Over the weekend we held a garage sale to clear some of the useless clutter out of our lives. Items that we had not used for years were carted downstairs and thoughtfully arranged to tempt the avid buyers. The advertised starting time was 7.00am with the first prospective customer arriving at 5.30am. The stream of buyers/lookers started at 6.15 and continued steadily until about 2.00pm. Many arrived with their own money bag strapped around the waist full of small notes and change - these were the professionals.
Amy came over and lent a hand until she had to leave for a friends baby shower. I nicknamed Amy and Lisa “The two garage sale tarts”. Understandable when you consider that they were both walking around with “make me an offer I can’t refuse” pinned to them.
I have discovered that garage sales can be extremely social events and ours was no exception. We met some interesting people and had some great conversations, particularly with some of our neighbours who we had not had a chance to meet previously. All in all, Saturday was a pleasant day, until I received a phone call from Murwillumbah at 11.30 with Margaret on the other end of the line asking me why I wasn’t there to give my presentation on the advantages of digital communications to the Rotary District training session. “But Margaret”, I said, “I thought that session was scheduled for tomorrow”. No such luck, quick shower and a change of clothes and into the car for a 1 hour drive down south.
15 minutes down the freeway and I struck a traffic jam caused by an overturned semi trailer that had spilt chemicals over the road and into a nearby stream. A quick detour through Mudgeeraba and I arrived at the Greenhills reception centre in time to bolt down a quick meal, utter my profound apologies for being late, and finally, give my presentation.