Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Category: Blog (Page 147 of 153)

Free sells.

The adage is something like – It pays to advertise. In this case, in didn’t pay but the results were certainly impressive.

If anyone has doubted the power of Craigslist, I can assure you that people are reading those classified ads. In an attempt to clean out the storage space, I listed the lumber that I had used to assemble my makeshift bookshelves under the ‘Free’ heading.

The post listing button had barely been pressed before the telephone began ringing. The first caller gave me his name and promised to hop in his truck and head to Broken Arrow. After explaining to the next ten callers that the lumber was spoken for, I signed back into Craigslist and deleted the ad.

Still, the calls continued.

It took a few minutes for the ad to disappear, but even that wasn’t the last of it. I presume some folks wrote down the number to call later. By that time, my first contact had called back to say he was in town.

Half an hour later, I’m back in the store and the lumber is gone.

Now, if I can just have a bit of that success trying to sell the glass showcase, also in storage.

That bit of advertising might actually pay off in cash.

Meet and greet.

Sometimes you just have to smile and move on.

There are characters in the world and when the front door is open to the public, people of all sorts may find their way inside. I’m always pleased to greet arrivals, including an early Wednesday visitor.

He cruised in wearing baggy, knee-length shorts, a Hawaiian-y shirt, and sporting a scruffed Mohawk. After ambling partway down an aisle – long enough for me to get to the front of the store, he said some howdy-do as a greeting. And then scratched himself. It was no discreet thing.

It was a full-fledged right arm wraparound to the posterior, accommodating a digging sort of itch.

That completed, he wondered if, maybe, I was hiring.

After waiting an appropriate length of time to allow for the supposed consideration of his question, I had to respond that – regrettably – I was not.

He was kind enough to compliment the store’s appearance before moving on. I can appreciate his situation and admire his pursuit of a job.

But I was thankful he didn’t offer to shake hands.

Busy weekend, but back to work.

It was certainly nothing fancy. A little braized beef tips with onions and peppers over egg noodles, with some veggies and bread on the side.

Nothing fancy, but it was from the heart before it came out of the kitchen.

Mother’s Day 2012.

I’m fortunate to have been able to prepare a little something for my mother, my sister, and my wife – on the occasion of that busy dining-out holiday. We four constituted the entire crowd at McHuston’s on Sunday, which is just as well. Except for a small ‘to-go’ box, everything that was cooked was gone.

As a test run for the Irish Bistro, I discovered a couple of things right off the bat. The kitchen performs just fine – particularly that three-compartment sink where Fab and I washed up the dishes and pots afterwards. Wash, Rinse, Sanitize.

Another lesson: it is a rather long walk from the kitchen in the back to the tables in the front of the store. Not really important unless you’re trying to manage a tray of drinking glasses filled close enough to the top to be worrisome. No spills though, thank goodness.

The delivery is scheduled for later this week to install more of the kitchen equipment, which will bring us a little closer to being able to offer lunchtime fare. Nothing is finalized, but I’m still hoping to have a fairly diverse menu with offerings such as Irish Stew, Shepherd’s Pie, Potato Soup, and a sandwich or two as regular items. Maybe a soup o’ the day mixed in, and a couple of plated dishes as well. I’m working on an Irish slow roast somewhat similar to what was whipped up for Mom’s Day, and a couple of others that are rattling around in the idea phase.

I’m also pleased to report that the Rooster Days weekend worked out remarkably better than at our former location. Once the parade was over, it turned into a regular day of business, with considerable more traffic than the typical Saturday. Except for the first couple of years, Rooster Days marked a rare weekend off, since the parking lot spaces were sold by the landlord and store customers were effectively barricaded from entry.

Between Roosters and Moms it made for an eventful weekend.

Almost a relief to have Monday roll back around…

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