The one with a golden nugget … or three!

Searching through Craigslist’s barter and wanted pages is an interesting experience.  Sometimes you find little golden nugget and a lot of the time you find not-so-golden nuggets.  Last night though, I found a golden nugget.  Not only did I find a new home and a renewed purpose for our old tile but also two of our old toilets.As I scanned the wanted ads, I came across an ad looking for decently priced flooring.  Apparently, a kind heart took it upon himself to help a disabled man here in San Antonio.  I’m not exactly sure of the living conditions of the disabled man but I am assured, they were not good but are improving.  Anyway, the disabled gentleman needed a new kitchen floor and so I offered up our old tile for a mere $25.  I hesitate to offer our old stuff for free.  I fear random hoarders will collect it all up and not give it another purpose.  So, $25 for 100+ sqft of decent ceramic tile seemed fair and yet priced high enough to hopefully ensure it will be USED somewhere else.  So far, my plan seems to be working.  :)  As we, and by we I mean John, was loading the tile into the back of a truck obtained by the kind-hearted man (we’ll refer to him as M), M asked if we were also selling the toilet sitting in our garage.  But of course, we exclaimed!  We actually made plans to dispose of it at a local toilet collection facility so an extra $10 in our pockets and a new toilet for the disabled man seemed a good alternative plan!  M mentioned that he was actually looking for 2 toilets so out came the tools and off ran John to the 1/2 bath.  15 or so minutes later John removed the 1/2 bath toilet and loaded it into M’s truck.  Not only did our tile find a new purpose and a new life making someone else’s life better, but so did two of our toilets.  I think the hardest part of remodeling, for me, is thinking that some of our stuff - stuff that functions perfectly well but is just outdated - might find its way to a landfill.  Whenever I find a new home for this house’s old stuff I am filled with joy.  Yes, it’s just stuff but it’s stuff that works just fine and still has purpose.  I can sleep well this evening knowing that the life of our tile and 2 toilets extended today.  :)

This entry was posted on Sun, Feb 08 2009 at 21:20 and is filed under Vanessa's Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.