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The Frog Van goes to a Garage Sale

I've written about my Frog Van on several occasions so I thought it only fitting to mark it's first real use as a cargo mover on my blog too.

Granted this isn't the first time I've used it to transport stuff (I used it to move my recent art exhibition back home from the gallery) however it is the first time it has had anything close to a load that would require a van.

My partner, Enigma, and I decided it was time to clean out some of our crap from my studio and the house. What better way to do that than to haul out all the excess stuff to a local 'Mega Car and Garage Sale' and try and get a few dollars for it. I don't think it was actually called that but it was pretty big. Easily more than a hundred stalls at a guess (maybe even close to two hundred).

You can see our stall in the photo, taken at about the half way point of the sale. By this time we'd sold most of what we managed to sell so almost all of the rest you can see came home again.

If you've ever been to a garage sale as a seller you'll know they start early - just before the sun comes up. The frog van doesn't really like starting up that early so it took quite a bit to wake it up. Well it's hard to get started when you still have a backfiring problem (that's the van not me).

Unfortunately I didn't make enough money to even contemplate getting the van's problem fixed. I think I broke even after buying a sandwich for brunch. Enigma did better with a tidy profit that made the effort worth while. Enigma had better and more crap than I did.

I was mainly trying to offload a bar fridge. Plenty of people looked at it and said they'd be back. Unfortunately the rush of people coming back never happened so I still have my fridge.

Since the Garage Sale was run by a car club, its main focus was actually cars and car parts.

If I'd had the money I would have bought a sun roof and a spoiler for the van. It would do nothing for the engine problems but I'm sure it would make it look cooler.

It may sound silly to put a spoiler on the frog van but hey, if the A-Team's van can have a spoiler I reckon I can too!
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Comments

  1. Mum60September 21, 2009 3:24 PM

    I thought you meant you were selling the van at first- I felt quite disappointed - 'til I realised! (I thought you'd fixed the van's problems, though, I do remember you saying about this one?)

    I enlarged the picture (I've saved it for my slideshow for posterity!) to see if you had anything I could give house room to!

    I see you have some car stuff, which I'm surprised didn't go ie: a blind for someone's back window - would depend on fit I suppose, a dashboard mat, which looks good, but would depend on fit again I expect. Looks like some roller skates and a small microwave, comp monitor etc.

    The chair wasn't for sale was it, or the water cooler, they were for you, right? I could have done with that bar fridge when my fridge packed up recently! (after nearly 19yrs, and nearly 9yrs past it's 10yr warranty!) That's a story I have to tell you yet, and other things to bring you up to date with me!

    Carl came up with one, which sufficed, and I was glad of, but it was a black one,(been painted black) a bit old 'n' going rusty inside, just used for cans of beer etc with 'Jack lives here' in large white letters on the front! (meaning Jack Danniels whiskey, and it had the whiskey logo too!)

    It didn't quite go in my kitchen, but good job I had it! It had been kept at the stables where Carl's partner goes to her horses! I'd give it another go - someone must want that bar fridge!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mum60September 21, 2009 3:27 PM

    Forgot to ask - what's a spoiler? Maybe you can point it out on the A-team one?

    ReplyDelete
  3. TET (David Arandle)September 21, 2009 4:40 PM

    The van does go well I've just never been able to quite solve the backfiring problem completely. Our local mechanic said it had a manifold leak (part of the exhaust system) which would be consistent with a reason for backfiring. At the moment the van runs great at higher speeds along country roads, it just doesn't like the slow pace of suburbia or very cold starts.

    The chair wasn't for sale but the cooler was (we don't need it any more). The car blind needed a very specific buyer who desperately needed it and knew just how hard that particular one is to get for their car.

    Can't imagine your house with a black Jack Daniels fridge - must've seemed very out of place.

    A spoiler is, well if you look at the picture of the A-Team van, see that red fin on the roof top at the very back that kind of looks like a roof rack bar? That's a spoiler. They come in all different shapes and sizes.

    Many modern cars have them sitting on top of the boot lid. It's supposed to reduce wind drag on the back of the car and at the same time push the back wheels down for a bit better traction. Which supposedly makes the cars performance better and more efficient. However most people get them 'cause they look cool and make the car seem 'sportier'. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mum60September 21, 2009 9:09 PM

    Could the Frog Van really look 'cool?' The A-team one has the red stripe co-ordinating with the spoiler! I think the Frog Van looks quite cute as it is, and is aptly named!

    The Jack Daniels fridge was out of place, literally, as the old fridge was still in the corner, so it was standing against the side wall facing the sink.

    Carl put a hessian sack down to stand it on so it couldn't mark my floor, such as the beige lino is!

    ReplyDelete

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