The New Lamp

Saturday morning as I was driving home from dropping off the kids at their dad's house, I saw a big yellow sign.  That sign called out to me.  It said "Neighborhood Garage Sales."  Did I go there immediately?  No, no I did not.

First I went to the bank and got money.  Then I went to the sales.

Usually neighborhood garage sales means park your car and walk from sale to sale until your arms are too full, then go back to your car with stuff.  Repeat as needed.  But with a heat index of over 100 at 10:00 a.m., I did some walking and some driving and some walking and some driving.  The sales were in a neighborhood with new homes and no trees.  A neighborhood that was a cornfield not very many years ago.

Once at a neighborhood garage sale I bought a suitcase at the first sale and then kept putting my purchases into it as I walked the neighborhood.  That was in a neighborhood with lots of trees and shade and the day was not so ridiculously hot.  I bought more stuff than I probably should have because, well, I had a place to put the stuff as I walked along.  I don't recommend this tactic if you are on a budget.

Yesterday I bought some things that I really like.  And I got some deals.  At one house I bought a lunchbox for Sisi (who inevitably loses one or two each summer so getting one for 25 cents is a good idea), some little windchimes, and 2 cute refrigerator magnets.  The total came to 85 cents.  I told the guy I almost felt guilty.  Then he got this look on his face that I recognized from having my last garage sale.  The look said thank goodness people are still taking this crap out of my house for me.  One man's junk is another woman's treasure.  Or something like that.

The purchase I am most proud of, however, is a lamp.  This is no ordinary lamp.  No, the base is made of hand-thrown pottery.  I fell in love with it immediately.  I asked the woman about it.  She said she had bought it at an art fair in Columbus, Ohio.  I asked if it works.  Yes it works, she said.  Of course it works. 

When I got home I found out that it did not work.

This is how much I loved the lamp though.  I went back in time to  1969 when I was in 7th grade at Chiddix Junior High School.  One of the few schools in our district that is still the same size and same school now as then.  I had to take Shop that year.  All the girls had to take a few weeks of Shop and the boys had to take a few years of Home Ec.  In Shop we learned how to use a little table jig-saw, and how to use wood glue, and some other simple things. 

And we made a lamp.

So I thought, if I did it in 7th grade at Chiddix Junior High School 42 years ago, surely I could do it now.  I took the lamp apart and decided that I could indeed fix the lamp.  And fix the lamp I did.

 The only difference between 1969 and 2011 is that in 1969 I did not receive a very unpleasant shock that ran up my right arm and scared the bejesus out of me while I was checking to see if I had the wires connected correctly.

You can buy these pieces at Walmart for $3.97 plus tax.  Nearly doubling the price of the lamp but still well worth it.

The finished product. 

I have a vague memory of having to take some auto repair class in high school.  Watch here for future blogs when perhaps I will buy an old Jaguar and rebuild the engine. You never know!