Screaming Deals

Yesterday Scott's cries made a noticeable change. Instead of just crying a bit when he's hungry or tired, he escalated into full-force wailing. He was difficult to console, and I even saw tears for the first time. This is where the communication barrier becomes very frustrating. You wish he could just tell you what the problem is.

Because he has also stepped up his trademark grunting, we think that he's having a bout of "intestinal distress" of some kind. This discomfort has interrupted his sleep, adding fatigue into the mix.

We can tell he's quite tired, but he's still had some trouble sleeping. All through yesterday, every time we got him to relax and drop off for a nap, he would wake up 15 minutes later crying. The tears showed up later on, and made for quite a heart-wrenching scene.


He eventually got to sleep in the evening (albeit an hour after his usual bedtime), and slept for a solid 6 hours before waking up for a brief feeding and going right back to bed. This was very helpful, because we needed to get up early for the annual neighbourhood yard sale.

In preparation for our move, we pulled all the mediocre, non-essential furniture and assorted junk out of our house and put it up for sale. I priced things low to make sure we didn't have to bring anything back in the house. After 2 hours, I had sold everything but a few video tapes and an old desk that the previous owner of our home had left behind. I just put a "Free" sticker on it and left it out there.

I couldn't believe how hard it was to get rid of VHS tapes. When I priced them at 50 cents, I sold one. When it went down to 25 cents, I sold 4 more. Even after I put up a "Free Videos" sign, it probably took half an hour to clear out our remaining 20 tapes.

I was striking deals with anyone who would stop to look at anything. If they were at all interested, I was willing to find them a price. My neighbours couldn't believe how fast I was running through merchandise. I firmly believe that yard sales are for clearing out junk, not for making wads of cash, so I had a different pricing strategy than most.

For example, I saw someone trying to sell an old inkjet printer (with no ink) for $20. I think I bought the same printer same printer -- back in 1997. I donated it to Value Village two months ago, but if I'd still had around today I think I would have priced it at a dollar or less. Who's willing to buy a used, 10-year-old, bone-dry printer for $20? Man, just give the thing away! Most of my prices were under 5 dollars. I think the only item I had priced higher than 10 bucks was a TV, and I sold the thing 3 times.

One guy came by at the crack of dawn, when I was still bringing stuff out, and said he'd buy the TV and a storage shelf. Then he said, "I'll be back later and we'll see." I never saw him again. A cyborg taxi driver talked me down 10 bucks on the TV and then pulled out of the deal at the last minute -- after he'd forked over the cash (cold feet, I guess). Finally, a lady bought it. I was so happy, I ran through traffic with it to help load it into her car.

In August we're going to have to sell the rest of the "essential" items that we're not taking with us (couches, piano, patio set). So come on down and make me an offer -- these deals won't last forever. Just be sure to speak up, because I can hardly hear anything over the screaming.