Brick Driveway History. Prologue I

I posted a picture of my “driveway water sparkles” to my Facebook page and received a response that was beyond anything I ever imagined. This summer marks the 10th anniversary of putting all those driveway bricks down.

That 2012 driveway construction was not a case of simply engaging a contractor to do a job.

It was a project that evolved over the years and the miles between Lockport, NY and Tuscaloosa, AL. 

I got the idea to finally consolidate my many journal entries of the 2012 driveway project and rewrite this all into a more of a readable story over just recording what transpired. There is also the back story of the sidewalk bricks that ties into the driveway which can be considered a prologue to this saga. 

My mom died in December of 1994. I was the executor of her estate and it was in the spring of 1995 I was able to close the book on everything. As the year progressed, it was not realized I was also laying the groundwork to be closing the book on the Lockport, NY house I had called home since 1978. 

That summer of 1995 I finally had a deck built off the dining room. When I redid that dining room in the early 1980’s I installed a door to the south wall which did wonders to open that room up to daylight. 

For too many years that doorway was just a portal to nowhere. A deck installation was one of those “round-to-it” projects that never got done. Gary was in the process of installing a deck to his house on Niagara Falls Blvd in Buffalo. He was my inspiration in more ways than one. 

1995 evolved to be a brutally hot summer. Gary was under so much stress pouring cement for the footers, leveling up joists, not to mention all the anxiety that goes with such a job. I did not want to mimic Gary’s aggravations. 

When I contacted Chase Pitkin to price out lumber for this project, the manager of the lumber department informed me the store could contract out the basic deck and stair installation for a labor fee of some $400.00 added to the lumber costs. Where do I sign???

 That $400.00 turned out to be one of the best investments I ever made. Gary began his project way before me. I was putting on the finishing touches long before he drove the last nail to his project. 

Once the deck was up it was time to group all my bricks together into a patio. The treasured bricks I had salvaged in 1983 were finally installed in one place. The deck/patio signaled that I had maxed out the improvements I could sensibly undertake to that old house of mine.

The neighborhood had been slowly getting shabbier as the old established residents died off and their properties turned into rental units. I smiled inwardly when my neighbors complained to me how the 8ft privacy fence I installed blocked off the view to my backyard they so enjoyed. 

These tenants next to me would always back their “piece of shit van” into the driveway right next to the doorway to the dining room. That way they could exit by driving straight out. In the winter they would idle the engine of this smoky rattletrap forever to warm it up before driving off. The exhaust fumes would filter into my house. You could not reason with these people. 

It was in February 1995 I took a much-needed break from the executor duties and flew to Ft Myers, FL to attend the Orlando Phonograph Show. Billy picked me up at the airport and we tore into our lunches seated outside at the restaurant patio. As I luxuriated in the sunshine wearing a Lands End polo shirt, soaking up that glorious sun, a seed was planted into my mind. That seed was I did not have to endure endless Western New York winters anymore if I chose not to. 

One of the major anchors holding me to Lockport was watching over my mother. I promised dad on his deathbed I would always be there for her. I had fulfilled my obligation. In the fall of 1995, the exhaust fumes from the “piece of shit van” again saturated my house signaling the start of winter. It was like those noxious gasses germinated that seed planted in the Florida sunshine to move south. 

Harrison Radiator was again moving work to the Tuscaloosa, AL plant. Wayne and Julie were in line for the next transfer which happened in the late fall of 1995. 

It is funny the influence people can have on your life. Julie was good friends with my sister. It was Julie who found me my Lockport apartment in 1976. Mom was so upset when I moved out but it was time. My GM job seemed fairly secure so I no longer could use the excuse to live at home to save money. 

Julie was working in real-estate and she toured me through the house I eventually bought in 1978. 

To jump ahead… Julie moved to Tuscaloosa, in 1995. I followed finally getting my transfer in late May1998. 

Then Julie went to Corvette Assembly in the winter of 2004 and I followed her arriving at Corvette in August 2004! 

January 1996, I flew to Atlanta. I stayed with Joe’s Uncle Tony for a couple days before driving west to Tuscaloosa, AL In Tuscaloosa I stayed with Lockport friends who had transferred to the Tuscaloosa plant in the early 90’s. 

After studying maps for weeks, I had a pretty good idea of the layout of Tuscaloosa and Northport. I took a drive around the city before contacting my friends. On this excursion I felt such a pull to the historic district where I now live on that first drive through. 

I began to make friends and connections with Tuscaloosa residents and building a network of friends. One connection was a real estate agent who toured me through a couple “historic” houses. One such 1890’s house had me blinded to all its faults. 

It just so happened Billy was enroute to Las Vegas to pack up a collection. His friend Paul was the “sidekick” to help out on this trip.

 Billy and Paul met up with us in Tuscaloosa for a quick visit on the way. Billy is no stranger to real estate. When I showed him this property I was “Ga-Ga” over he gave me the needed dope slap. He took me to the back and pushed my thumb through a back window sill to point out the rampant dry rot. That was all it took to pull me back to reality. 

The die had been cast for me to move south……

Brick Driveway Prologue II

 

After I returned from my first visit to Tuscaloosa the wheels were set in motion for packing up the house. Books and records were boxed up first. The original double hung windows were pulled out of the garage to be refinished and reinstalled when the stained-glass panels would be removed.

It was in late March 1996 things were very slow at work. I had been farmed out to building 7 stacking radiators. It was no problem to get time off for a fast trip to Tuscaloosa.

I bought a cap for the truck to facilitative hauling stuff to Alabama. Having a cap eliminated dealing with tarps and the worry of bad weather infiltrating the load.

It was a wet evening when I first began to dismantle the brick patio that had not even seen eight months of use.
Aftermath of that initial brick removal:

The fall of 1978 I prepared my backyard for a colourful spring. The bulb catalogue from Michigan recommended to throw handfuls of Crocus bulbs onto your lawn and plant them where they landed. I had Crocus plants growing everywhere in my yard!

 

After nearly 20 years they really multiplied. You could not mow the leaves down after the crocus bloomed as they supplied nutrients to the bulbs. The raggedy leaves and grass drove Ron to distraction! I basically just scraped off the sod and laid the bricks into the dirt for my first try at a patio building. The crocus bulbs were still intact.

Nothing says spring like Crocus in bloom. Ron’s old Tabby cat Chloe and Mom’s old cat Fuzzie having treats outside on the remains of the patio.

This Alabama trip would be my first long distance journey driving the 1995 Dodge Dakota overloaded with bricks. I had the weight in the front of the truck bed to attempt to balance out the load. There must have been some 125 bricks in the back.

This was my initial foray driving to Alabama. Google maps and Garmin had not been invented yet… or if they were out there, using them was very limited. I missed the turn off for I-71 outside Cincinnati so it was a straight shot down I-75 to Knoxville, TN. Williamsburg, KY was my stop for the night. It had been a nerve-wracking drive through too much snow in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The outside of the truck was white from the road salt.

A supermarket Deli provided my supper. I learned an important lesson for driving in the south at this stop. A beer would have been so relaxing with my sandwich to calm my frazzled nerves. I was in a dry county. The nearest place to buy beer was 12 miles away! From that time on, taking road trips in the south, I always made sure I had a six pack to fall back on.

I had arranged to rent a storage locker on Skyland Blvd. I drove direct to the storage facility when I arrived in Tuscaloosa. Those rear springs seemed to be breathing sighs of relief as the boxes and bricks were unloaded. I was a happy boy to see the truck bed rise up off the axle to the “normal” position.

I have no idea how many trips were made in the months leading up to closing on my Tuscaloosa, AL house in late August. That little storage locker was pretty full this time. It was emptied the day after I closed on my house.

The bricks were stored in the backyard. The big “square ended” bricks are the pavers from Clinton Street Hill.

Ron’s old cat Chloe perched on the Clinton Street bricks fall of 1996. Dagney on the old train station pavers 1999.

It was in the spring of 1999 I got the approval from the preservation board to install the cast iron gate and brick sidewalk.

I was still a novice working with bricks. I laid out this sidewalk in a simple "basket weave” pattern as I had no way to cut the bricks. I was so proud of that project. My friends were told how those bricks would never come out in my lifetime!!

Prologue III

 

III: The first Nelsonville “Star Bricks.”

It was 2008 when I attended my first brick swap with the International Brick Collectors Association. What an eye opener for me. I immediately developed a hankering for the salt glazed patterned sidewalk brick pavers. The bricks I had salvaged and installed as my sidewalk were similar but not quite up to the quality level of the salt glazed variety.

I tracked down a source of Nelsonville “Star” pattern bricks in Richmond, VA and did a pickup of some 150 “star bricks” in September 2011. I had attended an event in Southeastern, PA. which afforded me a pick-up on the way home

I was not able to finish the packing away of the run till late in the afternoon Tuesday the 6th of September. My original game plan was to drive to Gettysburg, PA Tuesday after packing up the run. There I was to stay with friends and relax Tuesday night and all-day Wednesday.

The rain never let up and an 85-mile drive in the dark to Gettysburg, PA was out of the question. I was too beat to drive any distance. Instead, I decided to just cancel the Gettysburg section of the trip and head for home early.

First, I checked with Dan the E-bay seller if I could pick up my bricks in Richmond, VA a day earlier on Wednesday the 7th. The original pick-up day was planned to be Thursday. That change was OK. We agreed upon a pick-up time of 11:30 a.m.

 I left the campground exhausted Tuesday right around 6:00 p.m. and headed toward Lancaster, PA. I found a Motel 6 listed on Lincoln Highway East. My GPS guided me through the back country roads. Many of the crossroad names I remembered from when I sorted the parcel line at the Lancaster, PA UPS center in the early 1970’s.

The rain never stopped. Many of the roads had water rushing over the surface. I dread driving in these conditions. I took my time and arrived safely to the Motel 6.

Got all checked in and went to the near-by Texas Road House for a greasy, bacon-cheese burger and a cold beer. Got a local Lancaster Wheat beer. It was very good.

I crashed and burned early. According to my GPS it should take some four hours to drive from here to Richmond, VA to where I was to pick up my bricks. I planned on an extra hour and a half for traffic in planning my departure.

 

Got on the road about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday: Things went pretty smoothly driving on route 30 to York, PA and then down I-83 to Baltimore. It was when I got on the I-695 outer beltway things bogged down. The information sign over the highway summed it all up. The driving time to my exit some 12 miles away at I-70 was given as 55 minutes! This time was pretty accurate and “normal.” There was no evidence of an accident or problem.

Finally got to my exit and drove west on I-70 to route 29. Went south on 29 which brought me to I-95. It has been many years since I have driven in this area of the north-east. I remember now why I avoid driving on these roads like the plague. The traffic is unbearable.

The sky opened up as I was on the I-495 around Washington, DC. No more rain. PLEASE!!!! This rain was the solid wall of water variety that you can barely see through.  The road can’t shed the rain fast enough so it is just ends up being standing water to send you hydroplaning. My knuckles were white as I clenched the steering wheel traveling at 45 mph a safe distance behind a semi with the 4 ways flashing. I hate/dread driving under these conditions.

My GPS showed a later and later arrival time to Richmond. When I finally got to I-95, driving/weather conditions calmed down a bit. I pulled off for gas and called Dan to let him know I was running late. He was kind of relieved as he was also running behind. We pushed back the brick pick-up time to 1:30. Now I could relax a bit.

 

I got to the address where the bricks were stored a bit early. I had a Starbucks coffee to relax with. The rain was finally over and day was heating up. The humidity was so thick it could be cut with a knife. I changed out of my thermal shirt into a tee shirt before Dan arrived.

Dan showed up and we loaded up my truck with 150 Nelsonville Star Sidewalk pavers. My truck suspension bogged down as that worked out to be some 1,500 pounds. The sweat was pouring off me as I loaded up the truck bed.

The 150 Nelsonville Star Pavers all loaded up:

From Richmond it was I 64 west to Staunton, VA and I-81. I-81 south to Wytheville, VA.

I arrived at the Motel 6 right around 6:30. I was so worn out I could barely walk into the lobby to register. The clerk remembered me from the previous week. This is a perfect ½ way stop. Tuscaloosa is 500 miles from here; I had 480 miles already under my belt.

Walked down the hill to the Mexican Restaurant: the wait staff remembered me from last week. Splurged and had two Dos Equis with my chimichangas. There was one other guy at the bar across from me. We joked about the Spanish “Judge Judy” show that was on playing out on the big screen TV. This guy before the “Judge” was caught with some strippers in Las Vegas and his tortured wife was really giving it to him. It was very interesting with the hysterics all in Spanish!

Walked up hill to the Motel and crashed. I had a 4:00 a.m. wake up call. At this stage of the trip, I just want to get home!

Prologue IV

 It was in 2002 I poured out the sidewalk to the workshop in the back. I  first laid out the side forms and would mix and pour a section or two after work. This will all be coming up and replaced with these star bricks. This initial cement project was recorded in  my early journal.

Journal entry from 9/11/2o11

Sunday I worked on tearing up the cement walkway and getting things ready for the Nelsonville Sidewalk pavers. This work is pretty fussy and can eat up lots of time. Normally I would have the radio playing my favourite NPR weekend programs. As a tribute to 9/11, memorial programming is all they aired for the entire morning and afternoon. I kept the radio off.

Getting ready to tear into the cement:

I’ve developed a new type of form for pouring the cement side of the new project. Since I’m reusing one of the old forms from the original walkway, this should keep the spacing pretty even and allow the side to stay pretty level. I was too beat up to set the thing up after putting it all together last evening.

The new improved cement form:

I stopped by Publix on the way to Homo-Depot to get the wood needed for the new forms. If there is a new addiction in my life it is the Raspberry Wheat, Shock Top beer I discovered. I got-me (That is Southern talk!) a six pack of that along with some heavy cream. I’m throwing caution to the winds and cooking up Alfredo tonight!

9/12/2012

I’ve reached the point where I want this latest project DONE!!! This has required so much preparation and set up work. It is frustrating in that you don’t see the immediate results and it feels like you are doing all that work with nothing to show.

I’m still pouring cement into the forms for the one side. However, now I can work in stages in that the earliest work can now be added to. Once the cement form dries, bricks are mortared and leveled out to the top edge. Once they set up, I can pound crushed limestone in and install the new sidewalk pavers. Being able to lay 15 pavers yesterday made all the difference in the world. Now, I can see light at the end of this project!

Here is a picture that shows all phases of this project at once: Digging up. Pouring the cement, and installing the bricks.

A close up of how the new pavers will look .. 

9/17/2011

The main focus in my life now has been to get my brick project finished up. This is incorporating many different styles of bricks. The “main sidewalk section” is composed of Nelsonville “Star” design sidewalk pavers. Where this joins to the main patio by my house I used “Hill Brick” salvaged from a reconstruction project done on Clinton Street Hill back in the late 1980’s. This brick had a bevel on one edge so when it was butted up to another bricks square side it would give traction as compared to a smooth surface. That bevel makes a nice transition for the drop from the patio to the sidewalk.

Where the star pavers end I have that demarcation point filled with heavier than normal paving blocks. The light coloured pavers are known as “Worlds Fair” bricks. These bricks were made in Malvern, Ohio by the Robinson Clay Products Co.  This company was so proud of the awards they won at the Columbian Exposition they imprinted the winning medals into their bricks! It can be hard to make out the detail, but you can just make out Columbus stepping into the New World. This imprint was never meant to be seen.  It is this type of pride and workmanship that is so lacking in the marketplace today.

The empty spot will be filled in today with an assortment of yellow bricks surrounded by Culver pavers. I enjoy making up designs using the different bricks in my collection. There has always been a soft spot in my heart for yellow pavers. I just wonder if that has to do with the “Yellow Brick Road” from the “Wizard of Oz”????

9/20/2011

A recap of how the backyard brick projects evolved.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same” is so true in my life. With my last brick project pretty well finished up, I was searching my picture files for some early shots I could use for comparison. I can spend hours just reliving the past viewing those pictures. I decided to be kind to myself and only go back to 2000!!!

The year 2000 was when I poured the cement pad to my driveway, built the wooden gate/fence and poured the sidewalk to the existing pad that was at my back study door. It was May 29th I poured out that cement according to the date scratched into the surface. The two bricks Judy got me from Niagara Falls Blvd are incorporated into the border of this pad!

I’ve have always envied those people who have a vision right from the “get-go” on how they want things to be. In my case things seem to evolve which can end up causing much more work and aggravation.

It was in 2001 I got the idea to install a walkway to my workshop from the driveway to make it easier to get my 1988 Lowrider out of the backyard. Oh my god: how many bags of cement did I mix that spring?

Here is a shot showing the many different levels of patios and walkways I had to contend with. This is a kitty who used to visit Stumpy!!

All those levels and odd angles made my “tits itch”. As Ron aptly coined me, “That Jimmy is like a squirrel in a cage; he just keeps going round and round and round.” In 2009 I got the bright idea to revamp that mess.

Overall shot showing the sidewalk.

Busting up those old pads:  

Laying out and building the extension:

Showing the how the new patio meets with the existing sidewalk:

The finished extension:

This is a shot I tried to duplicate of the first in this series taken this morning:

 

I lived pretty happily with this configuration until the mess at the workshop end of the sidewalk started to bug me. I knew I would not rest until I ripped out that sidewalk I installed ten years previous.

Installation of the new bricks: 

Because these bricks were a “hodge-podge” there was no uniformity in size. This makes laying these out an extremely labour intensive proposition. I tried to get a picture to show the assemblage of bricks in the mock up stage to show the differences in brick height:

The Nelsonville Star Pavers though were a dream to install as they were all the same size.

The new installation looking to the workshop:

Looking towards the house:

 The street paver bricks are laid with a "sand topping mix". This is a mixture of sand and cement. It is swept between the cracks and then soaked with water. This makes a pretty permanent installation, and prevents weeds from growing through. It is a royal pain in the butt though as the residue also fills all the details of the bricks you want to expose. Using a shop vacuum you have to work fast as the bricks are kept wet to suck up the residue. The results are great, but it is so much work. Those gel knee pads I splurged on years ago have paid for themselves many times over! The Star Pavers I did not set with the sand/concrete mix. I just have sand between the joints. They are a valuable brick which may be salvaged and moved again when I’m long gone from here…. I’m worn out from this project. It is safe to say I will not be undertaking another task of this scale for a while!  

Kitboga often interjects in his scambaiter YouTubes that he is such a fan of “foreshadowing.” 

One of my favourite comedy pieces is Anna Russell performing her explanation of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.” This set of four operas is considered the apex of musical achievement. Anna Russell teaches how utterly absurd the underlying plot of this masterpiece is. 

When I reflect back on the brick projects I’ve done…where I’ve finished this entry up, I think how Russell bridges the last two “Ring Operas.” 

Siegfried awakens Brunhilde from her “fire surrounded sleep upon a rock” and they instantly fall in love. Russell coins this as "Love on the rocks." The Opera “Siegfried" ends on a positive note…  Here comes the foreshadowing from Anna Russel…“But nonetheless, they are in love and everything is very happy and you'd think that would be the end of it, wouldn’t you…Oh dear… “Götterdämmerung ””

The continuation of my brick saga will be my “Götterdämmerung !!!”

Nelsonville Salt Glazed Sidewalk Pavers: Part I

April 26, 2012

The road trip adventures are embedded into my projects and collecting really make for an interesting life. This first brick transfer/pick up set the stage for the summer of 2012.

There is another road trip on the horizon which could end up being VERY complicated! Billy wanted to go to this big antique phonograph auction in Michigan. He will pay for gas and I will do the motel. We will drive up in Linda’s Honda Element which holds a lot and is good on gas. Billy is in good with the auctioneer. I’ve been promised I don’t need a letter of credit… Billy told him I’m good for at least 200K!!

With as insane as that scenario is, it is nothing compared to what might play out. On the Indiana/ Ohio state line there is a hoard of 832 Nelsonville Sidewalk pavers I’m bidding on.

That is over four tons of bricks to move. That means a detour through Ohio and renting a 12ft U-Haul if I win!

I’m progressing right on schedule to brick over the back part of the driveway  in 100° weather!

At times like this I just laugh when I think how some friends predicted I would be so bored because I retired so early!! Sometimes I think some boredom would be welcome!!!

4/29/2012:

This morning was spent plotting and planning the next road trip Wednesday. Billy will get here tomorrow afternoon and we will hit the road Wednesday morning. We will go as far as Indianapolis, IN. That is 540 odd miles which should take us a little over 8 ½ hours to drive. I’ve got the directions to the Motel 6 and Outback all plotted out for the stop.

From there it is a straight shot to Charlotte, MI where the big auction will be held. It should take us about 4 ½ hours to drive the 230 miles.  

I won the bricks on the E-bay auction, but the bidding did not hit the reserve. The seller put out a second chance to me to purchase them at my high bid, which I did.

Working on renting the U-haul was an experience in itself. The only size truck that can come close to hauling the weight of these bricks is the 14ft truck. The nearest U-Haul dealer to the bricks is some 14 miles away. It gets tricky in that I need to pick up the truck around 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Many of the locations are closed by then. I called the preferred dealer to first to explain what was going. He told me how the trucks are assigned by the home office and they did not really have control. I had not made out an order when I called a generic number for U-haul. It was explained to me how the trucks are assigned 24 hours prior to the pick up, and the 14ft truck might not be at the location I chose. Nothing can be done till I have a reservation number.

I put my order through and went to the U-haul site and sent them off an E-mail explaining the situation as to my being limited to pick up times. A few hours later I got an answer with a phone number to call for scheduling. I called the number and explained my situation to the most competent woman. I was so very impressed with how she understood what I was dealing with. She told me there were other dealers local to my preferred dealer that would be open late. But, once she understood the importance of my needing this size truck because of the load and the time restraints she went into high gear. I explained I would be driving down I-75 from Lima, Ohio and could pick up the truck anywhere along that route. That should be enough leeway to cover pretty much any problem she explained.

I have the map made out to the Motel 6 in Dayton, OH  just off I-75 which looks to be walking distance to an Outback.

From there it is a straight shot home to Alabama. I have been thinking how many tons of bricks I’ve hauled over the highways to my little home!!!

On the surface this is madness, but trust me; this kind of excitement: plotting out Google maps to motels, auctions, and restaurants makes life so much fun.

May 7th 2012:

Where do I start? For the sake of simplicity I’ll go back to last Wednesday the 2nd. Billy and I got on the road headed up I-65 out of Birmingham. I have done this trip so often I could pretty much drive it in my sleep. We stopped for lunch at the White Castle in Bowling Green. They messed up and gave us large chocolate shakes instead of the medium size. All that chocolate wiped us out!

Our stop for the night was the Motel 6 in Indianapolis. I choose the one closest to the Outback Steak House on the east side. This is located right near the interchange of the 465 by-pass around the city and I-70. We hit here right around 5:30, so the traffic headed out of the city was pretty horrible. Fortunately we were going in the opposite direction.

Got checked in and set out to find the Outback. The Garmin got us there and I enjoyed a delicious wood grilled steak for supper.

Thursday we had ample time to get to Charlotte, Michigan for the auction to allow us to detour to Auburn, Indiana. This is the home of the Auburn Motor Works. We stopped to take a couple pictures at the old showroom which is now a world renowned museum. It is hard to think that in the depths of the depression this little town was thriving producing luxury motorcars for the wealthy.

You can see Billy and me in the window reflection!

We arrived first at the Motel 8 before noon. They were able to check us in early. Very nice rooms compared the Motel 6! It was a quick trip to the auction site which was located at the Eaton County Fairgrounds. There were a lot of familiar faces present from other sales and shows. I got registered and issued a bidding number. There are some interesting lots, but there is nothing I really need or want.

A lunch set-up was put out. Home made salads and croissant and regular bun sandwiches. It was funny to watch some of these people eat.  It was like some of them had not eaten in days. One dealer in the crowd had just had triple heart by-pass surgery. He never stopped eating!

Phonograph dealers and collectors are a world into their own. What a cast of characters. I include myself in with them, Utilikilt and all! One dealer in particular had Billy and I in stitches for the three days we were at the sale. I’ve known this dealer for over 30 years. He sat in the front row and as the auction progressed he would jump up to make last minute inspections of merchandise. His pants would always be stuffed up the crack of this butt, almost like a vacuum pulled them in. This cast of characters kept us going as the sale dragged on.

Thursday night we found a pizza place in downtown Charlotte, MI called Reidy's.  Very good pizza. There was “Trivia night” going on between teams. It was so much fun. There was a team of guys across the bar from us who were doing really well. They worked construction and were telling stories of never being able to find straight lumber at Menards. These young guys were so intense. They reminded me when I was that age.

Friday morning Billy discovered that there was no hot water for the shower: for whatever reason the mixer valve in the shower was messed up. There was hot water to the sink so at least I was able to shave! The maintenance man was out of town and not due back for days! They will change us to the room next door when we get back from the sale.

There was a ton of stuff to go through Friday. The “Chicago Boys” were present to protect what they had most likely put into the sale. These guys are all dealers in cahoots with each other in trying to control prices in the automatic music field. The market is way down on Regina music boxes. To have so many Regina changers in an auction can be an invitation to disaster. The prices were low and in a number of instances these were sold to “on the phone” bidders. We were told one phone bidder from Florida was on vacation in India! The games that go on.

During a lull, I contacted U-Haul as to my truck pick up. They came through and it will be at the Troy, Ohio location for a late pick up. That information took a lot of worry off me.

There was one rare item in the sale, a “Regina Model 17a” which is a coin operated machine that dispenses a stick of gum as the music plays.

 The story was told how this belonged to a “little old lady” who held it dear to her heart and would not sell it unless it sold for at least $8,000.00. Billy and I are pretty sure who this “little old lady” is. I can’t say names or post pictures of this man. He was NOT smiling as the sale progressed. I’m pretty sure a lot of the stuff he had in the sale he bought back.

I bought a couple books for very little. As can be typical at an auction, the prices were all over the place. Collectors’ books you can buy new online were selling at over double the $39.95 E-bay “buy it now” price which includes postage! Buyer beware!

Friday night we changed our room. A hot shower felt wonderful!! Supper was Mexican, one exit to the north. It was very good.

There is so much more I have to record, but at this time my head feels like it is set to explode..