Sometimes you hit gold . . . sometimes you hit your finger.

Last week was a great week for finding tile, a vanity, some wood, etc. (see my previous post)  Then on Saturday I picked up some free drywall, a couple of doors, some wood trim and even a 4' X 8' sheet of insulation that I will either sell or use on another project!

The week before, however, my first full week of getting free stuff, didn't go so well.  One of my rules is to not drive too far for low valued free items. I mean, I can buy most of the the drywall I need for the cost of a few gallons of gas.  So, whenever possible, I try to line up a few stops.

On Monday morning, I lined up two stops plus a donut shop for me and Easton.  The donut shop was closed and I had to find another- way out of the way.  Thank goodness for mobile web!  The next stop was for a door.  And guess what: the lady forgot to set it out for me before she left for work!  I won't even tell you how many miles I drove . . .

Later that week I found  2 freebies in Olathe- about 25 miles west of where I live.  A sink and some drywall pieces! Neither one worth a 50 mile drive, but both items?  Worth it.  On my way to get the sink, I called the lady to tell her I was coming and she said, "Oh, didn't you come earlier today?  That wasn't you?  I gave it away and I thought he was you . . ."  Great.  I can't no-show the drywall guy, as that would be rude.  And I refuse to join the ranks of inconsiderate Craigslisters who think that just because they are getting something for free makes it permissible to break their word!

So I drove 25 miles for drywall pieces- and they were all small pieces!

At the end of the week I was seriously reconsidering this project. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I am not going to waste my time.  Luckily, things changed!


Postcript:   The lady with the door apologized over and over.  It turns out she started a brand new job that day and her focus was not on getting a door out of her garage.  I can understand that!  She contacted me and offered to bring the door to me.  We met in the parking lot of a Denny's.  I combined that trip with a shopping trip to buy jeans for Olivia and only went a few miles out of the way.