Comes around. I wrote the other day about how I had walked back into the store to pay for a pair of pants after realizing I had not been charged for them. I did it because it was the right thing to do, to try to teach something to my daughter. I did not do it hoping for some kind of good fortune to come my way. But I also have always been a strong believer that if you do good things, good things will happen. And happen they did this weekend. There is an organization or movement called Freecycle and each city around the world has their own chapter. Ours is called dfwfreecycle. For those that have never heard of it, it works like this. Say you have something you no longer want, you just want to get rid of it but it might have value to someone else. You post on the bulletin board that you have an "offer" and if someone wants what you have they will email you. If you want something you post "needed" followed by what it is you need. People ask for and offer just about anything and everything you can think of. I have been a member for a year now but for the past several weeks I have just deleted the email messages as several a day come and usually by the time I see them anything I want has already been claimed (you have to be fast!). But with Thursday being my day off I decided to click on the post I received that morning. And there was an offer for a full/queen size headboard! I just have a metal frame holding my mattress and boxspring. So this was something I could use. It was described as woodgrain and I sent an email putting in my claim on it. I had no idea where in the metroplex these people lived, I would travel there and get it. Turns out they live about 2 miles from my work! So I made arrangements to pick it up Friday evening. All it needed was some bolts to connect the legs to the headboard and to the frame. Cost me all of $3 for everything I needed to put it together. But wait, it doesn't end there. This morning (Sunday) as I put trash in the dumpster I saw a lampshade with a lamp attached. I pulled it from the dumpster and checked to see if it was broken or for some other reason as to why the previous owner would throw it away. It appeared intact so I quickly stowed it in the rear of the van and went off on my weekly shopping. Backtracking a bit and with some background, I like to lotion my arms and legs after showering. I am attempting to keep my skin as soft as I can as I age. So, today I needed to purchase a new bottle of lotion. I also wanted to get a bottle and pump to better dispense the lotion. At Wal-mart and Target I just couldn't find what I wanted for the price (i.e., cheap) I wanted to pay. But at the dollar store I found on that closely resembled the lamp I had just found! How great was that since they would be sitting next to each other on my nightstand! It appeared someone had already tried it out by putting some liquid soap in it. But since it was the only one there and wasn't going to cost more than $1 I wanted it anyways. It is washable so I bought it. Returned home, installed a lightbulb in the lamp and it came on! How cool is that? A nice headboard, functional if not attractive lamp and a lotion bottle to match for $5! I am so excited about all this! Below is my headboard on the left along with the lamp and lotion pump on the right.
The lamp and pump are sitting on another one of my treasures, my double drop leaf table I found for $20 last summer just before I moved out of my parents house on my way to rebuilding my life. Treasures are everywhere, you just have to keep your eyes open. I know the lamp and pump don't match perfectly, but they have the same texture. It is like sand coating all over them. I love them. This was a great weekend. Even the down part turned out well. Friday I came home to everything in my refrigerator frozen. I mean the fridge part froze just about everything inside it. So, Saturday morning I called the office from work and requested a maintenance call. I arrived home about 7pm as I had stopped by my parents for a visit. They had not come and fixed my fridge! Man, was I mad. I was just finishing a good rant about what I was going to say Monday morning when I called the office when I heard a knock at the door. It was the maintenance guy. Turns out he had 3 water heater repairs that day and he was only then getting to me. I told him I apologized for all the bad things I had said! In about 15 minutes he had it fixed, some kind of cutoff switch had gone out and would not let the thing cut off. I thanked him and got to work throwing out stuff. Today I got rid the food that had ruined. The biggest loss was a brand new jar of pickles. I buy these really large jars because Jess and I both love pickles. All in all, I would say it was about $15 worth of food that ruined so not too big of a loss. But the fact that he came and fixed it just added to the good things that happened this weekend. You can look at each situation 2 ways and I choose to always see the good part. My headboard, it has some dings and scratches, but it was free and not trashed out. The lamp, sure I picked it out of a dumpster, but I don't make a habit of doing that and I didn't have to dig through garbage to get it, it was sitting on top like it was waiting for someone to take it. The pump, it has some soap on it because someone was rude and put some in it. They probably opened a bottle right off the shelf which is wrong but hey it goes with my lamp so what is a little effort to clean it. This has been an almost perfect weekend. Today I didn't even turn on the television until 5pm, just listened to good jazz until the news came on. I only hope everyone else can have it as good as I do.
The lamp and pump are sitting on another one of my treasures, my double drop leaf table I found for $20 last summer just before I moved out of my parents house on my way to rebuilding my life. Treasures are everywhere, you just have to keep your eyes open. I know the lamp and pump don't match perfectly, but they have the same texture. It is like sand coating all over them. I love them. This was a great weekend. Even the down part turned out well. Friday I came home to everything in my refrigerator frozen. I mean the fridge part froze just about everything inside it. So, Saturday morning I called the office from work and requested a maintenance call. I arrived home about 7pm as I had stopped by my parents for a visit. They had not come and fixed my fridge! Man, was I mad. I was just finishing a good rant about what I was going to say Monday morning when I called the office when I heard a knock at the door. It was the maintenance guy. Turns out he had 3 water heater repairs that day and he was only then getting to me. I told him I apologized for all the bad things I had said! In about 15 minutes he had it fixed, some kind of cutoff switch had gone out and would not let the thing cut off. I thanked him and got to work throwing out stuff. Today I got rid the food that had ruined. The biggest loss was a brand new jar of pickles. I buy these really large jars because Jess and I both love pickles. All in all, I would say it was about $15 worth of food that ruined so not too big of a loss. But the fact that he came and fixed it just added to the good things that happened this weekend. You can look at each situation 2 ways and I choose to always see the good part. My headboard, it has some dings and scratches, but it was free and not trashed out. The lamp, sure I picked it out of a dumpster, but I don't make a habit of doing that and I didn't have to dig through garbage to get it, it was sitting on top like it was waiting for someone to take it. The pump, it has some soap on it because someone was rude and put some in it. They probably opened a bottle right off the shelf which is wrong but hey it goes with my lamp so what is a little effort to clean it. This has been an almost perfect weekend. Today I didn't even turn on the television until 5pm, just listened to good jazz until the news came on. I only hope everyone else can have it as good as I do.
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