Auction!

The Rensselaer School Corporation is having an auction of surplus equipment. There are some big items (busses, a scoreboard, lathes) and a lot of traditional school items. To buy something, you must submit a sealed bid; details are on the website at http://www.rensselaerschools.org/. (The page with pictures of the items may take a while to load--all ten windows load, not just the one you might want to look at.)

I had some free time so I decided to check out what they had. Most of the items are in one of the gyms at Van Rensselaer School. You must get signed in with the receptionist to see the items.

This love seat was one of the very few items that looked like it belonged in a household auction.

 There were a number of big power tools that came from an industrial arts classroom. I do not know if they have discontinued the class.

 There were several lathes. They looked very heavy.

 Here are a couple of items from the kitchen Every kitchen should have a deep fat fryer. You can see some shelving in the background and a globe.

 There are lots of chairs and a variety of tables and desks. In the background you can see some tables that I think were used in one of the cafeterias.

 There was a selection of overhead projectors and DVD/VCR players. There were no computers, though there were network switches.

I suspect some of the items will get a number of bids and some of them will get no bids at all. Does anyone really want an old digital camera that records on a floppy disk?

Looking at all the stuff reminded me that I had been shopping for LED light bulbs recently at one of the big box hardware stores. The prices I saw were about half of what the prices were at the beginning of 2015. A few years ago a single bulb cost about $20. Now it is about $2.00 at the low end. If they continue to fall, they should replace the CFL bulbs, which are, in my opinion, a poor choice for home lighting.

Looking at all the items for auction also reminded me of some observations I drew from a rummage sale a month ago. No one wants cheap film cameras or floppy disks. Do not donate them--throw them out. The same is true for blank VCR tapes. People will still buy VCR tapes that have movies, but they do not buy tapes for recording. Though some stuffed toys, baskets, and coffee mugs will sell at a sale, many or most are left at the end. Families have no need for more of them, which means that they probably are not appreciated as gifts. Old magazines should be recycled, not given to rummage sales.

On the way to see the auction items, I stopped by the new building trades house to take a picture. It should be enclosed by the time winter comes.