Creepy Estate Sale and Getting Under 210 pounds

 Last Saturday, my brother Kesi and I went to an estate sale in Dunellon that advertised record albums.  The man explained to Kesi on the phone that he had about 300 albums he wanted to get rid of for one price as his parents had just died.  When we got there, a skinny and wrinkled man who appeared to be in his sixties greeted us.  When we walked into his cigarette-smoke-reeked home, whose living room looked more like a Las Vegas yard sale replete with a 60's slot machine in the foyer, the man led us into a narrow walk-in closet in a nearby bedroom.  The albums were piled up on the floor and he looked at us and said, "It's the whole lot or nothing, fellas."  Kesi and I knelt down in the back of the closet, the man hovering over between us and the doorway.  The albums were in lousy condition and there were a lot of things I didn't care for.  Apparently, someone was a big John Denver fan, as we thumbed through at least 11 of his LPs.  I am a little claustrophobic, so having the guy watch our every move in the confines of the smoky closet was not pleasant.  Kesi and I worked together to see if we could find anything. "Make me an offer I can't refuse," the man said.  When Kesi looked up at the man, he had a look of shock in his eyes.  "What is that?" Kesi asked.  I was facing my brother and could see in his eyes that something strange was going on.  "Oh, I just put a wig on," the man said.  By the time I turned around, he had taken off an orange wig and placed it on a pile of other wigs and "women's" accessories on the closet shelf.  After a moment of awkward silence, Kesi tried to change the subject, "These 78's are made of shellac and break easy."  "I just take them outside and shoot them with my gun," the man said.  Immediately, I started imagining the guy pulling out a gun and calculating how I would take him down.  In my mind, I was grateful I had been working out for the last few months and figured since I was bigger, faster, stronger and younger than him, I would have a good chance to knock away his gun.  Later, Kesi said he was thinking the guy might step out quickly and lock us in the closet.  It was definitely a creepy feeling.  Soon, the bidding started.  We offered $10 and he countered with $25.  Eventually, we settled on $18.  He helped us load them into my car and we drove away, our lives still intact.  Then I started thinking, you never really know when and if you have just met a serial killer.

Later, Kesi and I split up the ones we wanted.  I ended up with Neil Young's Harvest, Ricky Nelson's Greatest Hits, an ELO record, some Burt Bacharach and a bunch of classical albums. We are going to sell the ones we didn't want to a local dealer.  There was also a signed album from the group Alabama from the early eighties which we will try to sell on ebay. 

I am done with my American Government class.  It ended early with an easy Final exam, more than one week before the other classes end.

The last four days have seemed excruciatingly tedious for me in the weight-loss department but I have been able to lose another two pounds.  Now I have officially lost 40 and have reached my goal of May 1st.  I wanted to  get down to 210 by the beginning of May and as of this morning, I am at 209.  Now I set my sights on 199.  It will be a real milestone because I will get under 200 pounds for the first time in nine years and I will have officially lost 50 pounds.