An early start

I went 'garage sale-ing' today, something which has recently become a bit of a hobby for me. If any of you readers aren't from Australia, I'll explain: we have a bit of a tradition going here where people have what Americans call 'yard sales' to get rid of their junk. They'll usually advertise in a local newspaper, as well as putting a garbage bin out on the street with a sign and/or balloons. In the early hours of the morning, the die-hard garage salers like me drive around (often following each other) to try to be among the first shoppers. Some really dedicated people drive around at 6am, to see if the family has got any of their stuff out yet.

Sometimes family members will accompany me, other times I battle it out myself. I've got the routine down pat - I get up early (usually 7 or 7:30am - that's early for me!), grab the newspaper, plan out a route that will give the best fuel economy, and go! I usually roll back into my house around 9:30 - 10:00am, tired but pleased with whatever bargains I managed to find.

Today was a long session: for some reason, the number of garage sales in our city had doubled, and I got home with my family about 11:10am. It was worth it though; I managed to pick up a pair of Sega Lock-On X2 laser tag guns, a Nintendo 64, a Playstation, and a Sega MegaDrive II with games for AU$30. I don't think the MegaDrive works, but the games are good.

I'm actually becoming a bit of a retro games collector. Last week I picked up a Commodore 64 (remember those from the 80s?) with over 20 games for AU$7. I enjoyed playing the primitive games on that (they come as cassettes!), but I'll probably resell it (hopefully at a profit).

One final note: it's amazing, the things people try to sell; and the prices they try to sell them at. I hate paying what people ask, so I always try to bargain them down, usually being about 80% successful. But what I really can't stand is when someone's selling something I want, at a really overinflated price, and they won't be bargained down! But you've just gotta walk away. Never take it at full price, that's what I always say.