Bring the whole family!

We were down at Two Bits & More in Arlington and went to replenish our spot (We’re #27) – Apparently what happened was, this family from the 1940 census grew up, had kids of their own, and those kids grew up and had kids, and they all decided to peruse my 5 by 6 rectangle. I’ve got to get a larger spot down there!

Look at the boy surrounded by nine sisters. He knows he is doomed. I understand he died young from inhaling too much hair spray and estrogen.

Look at the stupid receipt

When am I going to learn to look at the receipt before I leave the store? I got a “Magic Wand Jr.” portable document scanner from the Office Depot discontinued junk table in the front part of the store (Why do they put that stuff in the front? it’s kind of tacky) – It had been manually marked down to $39.95 but I was charged the earlier sale price of $49.95 – same as Amazon has it for right now. It would cost about $3 in gas to run over there today and demand the adjustment, not to mention the hassle factor.

The Magic Wand Jr. is rated low online, but mainly because some people had the internal rechargable battery die prematurely. I don’t think I would have a problem replacing it myself if that happens, with my handy jewelry screwdrivers, and maybe my soldering iron.

This first test scan (My artist’s conception of an Office Depot manager) came out huge with great details, and once I installed the software it’s not a problem to upload.

I work a different shift than my wife and the printer/scanner is in the bedroom, so this will be really handy for scanning in receipts, drawings, ads or what have me, right here at the dining room table, into my laptop. Even in the dead of night.

I’ll be taking more stuff down to the Two-bits shop today, including a tiny “Eames style” chair, lots of books, a cookie oven, and an 8″ rubber alligator. See you there! Or not.

It’s about time, It’s about space.

We survived the “spring forward” to Daylight Savings Time, but a guy at my “other” job had a minor heart attack. And of course there was the whole thing about resetting clocks. I suspect that part of the reason car accidents increase right after, is from people trying to remember how to fix the clock on the car radio, instead of watching the road.

There is a move afoot to strike down DST in Ohio, maybe other states for all I know. Indiana resisted for years until finally folding in 2006. Who is pushing for this? It’s a major inconvenience. Want more daylight? How about just getting up earlier?

I don’t know if it could be abolished nationally, it’s controlled by each state. Arizona is a holdout; it must be confusing if you live in an adjoining state but work in Arizona. I would probably wear two watches.

It should be noted that when we “Fall Back” resulting in an extra hour of weekend, you won’t hear a peep from me.

Jar cutter is just misunderstood


We had one of these Ronco Bottle and Jar Cutters down at our booth (#27) at Two Bits and More – Someone went to buy it, but didn’t because they couldn’t find the cutting blade- I found the cutter in the parts bag, it’s a ring shaped thing with five discs on little posts, see? The problem is that the discs aren’t sharp-looking like you might expect them to be- They aren’t supposed to be, they are for scoring the bottle, not really for cutting it. I taped it to the instructions this time.

We are taking this contraption back down there on Tuesday 3/6- It’s only $3 – I like the idea of making drinking glasses out of old bottles and whatnot, but you have to pick your hobbies, know what I mean? And it’s been kicking around our garage for about 20 years, and someone else’s before that.

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See the potential…

The carved giant spoon and fork I found at Two Bits in Arlington didn’t look like much, but I bought them anyway, did some sanding and found some weird enamel blue spray paint in my paint cabinet- where did that come from? Anyway, I think it came out kind of cool looking…

A different kind of manure

We had a surprisingly good time going to the postcard trader’s convention in Kent today. Between all the vendors there, they probably had tens of thousands of postcards.

Some of them were “rare” and ran several dollars each, but there were way more than I could possibly look at that were 25 or 50 cents. I sort of collect postcards that have already been mailed and have interesting messages written on them, and of course the cartoon ones that were popular in the 30′s to 50′s – The people that mail those usually write the most interesting missives.

This Wisconsin farming card mailed in April of 1912 was maybe my favorite that I found today, although it makes me feel sort of inadequate…

The message on the back reads something like this; the bold parts for emphasis are mine.

Hello Bub I guess you are busy I am too. I hauled 16 loads of manure today and broke a fork handle doing it (too strong) I wish I was with you I would like to breath smoke again and see the boys play ball       Write soon, Love Peg

Then again, some say that I shovel my own special brand of manure…

I have a lot of unused cards, mostly nondescript motels of the 60′s I think, going to take some down to 2 Bits on Tuesday or Wednesday and offer them for a quarter each. We’re #27 down there but we try real hard.

Two Bits space to grow

We went back to the Habitat for Humanity thrift store and got these rolling racks for the swap meet booth- the shelves have a bunch of holes, I think it was used in some sort of manufacturing, to let sealant or paint dry.

Hoping to find some retro-looking formica to cover at least the shelves, and paint a light color inside, whatever I can find cheap, maybe house paint that didn’t get the right color. I can always use them in the garage if that doesn’t work out, they have huge wheels on then, very handy.

The one with the giant metal penny! It’s heavy

Some people think so big, a regular penny for their thoughts just won’t do. This jumbo, heavyweight 3″ metal penny should do the trick  Look at the photo, a regular penny is shown alongside for comparison.


Mouse-man logo says RELAX
  Item #NF0460 Giant Metal Penny $2.98  
  (NOT normally stocked at Two-bits)  
Click here to order online:   Heavy Penny  


A service of The Restless Mouse Novelty Company

In a backpacking pickle? Here’s hope


Pickle Pack

This might be old news to some, but I just found out about this TerraCycle recycling program – People collect up specific rubbish suck as candy wrappers or potato chip bags, and they have someone upcycle the trash into something extraordinarily weird, such as this Lay’s Dill Backpack, or perhaps a skittles kite.


Officer latrines? No need, they just hold it in.

An army of number one, or maybe number two

I knew a couple who lived sort of “off the grid”, and thier alternative to installing actual plumbing was basically a bucket of sawdust with a seat on it. I guess you do where you have to do.



American Science and Surplus got some of these army surplus field toilets, that’s a real luxury when there are no gas stations for miles around. From our “Bathrooms of the Rich and Famous” collection of links.

Redneck Mystery?

Rednecks Recycle

Listia.com (A points-based auction site) now features a “redneck mystery box” (In a Mountain Dew carton of course)



May God have mercy on my soul, I am the current high bidder.

Modernize your outhouse!

Electric Corncob looks dangerous

It might have seemed modern back in the day, And Leister Games apparently still carries The Electric Toilet Paper Gag… But we have Charmin now. I don’t think they make these anymore, if you collect these old “box gags” you might want to pick one up.