OK despite the fact I said that I was not going to do any more of the long yard sales I decided at the last minute to give the worlds longest yard sale a one day shot (instead of the two days I normally do). I start only about an hour and a half from my house so the drive isn't too bad. Of course the temperatures for today were supposed to be around 95 with the usual 100% humidity. Fortunately today the heat never got unbearable. There was always a few clouds or small breeze to take away the worst heat. I decided to do this more as a challenge to myself to see if I could still do it or if age is catching up with me. It turns out I can still do it although I was in some serious pain from a twisted back that happened last week. I finally gave up after about 5 hours and I made it a whole 10 miles of the 690 mile long sale.

As you may know I buy all sorts of crap at yard sales. Here is a picture of what I got (except the jewelry).

The honey I eat on toast every day for breakfast and while it is priced higher than what you would pay in the store it is nice to be able to pick out the type you want. The Rid X was only a buck instead of $13 at Wally World. And it looks like I will not run out of stamps any time soon. There is something like $75 in face value in the album that I got for $25 so they will be on packages and letters that I send for the next few years. The pocket knives are to replace the ones that TSA keeps taking. The two vases I got because the price was reasonable and they are both signed. I have to see if I can find out who made them and what they are worth.

Strangely enough (at least for Tennessee) the first thing I bought was four casino chips and a token I have never seen - from the Pride of Mississippi. I almost picked up one die from the Holiday casino but the guy had a big sign out front that said "No $.50 items in here" and I was not going to pay a lot for an odd die.

The ring on the left is no big deal - just a sterling ring for a buck. The one on the right has an interesting story. I got it at just about the last stop of the day. The owner was sitting in an area that kind of blocked access to where he had the ring at. I looked at it and he told me that he did not think it was real. I used the loop on it and although worn I could read 14K. But I always worry when the owner says its not real because he may have had it tested. There was a huge amount of crud underneath the stone that is why in the first picture the stone looks almost yellow. The second picture is after cleaning the ring. I already knew it was marked 14K so when the guy said he wanted $5 for it I figured I could take a chance and not be out a lot of money. When I got home I tested it and it is 14 K. But that is not the best news. When I got back to the car I tested it with my diamond detector and it is a diamond!! After cleaning it I tested it again and compared it with Cindy's one carat ring and this is just about the same size. Just to confirm it I think I will take it to a local jeweler and see what he thinks it is worth. Yee haw! The fun is in the hunt.

There was one comment that I heard several times today - that this year is the worst year that the dealers have ever seem. One guy said "If they are under forty then they don't want this stuff and if they are over forty they already have it". Does that sound like what we are running into with the club? It seems like the young people just are not interested in collecting. I also noticed a severe lack of dealers at many of the places where multiple dealers set up. Some places that used to have 20 dealers now have 5.