Saturday's Yard Sale Finds

Not a bad week hitting the yard sale circuit. Actually we have been staying out of Bowie and focusing on Anne Arundel county. The only drawback is that there is much more driving involved. This week we put about 100 miles on our car. Not pictured are a bunch of plants we picked up at two different sales early in the day. There were about a dozen pots ranging from .50c to $2. Maureen planted most of it in the afternoon.
Here are some of the finds.

• Windows Server 2003 has to be one of the best find ever. Free. Resale value of $100 +
• Windows Commerce Server 2002 Free Resale value of $80-100
• Frontpage book Official Microsoft one Free
• 2 John Grisham Novels $1 each
• 4 Disney Movies .25c each
• Targus wheeling Laptop Catalog legal bag. $2 resale 50+
• 3 laptops HP and 2 dells. Bought all three for $12 Can resell for 25-40 each for parts
• Altec Lansing computer speakers. My set took a dump last week. $5
• Took another chance on DVD player for Jamie. This time it was only $3
• Dell keyboard $1 Need spare

• John Deere shirt. Brand New $1 Looks to big resell
• Nice Gore-Tex North Face Jacket $10 should resale for $30-40
• 3 Boy Scout Shorts $1 each these go from $5-10 each
• Backgammon $2 We'll leave that at the beach next weekend
• Livescribe 4gb Note pen set. $30 resale of $150 +
• 6 pairs of shoes $1-2 each 
• Maureen bought the flat screen HD TV for our guest room. She did real well talking the lady down from $25-18

Saturday's Yard Sale Finds

We found this Oriental Rug in a Golf Course Community in Severna Park. There was a $199 price tag on the back. Only a couple years old very good condition. I needed soemthing to replace the nasty rug in my computer room. They were asking $50. I got it for $30.

Found these 2 nice dresses for Jenna. She has many formal events coming up in a few weeks. As well as homecoming in the fall. Black dress was never worn had $79.99 tag in it. Purple was worn once. They were asking $40 and $8. I got both for $20.

2 pair of Levis Ladies Premium Denim Jeans 2$ pair
Vera Bradley tote bag and wallet $1 Used I can get 10 for it.
DVD player for Jamie. Took a chance here. $5 Didn't work.... Trash
Windows XP Home edition. 2$ Never used. resale value of $40-50
2 Frontpage 2003 Books $1
Blackberry curve. $2. Took a chance here too. Have it listed as broken. Should get $10-20
Timex Ladies Ironman. $1 need battery.
Bag of nice sunglasses. 7 pair $5
New baseball cleats $2

17 Pairs of Shoes. Never pay more than $2 for shoes. The exception was the 3 pair of size 16. Red wing boots in the back, and the 2 pair in front of them. I paid $10 for the 3. Hard to find size might sell good. Many of these were had for a buck.

Love - Cirque du Soleil - Las Vegas

Maureen and I went to see Love at the Mirage during our stay in Las Vegas this week. Glad I bought the cheap seats because when we got to the theater we were told that the balcony was closed and our seats were being upgraded. They moved us into nice seats 5 rows from the stage.
This is not your typical "Cirque" show. They are pretty mundane in relation to this one. Not an "all eyes on 2-3 performers" kinda thing, but rather a myriad of performances occurring simultaneously, all playing a part in a bigger picture. This show basically does a montage look at the Beatles through the years. With back story (abstractly) for the songs they have written and performed. It is a "magical mystery tour" of the best the Beatles have to offer. Starting with the War years in England all the way through the 70's. Seats have built in speakers so you get a wonderful musical experience as well as a visual smorgasbord. The orchestration between music and choreography is delightful. The show keeps "the music" as the star attraction. There was never any specific performer that completely dominated the stage area for any given time. Everything that was done, was done strictly in accordance to the music and the legacy of the Beatles. If you are a fan of the Beatles, as I am; then you will THOROUGHLY enjoy this show. No doubt about it.

D.C. Council to Consider Soda Tax

D.C. Council Member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) has proposed a one-cent tax per ounce of soda and other sugary beverages sold in the District. The expected $6.5 million in tax revenue would help fund the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, which comes up for final vote on May 4. The Act seeks to improve the nutrition and health of public school students by providing more affordable, healthier meals to students, establish farm to table programs, and fund wellness and physical fitness programs.

This tax has the potential to go far in helping both D.C. school children as well as D.C. residents. Cheh suggests in her proposal that Center for Disease Control studies show a tax of 1 cent per ounce on soft drinks -- or approximately 10 percent per 12 ounce can or bottle -- would be the "single most effective measure to reverse the obesity epidemic." Research shows that the consumption of one soft drink a day adds approximately 10 pounds of weight a year. 

The measure comes to vote on May 25. Would a tax like this deter you from consuming as many soft drinks as usual, or would you continue to pay up? Would you drive to Maryland or Virginia to get a cheaper fix?

Teamsters Local 67 is opposed to any soda tax. We will be down at City Hall this Friday voicing our objections when this measure comes before the city council. 

The city cut all but 45 minutes per week of physical education from DC Schools and now that many of the kids are overweight they want beverage distributors to absorb the cost of getting these kids back into shape. It's laughable. If this is to get through the loss of jobs in our Pepsi shops will be significant.

West Virginia Mining Accident

In a horrific tragedy, 29 miners were killed this month in a mining accident in West Virginia.
 
Without missing a beat, Rush Limbaugh hit the airwaves, spewing bold-faced lies. Get this: Rush is claiming that the mine was operated by union workers and that “the union” bears responsibility for what
happened! Here's what he said:

"Was there no union responsibility for improving mine safety? Where was the union here? Where was the union? The union is generally holding these companies up demanding all kinds of safety. Why were these miners continuing to work in what apparently was an unsafe atmosphere?"

The tragic truth? There wasn’t a union at the Upper Big Branch Mine where the tragedy occurred. Why not? Because the CEO of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship, exploited our broken labor laws and repeatedly sabotaged his employees’ efforts to form a union. If Blankenship had allowed his employees to form a union, this tragedy might have been prevented. Unions provide safer working environments. And there's a way you can help make sure more workers have unions looking out for them:
Tell your Senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act!

So why are unions critical to making mines safer? Union miners can refuse unsafe work and fight for better conditions. Non-union miners, including the miners at Upper Big Branch, can’t do those things without fear of being fired.These miners deserved a union. And they tried to join one three times. SEVENTY percent of Massey’s miners signed cards saying they wanted to vote for a union. But the workers never succeeded in getting their union. Thanks to our broken labor laws, Don Blankenship was able to get away with threatening his workers. He told them he would close down the mine if they voted for a union.

We can’t let CEO’s like Blankenship continue to get away with this kind of dangerous intimidation and continue to risk lives.  And that’s why we won’t stop fighting to fix our broken labor laws, no matter how
long it takes.

Tell your Senators: Pass the Employee Free Choice Act and help prevent tragedies like the one at the Upper Big Branch Mine.

Earlier this year, corporate interests knew how close we were to passing the Employee Free Choice Act. They poured millions of lobbying dollars into trying to defeat the bill. And because of that, momentum has slowed. But our fight isn’t over. Not by a long shot! If we want worker safety in mining and other industries, we need to give people the right to join a union without interference! As long as CEOs like Don Blankenship prevent workers from standing up for themselves through a union, companies can get away with ignoring their safety and well-being.

Saturday's Yard Sale Finds

• Stihl 017 Chainsaw Head $20 Resale Value $100+
• Mizuno Catchers Mitt $3
• Set of 2008 Taylor Made R7 Irons Plus Putter $40 resale Value $150 +
• New HoMedics Clock Radio also has soothing Nature Sounds $2

•  Golf Club Travel Case $2 Resale of $20-30
• Dickies Denim Overalls $3 I thought nice for working around the house. Maureen says I must resell them. Probably get $15-20
• Surf Fishing Rod and Reel $2

• 6 Pairs of shoes $8. I buy used shoes for $1-2 if we don't keep them I resell them and generally make $10 to $15 per pair.
• Gucci Italian sunglasses $5 The lady said she paid $175-$200 for them I'm looking to make $30-$50 on a resale.
• Ipod Nano with case a cable. Also has 300 songs on it. $10
• 15inch View Sonic LCD Monitor. I picked this up as a gift for my Aunt Kathy. I'll ship it to her sometime this week.

• 7 Pars of American Eagle, Gap and Old Navy Shorts. Cargo Style. $7
• Not pictured are some Other Shorts and a nice Swann Point Golf Shirt. $2 Each