doph's world
17 February, 2008
selling tat for pennies
Did boot sale today over in Rainham. Quite surreal first thing, haven't done one this time of year before, normally do them in the summer. So it's normally fairly light by the time we get the pitch and start setting up, though this morning, according to my car, it was -5 degrees C. Yes, bloody cold. Though there was just about enough light to set up n that, there were the usual hardcore buyers (no not in the 'adult' sense :p) walking around the stalls at around quarter to 6.
Except that, whereas in summer they'd be able to see reasonable easily, in the winter when it's near pitch black, most had either torches or headlamps whilst they looked for the juicier goods to snap up. Kind of like being interrogated, it distracted me whilst loading stuff onto the paste tables as some random chap shined a torch over the assorted tat I layed out. Kept being distracted by the torch beams, following their gaze like a bloody moth. Managed to get a few hours kip in the afternoon, which I feel is always needed after getting up around 4am, especially in the freezing cold.
Tend to feel less like doing boot sales more recently, since being in my current job it seems a shame to get up at stupid o clock on my sunday off, though after kay doing so well with selling cd's last time back in september there was more incentive this time. The music sold fairly well, we probably got over £40 for various albums, most of those sold in bulk at around 1 - 2 quid each. Not too bad really, got several more kicking around the flat to sell at the next one as well. We tend to do better at boot sales when we've got some stuff that makes decent money then pick up a slow to steady stream of little money off the more classic second hand stuff.
Off to bed now
doph
:o)
¶ 11:36 pm 0 comments
Except that, whereas in summer they'd be able to see reasonable easily, in the winter when it's near pitch black, most had either torches or headlamps whilst they looked for the juicier goods to snap up. Kind of like being interrogated, it distracted me whilst loading stuff onto the paste tables as some random chap shined a torch over the assorted tat I layed out. Kept being distracted by the torch beams, following their gaze like a bloody moth. Managed to get a few hours kip in the afternoon, which I feel is always needed after getting up around 4am, especially in the freezing cold.
Tend to feel less like doing boot sales more recently, since being in my current job it seems a shame to get up at stupid o clock on my sunday off, though after kay doing so well with selling cd's last time back in september there was more incentive this time. The music sold fairly well, we probably got over £40 for various albums, most of those sold in bulk at around 1 - 2 quid each. Not too bad really, got several more kicking around the flat to sell at the next one as well. We tend to do better at boot sales when we've got some stuff that makes decent money then pick up a slow to steady stream of little money off the more classic second hand stuff.
Off to bed now
doph
:o)
¶ 11:36 pm 0 comments
02 February, 2008
pffft
Finally decided to do something with my redundant pictures page, was looking a bit naff, having no content n that.
Nearly time to hop on the tube to see wales england in london welsh, pretty much resigned to losing again. Although we do win from time to time (like last year!), as far back as I can remember it seems we generally lose this one. Or to be more specific, we tend to either narrowly win, or lose very badly. Hopefully a narrow win this time :o)
Just about getting into this year's ou courses now, started reading the books a bit more strictly now. First tma's aren't till march I think so not yet in a desparate rush, though if I don't crack on with them it'll start to get very stressful very soon!
Got a new bike for christmas, was all excited like a small child. I've even gone and used it since buying it last week, much to my surprise. There was always the risk of it sitting in the garden rusting for months and not getting ridden, though I've found it's really easy to use it for nipping to tescos in the evening n that. We'll see how often I can be bothered, especially when it's as cold as it is today.
Strange times at work, there've been about 70 jobs lost on site, with more inevitably coming, in the name of cost controlling. So there's a pretty much constant doom and gloom atmosphere among the tea room talk of late. Not that I'm necessarily expecting to stay with the same company, on the same site for more than a few years. Just I get lazy, like most, associating change with hassle and therefore being wary of it. To be honest, getting a mild redundancy package and looking for jobs elsewhere would hardly be a bad thing, with my ~50 mile commute I'd be fairly happy to move somewhere closer and possibly a train commute rather than driving up to 3 hours per day to and from work.
Well time to get ready now, check the wales top is clean n all that.
laters
doph
:o)
¶ 11:15 am 0 comments
Nearly time to hop on the tube to see wales england in london welsh, pretty much resigned to losing again. Although we do win from time to time (like last year!), as far back as I can remember it seems we generally lose this one. Or to be more specific, we tend to either narrowly win, or lose very badly. Hopefully a narrow win this time :o)
Just about getting into this year's ou courses now, started reading the books a bit more strictly now. First tma's aren't till march I think so not yet in a desparate rush, though if I don't crack on with them it'll start to get very stressful very soon!
Got a new bike for christmas, was all excited like a small child. I've even gone and used it since buying it last week, much to my surprise. There was always the risk of it sitting in the garden rusting for months and not getting ridden, though I've found it's really easy to use it for nipping to tescos in the evening n that. We'll see how often I can be bothered, especially when it's as cold as it is today.
Strange times at work, there've been about 70 jobs lost on site, with more inevitably coming, in the name of cost controlling. So there's a pretty much constant doom and gloom atmosphere among the tea room talk of late. Not that I'm necessarily expecting to stay with the same company, on the same site for more than a few years. Just I get lazy, like most, associating change with hassle and therefore being wary of it. To be honest, getting a mild redundancy package and looking for jobs elsewhere would hardly be a bad thing, with my ~50 mile commute I'd be fairly happy to move somewhere closer and possibly a train commute rather than driving up to 3 hours per day to and from work.
Well time to get ready now, check the wales top is clean n all that.
laters
doph
:o)
¶ 11:15 am 0 comments
