The Sale of the Century -- Part II

Last week I wrote about the “Estate Sale” we will be holding at our Connecticut house in preparation for our move to Florida next week.

Well, the sale starts this coming Friday at 8 a.m. and runs through Sunday at 5 p.m. Here are some of the many gems that can be yours for a mere fraction of their original price. (Call ahead for early admission.)

Lightspeed Cross-Country Pilot ANR Headset:  The year I turned 50, I decided to take flying lessons, conveniently ignoring that I am A:) afraid of heights and B:) hard of hearing so I wouldn’t understand anything the control tower told me to do. I paid $300 for this nifty headset that was used five times until the day I nearly broadsided a fully-loaded Continental 737 that was landing on a runway with the same number as the runway I could have sworn the controller told me to land on at Tucson International Airport. My instructor kissed the ground when we landed and made me promise to never take the yoke again. Yours for a mere $100.  (Batteries not included.)

Lot of three (3) “Let It Snow, Let it Snow" Dryden, NY sweatshirts: Years ago, en route to a business meeting in Ithaca, I drove through a small town in upstate New York whose name caught my eye. I stopped at a local store and bought three of these sweatshirts intending to give them to my wife and sons for Christmas but obviously didn’t because I found them this past weekend in the attic, in their original plastic bags. All three (sizes L, M and S) can be yours for just $10.

Captain & Tennille “Song of Joy” album:  Includes the immortal hits “Muskrat Love” (And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed, Singing and jinging the jango, Floatin’ like the heavens above, It looks like Muskrat Love) and “You’d Better Shop Around.” If you have a record player that still works (readers under 40, ask your parents), you’ll regret it if you don’t buy this classic. $1.

Nixon Library coffee mug: In the early '90s I took my sons with me on a business trip to southern California. Whereas most fathers, on a free day, would have taken their kids to Disneyland, I took them to the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda not because I’m a Tricky Dick fan but because I was the only one old enough to drive and happen to love presidential libraries. Bought this as a souvenir. I suppose I could have taken them to Disneyland but … I didn’t tell them that was an option. $2.

Dried flower arrangements out the ying-yang: I didn’t buy these any more than I bought the Captain & Tennille album, and am not pointing fingers at any blonde who did, but our realtor insisted we hide them in the basement when the house was on the market. The women who are running our estate sale have skillfully arranged them on a folding table in the dining room, which now resembles a funeral home without the sickening floral smell or a corpse. Any one (including vases) can be yours for $10. Or, snap up all ten for $75. 

Royal Visit to South Africa commemorative cup: King George and Queen Elizabeth visited South Africa in 1947. I purchased this cup commemorating their visit in a Cape Town flea market in 1998 which seemed like a good idea at the time. $5.

Conn saxophone: My parents purchased this in 1963 so I could be excused from seventh grade class twice a week for band practice. All the brass plating has worn away and the keypads need replacing. I can no longer play it since a bike accident that required 98 stitches across my upper lip 20 years ago rendered it completely numb. Yours for $20, but it’ll probably cost you $300 to rehabilitate it. 

Skil Circular Saw: I have always fancied myself a handy man. I’m not. Truth be told, I would more likely be able to successfully remove a brain tumor than saw through a 2 x 4. The one time I used this (sometime in the late '80s if memory serves me) I sliced through the cord and, amazingly, survived. I bought a new cord and, at the request of my wife who begged me to never, ever try to fix anything again, it has reposed on a basement shelf ever since. Like new -- used for five minutes tops. $10.