perfect shape—it’s missing a few little trim pieces and the lockset for the doors, but look what was hiding in that lower drawer! All the pieces! Plus a finial that doesn’t appear to match anything. So $200 and an hour or two of little repair work, and it’ll be good to go.

I love you, towering Eastlake armoire. Welcome home.

Let’s Go to the Auction! Tips and Tricks and A Big New Addition! syndicated from findqueenslandelectricians.wordpress.com

[davidcdelreal]

12 Simple Ways to Save an Extra $7,712.60 this Year

When I was younger, it was virtually impossible to save extra money.

That's what I told myself, at least.

Truth be told I had plenty of extra money to save I just chose to spend it instead.   I know I'm not alone in this.

It's been reported over half of Americans don't have at least $1,000 in their savings.

When you have kids, a job, and a whirlwind of responsibilities, it's easy to believe you don’t have a lot of time for much else.  But it's no excuse to be lazy and not save money.

But with a little ingenuity, hustle, and planning, you can save more than $7,000 this year – $7,712.60 to be exact! The best part is, you don’t have to get a part-time job or change your habits.

12 Months of Hustling to Save Extra Money this Year

Whether you need some extra cash for a family vacation, a newer car, or some other goal, here are 12 months of money-making and savings strategies that can add up big time:

Month 1: Open a new bank account for a $350 bonus!

Let’s start with the easiest money-making opportunity on this list. Right now, you can score a sweet $350 just for opening a checking and savings account with Chase.

Make sure you can meet deposit requirements before you dive in, then get started right away. With both bonuses, you'll have an extra $350 saved in no time.

Chase Total Checking®

Get a $200 bonus when you open a new Chase Total Checking® account and set up direct deposit

Access to over 16,000 Chase ATMs and 5,200 branches

Chase QuickDeposit(SM) lets you deposit checks almost anytime, anywhere with the ease of taking a picture. Just point, snap, and deposit.

Chase SavingsSM

Get a $150 bonus when you open a new Chase Savings(SM) account, deposit a total of $10,000 or more in new money within 10 business days, and maintain a $10,000 balance for 90 days

Access to over 16,000 Chase ATMs and 5,200 branches

Chase QuickDeposit(TM) lets you deposit checks almost anytime, anywhere with the ease of taking a picture. Just point, snap, and deposit.

Link this account to your Chase checking account for Overdraft Protection

Total Saved: $350

Month 2: Get into the habit of taking online surveys for another $300 this year!

Online surveys offer one of the fastest – and easiest – ways to save cash in your spare time. With a website like MySurvey, you can earn $.50 to $1.25 just by answering a handful of questions every day.

If you meet certain qualifications, you can earn more than $5 per survey taken from the comfort of your own home.

Make sure to check out some other survey sites that offer cash back, gift cards, free products, and more:

Global Test Market

Harris Poll Online

Survey Rewardz

Vindale Research

Total Saved : $650

Month 3: Sign up for Inbox Dollars to rack up an easy $200.

InboxDollars offers yet another way to earn cash fast – and from your couch!

Just by signing up, you can score a quick $5 bonus. Boom!

Beyond the bonus, you can earn money by browsing the web with their search engine, watching videos, printing coupons, and more.

If you’re always on the internet and want to earn free money for doing nothing, you have nothing to lose and a few hundred bucks to gain. Talk about an super simple way to save extra money!

Total Saved: $850

Month 4: Save extra money with some part-time hours with Uber to earn $1,350 or more!

If you want to start earning some cash on the side, driving for Uber is one of the best options out there.

If you have a newer, clean, and safe automobile and a clean driving record, you can apply to drive for Uber and be on your way within a week.

Check out our post for more information on how to become an Uber driver!

The best part about driving for Uber is the fact you don’t have to commit to specific work schedule.

When you’re ready to drive, you turn your app on until you get a ride. And when you’re ready to call it a night, you turn your app off.

Working just ten hours per month at $15 per hour (after expenses) throughout the rest of the year will help you earn $1,350 in sweet side income.

Total Saved: $2,200

Month 5: Invest in Lending Club for another $200+ this year.

When you think of Lending Club, you probably envision a marketplace where people borrow money. However, it’s possible to use Lending Club for the exact opposite purpose – making money!

With Lending Club, you can invest your own cash across hundreds of loans and earn anywhere from 4 – 15 percent return each year.

While it’s possible to lose money with this peer-to-peer lending platform when people default, they make it easy to reduce your risk by spreading your investment out over hundreds – or even thousands – of loans.

With a $2,500 investment, for example, you can spread your risk out over 100 loans. If you want to earn and save extra money over the long run, investing in peer-to-peer lending can be a smart move!

Total Saved: $2,400

Month 6: Replace your pricey life insurance with a better product! Save $100+ this year.

If you’re like most people, you’re overpaying for life insurance. But with Haven Life, you can almost always qualify for a less expensive, term life insurance policy for a fraction of the price!

One lady I know shopped around for a term policy and saved more than 50 percent with this company. As a 37-year-old woman in good health, she could buy a $750,000 term policy from Allstate for around $59 per month.

But with Haven Life, she got the same $750,000, twenty-year term policy for only $27.33 per month. Make sure to check out our Haven Life review for more details.

Total Saved: $2,500

Month 7: Watch some gorgeous pets in your home for another $500!

If you love dogs and want to make money taking care of them on your own schedule, Rover.com provides an awesome opportunity.

With this website, you can create a profile online then get connected with people who need animal lovers to watch their pets overnight or during the day.

Not only can you set your own rates, but you can decide which type – and size – of animals you want to watch. Best of all, you can watch dogs only on days and weeks when you’re available.

If you earned just $100 per month watching pets for the last five months of the year, you would rack up an extra $500!

Total Saved: $3,000

Month 8: Save extra money by refinancing your debts for HUGE savings!

In March of 2016, the average indebted household carried $16,048 in credit card debt. Since the average credit card interest rate is approximately 15 percent APR, the average family making only the minimum payment is paying around $200.60 in interest every month.

By using a balance transfer card, you can whittle that amount down to 0 percent APR for up to 21 months for a total savings of $4,212.60 during that time.

Check out the best balance transfer cards to learn how to get 0% APR for 12 – 21 months, save money on interest, and potentially get out of debt faster. Or consider my favorite option – the Discover it®, which offers 0% APR and rewards.

Total Saved: $7,212.60

Month 9: Test the waters with Swagbucks for another $50.

Earning money and gift cards through SwagBucks is easy. Simply sign up for an account, then use their handy dashboard to surf the web, watch videos, take surveys, and more.

You can also earn cash back on your regular shopping just by clicking through the SwagBucks shopping portal. You can get $5 for signing up HERE.

Total Saved: $7,262.60

Month 10: Get rid of a bunch of stuff! Earn $200 or more!

Most of us have way more stuff than we need. To save up some extra cash this year, try offloading some of your unwanted items for cash.

Here are a few ideas that can help you score $200 or more for junk you didn’t want anyway.

Sell your used electronics.If you have old laptops, cell phones, iPods, or other electronics, you can make some quick money by selling them right away. If you don’t want to list them on a website like craiglist.org, you can use a website like Gazelle.com instead. With Gazelle, you can connect with buyers who are actually looking for the used electronics you have.

Resell items on eBay.com or craigslist.org. If you’re fairly savvy on “what’s hot” and what’s not, you can earn some extra cash fairly quickly on eBay. Look around your house for valuable antiques or name brand clothing that fetches top dollar, then list on eBay for a quick return. If you think you’ll be better off selling in your local market, you can also place a free ad for your stuff on craigslist.org. Remember, anything you sell means more quick money in your bank account.

Have a yard sale. If you need a quick infusion of cash and have “extra stuff” laying around, having a yard can help you accomplish two goals. Not only will you get rid of your clutter, but you’ll earn extra cash, too. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Total Saved: $7,462.60

Month 11: Learn a single online skill to earn another $150+!

If you have any creative skills and your own computer, it’s possible to pick up a part-time gig.

Believe it or not, plenty of bloggers and online businesses hire people to manage their social media, write content, and create graphics.

If you have any of these skills or simply want to learn, consider testing the waters with an online gig. You could easily earn an extra $150 during the last two months of the year!

Pick up freelance writing. If you have good or great writing skills and a passion for writing essays or interesting stories, you could easily parlay those skills into a lucrative online writing career. It’s not hard to get started (especially if you have a blog), and the opportunities are limitless. If you think about it, every business has a blog these days, and even those that don’t need to hire writers to create the content for their online business pages. Want to know more? Read how one online freelancer makes more than $200,000 per year creating online content in this post.

Market your online skills on Fiverr. If you have any web-based skills at all, you can pick up some side jobs on websites like Fiverr.com and Upwork.com. After you create an online profile, you can pick up work creating web pages, designing flyers, or creating one-of-a-kind logos for personal blogs or businesses. The sky is the limit and your income will vary depending on your level of skill.

Become a virtual assistant. Believe it or not, nearly all online entrepreneurs hire virtual assistants to handle at least part of their tasks. While some virtual assistants work mostly on crafting and replying to emails, others design spreadsheets, create slideshows, or help their clients with various online tasks. If you have experience with WordPress or making Pinterest images, your skills could be in especially high demand. Amazingly, some virtual assistants earn as much as $25 per hour from the comfort of their own homes!

Total Saved: $7,612.60

Month 12: Resell those holiday gift cards for another easy $100!

If you have a bunch of gift cards laying around from the holidays, there are plenty of ways to offload them for a profit and save extra money. Websites like CardPool make it easy to trade gift cards for cash, and from the comfort of your own home.

While you won’t get the full value of your used gift cards, you can get pretty close. And if you weren’t going to use the gift card anyway, this money can truly come in handy.

Total Saved: $7,712.60

Think you can't save extra money? Think again. There are literally dozens of ways to earn or save a few thousand bucks if you're willing to put in the work.

Now it's your turn. What are you doing to save more or earn more money this year?

The post 12 Simple Ways to Save an Extra $7,712.60 this Year appeared first on Good Financial Cents.

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