"Some people are mentally incompetent and others are not."
To support the above suggestion, which I feel is clearer to the point, I would like to submit a list of little stories and images of the items formerly referred to as "trash" by local morons that I now treasure.
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My wife and I live in Kew Gardens, Queens, NYC. We moved here about 6 years ago and I immediately began to find things of use to me. I had not lived in an apartment before so the goings on in a neighborhood like this with regard to finding awesome things for free was new to me. It is clear to me now that "some people" or the percentage that "some" represents becomes quite a substantial number of incompetent people in a neighborhood so heavily populated.
The first thing I found was a full pc tower, ready to have a PC built into it. It was a dark electric blue and even had a window built into the side already. A timely find indeed because I had just finished technical school and gotten my first job in tech support which was about to afford me building my own pc - which I then did in my free case. I saved about $70 and my PC, Moose, has been serving us like a workmoose ever since.
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Before moving on I'd like to say that all of my finds since then will have to be credited HEAVILY to our dog Lola. We had not yet adopted her when I found Moose's exoskeleton but I would not have found the rest of these things if I did not take her for walks every day. Other credit will have to be given to my job that I've had the past few years which has me working exclusively from home. This puts me in the position to walk Lola after the supers all take out their "garbage" and gives me the time to lug whatever it is I've found up to my apartment before another of the not incompetent people I have to compete with around here get it.
Before moving on I'd like to say that all of my finds since then will have to be credited HEAVILY to our dog Lola. We had not yet adopted her when I found Moose's exoskeleton but I would not have found the rest of these things if I did not take her for walks every day. Other credit will have to be given to my job that I've had the past few years which has me working exclusively from home. This puts me in the position to walk Lola after the supers all take out their "garbage" and gives me the time to lug whatever it is I've found up to my apartment before another of the not incompetent people I have to compete with around here get it.
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A good amount of time passed between my first find and the next one. Like I said above, I've only had this job working at home for some of the time we've been out on our own in Kew Gardens. The next find was another timely one.
I have been a student at a martial arts school for close to 5 years now. In February 2007 I went out to walk Lola and down the end of the driveway at the back of our building I saw what looked like a very large grey rectangle leaning against a tree by where our neighboring building puts their trash. As we walked closer I said "no way" to Lola out loud. You see - I'd come a long way in my martial arts training and I was trying to kick things up by practicing more at home. One of the key items that you need to do this is a large mirror so that you can see yourself and refine your techniques and otherwise hone your skills of self-correction. What the large grey rectangle ended up being was not one but two flawless 3'x5' mirrors with no frames. They are now hanging direcly opposite each other in my apartment, and have been a great help to my progress. Had I purchased them, it would have run me approximately $100.
A good amount of time passed between my first find and the next one. Like I said above, I've only had this job working at home for some of the time we've been out on our own in Kew Gardens. The next find was another timely one.
I have been a student at a martial arts school for close to 5 years now. In February 2007 I went out to walk Lola and down the end of the driveway at the back of our building I saw what looked like a very large grey rectangle leaning against a tree by where our neighboring building puts their trash. As we walked closer I said "no way" to Lola out loud. You see - I'd come a long way in my martial arts training and I was trying to kick things up by practicing more at home. One of the key items that you need to do this is a large mirror so that you can see yourself and refine your techniques and otherwise hone your skills of self-correction. What the large grey rectangle ended up being was not one but two flawless 3'x5' mirrors with no frames. They are now hanging direcly opposite each other in my apartment, and have been a great help to my progress. Had I purchased them, it would have run me approximately $100.
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About a month before we moved to this neighborhood my wife was at a bridal shower for one of her cousins. At this shower, the centerpieces of the table were live goldfish in glass bowls that people could take home. Despite this being something I strongly protest, one 'person' got lucky - and I do mean one. Fishy, as we call her, is the sole survivor from the aforementioned event. That's right, Fishy is over 6 years old - our oldest pet - and I work very hard all the time to keep her healthy. How do we know she's a she? Well, she laid eggs once if you can believe it.
After a few years of care in the small 10 gallon tank that we got her, she was starting to get too big for it. I was hoping to upgrade her tank as inexpensively as possible, but it needed to happen soon.
Cue timely treasure find #3. In the same scenario as the mirror find, I saw what I immediately identified as a LARGE fishtank at the end of the driveway. Focusing on it, I headed right for it. It was only when I was standing next to it that I saw that it came with a lid (Fishy never had a roof before), a light (luxurious!) and a 3' high wrought iron stand! It turned out to be a 30 gallon fishtank - triple the size of the previous one and big enough for the rest of Fishy's life. Had I tried to purchase this myself, it would have easily cost me $200. It was at this point that I found via some research online that if properly cared for, goldfish of Fishy's variety can live as long as 10 or 15 years! Viva Fishy!
After a few years of care in the small 10 gallon tank that we got her, she was starting to get too big for it. I was hoping to upgrade her tank as inexpensively as possible, but it needed to happen soon.
Cue timely treasure find #3. In the same scenario as the mirror find, I saw what I immediately identified as a LARGE fishtank at the end of the driveway. Focusing on it, I headed right for it. It was only when I was standing next to it that I saw that it came with a lid (Fishy never had a roof before), a light (luxurious!) and a 3' high wrought iron stand! It turned out to be a 30 gallon fishtank - triple the size of the previous one and big enough for the rest of Fishy's life. Had I tried to purchase this myself, it would have easily cost me $200. It was at this point that I found via some research online that if properly cared for, goldfish of Fishy's variety can live as long as 10 or 15 years! Viva Fishy!
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So I'm starting to think that the Universe likes me at this point. I try to be a good person and I respect things, people, and animals and so on. Seriously though - when I need something it has often fallen into my lap. This has not happened with cash yet so the jury is still out on my Universe loving me theory and I'm still heavily invested in the "some people are stupid and some are not" theory.
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My next find would have been timely at any point but it was definitely needed when it happened. Things were getting very cramped in our apartment with me working at home and Kerri also home often what with her having a doctoral fellowship at St. John's. We did actually specifically talk about finding more space for all of our stuff around the house, especially the bathroom.
Going down to walk Lola I saw as soon as I got out of the elevator in the basement that someone had gotten rid of what resembled a 3 mirrored-door medicine cabinet immediately after opening the box it came in. Upon further inspection, with both eyes and nose, it seemed that some mentally incompetent woman had gotten rid of a brand new medicine cabinet because some paint on one of the shelves inside had peeled after a scented candle that had been placed on the shelf below melted it. The smell was strong and the peeled paint, which came off easily in a spot about 2" wide, was all still there so I am convinced that this is what caused the dumping of this particular treasure. I immedately hung it on the wall of our bathroom and due to its size, it immedately resolved all storage issues that plagued us in that room. In addition to saving us more than $150 (I did a price search online to come up with all these $ values) this also added yet another surface in our home on which I can admire my adonic visage.
My next find would have been timely at any point but it was definitely needed when it happened. Things were getting very cramped in our apartment with me working at home and Kerri also home often what with her having a doctoral fellowship at St. John's. We did actually specifically talk about finding more space for all of our stuff around the house, especially the bathroom.
Going down to walk Lola I saw as soon as I got out of the elevator in the basement that someone had gotten rid of what resembled a 3 mirrored-door medicine cabinet immediately after opening the box it came in. Upon further inspection, with both eyes and nose, it seemed that some mentally incompetent woman had gotten rid of a brand new medicine cabinet because some paint on one of the shelves inside had peeled after a scented candle that had been placed on the shelf below melted it. The smell was strong and the peeled paint, which came off easily in a spot about 2" wide, was all still there so I am convinced that this is what caused the dumping of this particular treasure. I immedately hung it on the wall of our bathroom and due to its size, it immedately resolved all storage issues that plagued us in that room. In addition to saving us more than $150 (I did a price search online to come up with all these $ values) this also added yet another surface in our home on which I can admire my adonic visage.
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I am going to skip the little things here and there like shelving units for our storage unit and the thing in our kitchen we keep our flour and sugar on and skip right to the latest item. This unparalleled treasure is so awesome that it was the final straw that made me decide that I needed to at least get into this blogging thing to start recording my finds. Now that I'm doing the blogging thing tho, who knows what I'll have to say!?
About 2 months ago some incompetent fool in my building threw out an original 1981 Atari Tempest arcade. The assistant super had taken it into his workroom and found that it was, at least, moderately functional. Not knowing much about it, he decided to hold onto it and try to sell it. Shortly thereafter I caught it in the corner of my keen eye as I walked past the laundry room and I inquired about it. I have a 1975 Gottlieb Pin Up pinball machine that I restored after it spent a decade or so in my parent's garage after the original owners, my grandparents, moved down to Florida. So, I'm always on the lookout for things like this anyway because I have a dream of a basement gameroom and kung fu studio in the house that we have not purchased yet. Anyway, he informs me that he's planning in selling it for about $160.00, which I know now is a bargain. I told him if he didn't find any buyers to let me know maybe we can work out a price but I couldn't afford $160.00. My wife, Kerri, after hearing the story was excited as well as I was at the prospect of having sweet vintage arcade game such as this, but we don't really have the time or $ for such a luxuriously silly purchase.
Time passes....
On Monday of this week, while walking Lola, much to my complete shock I found that the super's assistant had taken it to the curb to be removed by the department of sanitation. I'm sorry dude - I like you and all but this was precisely the incompetent maneuver I was hoping for the instant I saw this thing out of the corner of my eye on laundry day way back. Inquiring about it again, with the super's hand truck in my hands already he told me that it was no longer working so he decided to throw it out. I informed him that I was taking it and both he and the super thought I was crazy. The super actually TOLD me I was crazy as I lugged it into the elevator. HOLY CRAP IS IT HEAVY.
When I got it up to the apartment I found that it was fully functional. Sound, display, headlight, controls - everything works fine except for the fact that after you play for a few minutes, it seems to want to reboot itself and cycles that way over and over. Some internet research has drummed up information leading me to believe that its not that big of a deal and I will eventually be able to restore it without much trouble.
So now its across the room from my pinball machine where it belongs getting set to be cared for properly for the first time in what is probably 20+ years. I cannot believe how heavy it is - I'm talking multiple hundreds of pounds.
You might ask: "how'd you get it up to your apartment?"
Well...luckily I had the strength of 10 nerds.
No... not adrenaline - anerdaline.
I am a total noob about these arcade games - for now. Anyway it may be needless to say but, just like when I first opened my pinball machine and found that you can pop up the playing field like a car hood, looking at the glorious beauty inside this Tempest machine... I almost fainted from nerd joy.
About 2 months ago some incompetent fool in my building threw out an original 1981 Atari Tempest arcade. The assistant super had taken it into his workroom and found that it was, at least, moderately functional. Not knowing much about it, he decided to hold onto it and try to sell it. Shortly thereafter I caught it in the corner of my keen eye as I walked past the laundry room and I inquired about it. I have a 1975 Gottlieb Pin Up pinball machine that I restored after it spent a decade or so in my parent's garage after the original owners, my grandparents, moved down to Florida. So, I'm always on the lookout for things like this anyway because I have a dream of a basement gameroom and kung fu studio in the house that we have not purchased yet. Anyway, he informs me that he's planning in selling it for about $160.00, which I know now is a bargain. I told him if he didn't find any buyers to let me know maybe we can work out a price but I couldn't afford $160.00. My wife, Kerri, after hearing the story was excited as well as I was at the prospect of having sweet vintage arcade game such as this, but we don't really have the time or $ for such a luxuriously silly purchase.
Time passes....
On Monday of this week, while walking Lola, much to my complete shock I found that the super's assistant had taken it to the curb to be removed by the department of sanitation. I'm sorry dude - I like you and all but this was precisely the incompetent maneuver I was hoping for the instant I saw this thing out of the corner of my eye on laundry day way back. Inquiring about it again, with the super's hand truck in my hands already he told me that it was no longer working so he decided to throw it out. I informed him that I was taking it and both he and the super thought I was crazy. The super actually TOLD me I was crazy as I lugged it into the elevator. HOLY CRAP IS IT HEAVY.
When I got it up to the apartment I found that it was fully functional. Sound, display, headlight, controls - everything works fine except for the fact that after you play for a few minutes, it seems to want to reboot itself and cycles that way over and over. Some internet research has drummed up information leading me to believe that its not that big of a deal and I will eventually be able to restore it without much trouble.
So now its across the room from my pinball machine where it belongs getting set to be cared for properly for the first time in what is probably 20+ years. I cannot believe how heavy it is - I'm talking multiple hundreds of pounds.
You might ask: "how'd you get it up to your apartment?"
Well...luckily I had the strength of 10 nerds.
No... not adrenaline - anerdaline.
So today I looked inside and found out why its so heavy. In addition to the ton of pressboard used to build the cabinet and the actual old school tv screen in there, what was necessary to make something like this go in 1981 - when now we can do it as a quaternary function on a cell phone... is enormous. The circuit boards on the inside ... I thought they were going to be matzoh sized - or even the size of a PC motherboard - I was wrong. First of all there's theres more than one and they're like the size of an end table top!!!!!!!
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Without including the Tempest machine, I estimate that I have found $520 worth of treasure that had been discarded as trash by the mooks, hooples, and dipshits I otherwise refer to as my neighbors.
After I restore the Tempest, it could very well be worth the $900 that I see people trying to sell it for on ebay because its in its original dedicated case. Lets say $500 and put my estimated grand total of treasure finds at over $1,000. A GRAND! And I'm not even really looking.
After I restore the Tempest, it could very well be worth the $900 that I see people trying to sell it for on ebay because its in its original dedicated case. Lets say $500 and put my estimated grand total of treasure finds at over $1,000. A GRAND! And I'm not even really looking.
"Some people are mentally incompetent and others are not."
Its got a bit of a "survival of the fittest" ring to it, doesn't it?
