FROG LOT

FROG LOT - Huge, got everything, $45.00; call Tia, 207-299-7092 for more info

Page D3 of the July 15 Bangor Daily News.

Preconceived notions: In the car making this call I said out loud "What could that mean?" The only idea I had was that maybe it was a terrarium. I just edited an article about a frog jumping contest, maybe she raised frogs and competed.

Tia picked up at about 4 p.m.

"It is a lot of ... I have 15 frog stuffed animals," Tia, a young woman, told me. "I have one that's half the size of a person."

She didn't seem ashamed of this at all, just a matter of fact.

Tia is moving. "I'm keeping some of it," she told me. She said she is known as the "frog girl" among her friends.

Of her frog stuff, none of it was valuable. "It's not like antiques if that's what you're looking for."

VIOLIN 3 yrs. old

VIOLIN 3 yrs. old Exc. cond. $85. (207) 469-3094.

Found on Page D2 of the July 14 Bangor Daily News.

Preconceived notions: I should have prefaced yesterday's post with this too, but: I just bought a trumpet. This may seem irrelevant, however I am absolutely pumped about it and thus, may be drawn in more easily to musical ads. That said: Maybe Will P Davis needs to get rid of his fiddle. I wonder if this person knows anything about violins, as this is a very cheap price. I've only heard of handmade violins, but they must be mass marketed too.

Called after work at about 5:40 p.m. A woman answered the phone before handing it off to the man, this seems to occur frequently. There was some sort of classical music in the background.

"I just bought a new one. It's a good beginner's violin," the man told me.

He's been playing on it for three years, but has moved up to a new, more advanced violin.

"It's Chinese built. There's thousands of them," he said, verifying my notion. "I paid $140 for it."

He said he bought it at Knapp's Music Store in Bangor.

I wonder what a violin would sound like with a trumpet.

PS: Sorry, I neglected to post until after midnight.

ELECTONE ORGAN

ELECTONE ORGAN Bench, music books, headphones, $25. 207-944-5594

Forgot my newspaper at work, ripped from online.

Preconceived notions: It's $25 so maybe it's a kid's play organ? Maybe it has colored, light up keys and everything.

No answer at 5:11. Right before the cheap seat's movie previews for Good Bye Solo I called again, 6:58. Nothing. Nothing, that is, except for the answering machine to Angela's Angels Housecleaning.

Sorry, guys.

WISHING WELL - $60.

WISHING WELL - $60. Deck bench $90; lawn chairs $35. 941-2181.

On page C11 in the July 10 Bangor Daily News.

Preconceived notions: This is very confusing. As I recall from many fairy tales a wishing well is a deep fissure into the earth that, at the top, has either a round stone frame or a thatched roof sort of set up. So how do you sell something that is made of carved out earth? No notions here. I am not at all interested in the other items listed in the ad.

Robert's wife picked up at about 4:05 p.m. today. When I told her my preconceived notions, she laughed, "he builds them," she said.

She put Robert on the phone.

Robert was, like the barn man, old and hard of hearing. Unlike the barn man, Robert was kindly. He, though confused, tried his best to answer my questions and was absolutely convinced (no matter how many times I said I'm just a writer) that I wanted his wishing wells very badly and will be over tomorrow to pick one up -- despite me saying multiple times that this was not the case.

He explained to me that the wells have a two-foot high base and a slanted roof. You just slip them over well pipes.

"We're having a yard sale right now," he said to me, a bit impatiently. "I sold two this morning — they're pretty popular."

And with that, I said thank you and hope Robert isn't waiting for me tomorrow — but I'm pretty sure he will be.

Barn Take Down & Removed.

Barn Take Down & Removed. Lots of boards & timbers. $500. 942-6691.

From page D3 of the July 9 Bangor Daily News.

Preconceived notions: This guy took down his barn and now needs you to come pick up the pieces. He would light it all on fire, but it's too close to his house.

First hang up of this blog. I consider that an accomplishment. Every call I've made I was sure the person would hang up; the trick, I thought, was getting enough information to post something worthwhile before s/he hung up. Accomplished.

Grumpy old man hard of hearing picked up at about 4:05 p.m. I asked him about the barn he took down. "No, it's still standing," he said, after asking me to repeat my question and who I am multiple times.

The barn has not yet been taken down.

"We're going to take it down because I don't want it," he yelled into the phone.

When asked, "is there anything inside it?" he hung up.

Suspicious.

CHANDELIER silver-toned

CHANDELIER silver-toned. New. $100.00. 207-570-0760.

Page D2 of the July 8 Bangor Daily News.

Note: Sorry. Last night I got home and crashed on my bed, falling asleep. I was too unconscious to post.

Preconceived notions: Somebody is living the good life.

I call at about 4:15 p.m. on July 8 and an old grandma-sounding voice answers.

She wants to tell me all about her chandelier. She said it's very pretty. In fact, she bought two and hung one over her table. The other was supposed to be for her house in Florida. For whatever reason she decided not to bring it to Florida. She's trying to move to the sunny state next year. Right now she spends winters there -- and by winters I mean anything-but-summers. -- but she wants to move there year round. She's pretty upset about the rain in Maine, and said next year, if her move fails, like her moving the chandelier did, she isn't coming to Vacationland until June. Not May, which is the month she came this year.

SO ... *breath* ... She gave the silver chandelier with crystal drops, which she found in a JC Penny catalogue, to her friend. Her friend put the thing together only to realize this would never ever fit in her house. So now this lady is stuck with it again. She paid $300 for it.

ANTIQUE PAPER CUTTER

ANTIQUE PAPER CUTTER Commercial, $100; call Scott, (207) 584-2134.

I again forgot the physical paper, but it's #45 on bangordailynews.com under the Bargain Hunter's Basement section for July 7.

Preconceived notions: I hope this person had a startup magazine for the area and because his magazine failed long ago, maybe 40 years ago, he now has to sell what was already an old paper cutter.

I called Scott. This is the first ad to come with a name, which made me feel much more comfortable. Like we really were on a first-name basis. Then Scott picked up. I think he was the first person to be nice to me, knowing I was not going to buy his product.

Scott, you see, hasn't and will never use this paper cutter. He is not an antique dealer and never meant to inherit the cutter.

"I was helping someone clean out his trailer and I got it as part of payment. I don't even know anything other than that," Scott told me at 4:40 p.m. in a thick, Maine accent. "Eastman No. 15 is written on the side."

He said it's pretty heavy duty -- the type of machine he saw in the mill he used to work at years ago. He said the one at the mill cut reams of paper, and this one looks just like it.

"It's a heavy duty paper cutter. It may need to be sharpened."

DERBY CAR

DERBY CAR - 1985 olds RWD. Solid heavy car to repair $400. 207-538-9053.

Page D4 of the July 6 Bangor Daily News.

Preconceived notions: A little boy and his daddy made a wooden derby box car for racing down hills in the summer. Ever since the little boy grew up/died his father has been looking at the damn thing in the garage and keeps getting reminded of better days. Now he needs to get rid of it.

At 6:05 -- on the first call -- which never happens -- a woman picked up. She soon put me down and let me listen to her dog bark as she got a man on the phone.

He explained that he bought the car for his wife to use in derbies, but "it was too big for her."

This car is not for racing down hills, though, I guess you could. He said it's a steel frame body to be used for demolition derbies.

"It's never been made into a demolition derby car," he said, making this seem like a selling point. He said all you have to do, depending on track rules, to make it a derby car is take out all the glass, including windows, but not the windshield. Also, he said you'd have to wear a helmet. "Not a lot of work to it. It still runs."

Yours for $400.

CANOE COFFEE TABLE

CANOE COFFEE TABLE - Cedar, strips, cherry & brass trim. New $300. 745-4120.

Page D2 of the July 2 Bangor Daily News.

Preconceived notions: This is a table that sits in between you and the person you paddle your canoe with. This way, when you would like to play a game of cards on the lake, you have the table ready. Alternatively, someone could have gotten pissed, chopped up a canoe and made a table out of it because he was also pissed and broke a table before and all he had was splinters of canoe and table so he joined the lumber together and re-made his table. Now he would like to forget the anger of those moments.

I called at 6:08, 6:29, 6:46 and 7:08 p.m. I tell myself I won't make calls after 7 p.m., but something held me up, so I did.

No answer. Maybe we should just assume my notions are right. Or you call. If you do, tell me how it went via comment.

5 SMALL BIRD CAGES

5 SMALL BIRD CAGES, All New, $40.00 each. Must see. 207-234-2966

Page D2 of the July 1 Bangor Daily News.

Preconceived notions: Antiquer. Something tells me this person at no time shoved birds into five small bird cages, this is a collector on our hands.

"I just don't need them. My wife was raising finches. She sold them [all] or gave them away."