One time, out yard sailing, I went to an advertised sale in Arlington. It was almost 11:00 a.m. when I arrived – late – for a yard sale.

There were kids running around and a couple of mothers trying to watch them while running the sale. They pointed to the garage and on some plywood was a ton of vintage jewelry. I’d hit the mother lode (ha).

I grabbed all the gold and silver I could carry in one hand and went to the two women. How much? $20 they said. With one hand, I grabbed a twenty, paid them and ran to my vehicle.

When I got my wind back, I drove off. Thinking back, I should have grabbed everything, tossed it in a box and gone through it carefully back at my house. Nope. What a dummy. I sold what I bought for something like $2500. Good day at work, but it still kills me that I didn’t buy it all.

Another time, I was in a junk shop in Boston. I saw a basket of tobacco tins and asked how much. $1 each she said. Sure, I took them all and paid her $10 or so. She asked if I wanted any more. Yeah, what ya got? She had three big black trash bags full of tobacco tins! Take the whole lot for $25, she said. Sure! I sold those things over the years for like $5 each. I think I still have a few in my basement. I made hundreds of dollars off of that lot.

A few weeks ago, I was at a big second-hand store. They came out with a cart full of vintage Barbie dolls, clothes, carrying cases and other stuff. I grabbed it all and the staff teased me about buying girly dolls. It cost me $40 for everything. I put it at auction and they separated it out into five lots. It did $942. Some bidding frenzy right at the end. I’ll take it, take it all.