Thursday, January 30, 2014

Snowmageddon avoided

Well, that was interesting.

Georgia had a rare winter storm on Tuesday that dumped 1 to 4 inches of snow across much of the state.  Thankfully, the middle Georgia area, unlike Atlanta, prepared by closing schools and businesses all day on Tuesday in anticipation of the storm’s snowy march. Everyone around here also stayed home on Wednesday, and the schools even remained closed today, Thursday. 

The humble home of Barry's Books adorned in white
I always joke about everything shutting down at the first hint of a snowflake, but after seeing the chaos in Atlanta, I have to give kudos to the local governments and school boards for their foresight in avoiding Snowmageddon 2014.

There was one casualty that I know about, though … my pride.  I braved the icy roads to take a tote full of packages to the post office around noon on Wednesday.  Yeah, you're right, either stupidity or dedication. Thankfully, the streets were in pretty good condition, and the post office was actually open for business. However, after I grabbed the packages out of the back seat, I promptly lost my footing, and felt like the world was moving in slow motion as I slid unavoidably toward the icy ground.  As I slid, I was worried about damaging my precious cargo, so I held onto the tote for dear life, sacrificing my posterior for the good of my customers.

I hope they appreciate it.

My bruised ego notwithstanding, the rest of the snow day was uneventful, and I took advantage of my time off work to clean up my office, and to list some items that I have ignored for various reasons. Case in point were nine used magneto-optical disks that had been sitting for a year or more.  These disks contained a software installation for a vintage telephone system, and I had tried unsuccessful to sell them previously.  I was debating just tossing them, but decided to try one last tactic.  I listed them as reusable disks for a cheap price just to get rid of them.  They sold right away.  D’uh, as Homer Simpson would say.

Vintage technology sells once again
I also finally listed some vintage Dungeons and Dragons magazines, as well as a collection of Magic the Gathering cards. The magazines and cards have good sell-through rates according to Terapeak, so I used auction format for a change.  To hedge my bet, though, I put a reserve on the cards; I don’t want them going for my starting price of $9.99.

It’s supposed to be warm this weekend, 60 degrees on Saturday and nearly 70 degrees on Sunday, which is hard to believe after the snow that we just suffered through. Hopefully, a few sales will pop up to take advantage of the nicer weather. 

Until next time, hammer down.  OK, that sounds better on Storage Wars than it looks in print.

4 comments:

  1. I recently sold 300 Magic, The Gathering cards (1995-96) for $19.95. Specific cards and certain sets are worth a lot more. I had neither.
    What a lovely estate you have there. Love the tree line in back. The ice is finally melting here in Lower AL and life is slowly getting back to normal. It's so good to see the sun again.

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    1. I learned all I know about Magic cards, which isn't much, from a coworker. He told me about commons, rares, etc. Since I have about 4000 magic cards for sale, I wasn't about to research each one.

      Thank you for the compliment on our "estate." We have just over 4 acres of wooded land around the house. It's our little island in the middle of the city.

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  2. Your customers should appreciate your dedication! I live in Iowa and we've had plenty of snow this winter! But, I don't go out in it if I can help it! ~~Pam

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    1. If you haven't seen it, read about what happened when 2 inches fell on Atlanta on Tuesday night. Mass chaos.

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