I had called him to ask about (one of) his tractor(s). HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) had asked to borrow it to move some stuff up on our other property, where he is currently residing. Yet when I came home from town three hours later, Hick's tractor was still in front of the BARn. Anyhoo... Hick wasn't concerned about the tractor. He'd been on a Goodwill tour up north. He didn't find anything, but he was excited.
"I was coming down [county road lettered highway] and saw some people putting stuff out at the end of their driveway. They had a wire rack, like for plants, and a gun rack, and a microwave! I stopped to get them."
"Were the people still there?"
"Yeah. The guy said, 'I have a dresser, too, if you want that.' So I went to look at it, but it's too big, and they don't sell. That rack will bring me $15, and the gun rack will get $5, and the microwave $8-10. So I got a bargain! Anything I make off them will be profit!"
I wish I'd taken a picture of them in the back of SilverRedO. Hick pulled down the driveway while I was sitting in it talking to him on my cell phone. I was excited because he was finally there, for once, to carry in my box of groceries from Save A Lot. It doesn't take much to make Val giddy. Hick wanted me to admire his haul first.
The plant rack was nice. It was black metal, with some curvy curlicues. The gun rack was solid wood, with grooves for five guns. A little sanding, and a stain, and it might even get more than $5. The microwave was not my cup of tea. Hick was going to plug it in on the porch, to see if it worked. Before he bothered to clean it. As you might imagine, nobody cleans a microwave before they set it at the end of their driveway for free.
There. Hick took a picture before he left for the auction. He'd already taken out the microwave. It works! This is not the angle I would have chosen for the picture, but you can still kind of see the black metal plant rack against the backdrop of SilverRedO's black plastic bed-liner. And most of the gun rack.
I quizzed him about whether he was really taking SilverRedO to the auction.
"Somebody will take your treasures out of the back."
"No they won't."
"Seriously? At an auction? Nobody is going to take something left in a truck bed?"
"No."
"You're not planning on taking A-Cad, are you, thinking I won't know?"
"Nope. I'm taking the truck."
He did. His treasures are safe. Who knew that auctions were such bastions of honesty?
I would think anyone who could afford five guns would want a more expensive rack to show them off.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they'd want an Old West rustic look, and rough it up even more.
Deletethat gun rack looks just like the one i made in junior high woodshop about 100 yrs ago!
ReplyDeleteIt has held up pretty well, then. There's a customer for every item. HICK says he sold it the very next day, to a LADY, for the low, low price of $3. Anything short of giving it away was a profit for Hick.
DeleteShe may be a witch and use it to lay her brooms on...
DeleteHeh, heh! Hick needs to consider a new marketing plan.
DeleteThe plant rack looks like a furniture piece more commonly known as a Baker's Rack or Baker's Stand here in Australia. I don't know why it's called that, but a some people have them in kitchens to stand pots or other kitchen items on. I love them and have often wished I had one, but I've never had space to put one.
ReplyDeleteI do think I heard Hick call it a Baker's Rack. He knows his junk. It hasn't sold yet. Maybe a lot of people don't have space for it.
DeleteMy dad was a "junker" and had regualr "customers" who paid him to get rid of their junk, which he then sold. Method to Hick's madness.
ReplyDeleteHick has raked in a lot of stuff from back-creek neighbor Beth. She pays him to do jobs like taking down a deck, wiring her attic, or framing out rooms in her basement. Then she gives him stuff she wants to throw away.
DeleteI think he did great.
ReplyDeleteHe still has to clean out that microwave to offer it for sale, but he's already sold one of the three items. He's already shown a profit!
DeleteNext thing you know, Hick will be dumpster diving!
ReplyDeleteIf he was younger and spryer, he might!
Delete