Hunts and Fails S02 E02

By James Mulvey; posted April 15, 2017

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It is always worth the trip, especially in April when the countryside feels clean and fresh to head to Perth, Ontario to the annual OVIC show. Shake off the winter doldrums, head down the road and kick off the 'official' start to the collecting in the wilds season. Meet up with old acquaintances, new collectors and catch up on the year past. A long drive but stops and detours along the way break it up. There always seems to be an insulator or two that I just have to have and this year was no exception. Several new suspensions came home with me, from a very old 6 inch to a monster 17 inch Sediver. Not all the insulators were found at the show. Yard sales and flea markets along the way always have potential. Returning from the OVIC show, we stopped at a small thrift store where I spotted these early style suspensions. My enthusiasm for my good fortune was quickly downgraded to only so-so, as the cashier informs me that I am buying the last of 'a bunch of them things' that had come in. Just what were the others were is anybody's guess, but if these are any indication, there was some good, and better than good stuff. As we continued on home, I began to wonder where they might have come from, if they were donated or if they happened to wind up there by accident. Was my good luck at the expense of someone else's misfortune? I'm sure similar events happen more often than you think.

Received a request from the kids three, maybe four years ago. They were going to be painting the living room in their house and wanted to know if we had any old sheets they could use to cover the furniture. We didn't but suggested that they go to Value Village. It is a 45 minute drive for them but they would find what they needed there.

When they told us they were going, we said we had a couple boxes to donate ready to go. Since we would not be home we would leave them on the table for them to take.

After we returned home that night, there was a message on the answering machine. They had had a successful trip, got everything they needed and figured they came out ahead. They had purchased two bags of material and had donated our three. I had a cold chill crept over me. We had set two boxes on the table for donation, but they had taken three.

Yup. They had picked up a box off the floor. In the box were eight of my better insulators and other stuff I was moving to another room, but had temporarily set on the floor . What all was in it, I no longer clearly remember, except for a pair of teal-blue diamond ponies, one with considerable amber - two of my favorite Canadians. Paid 65 cents each for them at a flea market around 1991.

What do you do. It's done and can't be undone. Say anything and nobody wins, just gotta let it go. It sucks, it really does. I lost some nice pieces for no good reason. Once again, my Fail will be a Win for somebody else. Someone going into a Value Village near you was going to get some pretty good insulators for a couple bucks. You win some, you lose some, but like gambling, you never seem to win as big as you loose. [id=505923307;next episode]

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