In which people be crazy about garage sales

I took these notes after talking to Primo in August, right after the garage sale, and now - in January, when I am getting around to writing the actual post - I don't remember all the details. I might have to make stuff up.

OK. Remember the huge bookcase that Ted wanted and said the estate should pay to ship to him and that I estimate would cost about $500 to ship? And that Primo wanted to bring to our house, even though there is not really a good place to put it without making our living room look crowded? Even if there were room, I would not want a looming reminder of Sly and Doris in my face.

A junk/antique dealer came to the house before the garage sale to look at stuff. He had offered $500 for the bookcase, but another buyer came during the garage sale and offered $1,000. Primo called the dealer and the dealer said dude take the money that buyer is nuts but whatever good for you.

Despite the ad saying, "No early birds," people showed up early. I wish this blog were real time so we could have used one commenter's advice to say that the price before the start time of the sale is double the price after the sale starts.

People wanted this kind of stuff:

• Sly's disorganized, sloppy, dirty workbench with rusted, broken tools on it
• The rusted metal cabinet with the broken mirror and door that won't close properly
• A flowerpot half buried in the yard
• Boxes of books that Primo had put in the back of the garage because he didn't think anyone would want them
• Wire bookshelves with stuff on them

Primo: This woman wanted one of the wire bookshelves - during the sale. I would have had to unload everything. So I told her she could have both of them for twenty but she would have to come back later. She said that the second one wasn't worth ten dollars. I said a six pack of beer costs ten dollars. She said she doesn't drink beer. She was a pain in the neck.

In which Primo tries to convince me he should bring home more junk even after I have found new junk cleverly stashed in the dining room, where I rarely go

Things Primo has already brought home that I do not want and no, Primo, I do not care that they have kitties on them.

1. A plate with a painting of kittens
2. A blanket with kittens
3. A t-shirt with kittens
4. Photos of kittens in frames that have kittens painted on them

Things that Primo wants to bring home that I do not want

1. Family photos. He doesn't look at the family photos he already has. They are just random photos tossed into boxes, not organized neatly into albums the way my mom's family photos are. I used to think my mom was a bit OCD in her relentless organization of things, but now I realize that her way is the right way and everyone should do it that way.

2. His mother's silver. I want it only if I can sell it. I will not polish it. Ever. I am done with that BS.

3. His dad's thesis. Why? Primo never had any interest in secondary English poets before. Why would he want to read his dad's thesis now?

4. A pie thingy.

5. His sister's medical records. Actually, he doesn't want to bring them home, but there are boxes of records and frustrated letters that his parents wrote, trying to get Nancy help. I think he feels that if he throws that stuff away, he is throwing his sister away.

In which Ted grudgingly acknowledges that the money that Primo sent him to reimburse him for attending his own father's funeral (I would have gladly paid to see Sly buried) was "not unreasonable" and informs Primo that he will be sending Primo a "comprehensive spreadsheet" of his son's expenses. Primo needs to resign as trustee ASAP or it will be 14 years of this

> Subject: Re: package received
> From: ted
> Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2015 13:42:00 -0400
> CC: ted's wife
> To: primo
> 
> Also, we are busy tallying our various company tax returns, due on the 15th, after which we’ll pull together a comprehensive spreadsheet of Ted's Son's educational expenses and forward to you.
> 
> cheers
> 
> > On Sep 9, 2015, at 1:40 PM, Ted wrote:
> > 
> > Thank you. I don’t know for the life of me what I’ll do with the graduation gown; but I like the picture of you and me and Dad’s commemorative obituary, both of which will hang in a place of honor. The check was deposited yesterday. The amount was not unreasonable. Hope you’re well.
> > 
> > cheers

In which I discover Primo continues to make political donations even though he is not working and I earn only about half of what he made

Me [looking at credit card statements]: Hey! You have a recurring donation to [group I do not like]!

Primo: I inherited money.

Me: That money is not enough for you to quit working and it does not replace your salary!

Primo: Yeah, but I inherited money.

Me: I do not want my hard-earned money going to political things I don't agree with!

Primo: My parents would have supported this group.

Me: EXACTLY.

In which my co-worker is dealing with his own issues with wills and grabby inheritors

A co-worker, Idris, and I were comparing notes on greedy relatives and wills and the lack thereof.

I don't even know how we got on the subject - we were talking about lean operations and TIM WOOD and does the "S" really fit at the end because then it's not the seven muda, it's eight.

So then it was all about relatives and settling estates and what a person has to go through to settle an estate and how estate settling sure brings out the ugly in people.

Idris said that his sister had died without a will. He had lived with his sister, but I gather she owned the house.

Then I got totally distracted.

Me: Wait! Are you married?

Idris: No.

Me: Have you ever been married?

Idris: No.

Me: Whaaaaat? You are so eligible!

(He is a really nice, middle-aged guy with a good job. He is really, really nice. Sweet, good sense of humor, hard working, and, as an engineer, can undoubtedly fix things. These are all excellent qualities in a husband.)

Idris: Wellll..... Anyhow.

(That is a rude question, I know. I hated it when people used to ask me that until I realized what they were saying was not, "Wow! You are so undesirable that nobody has seen fit to marry you!" and was instead, "How is it that someone as fabulous as you has not been proposed to many, many times?")

Me: Sorry.

Idris: My sister died a few years ago and I was traveling a lot for work and she didn't have a will, so I have had to figure it all out. My niece, my nephew, and I are the heirs.

Me: Because no will.

Idris: Yes. My sister and my niece were not close. She did nothing to help after my sister died.

Me: Not taking her clothes to charity or anything like that?

Idris: No.

Me: So what happened?

Idris: I had to get the house valued. I wrote a check to each of them for their half.

Me: Because you still live in the house?

Idris: Yes. At the lawyer's office, I gave them each a check. My niece asked if I wasn't sure the house was worth more.

Me: Oh good grief. Money fell into her lap and it wasn't enough?

Idris: The lawyer said she could pay her own appraiser.

Me: Did she?

Idris: Nope. She cashed the check the next day.

Me: Yeah.

Idris: So at the lawyer's office, the lawyer said that the house was the only real property and the rest was kind of worthless stuff like my sister's clothes and jewelry. And that's when my niece perked up again and said she might be interested in the jewelry.

Me: Even though she never had much to do with your sister?

Idris: Exactly!

Me: I swear it brings out the ugly.

Idris: I just want to be done with it. I am tired of dealing with it. I am tired of dealing with my niece. She is so grabby! My nephew is OK, but I really do not like my niece.

Me: Do you have a will?

Idris: No. Not married. No kids. Haven't really ever thought about it.

Me: But if you die without a will, your niece will get half of all of your hard-earned money!

Idris: What? Oh! Yes! You're right! I need to make a will! I can leave it all to my nephew. Ha.