Freakin' Fridays

If I say "barley twist" would you know what I mean? When it's ivory wrapped in gold, would you remember it from decades ago? Maybe, maybe not, but I've found two pairs of earrings in the last year that would fit at least the mix of materials. And today I found a ring that appeared to match (no pictures - hey, I'm walkin' here!)

When I caught a mark in the store (über-tiny) I thought it said 800. With a branchy thingies that almost looked like a tree. Or a face. Or a really pointy cloud. And I know 800 is silver, right? Low grade at that. But it was at least gold-washed, and I couldn't be sure I saw it correctly, and it was only a couple of bucks, and it had been there over a month, and it didn't feel like silver ... What the heck, it was time to learn!

Now, understand, I've been getting my learning lately in roller-coaster fashion. A big aquamarine in a box lot here, seven watches I thought were 14K there, earrings that had gold posts only (a lot of those lately) and even ten times the fake-marked stuff than I've seen altogether in five years ... the hits, even the great hits, are almost just statistics.  What fun is that?  So lately I've been scaling back, only buying what I could find on the cheap (passing up a couple of gorgeous pieces because I didn't want to spend my entire allowance on them ... sigh).

But this was worth a look, yeah?

Took it home, acid tested it. It held at 14, then 18. Huh. I studied it with the real 30X magnifier, the one that gives me vertigo. Definitely 800, still WTF on the pointy hallmark. So I Googled "800 gold" and got this:

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/285/800marking.jpg

This was almost exactly my mark - some weird-ass moose or giant deer, right? Wouldn't you have shrugged and just left it in the store?  Not if you knew it was Portuguese for 19.2 carat gold!  Which I do now!!!

Dude, if this is what school is all about, I never want to freaking leave!

(Yeah, I really need to stop teaching teenagers.)

Happy hunting!

Another Peek ...

Taxes.  Don't mind paying them, hate tallying receipts for Schedule C's.  Doing a lot of thinking about taxes and hunting lately, and I've come to a few realizations:

1.  I don't buy to resell, so I don't count buys or sales in any tax form any more than I would for clothing or household goods.  Yes, when I buy I won't buy to lose money (in any area!), but that's a hangover from being $75K in debt and crawling out of that hole inch by painful inch over a three-year period.  I do screw up more times than I can count, spend too much on impulse, but that's a hangover from the days when (mall) shopping was therapy - and food was love, and exercise was stupid.  I haven't sold more than I would sell at a yard sale, and I've donated 20 things for every 1 I've sold ... and not junk, either - that ends up recycled or just trash.

2.  I need to get more receipts from the charities I donate to, and donate even more.  Selling is a pain in the *ss.

3.  I vow to work on my metal detector skills this year - thrift shops and yard sale people are going a bit batty with prices.  $10 for a gold plated chain?  Really??


Suffice it to say, I still refuse to cheat anyone, I still refuse to pay more than it's intrinsically worth (or learn not to buy for therapy ... nah), and I still love my life.  I'm just a little number-burned right now.  And I haven't even finished yet.

See you later ... assuming I survive this week, yeah?

Taking a Peek ...

Don't know if I'm done yet, but I can tell you a few things:

1.  My daughter's going in for surgery soon, one that will take months to recover from, so the wedding is moved to October.

2.  I didn't formalize my assets v obligations this year, if only because it's depressing to realize that "the old college try" is the best I can say for my retirement dreams ... as of now.

3.  I'm learning so so sooooo much more than I ever thought I could learn about buying (and selling a few things) on eBay.

4.  I have too many stories rattling around in my head to let them lie any more - does the phrase "critical mass" mean anything to you?

5.  I miss the philosophy of this thing ... and the focus on building net worth to protect our future ... as a treasure in and of itself.

6.  I'm not very good at taking breaks.  From anything.

I'm back.  I just don't know what's coming next.  But I'm planning to find my name on a bestseller in the next three years ...

Happy hunting ... for your bliss!!!

Taking a Break

I've found some of the oddest pieces lately - an 1869 medal for "soldiership" (needs some restoration), a ring with Egyptian hallmarks (not 18K, but interesting), and two service pins with holes where diamonds would go (who would take pin-head sized stones but not scrap the gold).  Pictures take time, and time is what I have in short supply - a wedding in May, the holidays, the Big Lug's retirement, and the Great Purge are taking up my life and shaking it hard.

And I'm happy as a clam.

But multitasking is not my strong suit, so I'm going to take a break from this blog - a month, a season, no clue, but I really, really need to focus on something not here.

I'll be back, with pictures, I promise.  Eventually.  And if you see a very tall woman with a crazed look in her eyes, muttering about tablescapes and donations, it'll probably be me.

Happy Holidays!

On a Tear

Not much on the hunting front lately, but lots and lots of inheriting forward.  I'm stripping the house of anything that's in good shape that's not worth enough to go to the trouble of selling by the usual routes.  This entire Fall is dedicated to that particular aspect of my five tenets of money-making, and in some respects it's the most powerful:  nature doesn't abhor an excess but a vacuum.

In other words, I can't get more if my house is one hatbox away from an episode of Hoarders!  And I won't feel peaceful until the stuff that I do have is in some sort of order!  And I refuse to wait until the last minute to sort receipts for tax purposes!  And I need to paint these walls, fix things that are broken, and repurpose a whole lot of other things before I lose my mind!  Arghhhhhh!!!!!

I feel better now.