phosfate | (no subject)

I assembled a new TV cabinet (God, does anybody else remember when a TV was a piece of furniture in and of itself?). It's nice, made of a sturdier particle board, and with a much better class of petroleum-based wood veneer, than the old one.

I took the old one out to the curbside on Monday night, with a little sign that said, I WORK GREAT! GIVE ME A HOME. :)

This turned out to be a mistake. As the hours passed and no one made off with it, I felt worse and worse. The poor thing had served us for 15+ years, with never a complaint. It wasn't to blame for being too big, or fugly. It was not at fault for having no place anywhere in the rest of the house. And it was getting chilly out. My God, what kind of monster was I?

Tuesday was a holiday, and I moped around in the living room, drinking coffee and glancing out the front window. What if no one took it? What if someone took it just to blow it up with fireworks? Clearly I had no soul.

Then, at the crack of 1:00, I heard voices outside:
"You want that?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay. Put it in the back."
"Kay!"
"It was nice she put that sign on there."

A mom and small boy lifted it into their SUV's cargo hatch and drove off.

The first thing I thought was, How did she know I was a she? Then I remembered that the sign was written in violet ink. Also, the little smiley face.

The second thing I thought was, Yay! And I felt better, and got dressed, and went out for the day. It was a lovely day.

And that's why I'm having problems getting rid of Mom's china.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I like stories like this. :D Probably because whenever I throw out an old toothbrush, i must stuff it in the packaging of the new toothbrush, kind of like a wee toothbrush coffin.

I always thank them.

Really? I do, too. Ditto pens.

I love that! And you know, without those little guys we'd be in a whole heap of trouble.

When I started reading this, before I saw your icon, I thought it might be my husband posting--he's supposed to be going to IKEA today.

Now that we've moved into our Smaller Than We Thought new apartment, we realize that we have to get rid of even more crap than we did already, especially if we want to buy a small futon or sofabed so we can enjoy the tv together and host the kid occasionally (no bedroom for her).

Not to mention that harpsichord my husband wants....

You have my sympathies regarding your mom's china.

I have never seen an Ikea. This thing came from (ew) Shopko. But it was the only one I found that was both attractive and not designed for 60" flatscreens.

See, there was this whole era where the big furniture televisions died, and we placed the new ones that were just televisions on top of the old ones. It was like easing into the new tv, and like the cycle of life where the dead bird becomes the dirt for the worms to eat? The furniture televisions became the end tables for the new televisions.

And now I have an image in my head of the hulking televisions pulling themselves around a desolote landscape like dinosuars, pouncing on and eating the old car phones that were just house phones wired into the dash.

:/

!!! Is that where the "If you have a television sitting on top of another television..." thing comes from? Aha!

I like it when people make them into aquariums.

I wish I knew how to do that, the tvs-aquariums-thing, but you know-- time, patience, etc. I still have a half-painted dollhouse sitting in here.

I felt that way about a desk I rescued when I first moved out here. (I gave it a personality and everything.) When we moved into the house I tried to make it work, but in the end it's happy holding up stuff in the basement.

I've seen instructions on the aquarium thing, but I can't remember where. That one DIY magazine aimed at 20somethings, I think. I'm so not helpful.

Mr Google says:
http://www.vafishfreek.com/TVhowto.html

I think that certain times of year are best for certain kinds of arts and crafts. I hate to sew if the temperature's over 50, especially sew plush. Painting when it's cold is sucky. I have a half-dozen half-sewn dolls, and they're not going anywhere until I can put the heat on and get me some new Law and Order episodes.

The best thing I ever rescued was a dictionary stand. It's in the basement, with the Unabridged Dictionary. Granted, the maps have an actual Iron Curtain on them, but the words are still good.

What a good story.

*waves after old television with handkerchief*

And it was really nice with the sign! I know I more than once stared longingly at computer monitors and old record players at the side of the street and decided against taking them because there was no way to find out if they work and I just don't have the space to store other people's scrap until there is the next bulky waste day (which is only twice a year over here).

My husband's always dragging up electronic equipment he found in the trash pile of our co-op. I'd say the stuff he finds has... maybe a 50% success rate. Of course every time he says something like "I can't believe someone would throw away a perfectly good Sony stereo receiver" my only reply is "Neither can I."

I would be more venturesome with scrap too, if I only had any repair skills.

I bet he loves that reply. :)

Yay, your old TV cabinet has a home! I disassembled my old one to make new shelves for my art shelf.

Why are you giving up your mom's china?

I took the teeny cart downstairs to hold paint.

Space! I currently have enough china to host a dinner for 40. It doesn't even fit in the china cupboards. And we're not talking the good stuff, just dinnerware. (I'm scared to even touch the good stuff. If my sister decides she wants it, she can deal with it.) There are plenty of people out there who can use it, and then I can buy my annual Fiestware service without guilt or fuss.

I do remember TVs that were a piece of furniture!

How about old stereos like that? Unless they gave it up when they moved to the condo (I can't quite picture their new setup), my inlaws may still have the "modern" stereo thingie (CD player/tape deck/radio) on top of the old cabinet thing that houses a turntable and speaker....

I loved the giant stereo. You never had to worry that somebody was going to spill a drink on the turntable. I used to like to lie on the floor alongside it and listen to the National Lampoon Radio-Hour.

I remember when TV Remotes were a piece of furniture all by themselves.

Oh, lord. They were so big that it was just as easy to get up and turn the knob.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who ascribes feelings to inanimate objects.

It was nice that you put the sign on there.

I like to take the uncertainty out of people's street shopping.

My brother tried to get rid of a lawn mower once. He put it out by the curb with a "FREE!" sign, but nobody took it. His girlfriend came over, and put on a new sign that said, "$25 OR BEST OFFER." Then she said, "Let's go for a walk around the block." When they got back to the house, the mower had mysteriously disappeared.

You are so sweet. And I'm just like that.

You should have seen my kids crying over leaving our van all lonely after it was killed and "Won't it miss us?" and the like.

*hugs* You done good.

Wait. You told me it was going to a farm where there were lots of other vans to play with.