OK, let’s get this out of the way first: I will never dumb down this blog a la Harry Potter (philosopher/sorcerer) or King George (the third). I know it’s called Pass The Present in the States, but I grew up playing Pass The Parcel and so that is what this series of posts shall be named.
Secondly, I never realized until very recently that
“parcel” is not a common word in the States.
So, before I start this new series, I should share some
background:
I believe my two most prominent personality traits are my
frugality and my curiosity. The latter came in handy in the late 1980s when I
was a newspaper reporter for about five minutes; and, for the most part, has
not caused too many problems.
My frugality, on the other hand, has always been a bit of
an issue. Some of it I am sure comes from my childhood. We were not a well-off
family. Now, don’t get me wrong, I always had a roof over my head and I never
went to bed hungry; but the clothes on my back and the shoes on my feet were
from Primark rather than Top Shop (the Brits out there will get that
reference!).
I do try to not let my frugality effect my life; and
several of my friends might call me generous (especially those with kids). It’s
when it comes to spending money on myself that it gets tricky. I drink generic
vodka; my wine comes in a box; and I cannot remember the last time I bought new
underwear. European butter is my only indulgence, and if you’ve ever tasted
American butter, you know why!
So, when I found something that inflamed my curiosity,
but was kind of expensive, I was torn.
And in this case, the curiosity won, and I purchased, for
$97.53, a box of unclaimed mail, with maybe some customer returns, and
overstock items thrown in for good measure. Huh? I hear you exclaim. Well, apparently,
it’s a thing: various businesses collect the above items (herein thereafter
referred to as bits and bobs because that is just so effing British) and sell
it. And it is all legal too.
And, well, going through other people’s stuff is my idea
of paradise; and Storage Wars is my idea of porn.
Now, the Storage Wars stuff is way out of my league financially, but this bits and bobs deal is not (although it did take me a long time to cave in and buy). And I did some research, and this seemed the best deal.
The box arrived two days ago. I opened it and did some feeling of the parcels but did not open any of them yet. Because I had decided, when I first placed the order, that I would like to open them all at once, with maybe a glass or two of (boxed) wine inside me with music playing in the background (oh, eff, I need to get a life).
So that is what I plan to do in a few days’ time. I’ll
take pics and do posts about each item individually, plus some other posts
about the whole experience.
So excited!!!!
