It started out just a simple routine sat. morning with just a simple doctors appointment for the wife and then a relaxing afternoon. Or so I thought....... Oh, before I get started, a few weeks ago I listed one of my carnelian lamps on craigslist, with no responses. Again, so I thought.. As I am pulling out of the doctors office, my phone rings and a guy is inquiring about my lamp and how his wife wont have peace with out it. I said the price 450.00 and yeah he choked, and then mentioned he had lapidary equipment he would be willing to trade for my lamp. Curiously I agreed to bring a lamp up to his home and do a little haggling for some of his equipment. Dropped the wife off at home and off I went. after I arrived and did my howdy do's I pulled out 1 lamp with base, and then another one again with a nice base. Yep, the wife's chin dropped and the hard part was over. We walked out to the garage and he showed me his assortment of equipment. There was a loretone polishing station and a full milk crate of wheels and grinder stones, some even diamond wheels, a 10 loretone rock saw, a small rock tumbler and a polishing /buffer station with a beautiful motor. Oohh, and a bunch of pulleys and belts, grits and a box of misc. blades, polishing compounds. And this guy thought I was a newbe at haggling! He thought he was going to trade me one piece of equipment for a lamp shade and base.. He don't know me well...LOL About a half hour later, I was loading every thing in that garage but the saw. And he was helping me. Oh, the best part was all I gave up was one shade, no base. That would of been for the saw thrown in. He wasn't happy but his wife was. It wasn't even the better of the two shades I had with me. Go figure... In the end, I guess he made the first mistake by telling me this was his fathers ( who past away ) and he had little interest in the stuff and the fact his wife was in love with a shade. And the blatant fact he thought he was going to take me for a ride. You would of been proud of me, but my wife would of insisted on the saw and beaten my ear all the way home for not getting it. She would of said, "you can replace a piece of machinery, but the shade could never be replaced." Hey, what da hell. Yeah, all the way home licken the chops. I get home and my wife says "Now what are you going to do wit all that stuff?" Even on the best of days, you cant win. When I get a chance, I'll post photos of my treasures.
