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..
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