I found a Wii U in the dumpster. It just needed a charger for the gamepad and it works perfectly. Even came with some games.

Finding stuff second hand is something I really enjoy, and usually I find them next to dumpsters or out on the curb for trash pickup.

I really like to fix things so finding stuff I can breathe a new life into is always great: TVs, bicycles, a dishwasher, etc.

But my favorite was the last bike I found.

I was out on a bike ride when I found a BMX frame in the bushes off of the trail. I figured: why not? So I got a good bearing on my location and came back later with my car.

A few days after I finished fixing it up I was talking with one of my neighbors when they mentioned that their kid’s birthday was coming up and how they were saving to get them a bike. So I gave them the bike to give to their kid for their birthday. That kid rode the hell out of that bike until they moved out about a year later.

It’s been a couple years now (right at the beginning of lockdown) but I’ll never forget how happy they were when I said that I’d be right back and gave them the bike right there.

A really nice canvas jacket for $12. It had $2 in one of its pockets so it cost me just $10

“tramp art”

My mom sold on eBay in the early 2000s. Spent my formative years in thrift shops. Found a small balsa wood merry go round that had a fan at the top. Burn a candle, blades spun, horses went around. It was hand made, and she sold it for like 500 dollars. We paid a buck for it.

There was one thrift shop I went to in college that would have original vinyl pressings for like $5. I think my favorite was a compilation of performances of the 1970 isle of wight festival, which includes the final show hendrix did before he died.