This weekend I did some antiquing in Saugerties while the hubby worked on the Bed Stuy place. I hit The Treasure Shop’s retirement sale that was listed in the Friday Sales post. With 7 weeks to go, Tom’s prices weren’t rock bottom just yet, but there were some bargains to be had.
I met Jean aka I Love Upstate for lunch before our big shopfest. She was telling me how her mother is living in her house and redecorates with Walmart crap and how her fiance is one of those people who always lands on his feet (I HATE those people!). I read Jean’s blog regularly and she seems like a bit of a shopaholic, but I got to see it first hand. She purchased a framed horse ribbon display and some grain bags. What are you gonna do with those grain bags, Jean??!!
I filled my car with a bunch of stuff that I’ll transform and rehab. The twin bed frame will become a bench. The old metal gym locker can be used as a linen closet. And the singer sewing machine base will be used as a sink stand once I find the perfect piece for the top. I did ok. I’ll go back in a few weeks with a bigger truck when Tom is feeling more inspired to part with his items.
Meanwhile, back in Brooklyn, Husband picked up this floor I found on the Brownstoner forum. I had my heart set on wide plank antique flooring, but I was having trouble finding it at the price we wanted to pay. At the end of the day, this is a blessing. It’s 4″ wide, thick, solid oak leftover from a renovation. Already stained and polyurethaned. And it’s not one of those cheesy prefinished floors. The Boerum Hill couple had it sealed themselves outside of their home. So once we lay this sucker…it’s done! $400 for 200 square feet plus the $115 parking ticket my brilliant husband picked up.
All in all, not a bad weekend.
6 Comments
ok, i could get arrested for this, but now i’m all worked up over the DOT. i racked up several hundred $$$ worth of tickets from the $#@&&*%$! DOT just picking up/dropping off my kid at daycare, picking up takeout, etc.
solution?
I made an official looking permit with MS Word, laminated, and put in front of windshield. My “permit” was in large type, vague (a tip I picked up from all the legal documents I’ve come into contact with in the business world), something like, I had been granted permission to park-and-pick-up and that my vehicle will be moved w/in five minutes.
Not sure this works, but, sure felt like I had some kind of control over the whole thing. Phooey.
With my luck, I WOULD get arrested for something like that. I used to get away with fighting tickets 80% of the time. If they had the wrong address, color, if it wasn’t legible, I got off. It seems like they’ve really cracked down in the last few years though.
But what happened to the $45 tickets? Why is it always over $100 now? Never thought I’d say “The good ole days when Guiliani was Mayor….” No, I won’t say it. EVER!
Sad to see someone on this supposedly progressive blog actually boasting about breaking the law. Have you considered not driving and using public transit??
Do cynthia and RE realize that driving a car in this city is to be strongly discouraged? Tickets and parking fees, which you may think onerous, are a fraction of the compensation that are required for the societal damage of driving a car.
But then, I didn’t expect the writer of this blog to display a SUV either.
From an non-car-owner with kid (just to forestall the inevitable response that you can’t manage with kids and without a car).
CMU, I’m flattered that you think (or thought) of this as a progressive blog. From the mission statement before launching Reclaimed Home: “Obviously, not every restoration can be green,but we’ll aim to stay on track. It’s all about presenting options and ideas.” This blog is about housing and renovation OPTIONS, most green, but some not. I’m sorry if we let you down.
Your comment on my COMPACT SUV (which gets better gas mileage than most of the small cars I looked into) doesn’t really make sense to me. Please look at the photo again. Do you see all the junk in the cargo area? This is what I do for a living. Would you like me to haul that on my back? When you can think of a way to transport salvaged building materials, antique furniture and 2 large dogs on the subway, I’m all ears. Until then, unfortunately, I need an even larger vehicle.
Comments were directed to the two commenters above, guess I got a little carried away on the SUV crack, a picture being worth a thousand words and all…sorry
Hi CMU, I’m the mommy who’s breaking the law and, apparently, ruining the planet by using my car. In an attempt to redeem myself, I am the proud owner of a monthly metro-card, and, use transit whenever possible, as well as my own two feet to get around.
To repent: As a single parent I was jeopardizing my job status by trying to pick/up drop/off my daughter at daycare and trying to get to work by 9AM, which, at my company, was 1/2 hour late, using the subway. I was also skating on thin ice with my employer by leaving at 5PM on the dot to get to my daughter’s daycare by 6PM; after 6, I’d face $75 late fees. I tried to rely on mass transit, but, as we all know, “There is a subway directly behind this one” isn’t the case, especially if you’re subjected to the F line, like I am. So to protect my job status, I used the car.
When I use the car I consciously multi-task, like, picking up take out on the way home or shopping, errands, etc. Truth be told though, there are the leisurely times I’ve used the car; to register myself into the Emergency Room at LICH, to take my daughter to her sick visits with her pediatrician across-town, and, to pick-up Dr.’s prescriptions on the way back from said occasions. Oh, and the DOT managed to use these opportunities to give me a ticket — thought about leaving my toddler in the back-seat to tell them I’ll be right back, but that nice foreign couple got in a whole lot of trouble when they left their kid in the stroller outside the restaurant they were dining in. So I guess in retrospect, I deserved those tickets.
Though I can’t be sure, I don’t think having my kid barf on fellow commuters on her way to the Dr.’s office is what you mean by going green. Nor would taking a toddler with a 104 fever on the subway or make her walk, appropriate.
Hmmm, I think that’s about it, however, have a question: Does being green mean I have to toss in my non-judgmental, non-presumptuous hat, as well as forsake all common sense and sensibility?
In any event, I will refrain from posting future comments on RH as I don’t think our kind host RH deserves this … my sincerest apologies.