Gun show wrap up....

The gun show today was a bust. Dead quiet. The opening rush
turned out to be an opening trickle.... and the after church crowd
went to Friendly's for ice cream I think. I made two minor sales, both
to other dealers. I turned down a half dozen offers, also from dealers.
Still... made it another 100 pages in the history of the Battle for Stalingrad.

My son was supposed to go to the show with me today. I arranged with his
mom to pick him up at 6:30, and go to breakfast. He was up for the idea yesterday... but when I arrived the house was dark. A quick phone call roused her... and she said she didn't forget the time change, just nobody got up.

Oh.......

I asked the boy if wanted to get up, or come down later. A sleeping 13 year old boy only has one answer to that..... "later".

Later never happened. That effected me more than I thought it would.

Some notes from the gun show....

• Straw sales are fun to watch, especially with youths who.... shall we say.... are a bit out of place for the show. Three times I watched this trio make the attempt.... only to get shot down after much waiting and background checking. One of them..... was just bleeping hilarious. He played with his cell phone so much he got it locked up from improper password violations. He actually called 911 and asked them to connect him to ATT! I am NOT making this up! Later, he used all his strength to try and draw the sword blade from it's sheath...... on a solid wood practice sword. I almost choked.....
• Overheard in conversation: "The gubmints plan is to send all our troops overseas to Iraq and other places, then bring in the UN to guard our ports and stuff. While our troops are away, the UN and the French will go around and collect all the guns from the American people, using the different colored 'yield' signs to find their way...... (me: Blink.....Blink.... alrighty then! Oh look, a customer! Gotta go now....).
• NO.... I will NOT reduce the price on the Gerber boot knife because you used a jewelers loop to find a microscopic knick in the edge. In fact, watch me scrape it on this here cement block wall a few times. Now.... go away..... far away.
• Young kids deserve good things happening to them sometimes... like finding a youth sized PSE compound bow with a price that turned out to be mis marked... and in reality is exactly how much they have in their pocket at that moment. Just amazing, that.... nobody was more surprised than I......
• When doing the show to build the cash stash... it's a good idea to leave the cash at home if possible. That way, the Chinese mauser with the intact dust shield won't temp you, nor will the Swedish mauser with a #1 bore wear and near mint condition metal. Also that Hakim with a decent bore will stop calling your name..... and the Winchester Garand will leave you alone too. Also, the Bannerman Krag sporter you stared at for two days will not be an issue at bank deposit time.
• Prices get better closer to closing time, but not on the 7.5x55 Swiss ammo you really wanted. It still stays at the silly $1 per round it started at Friday night.
  

I sold a few items.... mostly a handful of H+R rifles and shotguns. Things I haven't used in years. My gun safe will be roomier as a result.... and nature abhors a vacuum, or even a low pressure zone. Time will cure that ache, I'm sure.