Score! Part 2

Sunday, 31 July 2011

When Owen and I came back inside our apartment building this morning after taking out the garbage, we saw a pile of stuff sitting in the hallway. Someone had taped a sign on the wall that read FREE. Owen and I went into our apartment to get Jennifer, and the three of us dug through a bunch of items looking for things we might want.

Being as it is the last day of the month, the stuff was either left behind by someone who recently moved out or, more likely, was being chucked by a tenant who was in the process of moving.

Later in the day, when I took Owen out to a birthday party, there was more stuff sitting out. Jennifer looked out in the hallway again around dinner time, and there was even more stuff.

Things we did NOT take included a large stuffed bear from IKEA, a kids’ bookshelf, a TV/DVD combo, several books, candle-holders, a wooden balance, a coffee table, and assorted toys.

But more importantly, here are the things we did take…

Okay, so this picture isn’t that good. Actually, none of the pictures are that good because I took them at night using my wife’s iPhone, but I think you get the point. Here are three magazine bins from IKEA. We already own three of these, but we had wanted more, and there were just the perfect price. Also pictured is a relatively new, mint condition dictionary and about 200 sheets of printer paper.

Here’s a comforter for kids.

This is some doodle-pro thing for kids that helps teach them how to write the letters.

Here’s a totally empty red book. Should come in handy when I write my manifesto.

Speaking of manifesto, here’s the Karl Marx/Friedrich Engels classic, along with two other books that just looked fun to own. Especially at this price.

Here are some books for children, including the Caldecott-winning Blueberries for Sal, Leo the Late Bloomer, two books about mythology, and a Thomas the Tank Engine tale.

A lamp. Probably stolen from Pixar Animation Studios. This was the only item we took that needed any sort of repair. The lamp’s neck was not secured to the base very well. I took the base off and tightened up a nut. Viola! Good as new.

This little computer thingy is called a “Leapster,” and it came with four cartridges. Jennifer says they’re good for learnin’ kids good. It all came in a handy, hardy case, too.

Aww…how adorable. This is a book for us to read to Isla.

This is a 4H cookbook. And my right hand.

Owen absconded with this sand timer. He’s got a special place in his heart for sand timers, I think.

Jennifer says we already have a mini-tape recorder, but I don’t recall seeing it around lately and, if I remember right, it didn’t work well. I think it’s important to keep a small tape recorder with me so that I can record conversations and blackmail the shit out of people.

Hey, look! I did take at least one good picture. This is a huge puzzle in the shape of a t-rex. I ferried it into our apartment in a clandestine fashion and swiftly hid it up on a high shelf. My plan is to wrap it up and give it to Owen as a present when baby Jesus’ birthday comes around.

…Same thing with this. It’s a computer for kids. This is going to be the best (=cheapest) Christmas ever.

We unzipped this piece of luggage and out popped this topless dancer. So, we figured, hey, let’s bring it home. It’s a Victorinox Swiss Army Luggage, which must be a quality name brand, because when I researched it at THIS SITE all I could find was outrageously priced suitcases. Should be great for those times when we need to smuggle two or three toddlers out of the country (which we plan to do on January 20, 2013, when Michele Bachmann is sworn in as our Chief Executive).

Finally, we also took off with this La-Z-Boy rocking, reclining chair. As you can see, Isla has called shotgun.

Not pictured are a few other books that I have already misplaced (we are packing, after all), three other blankets, two or three toy cars, a box of 5 burnable CDs, a polished rock that Owen swiped, and one of those pinpression thingys.

All in all, a good haul. I hope this sort of thing happens every day for the rest of my life.

(“Score! Part One” is RIGHT HERE, by the way.)