Our New BF’s

It’s been a party atmosphere here. Folks come by the house and visit for a bit and leave with a treasure tucked under their arm.

Our first new friend is Laura, she and her husband just moved here from New York. I discovered Laura on the Next Door site. Her post about wanting to share her trove of moving boxes had a certain bounce to it and we found her to be delightful. She is a professional singer and her husband is a musician. Together they offer seminars at schools to inspire kids and teachers with their music. They have a lovely home with spectacular views of both the Catalina and Rincon Mountains. It is always a treat to meet someone new to the area who is truly in love with their new desert home.

We are aware of the negative impact the words Craigslist have with some people, but we’ve never had anything but good luck with our buyers. Our first buyer was special, Slater, is a fireman with four small children. He was interested in the welder Monty put on Craigslist. When Slater pulled up to the house, Monty was out in front of the garage with the welder. Slater, patiently parked the truck, turned around and talked to the two kids in the back seat, opened the snack bags and juice boxes for the kids and then climbed out to meet Monty. He was pleased as punch to buy the welder. Monty had some welding rod and assorted stuff and gave him that so he could start using the welder right away.

The guy that came to buy a nitrogen tank came back when Monty posted some other stuff a week later. They talked hot rods and they knew some of the same people around town. Monty enjoyed talking with him and threw in a paint sprayer.

The guy who came to buy the sander had an old vacuum cleaner in the back of his jeep. Monty asked about it and the story unfolded. His daughter had an old Sears vacuum just like the one sitting on our Goodwill pile. Hers had a broken hose so when she vacuumed the dirt just blew out the hose. He can’t find any parts because Sears quit making those vacuums. He bought a used vacuum at a yard sale hoping he could rig up something that would work. He went home with the sander and our old vacuum cleaner.

Then there was the guy who bought the smoker. I asked if he was doing brisket and he assured me he was smoking salmon. He described in detail how he smoked the salmon and served it on crackers with cream cheese. He claims to be the hit of the potluck  when he brings the salmon board. Monty gave him a pack rat trap, I’m not sure but I don’t think that was the best bonus gift.

Brian was a nice young man in need of a grinder. We had a nice chat, since his wife is getting her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering at the UA and I retired from the College of Engineering. We talked about the wind tunnel in the AME building and the solar cars the students use in competition. Brian went home with a jig saw along with his grinder.

Rob was a great guy looking for a compressor. He has a shop up in Oracle and builds pedestrian bridges for the forest service. We’ve seen a lot of those bridges, nice to meet the guy who builds them. I don’t know anything about compressors but this one looked like new and had all sorts of pipe running around the garage with a reel and pull down hose. Monty was letting the whole set up go and Rob was the perfect guy to take it home. He and Monty spent several hours taking down the reel and hose and disconnecting all the pipes. Luckily Monty hasn’t gotten rid of the shop hoist yet and the guys were able to get the compressor on the trailer without mishap. Rob put dibs on the hoist and floor jack so two more things going out the door. He texted Monty a few days later with an offer to help us with any heavy lifting.

Oren came to see the milling machine. This is a precision milling machine that works on things to the 1,000th of an inch. Oren’s eyes lit up when he saw it, and he was more than willing to pay the price Monty was asking. He was a nice guy that worked on power poles all over the country. He did a lot of work in the hurricane areas in the South. We really enjoy hearing about these interesting lives. Oren went home with the milling machine and a camp stove just in case he needed it while traveling.

Then there is the old gent who drove over eighty miles to pick up a couple of cabinets for his shop. AJ was a character to be sure. He told us about his forty acres down near Wilcox, says he likes it because the house sets right in the middle of the forty acres. No one is  going to bother him or his six dogs and twenty-three cats. The cats claim the barn so he had to build another building to house his shop equipment. He showed us the beautiful ballpoint pens he makes. Some of the barrels are made of hardwood and some are acrylic with diamond dust. I bet they sell well at upscale street fairs. He was a delightful old gent.

Remember Slater? After Monty did some more cleaning in the garage he separated lots of steel tubing for Slater and sent him a text to come and get it. The young man was pleased as punch to have the material.

My job is the inside the house and I’ve been making good progress but there were several boxes on the very top shelves of the closet that I couldn’t reach. In fact, I can’t figure out how we ever got the stuff up there, maybe the kids put it there for us. Slater was just the man we needed, he reached up and pulled down stuff like it weighed nothing. He sent Monty a text later and said if we needed any heavy lifting or find something else on one of those shelves to give him  a call.

We only have a few more opportunities to meet Craigslist folks and then we’ll meet with our pickleball buddy, Tom, the real estate guy. Hopefully we’ll meet buyers next.