There was no joy in ham-ville....

I've been hoping to go to a good hamfest to sell for a while - the last one I sold at was kind of dissappointing in terms of sales. I could use some extra income (who couldn't?) and I have a ton of stuff - free after rebate items, cell phone stuff from an auction I went to in August, and various stuff I've bought, mostly at other hamfests, that I haven't used in a while and that I would prefer to get money for than have sit in my basement collecting dust.

But the weather report was predicting rain until noon. One of the problems about having a pickup, and not yet having bought a cap or tonneau cover, is that I can't leave stuff in the bed without it getting wet. And after the disaster of a yard sale from a few weeks ago, I have no desire to sit out in the rain and get wet.

So when bsom showed up on my doorstep at 5am this morning, his Pontiac Vibe full of electronics crap, we both wondered if it was worth getting soaked loading up my truck, so we could sit outside and have our stuff get rained on as we wait for people to not show up because of the rain. At his point, it was still pouring. So we decided to go - hell, we were up that early - but not to sell. We had some time to kill, so we hit Dunkin' Donuts for some breakfast. (I always kind of wonder about the story behind people who are awake and in Dunkin' Donuts at weird hours - I bet someone could make an interesting documentary interviewing them). It was still before 6am, and gates don't officially open for customers until 8, so I killed some time stopping at a 24 hour Walgreens and a 24-hour Rite Aid to pick up some Free After Rebate stuff (I now have enough shampoo and toothpaste to last me until 2009). As we left Walgreens, it stopped raining. I commented to bsom that if we didn't sell, we would probably get there and the sun would be shining for the rest of the day, birds would be chirping and there wouldn't be a cloud in the sky, while if we decided to pack up and go, it would be a storm like hurricane Katrina, part deux.

So we didn't sell. And the sun came up and birds chirped and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'm disappointed that we didn't sell, but it was a rational decision based on the information we had available at the time - bad weather forecast, bad experiences trying to sell stuff in the rain in the past, the fact that it's a pain to sell in the rain to customers who aren't there, ect. And there weren't a whole lot of people selling compared to previous ones, so other people made the same choice we did.

I only made two purchases - I bought a bunch of campaign and other buttons for $6 (I went to a flea market last weekend and bought some other ones - I'm planning on making a shadow box of them and hanging them on my wall) and a pair of Advent outdoor speakers for $15 (I'm planning on mounting them on my deck next summer, probably hooked to an old reciever - I'm hoping to spend some more time outside next summer. I bought a grill on clearance at Target last month for $70 which I have yet to bring outside, and I've been hunting for patio furniture but haven't found any cheap enough for my tastes - I don't want to get anything too nice since my backyard isn't fenced in yet).

We did stop at Lotte, an asian grocery store in Ellicot City, on the way back - so at least I got a giant bottle of soy sauce, some pomegranant juice, and some tieramasu snack cakes (IT'S NOW!, says the box - whatever that means) out of the day...

There is another Hamfest at the end of this month, although it's in a location that hasn't been as kind do me. I hope the weather is clear and I'm able to sell and make my pockets get fat...